Communication
Value Definition - Contextualized, effective communication of Biblical & theological truth by a variety of means for personal & corporate transformation.
Overall Reflection
For my competence in the Christian Leadership degree, I am submitting:
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Meeting & Interview Notes to show note-taking to help with active listening and to help remember key compliments of important conversations.
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Meeting schedules to show time limits that were set on meetings and interviews to help with keeping communication efficient and respectful of people's times. Also to show regular mentor, therapy, and coaching sessions.
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Church visit schedules to show when I did church visits.
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Presentations for Churches to show what information was shared during these visits (including speaking notes).
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Print materials for Churches to show how information was shared with churches whether or not we were able to visit.
Lifelong Reflection
As a result of the experiences documented by these artifacts, I will continue to develop in the Christian Leadership degree by continuing the personal growth I benefited from in therapy, and will continue my mentorship as well. Taking so many notes during meetings is something I will continue to do. It was a helpful aid in active listening, and also was helpful to review notes for follow-up meetings to make sure I remembered all of the details from previous meetings. I also plan to make more time to visit churches on the Sundays I don't have other obligations. This was the greatest challenge, and will require greater schedule coordination to achieve in the future.
Learning Reflection
As I developed in the Christian Leadership degree and ministry experiences, one of the most valuable things I got from my goals was mentorship, coaching, and therapy. I learned that I struggle with a lot of anxiety and high burnout, and I spent most of the year trying to navigate those challenges single-handedly in ministry, so having that outside, professional support was extremely helpful. I was able to celebrate wins, process struggles, and make practical action steps, and I feel like as a result of seeking to ramble less, I was able to grow in spiritually healthy emotions, which in turn did help me become a more effective communicator and listener in conversations.
For my professional goal, I feel like I was less successful at this goal because of the lack of Sundays I had available to visit churches. I was able to visit 3 Eastern Shore Churches (primarily helping with pulpit supply 1-2 times a month) 1 new Western Shore Church, and I connected with a local eccumenical organization of churches and share about camps with some new church leaders there. I would have liked to visit more churches, and will continue this goal in the fall to make sure I visit the remaining 4 Eastern Shore churches and a few more Western Shore churches and make in-person visits to my new friends in the Caroline County Clergy Association.
