Sunday, April 22, 2012

CCDA prep


This is part of what has been taking up a lot of my time and therefore limited my time writing.  I am part of the host team mentioned below, and actually in charge (why anyone would put me in charge of anything is a mystery!) of making sure that prayer is a central part of every facet of this conference, from the preparation, to the event, to the effects of the conference, etc.  If you want more information, shoot me an e-mail at prayer@ccda.org.  In the meantime, read the words of my friend about the coming conference.  And then come to our prayer meetings if you live in the Twin Cities, and/or come to the conference in September.  You will be blessed.
 

Are You Ready to Reconcile?

05_10_challenge_houseGetting Ready for the 2012 CCDA National Conference in the Twin Cities

As CCDA's Conference Director, I'm responsible for making sure our annual National Conference is a success. What does that mean? In a simple sense, I need to keep us on budget, plan activities that meet the needs of a wide variety of people, and ensure that communication flows smoothly. More significant is the definition of "success" that isn't quite so tangible. This centers on building relationships and fostering connections. Often, I feel ill-equipped for something so monumental, but I'm really glad to be part of it.
Much of this relationship-building happens at the Host Team level. It seems I am continually learning what it takes to build a Host Team, even though one would think I'd have this part down after five years of working for CCDA. These days, it's the importance of relationships I'm being reminded of—something that's easy for me to overlook as I pursue the simpler definitions of success.
My primary interactions with CCDA members lately have been with the 2012 Twin Cities Host Team; a group of the most committed, hardest-working volunteers I've known. There are about 40 people on the team, from executive directors of community development centers to church pastors to lay leaders and businesspeople that all find themselves drawn to Christian Community Development (CCD). This group is divided into Action Teams that address various parts of the conference, like Childcare, Transportation, Youth and Fundraising.
The Host Team has always been an important part of CCDA's conference planning in terms of getting things done. For an event of its size, the National Conference has a relatively small support staff and the Host Team has been relied upon to carry out crucial tasks. In recent years, however, our focus has turned to fostering a network that will have longer-term impact in the host city. The idea began during an organizing meeting when an interested citizen of the host city asked, "While we're investing all this time and energy in putting on a four-day event that will come and go, why don't we extend our focus beyond the conference to what its presence can do for our city?" Out of that question came initiatives like the Big Picture Team, a committee within the Host Team dedicated to making connections and planning for what happens after the CCDA conference leaves town.
Exploring the big picture has taken us back to where I started: relationships are key in this work. One of the lessons I've learned over the last several years is that every city has strained relationships, even among Christian Community Developers. For various reasons and among different individuals and groups, there are past hurts, disagreements and misunderstandings that haven't been addressed. As Christians who talk about reconciliation all the time, you'd think we'd have this figured out, but in many senses, we're no different than anyone else. We have strained personal and ministry relationships that need to be reconciled.
Thankfully, this year's conference theme is Reconcile. We have six months until the CCDA family gathers again in the Twin Cities and I'd like for me and you and everyone else who is a part of CCDA to consider what it means to reconcile with one another—not just in theory, but also in practice. Let's use the time we have before we gather to reach out to those with whom we have strained relationships and begin the process of forgiveness. Let's pursue the Christian character that Ephesians 4 describes, which includes being quick to reconcile with those who make us angry and generous with our forgiveness.
If that happens, within the Host Team and in the lives of others around the country, we will experience the latter, richer kind of success when we gather in September.

Erin Schultz is Conference Director at CCDA. To read her full profile, click here.

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