You are invited to join a Facilitated Conversation about Leadership at St. John the Baptist in the Parish Hall on Saturday, March 11^th at 9:30am. This conversation will be the last in the series of restorative conversations in the broader conversation about the direction of St. John the Baptist. The Reference Team will be bringing all the ideas you have articulated at the various sessions to a planning meeting that we will have together as a congregation on April 29^th, consolidating the ideas into an Action Plan.

You are being invited to attend primarily as a listener and observer. There will be an empty chair in the Circle to which you as “listeners” will be invited if you have a question or require clarification, or have something to add. The main facilitation could drag on if too many listeners opt to enter the Circle through the empty chair. Therefore, you as a listener will be encouraged to join the Circle only infrequently (if at all), and only if you think the entire facilitation will benefit from the additional point or question you need or make or ask.  The Leadership Conversation on the 11^th will likely take up to three hours and will begin at 9:30 am, and follow what is now becoming a familiar pattern: there will be a brief overview of the Leadership/Relationship Quadrants and then Heidi De Jonge and Bill Bickle will facilitate the conversation using the eight questions, also below.

1. When you think of church leadership, how do you describe it?

2. In the context of St. John the Baptist, how would you define leadership and leadership structures?

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3. As a leader &/or influencer at St. John the Baptist, who are you leading and how, and why?

4. As a member at St. John the Baptist, who are you following and how, and why?

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5. Who is impacted by the leadership and followership at St. John the Baptist and in what ways? How have you been impacted?

6. What’s the hardest part about your role as a leader? Your role as a follower?

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7. What do you need to move forward as a leader and a follower?

8. What are you willing to do to move forward?

While you may join the conversation with ideas and concerns to express, your thinking and feelings may change as you listen to others. You may also hear things in the Circle that prompt additional thoughts and/or feelings that you want to share. There will be moments to pause and add these.