Who: Church Chairs

When: Nov 5, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Presenter: Paul Lessard, Executive Minister of Start and Strengthen Churches

Register in Advance: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Description:

The last 6 months have been tough. The effects of COVID-19, escalating racial tension, and increasing political polarization have all seeped into our churches in some form, taken a toll, and left us with an abiding sense of uncertainty about the future. Most of us are experiencing fatigue borne of long work hours and constant multitasking among competing priorities (family, work, school, church, etc.). Most of us have been affected by local or state restrictions on gathering. Some of us have had to address conflict within our churches over the pursuit of racial righteousness, the wearing of masks, or the timing of a return to in-person worship. And when we are honest, there is more than a little uncertainty about what the future holds. (Which of our members won’t come back? Will we ever get back to ‘normal’?) Our Pastors are feeling the weight of this season and our Church Chairs are as well. You didn’t sign up for THIS! Yet here you are. Though you might consider yourself an unlikely person to help lead your church through one of the most intense and challenging seasons that the Church has ever experienced, you were in fact elected by your congregation to do so. Because it can be a lonely, isolating, uncomfortable space, I’m grateful that you continue to serve, and I long for you to be encouraged in your role.  

The GLC has asked Paul Lessard, the ECC’s Executive Minister of Start and Strengthen Churches (SSC) to share a word with the Chairs of our GLC Churches about “Being an Unlikely Leader in Uncertain Times.” It is a thoughtful message rooted in the story of Lydia and the church plant in Philippi (Acts 16) through which Paul shows how the Lord has prepared us through the call on our life, to lead in times for which we feel unsuited and unprepared. His message is one of encouragement and affirmation in these days when it can be difficult to lead.  It is a message he has shared with a number of church leaders and pastors in recent weeks through his various connections across the country.  It has been well received and much appreciated. In addition to hearing from Paul, there will be an opportunity to ask questions, meet some other GLC Church Chairs and pray for one another.   

Paul was elected to serve as Executive Minister of SSC in 2019. In the role he oversees both Church Planting and Congregational Vitality Ministries for our entire denomination. Prior to this role he worked as a lead pastor, a worship pastor, a consultant for churches, mission agencies and other non-profits, and as a college instructor and administrator. Paul is deeply committed to the Gospel, and to Christ’s Church. He has been in full time ministry for 32 years and cares deeply for both pastors and lay leaders.