A Special Word from Transitional Conference Minister, Rev. Erin Gilmore

Over the last few weeks, I have had the joy of attending several significant services that spanned the spectrum of ministerial life, from Josh Rumple’s ordination and Quinn Gorges’ Installation and Covenanting Service, to the joint service of Metro Denver with Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, to a Retirement Sunday for Sarah Verasco and a memorial gathering in honor of JoAnne Bogart. As I reflect back on these services, I am left with beautiful examples of what it is to be faithful.  I think of the incredible impact that JoAnne had on people of all ages across this Conference and her faithful presence at La Foret for so many years. I think of Quinn and Pearl moving to a new state, a new church, and a new call, trusting in God’s leading and UCC Parker Hilltop’s faithful discernment in extending the call to Quinn. I think of Josh’s faithfulness in saying yes to a call he hadn’t planned on. I think of Karen Georgia’s faithfulness in accepting the nomination to be General Minister and President of the UCC.  In my reflection at Longmont on Sarah’s last Sunday, it was the word faithful that, for me, captured the essence of her ministry in Longmont and in the Wider church. 

And by faithful, I am not talking about ascent to particular beliefs. Instead, I think of faith as a  practice, as trust, as seeing the Spirit at work, and as trusting and centering the Spirit and the life of Jesus in the way that one walks through the world. 

At our Annual Meeting this past year, we affirmed a transition plan that calls us as a Conference to put forth our best and most faithful effort toward helping our local churches make intentional, creative, and bold decisions as they seek to live out their most faithful expression of the gospel. 

This affirmation raises some questions: 

What does our best effort as a Conference look like? 

What is the unique role/gift of the Conference as congregations and leaders discern those faithful, creative steps?

What do we need to transition from and into so that we can live into our best effort as a Conference as we seek to support local churches and faith leaders? 

As a start to our “transition” from where we are into what we will become, we have identified a few faithful next steps. I hope you will take some to learn more about them below. 

Clergy wellness and support: Vital, healthy communities need vital, healthy leaders. 

1. Pilot Coaching Program: In 2012, the ratio of churches searching for pastors and pastors searching for churches was about 1:4, so for every church in search, there were 4 pastors searching. In 2024, the ratio is about 1:1.  There are all kinds of reasons for the decline in pastors, and not all of those reasons are within our control. But, what is in our control is the support and encouragement of pastors. We know that some of the factors for clergy decline are burnout, isolation, and the complexity of being a leader in these times in which we live, especially for those who are in the first five years of ministry. We want to be a conference that invests in the wellness and excellence of clergy in their particular contexts. To that end, we are partnering with Vince Tango to experiment with a pastoral coaching program to foster greater self-awareness, hone leadership skills and build one’s capacity for overall effectiveness in one’s ministry.  More information about this program and the application link can be found here. 

2. Workshop on Grief & Joy: The Four Fold Way with Quanita Roberson:  The four-fold practice is a simple, profound framework for the different ways we show up to ourselves, in conversation with others, and together in the places we work and live.  These two hours are intended to be a time of soul-care for clergy. The first session will be happening on September 26th from 6-8PM.  Learn more about Quanita here. Sign up for the workshop here. 

3. Leadership Retreat for Board, Association Leaders, and Committee Leaders on October 21st-23rd at La Foret: As a first step in this transition period, we want to identify and affirm our core values that are at the heart of our ministry as a Conference.  In light of these values, we also want to reflect on where we have been and what that past might teach us about what we have been valuing and also inform what we need to shift to live the values we say we value.  This retreat, also led by Quanita Roberson, is open to all RMC Board members, Association Moderators, Conference COM chairs, and interested leaders at large. This first gathering will be limited to 30 participants. We will be sharing outcomes and developing further opportunities for all who want to be part of co-creating the future of our conference. Please visit the RMC’s Zeffy page to register for this retreat.