Transcript
This document is a direct transcript of an audio recording, and may contain transcription errors and other minor edits for the sake of clarity.
CHARLIE: Good morning!
CROWD: Good morning.
CHARLIE: It’s great to see everybody. Wow! What a terrific occasion. Glory to God.
So, again, welcome. And thank you for carving out the time, and offering your time and talent to be mentors. This is a mentors conference. To be mentors for our consultation that has already left the station, and is beginning to move down the track, and gradually picking up speed in the Spirit, which is the energy source for this train.
So we began the consultation process with our kickoff event in South Bend in May, nearly four months ago. Thank you, South Bend, for graciously hosting that event. And now, here we are in Servant Branch. Thank you, Servant Branch, for your gifts of hospitality and generous service.
And now, our next step is this conference: to learn about being mentors; to engage with each other as fellow servants among our brothers and sisters; to discover more about the Spirit’s movements and guidance; and, yes, to even have some more fun.
This is a big effort. Are you ready?
CROWD: Yes!
CHARLIE: Are your expectations and hopes high?
CROWD: Yes!
CHARLIE: Good. Praise God!
Before we go any further, I want to update all of us on a key element of what has been happening to help everyone, in each branch, prepare for participating in the consultation.
Since the consultation is a board of governors initiative, after the May kickoff we wanted to offer to each branch a personal visit from a head coordinator. The purpose of these visits would be, first, to personally invite each member of the community to participate in the consultation.
Secondly, to explain why we are having a community-wide consultation, and field questions on that. So, “Why are we having a consultation at this time?” And to explain and field questions on how the consultation process will unfold, in the two phases, for nearly a year.
Next, to practice a specific method for engaging in discussion in men’s and women’s groups.
And lastly, to emphasize the critical importance of what kind of people we need to be, in order to have a consultation that can enjoy the integrity of communal discernment in the Holy Spirit, for a group of 1600 brothers and sisters, spread over 21 locations.
Happily, all 21 branches, and new starts, were eager to schedule a head coordinator visit. And so, since June, the head coordinators have already visited 15 of our 21 branches. And the other six branch visits, including our three largest branches, are either already set to take place later this month—like, in the next few weeks—or in the near future, as soon as possible.
And, to a branch, they are being—these branch visits, which are—actually have just organically taken on the name “branch kickoffs” —so we had the May kickoff, and then we have “branch kickoffs”—they are being overwhelmingly well received, these events in the branches.
So I’ve asked a few folks from a handful of branches, who have already had their branch kickoff, to give us a one-minute, or less, sound bite about their branch’s consultation kickoff event.
So, Susan Rooke, where are you? (No, Tom’s gonna come and bring a microphone to you. You can just stay where you are and then—but please use the portable mic. Thanks, Suzanne.
SUZANNE: Can you hear me? Yes? Okay. [The] Saskatoon kickoff went really well. On our Saturday, John and Amy Zwerneman, and Phil and I, each gave a talk, which was basically a 10-minute summary of some of the talks that were given at the May kickoff. The talks were each followed by a “What did you hear?” discussion group. And the group discussions went even better than we had expected. People were engaged, they were listening, they were contributing thoughtfully.
We then had the groups make posters, and that went really, too. They showed them off and explained them after.
On Sunday, we had a [sic] praise and worship and then listened to a talk by John, and then a recorded talk by Kevin Ranaghan, from the first set of the source talks.
The weekend was a great success. Everybody participated well, was enthusiastic and on board. The Holy Spirit was with us and—I mean, we could tell—leading us right from the beginning of the preparations, all the way to the end of the weekend.
CHARLIE: Thank you Suzanne. Praise God.
[applause]
CHARLIE: Mary Dausman, from Rockford.
MARY: Hello. So, we had the same format that Suzanne spoke of, and it was wonderful, because it had been a while since, as adults, we all worked together in a team, in a discussion manner. It’s funny, we do so much for our kids; it seems we’re always trying to facilitate that. But for us to actually come out of our busy lives and have that discipline of repeating back what we heard, like we all went through in May, you know? . . . we were, like, kind of working together and, yeah, it was just very bonding.
[We] heard a lot of good feedback from people like “Wow, I really enjoyed that,” you know, as we were leaving.
Yeah. It was very good, and even the poster making and stuff. I just felt like we were all young again! [Laughter.] But yes, it was just great, and just very Spirit-filled. And John and Amy are amazing. Loved the talk by Kevin Ranaghan. It’s definitely worth sitting down and listening to it —on the spiritual gifts. It was beautiful. So. . . .
CHARLIE: Thanks, Mary.
[applause]
CHARLIE: Tom Duddy, Oahu. Down here in front, Tom.
TOM: So, prior to the kickoff for our branch, I think our branch had a very piecemeal and vague understanding of the consultation process, and also a limited motivation and interest in reviewing the sources, which were just coming out.
At the kickoff session, it was really a game changer. Just like—the intro and three talks, [a] very limited amount of information, provided a real clarity of vision and understanding of what it was all about, that people didn’t have before they showed up there that Saturday and Sunday. It was really an “aha!” moment: “That’s what it’s all about!” It was just a moment of clarity.
As a result, there was a real significant, increased personal engagement in what this was all about, and an understanding of the seriousness of what we were doing. and an increased willingness to put some effort into reviewing the sources, which wasn’t there beforehand. [It] didn’t change everybody’s mind about what they were thinking about it, but everybody bought into it, and felt like they had some personal responsibility, and [they] made just a big step forward.
And, just two examples. There was one woman, who is 80 years old, and prior to our kickoff she was saying, “Well, I’m just too old for that,” and didn’t think she could access it. And we sent somebody over to her house to get her computer going, and she’s already listened to three of the talks.
And I had two guys in my men’s group—which is a relatively young men’s group, despite me—and they hadn’t listened to anything before that weekend, and since then they’ve been listening to the talks. So it was—it bore great fruit.
[applause]
CHARLIE: Thanks, Tom.
CHARLIE: Jen Lebeau, from Indy. Where are you, Jen? Oh, there you go. Boy, that table’s getting a lot of representation here!
JEN: Yes. We had—Nick and Chris came. And—it started about 2:00 and went through the Lord’s Day.
And a few things that were just really wonderful: one was hearing more of the broad strokes of why we’re having a consultation: we got to hear how the board had really thought and prayed about that. And then we got to practice the technique of the conversation.
And then—we’re talking a lot about wanting to hear from everyone. And at the end, there was some time for all the brothers and sisters to ask whatever they wanted about the process, which was really wonderful.
And then, we ended with the Lord’s Day, which was just a really great time to be together, after kinda working hard together in the afternoon. So, praise the Lord!
[applause]
CHARLIE: Praise God. Jane Buch, from Appleton. Jane Buch. [Laughter as Jane stands up from the same table other women who have shared are also sitting at.] Golly! I didn’t check the table arrangements before this.
JANE: This isn’t part of my 30 seconds; I’m going to tell you I’ve never only spoken for 30 seconds in my life, so—but, Charlie asked, and so here we go.
CHARLIE: I said maximum one minute; come on.
JANE: Our leaders met with Amy and John Zwerneman before our event, and they coached us really well in terms of how the day would go, very much like Suzanne described their event. They especially stressed to us the importance of all the members being there for the entire event. So, we had lunch brought in; nobody went out to get it, you know, that kind of thing, which was new and different for us. But we know we had people who canceled their plans to be at the cottage to be in town for that weekend, which was significant for all of us. I think that people were really making an effort.
Most of our branch members were at the event, including some brothers and sisters who were ill, and were—we were able to set up Zoom—we, not me, I have nothing to do with technology [laughter]. But our branch was able to set up—so they met with us by Zoom, and then John Zwerneman led them in a men— in a group; he led them in a discussion group, which we know was significant, for each of them to be able to be there.
By noon—we had our meeting from about 8:30 in the morning until about 1:30—but by noon it was apparent that the Holy Spirit was working. A lot of similar enthusiasm that other people have already described. There was definitely more enthusiasm and less “cloudiness” about the consultation at the end.
CHARLIE: Thank you, Jane.
[applause]
Kevin Weilbacher has a 55-second sharing, I’ve been told.
KEVIN: I lied.
[laughter]
CHARLIE: You’d better not!
KEVIN: So the Tampa kickoff—[Kevin turns to face some people] for those of you behind me— took place over two weekends. We had—did two Sunday events: [the] first one was for three hours, and the second one was for two hours.
As the other groups have shared, we were broken up into groups of four or five people each and, after the opening talk on the first day, we had talks on our sources, on listening, and [on] dialoguing. I wrote down here that the room was full of energy and excitement, especially during the discussion time after each talk.
And the questions—What did the speaker say? and What did he or she—Why did she say it?—kept the discussions focused, and allowed everyone to easily participate. I think that was key: that everybody felt comfortable with the sharing, and it wasn’t some philosophical discussion that some people would just turned [sic] off on.
The poster board activity was like turning the room of adults into children and playtime. There was laughter throughout the room for an hour. Each presentation was unique, interpreting what we experienced and heard.
And we concluded on the following Sunday with a talk on the spiritual gifts and more discussion.
One key takeaway that I wrote down was this phrase: our consultation gives us an opportunity to see what the Lord wants.
CHARLIE: Praise God!
[applause]
CHARLIE: Anna-Lisa Rodriguez, from Kingston. You’re gonna have to sprint, Tom [with the mic].
ANNA-LISA: Good morning. This is on? Okay. So, 50 seconds: our consultation kickoff was an eye-opener, I think, for how we love our brothers and sisters. Our consultation took off—(I’m speaking slowly so people don’t get my accent mixed up). Our consultation took place over a weekend, two days.
It really was an intense two days—not just because of the consultation, but there was a lot happening in our branch at that time, and so outside of the talks and, I suppose, listening to the resources, and hearing where our life is coming from, our life in action took place a lot over that weekend. And it was a blessing.
We had members who had health issues who were online on Zoom, as well, and so they were able to participate, and that was a blessing for them. And I think the conversations reassured persons of the need to listen to each other, to be more deliberate about listening to each other.
We ended our Saturday consultation with a Lord’s Day, and on Sunday we had a “semi-meeting” and at the end of it, praise and worship. And I think it was just beneficial to all the members there.
CHARLIE: Praise God. Thank you.
[applause]
CHARLIE: Lastly, Kara Hrbacek, from Colorado Springs. Another sprint. [Murmuring in audience.] There we go.
KARA: Can you hear me?
Ours just happened two weeks ago, and—Charlie was able to come and be with us. And I would say people were in similar spots, not quite knowing if it mattered, or what was going on when they came in. But by the end, I would say there was a great sense of unity, of the seriousness of what we were doing, excitement. The time together—I would say I experienced a lot of the same spirit that I experienced in May: just upbeat, and joyful, and open, and hopeful.
My women’s group did a great job doing the method, better than I could do on my own, so that was fun.
A lot of comments, some comments I heard is [sic], “This makes so much sense,” or “This is so exciting,” or “I’m so grateful for the personal invitation.” People were downloading the app before Charlie started talking the first time, so people came away with that app and excited. “Now I know what this is about.”
There was a fairly new branch member who was excited not because she could give her input, but she said, “I’m so excited to learn about the history of People of Praise! I’m gonna know what I’m a part of.” I was so grateful for that, and I think a lot of people came away having their minds changed.
CHARLIE: Amen. Praise God. Thanks, Kara.
[applause]
So, I’ve been involved in three of these branch visits personally, and I would confirm everything that was just said. They were really very encouraging to everybody that I talked to.
So, in visiting branches—I’ll give just a little perspective from somebody going to visit a branch, ’cause a lot of the head coordinators have been doing that. My sense of doing this, everywhere that I’ve been, is kind of consistent with what Paul says in his opening remarks to the Romans (Romans 1:11): “I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” And that kind of “mutual encouragement” really is a good way of capturing, I think, what happens during these events in the various branches. Praise God.
I’ll tell you just a really quick story about something from Vancouver/Portland. So, this is before the app even came out, when we first published the kickoff talks, that—you had to go through the website, with a password and all that, to get to it. The oldest sister in our branch figured out how to get to those talks. And this is just—like, within a couple of days, she sent Dan Kabele and I an email, just saying, “I just finished listening to all the kickoff talks. And they are just terrific! Thank you so—I’m just so excited!” And just went on and on.
So, I picked up the phone and called her and just said, “Ann, thank you so much! That was just really—your enthusiasm is really contagious.” And she says, “Well, yes,” she says, “Is there anything I can do to help?” And so, she’s the oldest woman in the branch; she lost her husband a year ago; she recently found out she’s got a diagnosis of cancer, which she’s fighting.
I mean it’s just—there’s a lot going on in this sister’s life. But she just says,”I’m just so excited to be alive, to go through this consultation!” It was very moving to me. And, “Is there anything I can do to help?” And so I said, “Well, yeah, you’re already helping. You’ve caught the fire! So start spreading it, and sharing it with your brothers and sisters.” Which is exactly what she’s been doing.
In all of this, content—in all of this, there has been a focus on content and method.
Regarding content, there’s been a selection, as you’ve heard, kind of different for each branch, of two or three talks from the May kickoff.
And with regard to method, these events have been, like, practicing the group discussion method following these little mini talks, that are given from the different May kickoff talks.
So, the focus has included both content and method, both of which are crucial to our having a successful consultation. And these two foci will continue to be high priorities for us this weekend. Regarding content: what kind of people do we need to be in order to have a valid consultation in the Spirit? And with regard to method: how shall we proceed as we consider and discuss, together, our past, our present, and our future?
So let’s be clear: everything we do together this weekend is in God’s hands. Very important. The Holy Spirit is with us. Let’s be maximally open to the Spirit’s movements.
And, let’s relax. Relax! Stay in the moment. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s be filled with hope. You know, people who have everything all figured out in advance, they have no reason to hope. Let’s be people of hope. Hope for what? For good! Hope for good. Good things will happen this weekend because of the Spirit’s presence. Hope to be surprised. The Holy Spirit is full of surprises. And let’s count on the Holy Spirit infecting all of us, together.
Let me close with something that I think is my prayer, and something that I think can be all of our prayer, as we go into this conference. It comes from Philippians 1, where Paul is speaking to that community a couple thousand years ago,
It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Come, Lord Jesus, and fill our minds and hearts with these sentiments. Amen.
[Applause.]
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