Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church

- REGISTER FOR CONVOCATION -

Kent Millard arrived in October of 1993 to start his new appointment as Senior Pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, a 4,000-member congregation in the city of Indianapolis. Kent had spent the last several years as Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He inherited five associate pastors, all who had been serving at St. Luke's under the previous Senior Minister.

I arrived in July of 1994, the first associate appointed during Kent's era. I replaced one of the five associates who had been serving St. Luke's when Kent arrived. In spite of the positive, loving atmosphere that was shown to the congregation on Sunday mornings, the air that filled the meetings that took place during the week was both dark and dreary. The four remaining associates who had served under the previous senior pastor made it very clear they did not like Kent, did not want Kent, and wished he would simply go away and leave them alone. They found fault with him on everything he proposed. I did not find out until later that these four associates, plus the one who had left when I arrived, had worked it out in their mind that they could serve as the clergy of St. Luke's without having a senior pastor in charge. They would rotate the responsibility, and at one time discussed inviting Leonard Sweet to come and be the Sunday preacher, while Leonard went back to New Jersey during the week, leaving the associate pastors to run the church. The fact that the Staff Parish turned down this idea, and they invited Kent instead; left a sour taste in the mouths of the associate pastors left.

I won't discuss details of the slammed doors, shouts during the meeting, and the sundry banana peels that were left for Kent to slip on; but the fact is that Kent handled this dysfunction like a Christian. He saw challenges as opportunities, and turned conflict into conversation. In the end, all of the associates under the former senior pastor left, but one; and a couple of them came to appreciate Kent in ways they would never have dreamed when Kent first arrived. Kent showed what genuine, agape love looked like in the day-to-day grind of staff relationships. I can't say he ever became "best friends forever" with all these associates, but he earned their respect and learned how to work with them.

John Wesley once asked, "Even though we can't think alike, can we not all love alike?" Kent found one of his greatest challenges was in how to do that at home, with his staff, as well as across the world, with our adversaries. What is most important is that the way Kent handled these conflicts, especially with the church, is what kept St. Luke's from becoming a dysfunctional mess. Instead, St. Luke's continued to grow in grace and love and respect for one another. It is true when they say that congregations mirror the personalities of their senior pastor. St. Luke's did, and it was to their benefit. As for me, my D.S. once told me during the heat of the conflicts, "smile, do your job, and keep your mouth shut." I suppose it was wise counsel for the moment, but Kent taught me the better way.

The Decision

After Kent had been at St. Luke's for a few months, he put together a vision team of 48 people to help decide the next steps in St. Luke's future. One of the first big items of discussion was whether St. Luke's would relocate to a new location in Carmel, Indiana or stay at its current location on 86th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. The reality is that St. Luke's church was outgrowing its current space and it needed a larger sanctuary, a large music suite, and a Christian education wing. During the discussion, some felt that St. Luke's should expand their facilities on 86th Street, while others felt they should relocate to a region further north in Carmel, Indiana. Two men emerged as significant leaders in this discussion, each taking a different side. In one particular meeting, the debate became very intense, people were getting angry with one another and as a way to gauge the progress in the talks, a straw vote poll was taken. All 48 people were present at the meeting. The result of the straw vote poll: 24 to move; 24 to stay. Kent said his first thought was, "Great, I've been here a little more than a year, and I 've managed to split this congregation." The chair of the task force, upon seeing the vote, looked at Kent and said, "Well, what do we do now?" It is moments like this that can make or break a senior pastor's ministry at a church. Kent spoke up and said, "The only decision we are going to make tonight is to not make any decision." He then told the 48-member task force that he was going on a three-day silent sabbatical. During that time he would spend his hours in reading the Bible, prayer and discernment. He asked the task force to also spend time in prayer, then return and meet again in one week.

The following week Kent opened the meeting with his telling about his three-day sabbatical. Kent said that during his silent retreat, three sets of words kept coming to his mind. First, was the word — "listen." Second, he kept reading passages in the Bible that said — "Be not afraid." Third, the word — "miracle." Then Kent heard the Lord tell him, "Go back to your task force and look for these three sets of words — listen, be not afraid, miracle. In them you will find the answer.

Then he asked his 48 participants to do an exercise. He asked the 24 of them who wanted to relocate to pair up — one on one — with one of the 24 who wanted to stay on 86th street. Their task was to listen to each other. In order to show that they listened, they had to repeat back to each other what they heard from each other, to each other's satisfaction; so that they knew they had heard each other. Kent said there was tension as the conversations began, but as they continued, Kent began to feel people relax and some even smiled at each other. When they shared later, one person said, "There are no evil people in this room. We all just want what is best for the Lord's church at St. Luke's." As they listened, they became less afraid of each other.

Then, during the general reflection time, one person suggested they hire an architect and let him look at both spots, giving the committee an idea of how much it would cost to relocate, versus the cost of adding on to the facility on 86th street. The motion was seconded, and it passed unanimously. Where was the miracle? Kent said the miracle was in the fact that this task force of 48 people voted unanimously to hire the architect. These 48, Kent said, had never voted unanimously on anything before this night.

Dennis Flaugher, Pastor Brainerd UMC, Chattanooga, TN