Diagnose, Engage, Transform: A Report on How Congregations Use KLC Training to Improve Communities

A Report on How CongregationsUse Kansas Leadership Center Trainingto Improve Community Health

LEADERSHIP&FAITHTRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES

FEBRUARY 2013 BY POLLY BASORE

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LEADERSHIP & FAITH TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES OBJECTIVES

REVITALIZEchurches

IMPROVEcommunity health

INCREASEcivic leadership

residents without access to healthy food, immigrantsneeding to learn English, and children lagging inschool from lack of physical activity.

This report profiles eight of thesecongregations, along with highlightsof a follow-up survey of programparticipants and church leaders.

Nearly all participants who responded to the surveyindicated they increased their own capacity for civicleadership and applied those skills. Most felt theircongregations gained a better understanding ofissues impacting community health, though actualimpact varied. Most felt at least some membersof their congregations became more engagedin their churches.

The last is especially important to Bishop ScottJones, who says the chief adaptive challengefacing the 688 churches under his supervisionis this: “We have a problem with churches thatbecome clubs for the benefit of their members,”he said. Jones believes church vitality ultimatelydepends on whether a congregation is engagedin what goes on outside its walls.

O’Malley is similarly interested in getting Kansansto step outside themselves.

“The big grand noble aspiration is totransform the civic culture of Kansas…to make more progress on the issuesthat matter most,” O’Malley says.

That will happen when people stop coming up withsolutions to perceived problems by themselves,or with their allies and friends, and then trying topersuade others to implement their solution. “Wehave to engage across factions even as we definewhat the problem is.”

Steve Coen, Kansas Health Foundation presidentand CEO, says he knows what progress can bemade when people of faith, equipped with civicleadership skills, tackle daunting challenges in theircommunities. Because members of his own church,Chapel Hill Fellowship, went through KLC Leader-ship & Faith Transforming Communities (L&F)an impoverished neighborhood in Wichita now hasa brand new health clinic, a soup kitchen and tutorsfor children in its schools.

Seeing what has happened at his church andhearing about others, Coen is convinced the programis a success: “It has gone beyond our expectations,even exceeded our best hopes. It is a bright andshining star in the cap of the Kansas LeadershipCenter and they should be very proud of whatthis program has done for Kansas.”

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Poverty, hunger and racism linger, unbound bytime or geography. Progress is stymied by humantendencies to fear change and to disassociatefrom the suffering of others.

These kinds of problems are what the KansasLeadership Center (KLC) calls “adaptive challenges”– problems where answers aren’t straightforwardand human behavior and values may needto change.

The Kansas Health Foundation established theKLC in 2007 with the purpose of better equippingKansans to foster progress on tough communitychallenges. The Foundation believed thatmore effective civic leadership would be crucialto advancing its mission of creating healthierKansas communities.

It wasn’t long before both the Kansas HealthFoundation and the Kansas Leadership Centersaw the potential in working with churches.

“Our feeling has been that if we want to transformthe civic culture, we need to find key leveragepoints. Faith communities are a key leverage point,”says Ed O’Malley, CEO of the Kansas Leadership

Center. “Christians, after all, are called to workin the community, to help thy neighbor, to makethe world a better place.”

KLC’s Leadership & Faith TransformingCommunities program was launched inJanuary 2009 with a $1.1 million grantfrom the Kansas Health Foundation andthe United Methodist Church of Kansas.

The program invites churches to send teams of fourto seven members through an intensive four-daytraining session, followed seven months later bythree more days. Teams are directed to identifyand take action on a community challenge.

From its inception, the program had three objectives:1) Revitalize United Methodist churches, 2) Enhancecommitment to community health and 3) Increasecivic leadership capacity. The goals themselvesare adaptive challenges, difficult to measure interms of success. Here is what we know for sure:More than 280 people from 58 United Methodistcongregations have gone through the programso far. Dozens have addressed such challengesas people trapped in generational poverty, rural

Everyone likes a

QUICK FIX,but some problemsdefy solutions

3.

KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • FEBRUARY 2013KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • FEBRUARY 2013

KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • FEBRUARY 2013

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PLEASANTVALLEY

Bringing Neighbors Together

Founded in 1952, Pleasant ValleyUnited Methodist (PVUMC) is nestledin a tree-filled residential neighborhoodin northwestWichita. Those who grew upin the church in the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80shave memories of traditional middle class familiesliving here, mostly white, like most of Kansas.Today the church membership remains mostlythe same, but the neighborhood is vastly different.

Children have grown and left to raise their ownfamilies in newer and more vibrant neighborhoods,leaving their aging parents behind. In their place,Hispanic families are moving in, drawn by low-costhousing, a growing Spanish-speaking businessdistrict and nearby industrial jobs, like the localmeat packing plant where you can find work withoutneeding to speak English. The resulting demographicchanges are evident at Cloud Elementary, the nearestschool, where more than half the students areHispanic and 97 percent are on the federal freeand reduced lunch program.

The effect on Pleasant Valley Church is profound,its original membership base is shrinking – literallydying off. “I sang at a couple of funerals last weekwhere we lost two of the long-time members ofthe church,” says Carrie Heiman, who grew upat Pleasant Valley. Her great-grandparents andgrandparents were founding members. Her parentsstill attend; and live nearby. But Heiman lives 10

miles away with her husband and six kids, who makethe commute across town on Sunday mornings andWednesday nights, preserving family tradition.

Heiman has decided the trip across town is worthit, but what about other young legacy families likehers? What’s there to keep them coming to PleasantValley? For PVUMC Pastor, Nathan Stanton, it’s adaunting challenge: “My whole white church couldwalk out on me if I don’t play it right.”

Carrie Heiman and Pastor Stanton started seriouslywrestling with the issue in August 2010, as membersof a team from Pleasant Valley United Methodistthat went through the KLC’s Leadership & Faithprogram. “They gave us the tools to begin discussingthings very quickly,” Carrie says.

When KLC facilitators challenged the team to identifyand address a need outside the church walls, theyimmediately thought of the Hispanics living nearthe church.

First, the team did a survey, asking both churchmembers and people in the surrounding communityto complete the sentence, “When you think aboutyour community, the thing that concerns me the mostis. . .” Surveys were distributed to the congregation,as well as nearby fire departments, doctors’ officesand other public places, with the question worded inEnglish, Spanish and Vietnamese because there isalso a significant Asian immigrant population nearby.

SPEAKING TO LOSSthe key to overcomingcultural differences

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The results reflected a split between the concernsof church members and the surrounding neighbor-hood. “There was a real disparity,” recalls PastorStanton. Church members were most concernedwith preserving church traditions, while people fromthe neighborhood cited safety. “A lot of the Hispaniccomments had to do specifically with desire forshelter from a tornado and fear of violence anddrugs,” says Stanton.

As the church began to confront fears of changesthat could result from reaching out to the community,a pivotal moment came during a congregationalmeeting in which a member was given an opportunityto speak to loss.

Heiman tells the story of how a woman in thecongregation spoke up about how she didn’t likenot being able to communicate at work with some-one who spoke Spanish. “That made this personreally angry. She was all, go learn English. It’s notmy job to try to communicate with you, you needto go and learn English.”

Another L&F team member asked her why shefound it upsetting. The person talked about howthat made her feel, that she felt insecure she couldn’tcommunicate with this person and she felt burdenedshe would have to work harder to get her job donebecause of the communication barrier. She wasintimidated by the cultural differences.

Eventually the woman admitted she was ableto work well with her Hispanic coworker. “That’snot how her story started, but that’s how it ended.You could tell from her body language that sherelaxed and we were able to continue the dialogue.It was a great moment!”

With the groundwork laid, people within the churchbegan to consider how to address the sense ofvulnerability reported by the Hispanic community.“This led us to think about how safety lies in beingable to communicate in English and ask for what youneed, or feeling empowered in the workplace andable to stand up for yourself,” recalls Pastor Stanton.

With that in mind, Stanton says a program at nearbySt. Paul’s United Methodist Church caught hisattention. A couple of American missionarieswith a background of planting churches in Mexicowere teaching Hispanics how to speak English.

Stanton asked the missionaries, Tim and JenniferJepsen, to bring the program to Pleasant Valley.With financial support from the CongregationalNew Church Development and Hispanic UnitedMethodist Ministries (two sources of Methodistfunding), Jennifer Jepsen, a former school teacher,was hired to run the ESL program while Tim Jepsen,a pastor, was assigned to plant a new Hispanic church.

Success of the program would depend on congregationparticipation. Jennifer predicted she would needat least 40 volunteers to pull it all off. The programhas many parts, for starters, families are invited toshare a meal so that families won’t have to worryabout preparing dinner before coming to class.

Pleasant Valley UMC is located in northwest Wichita.The congregation is reaching out to the Hispanicneighborhood around the church by offering freeEnglish as a Second Language classes. L&F teammembers settled on English instruction as a wayto address residents’ concerns about safety.

Pleasant Valley engaged nearly 1 in 4 church members in its program to teach English to Hispanic families. Volunteersprepared meals, served as tutors and led activities for children. Here members of the congregation pose with participants.

An hour of language instruction follows dinnerwith church volunteers working with no more thana handful of adult students. During the hour ofinstruction, a nursery is provided for children ages4 and under; children 5 and up participate in whatis called Kidz Club with activities that include scienceexperiments, art projects and music.

Afterward, those who want to stay are invited toparticipate in a brief religious service with songsand scripture.

Pastor Stanton said the response to the call forvolunteers surprised him. “The Jepsens werehoping for 40, but we ended up with over 60volunteers, which right now is over one fourthof our worshipping community,” Stanton says.

Launched in September 2011, the ESL programwas an immediate success, drawing more than

80 Hispanic people a week. Most stayed for worshipafter the lessons. In its second year, the programdrew twice that many.

As intended by design, the program forged positiverelationships between long-time church membersand their language learner guests. Tim Jepsen putsit this way, “Familiarity doesn’t breed contempt –it breeds content.”

The Jepsen’s cite as an example one man whoinitially wanted to volunteer in the kitchen preparingmeals “I made him be one of the teachers, and hedidn’t have a great attitude about it,” Jennifer Jepsensays. A couple weeks into the program, the manmade a confession. “He called me and said, ‘Youknow I used to be one of these folks who saidround ‘em all up and ship them back to their country,’“recalls Tim Jepsen. The man became transformedby a new friendship with his Hispanic student.

“Familiarity doesn’t breed contempt –it breeds content.”

6. 7.

Becky Beal, a church member and ESL volunteerteacher, says she used to resent Hispanic immigrants,when she lived in south Texas, surrounded by peoplewith whom she couldn’t communicate. But Bealsays she was transformed by learning the storyof an ESL student, a mother jailed for trying to sneakinto the United States with her young son, fleeinga drug cartel that murdered her husband and anotherson. “People don’t understand because they havenever heard these stories,” she says.

With anecdote after anecdote, it quickly becomesclear how outreach to the Hispanic communityis providing far more than language skills.

Consider Sergio Torres, who lived in Wichita for 30years without learning English. He wasn’t necessarilylooking to learn when Pleasant Valley church mem-bers showed up at his door with a flyer promotingthe program. But he was looking for God to helphim overcome the alcoholism he feared would killhim. Torres has since been baptized and joined the

church. He is a regular at English and Spanish serviceson Sunday, part of an influx of Hispanics whosepresence at worship services has slowed the overallslide in attendance at Pleasant Valley.

Seeing so many lives transformed persuades PastorStanton he’s done the right thing. It didn’t comewithout costs – he had to make choices. In the nameof priorities, he eliminated a popular contemporaryworship service, a decision that cost him memberswho left for other Methodist churches in town.He explains, “The loss of the service has impactedmy leadership here. Some people are taking a stepback and saying, ‘Is this my church anymore?’But the church is coming around. More are saying,‘This is why we’re here! The mission field has cometo us; we don’t have to go all over the world. It’sright here.’”

Fourth-generation member Carrie Heiman understandssome find the changes difficult, but she sees peopledoing the hard work to keep the church moving inthe right direction: “I don’t have that doom andgloom sense that it’s going to die. I might have feltthat 10 years ago, but I don’t now.” She credits theKansas Leadership Center with providing her andothers with the skills to tackle difficult problems:“I am so thankful.”

Church volunteers run a “Kidz Club” forthe children of Hispanic families who cometo weekly tutoring sessions. More than 160people came each week during Fall 2012.

The church plantedsigns advertisingthe ESL class onits lawn and aroundthe neighborhood.

In his own words:

JERRY KARRAmericus FUMC

“I am from Americus. I grew up in a large family, the oldestof eight. I graduated from Southern Illinois University whereI studied economics and agricultural economics. I served 18years in the state Legislature and held many roles incommunity organizations. I had a lifetime of experiencein leadership roles, but not until the Kansas LeadershipCenter did I appreciate the importance of Engaging UnusualVoices. In traditional rural communities, you don’t get a lotof unusual voices.The same people usually end up at the table.”

“In May 2011, a tornado hit Reading, a little town 17 miles to the west. Halfthe housing and all of the businesses were gone. So I took some of these things Ihad learned at KLC and tried to find leadership in a town that had been severelyhit by disaster. Suddenly I was working with a range of people I had never workedwith before.”

“The disaster propelled new people into leadership roles.You had to decide whetherto become a ghost town and walk away from it. Half of your population is gone.Your schools will probably close. But we found people who were there all along.We have the man who grades the roads, who lost his house, who is now the mayor.A lady who teaches middle school in Lebo suddenly became co-chair of the long-termplanning committee.They were right there all the time.”

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INDEPENDENCEGetting Children Moving

They weren’t looking to transform earlyeducation across the region, but that iswhat happened when members of the FirstUnited Methodist Church in Independencetook up a challenge to improve the healthof their community.

It started in August 2009, when the church sentmembers through the KLC’s Leadership & Faithprogram, including two former teachers, SandyNelson and Jana Shaver, who gravitated towardthe needs of children.

Directed by KLC to identify and address a communityhealth issue, Jana Shaver, a state school boardmember and long-time educator, wanted to addresschildhood obesity. “Our group decided to focuson early childhood and the need for physical activityin that age group,” recalls Shaver.

The team energized others to help diagnosethe situation. “We added kindergarten teachers,we added the school nurse, we added the schoolfood services director, we added a physical therapist,”says Dean Hayse, a team member. “The peoplewho joined us were critical to get us to wherewe needed to be.”

What they discovered took them far beyond concernabout obesity: 60 percent of children entering kinder-garten were showing up with developmental delaysin their gross and fine motor skills, which involvethe use of large and small muscle groups to controlsuch actions as sitting, walking, grasping and writing.A lack of activity during the preschool years wasstunting development that would affect their abilityto succeed in school.

Church

INTERVENES SKILLFULLYby Engaging Right Partners

First United Methodist Church of Independencecollaborated with educators and social workersto provide a program that boosts child braindevelopment through increased physical activity.

FUMC INDEPENDENCE

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In the three years since they started, the teamhas brought in a national expert on the relationshipbetween physical activity and brain development,Athena Oden. They held workshops that introducednearly 200 educators, day care providers andpreschool teachers to Oden’s Ready Bodies, Learn-ing Minds curriculum, a collection of strategies andactivities to promote motor-sensory development.

With the money they made off the workshops –offered to teachers for continuing education credit– the team was able to purchase play equipmentdesigned to promote gross and fine motor skilldevelopment. Then they assembled 10 kits of playequipment, wrote a guide for its proper use, andbegan a lending program. Area preschools and daycare providers can check the kits out once a month,at no cost.

The local elementary school, Eisenhower, addeda ”motor lab,” where team member Jayne Mattixworks with all kindergarteners on developmentalskills. (An elementary school in nearby Coffeyvilledid the same.) Eisenhower Principal Brad Carrollcredits Mattix with “hounding him -- in a good way”to put in a motor lab. With the motor lab now in itssecond year, Carroll is glad he did. “The kindergartenstaff sees a direct link between student progressin the motor lab and academic improvement acrossthe board with our kindergarten students.”

Carroll takes pride that Independence is a leader inaddressing the relationship between physical activityand brain development in young children. “I believewe are the only school in our area to put this muchemphasis -- or any emphasis at all -- on this learningstrategy,” he says.

“The kindergarten teacher understood that childrenwho had not developed certain muscular strengthswould spend their energy trying to stay in their seats,seeing what was on the board, keeping their placein a book ... and have little energy left over foracademic learning,” recalls Marilyn Gregory, a formerteam member who served with her husband Jackas FUMC Independence pastors at the time.

“The more we read, the more we talked,the clearer it became that we wanted tofocus on helping preschoolers be readyfor school, especially in being physicallyready for the disciplines of school ...sitting up in a chair, sitting still for a time,moving hands and arms across center,having good hand-eye coordination, beingable to move the head without movingthe body, etc.”

The team started by looking at what couldbe done at the church’s own preschool.They asked Nancy Estes, director of thepreschool for the past 24 years to join theirteam. She recognized the problem. “Yousee a lot of kids struggling; they can’t holda crayon right, or they can’t hop on onefoot, because if they are in a day care situ-ation that doesn’t play with them, thenthey are not going to know those skills.”

Estes suggested the team also invite hersister, Jeanne Fiscus, an early childhoodconsultant with a job that puts her in contactwith all of the day cares and preschoolsin a five-county region. Hayse saw heras a godsend. “Without her connections,we wouldn’t have been able to pull all ofthe parts together to make it successful.”

Fiscus’s job as an outreach coordinatorfor ChildCare Aware of Southeast Kansas,a state-supported agency, is to improvethe quality of daycare and preschools byoffering providers support. In her work,

she’s seen the failure of parents and providers toget children involved in active play.

“We’re seeing more kids sitting in front of televisions.It’s cheaper to do it and we’re kind of a poverty corner,”she says of southeast Kansas. “Many can’t affordthe play equipment children need and not enoughtake the time to play with children, either,” she says.

“When you look at what the team did, ‘success’doesn’t seem like a strong enough word.”

The church’s preschool uses bouncy balls and hula hoops to helpbuild children’s core muscles, a type of play that is essential tobolstering physical development necessary for success in school.

At Eisenhower Elementary in Independence, allkindergarteners spend time in the motor lab doingactivities designed to promote gross and fine motorskills. Two years ago, 60 percent of children cominginto kindergarten were behind in these skills.

12. 13.

“Since January 2010 we've undergone somepretty transformational internal structural changesthat I don’t know that we would have had thestrength to undertake but for the program,” saysBill Robison, a Wichita lawyer and chairman ofEHUMC’s staff-parish relations committee.

Robison was one of five people on EHUMC’s L&Fteam to go through the KLC training during sessionsheld in January and August 2010. Since that time,three team members left – two moved from thearea and a pastor on the team was reassigned – asituation that inhibited EHUMC from carrying out thecharge to identify and address a community need.“I felt like we didn’t meet what we were supposedto do by not having a mission project,” says KathyLefler, the other remaining L&F team member. Butlike Robison, she believes the KLC training playedan important role in the transformation now takingplace in the church.

“I think that our congregation – right now after sortof struggling in the wilderness for probably 10 years– I think we’re poised to have a new identity in thecommunity, and I attribute a lot of that back to ourparticipation in the program.”

In a week-long session, the five team membersbegan to diagnose the situation facing their church.They began to identify a number of internal structuralproblems contributing to a lack of communicationand ultimately, a lack of engagement. As Robisonexplains

“Committees had stopped functioning. The churchcouncil stopped meeting. The congregation hadgotten siloed. We developed into three differentchurches, in terms of what services peopleattended, physically separated from one another:an 8:45 service in the chapel, a 9:45 service in thegym, and an 11 o’clock service in the sanctuary.

So when the committees that stopped functioningwere made up of people from all of those services,we lost a lot of touch points. There was a lackof communication across the congregation thatwe believe contributed to the sense that wewere declining.”

Team members also examined their own behaviors,applying new KLC insights. Learning how to raisethe heat was the best lesson for Lefler, a churchmember and long-time director of lay ministries.“They taught us not to be afraid to ask a hardquestion or to ask someone to do somethingthey might not normally do. That was really helpfulto me because I was always taught to be reallynice and polite and let people offer first. “

The transformation in early childhood educationbrought about by the Leadership & Faith trainingbecame well-known to educators in the area andwas frequently mentioned in the local newspaper. Yetcuriously it received little notice from the congregation.

Hayse joined the church council two months agoand when he introduced himself and mentionedthe work of the team, some council members hadno idea what he was talking about. “There was oneperson who may have understood at one time therewas a request for equipment for the preschool andthat once again the church responded generously”Hayse said. “What they didn’t know as a governingbody was that we had identified this need amongthe young people in our community for fine andgross motor skill development. They didn’t knowthat Leadership & Faith was the committee thatactually developed that.” Hayse doesn’t blame themfor not knowing. The team never really tried to en-gage the general congregation. It found the skill setsit needed outside the congregation and raised moneyfrom grants and workshop fees. “We have become

very good at what we do, don’t need many folksto do it – and have the right folks,” he says.

Though the team clearly met two objectives of theLeadership & Faith program – improving communityhealth and increasing civic leadership capacity – it’snot clear that the team did anything to revitalize thechurch. But maybe that doesn’t matter. “We dida lot of good,” says Nelson.

“Revitalizing congregations is hard work,” saysGregory, now a part-time associate pastor atLenexa United Methodist Church. “I don't knowany recipe for making it happen. I don't even knowhow to measure vitality in a congregation, thoughI see the conference is asking for reports ofattendance, giving, professions of faith, peopleserved. Is Independence First more vital becauseof Leadership and Faith? Maybe. Have some peoplegrown as leaders, both in the church and in thecommunity? Certainly.”

DIAGNOSINGSITUATIONLeads to improvedinternal dynamics

For more than a decade, East HeightsUnited Methodist Church saw itscongregation shrink as internal dynamicscaused members of the church to loseownership. Participants in the KansasLeadership Center’s Leadership & Faithprogram say a better understanding ofadaptive challenges helped them beginto turn things around.

The Leadership & Faith team made the Ready Bodies,Learning Minds curriculum (left) available to educatorsfrom 25 different communities. The team created thebooklet on the right to go with its 10 kits of play equipmentit loans out to area preschools and daycare providers.The booklet explains how and why to use the equipment.

East Heights United Methodist Church in Wichitaused its KLC training to tackle adaptive challengeswithin the congregation, increasing communicationamong members and launching an effort to engagethe neighborhood.

EAST HEIGHTS

“They taught us not to be afraid to aska hard question or to ask someone to dosomething they might not normally do.“

14. 15.


Robison says he benefitted from learning to manageself “I am prone to make my mind up and thenspeak passionately to convince others that myapproach is the right approach.” Now Robisonsays he tries to let others work through issuesand not simply drive his perspective through.

Following the KLC program, team members led aneffort to restructure church staff and reorient towarda more outward focus. Lefler started a new jobas church communications director, revamped thenewsletter and worked to keep web content fresh.Events once held for church members were openedto the community.

The prayer ministry began actively praying for peopleoutside the church – even going so far as to regularlywalk the neighborhoods around the church, prayingpublicly for the well-being of the neighbors. Over springbreak, the children’s ministry sent youth to do craftswith residents of nursing homes and play bingo atthe Veterans home. In August 2012, the church heldits biggest community event so far, what Robinsoncalls the church’s “coming out party” – a neighbor-hood block party complete with free hot dogs andsnow cones, carnival games, clowns and door prizes.

“It’s still in process,” he says, “but I think we aregetting closer to a point where our internal houseis in order and we are getting to the brink of beinga very vital institution.”

Good jobs are scarce in the rural southeastKansas town of Eureka. The oil boom daysthat built the town are long over. The EurekaDowns horse track, a major tourism drawsince 1872, shut down two years ago.Eureka’s population has decreased 10 percentover the past decade. But against theseodds, Eureka United Methodist Churchis finding new life and renewed purpose.

“In about a year’s time, we went from beingcalled a dying church to being a very active church,well-known and well-recognized in the community,”recalls Jan Stephens, a long-time EUMC member.Change was driven by two things – the arrival ofa new pastor and a new sense of empowermentamong church members created by their participa-tion in the KLC’s Leadership & Faith program.“We had the training that helped us know howto be more active participants in our church,”Stephens explains.

In August 2010, Eureka United Methodist Churchsent a team of six members through the KansasLeadership Center’s Leadership & Faith TransformingCommunities program, where they were challengedto identify and meet a community health need.Instructed in the importance of “energizing others,”one of four core competencies taught by KLC,team members reached out to people outsidethe church.

Casey Countryman, elementary school counselor,remembers the first phone call she received. “Theywanted to know how they could meet the needsof the kids… whether they could serve some sortof breakfast or something,” Countryman said.

The conversation gave Countryman the chance toexplain a situation school officials were strugglingover, how to accommodate parents and childrenon days when school starts late to allow for teacherin-service trainings. Late starts occur once a month– roughly nine to 10 times a school year.

“With the majority of our kids, the parents haveto work out of town,” she explains. “That requiresthem to leave home early to get to work on time.Many parents are working class, in jobs whereemployers may not accommodate a monthlyrequest to come in to work late.”

Jean Groendes, EUMC member on the KLCteam, said the problem immediately resonatedwhen she heard about it. “All I could hear was

By

ENERGIZING OTHERS,ChurchTackles a

Problem of Child Care

Eureka United Methodist Church increased members’involvement in the community when it launcheda program and events aimed at helping familieswith young children.

EUREKA UMC

16. 17.


In a survey of Leadership & Faith: Transforming Community participants conducted in September 2012, these KLCconcepts were identified as most helpful. The larger the concept appears here, the more frequently it was mentioned.

“I know parents have liked this service as manyscramble to find sitters for that short time frame,”says Robin Wunderlick, editor of the Eureka Herald.The Greenwood County Health Department alsotook notice. “I’m really impressed that the Methodistschose to take on such an endeavor. It was prettyamazing,” said Deina Rockhill, county health nurse,adding that the church often approaches her withoffers of help. In turn, Rockhill occasionally looksto the church to provide help to specific familiesor individuals in need.

To bolster their local partnerships in civic work,the Eureka United Methodist Church hosted aseries of five regional KLC training sessions in thespring of 2012. The sessions drew an additionaltwo dozen people from Eureka from churchesand organizations beyond EUMC.

The efforts don’t stop there. Eureka United MethodistChurch aspires to become the main church on themain street – a place familiar to children and adultsthroughout the community. To this end, the churchhas taken to hosting block parties, closing off thestreet to put on a carnival last summer and a barbecueand concert this year. In a town with limited activities,the events are a big hit.

Baker says outreach activities like the Great LateStart and the block parties need not be overtly religious.

“We don’t preachto them, we don’tteach them lessons,but they are wellaware that theyare inside thewalls of a church –and if they have apositive experienceinside the walls ofa church, I considerthat evangelismin the highest de-gree,” Baker says.

Baker and others on the L&F team believe theexposure is having an effect. This year’s VacationBible School, which fed kids a nightly meal andeducated them in the evenings – drew 100 kids.

“We’ve got kids now that think church activities arepart of life,” says Groendes, a L&F team member.

But even as they focus outside their church, theL&F team is seeing dramatic changes within –signs that point to a revitalized church.

More people are showing up on Sundays and leavingmore money in the collection plates. The men’s andwomen’s groups are drawing bigger turnouts. Moreyoung families are bringing children – with 15 to20 coming down for the “children’s moment”during services.

Pastor Baker credits the Great Late Start programand other community-based work. Even for membersnot directly involved, “it becomes part of their identitythat this is one of the things their church is doing,that they are supporting with their gifts and theirofferings,” he said.

Adds Stephens. “Before they belonged to the churchand they came most Sunday mornings, but nowthey are coming several times a week maybe,and they are excited about things that are goingon beyond their doors.”

Members of Eureka United Methodist Church say community outreach efforts aimed at children and familiesled to a significant increase in the number of children attending services.

my former coworkers in my head going, ‘Do youknow how hard it is to get before school care?’”

Ken Baker, who became EUMC’s new pastor in late2011, sums it up: “Basically the parents have threechoices: pawn the kids off on a relative who doesn’twork, stay at home and jeopardize their job, losepay, or leave the children home by themselves,which is never a preferable or safe choice.”

But Baker understands the predicament facingfamilies. Nearly 70 percent of the students atthe Eureka elementary school are classified aseconomically disadvantaged.

“A lot of these people, if they have to call in andsay they have to come in a couple of hours late,that may be something close to losing a job over.”After brainstorming together, Countryman and theEureka team members came up with an idea forwhat they could call the Great Late Start Program.On late-start mornings, the church would make itselfavailable to parents to drop kids off as early as 7:30

a.m. for breakfast and fun activities. A school buswould pick the kids up at 9:40 a.m. to bring themto school by 10.

Using donated food, materials and time, theLeadership & Faith team recruited additionalvolunteers and launched the program in January2011. “The first time we had only 15, but nowwe average about 30 per time,” says Ann Johnson,a L&F team member.

By using the initiative to help, the Eureka UnitedMethodist Church has met a huge need for thecommunity, says Countryman, the school counselor.“The kids have some place to go where we knowthey will be safe. They won’t miss the bus and theywill be fed.”

The program’s success raised the church’s profilein the community. The local newspaper, The EurekaHerald, carried articles before and after every GreatLate Start event, alerting parents to the availability ofthe program and reporting on the turnout afterward.

“We’ve got kids now that think churchactivities are part of life.”

To raise money to support itsGreat Late Start children’sprogram and other eventsfor the community, EurekaUnited Methodist Churchhosts community dinners.

Their backpacks lined up ready for school, childrenin Eureka spend the early morning eating breakfastand playing games at Eureka United MethodistChurch’s Great Late Start program.

18. 19.



1.

CHAPELHILL

Healing a Neighborhood

Rising up from a wide open field on theeast side ofWichita, Chapel Hill FellowshipUnited Methodist Church is a rough-hewnstructure that resembles a barn – a visualhomage to a carpenter’s humble roots.

Members are predominantly affluent whiteprofessionals who populate upscale houses nearby,a location preferred by families choosing nearbyprivate and suburban schools. In a communitywhere the median home price is $125,000, homeshere sell for 3 to 4 times that much.

Such facts are noteworthy when you consider thatChapel Hill – when asked to engage the community-- chose to focus on Planeview, a poverty-strickenneighborhood nine miles away. Here mostly Hispanicand Asian immigrant families crowd into homesbuilt 70 years ago as temporary housing for wartimeaircraft production workers. Home values hoverin the $20,000 range, but most people here rent.Their children attend public schools, including ColvinElementary and Jardine Middle School, where nearlyall students qualify for free or reduced school lunch.

Pastor Jeff Gannon says the idea to do somethingin Planeview arose in August 2009 when a half

dozen Chapel Hill members attended the KLC’sLeadership & Faith training session. Challengedto show civic leadership through community involve-ment, Chapel Hill’s L&F team began consideringwhere the congregation might make an impact.

“Planeview just started getting named as that place,”Pastor Gannon recalls. “One person said, ‘Doyou realize we have a neighborhood that is largelyuntouched? It’s the most impoverished neighbor-hood in our city. The idea just started to jell. Wesaid, ‘we think we’re supposed to do somethingwith Planeview.’”

Certain they felt called by God to do somethingin Planeview – but mindful of KLC instruction tobegin with no assumptions – Gannon says the teamdeveloped a set of parameters. “Number one, wecan’t do it alone. Number two, this is not a quick fix.Number three, if we’re not going to make a 10-yearcommitment, let’s not commit at all, because falsehope doesn’t help anybody.”

Team member Charlie Schwarz took the lead ingathering information and building relationships.“When you work with people in extreme poverty,trust is the big thing,” Schwarz says. Taking time

UNUSUAL VOICESprovide insight into

an impoverished community

21.

to get to know people and build a foundation oftrust was critical, he says. “Our goal is to be downhere for 10 years to develop trust and relationshipswith people. Every month we have a meeting inPlaneview just to throw around ideas.”

That monthly meeting is called the PlaneviewTransformation Coalition where Chapel Hill membersmeet with residents, social workers, city governmentworkers, police officers, school principals and land-lords. The meetings embody the concepts of“energizing others” and “engaging unusual voices,”creating opportunities for L & F team members toreplace superficial observations and assumptionswith informed understanding.

“We work with a social worker who just likes toslap you upside the head and say, ‘What are youthinking?’” says Schwarz. When the team showed

early interest in improving the neighborhood’sappearance by fixing dilapidated buildings, thesocial worker explained that would increaserent and leave fewer affordable places to live.

Partnerships developed by Schwarz and others fromChapel Hill have yielded dramatic results. In September2011, a new six-room health clinic opened, built withdonated money and volunteer time. Foundations andgrants contributed more than $400,000. Architectsand engineers donated professional services. Agroup of Methodist volunteers did construction andpainting. The new clinic replaced a tiny two-roomclinic that had operated for more than a decade outof Planeview’s Brookside United Methodist Church.

When Schwarz first learned the clinic had receiveda grant and was planning a small expansion, heasked the staff to think bigger: “I asked, ‘Can youdream?’ They said, ‘well we thought about puttingin a six-exam room clinic then we could have a full-time doctor. We’ve got some plans.’ I am expectingsome architectural plans and it’s all hand-drawn.I said, ‘Well do you have any architectural plans,and they said, ‘No we can’t afford that.’ So I said,tell me about the concept of six exam rooms.‘Well, that way we could put in a lab, and a full-timephysician, as well as a PA.’ I said, man that woulddo a lot for Planeview.”

Now open for more than a year, the clinic servesup to 40 patients a day, mostly those who live withinwalking distance. The new construction includesspace for an eye clinic and possibly a dental clinic,two things Schwarz is still working on.

”Having the beautiful, expanded clinic was huge,”says Janet Johnson, a city administrator who runsa satellite City Hall office in Planeview. “I think itserved as a catalyst because shortly thereafter,Charlie was able to convince the Lord’s Dinerto come serve this neighborhood, and then theCatholic Charities food pantry and the GuadalupeClinic came.”

For more than a decade, The Lord’s Diner -- Wichita’s“soup kitchen” – has served a free meal every nightto the homeless and hungry at its downtown location.With more than 5,500 volunteers and abundantfinancial support, The Lord’s Diner began scoutingfor a second location in 2007.

First opened in May 2011, the Planeview site nowfeeds an average 230 people per night – 30 to 40percent of them children. The Catholic Diocese,sponsor of the diner, has since opened a food pantryand health clinic adjacent to the meal site. Thepantry serves 1,400 families a month.

“Kids do not have to go hungry anymore inPlaneview because of these partnerships,”says Pastor Gannon. The benefits to children gobeyond health care and food, says Lura Jo Atherly,principal of Jardine middle school. “It is the quietand steady support offered that truly impactsour community,” says Atherly.

“Volunteer to work with teachers in classrooms,provide snacks during state testing time, basketballshoes for student athletes and holiday meals forneedy families.”

As much as anything, Atherly says she appreciatesthe effort of Chapel Hill to breakdown stereotypes.The church hosts what it calls the PlaneviewImmersion Experience, where it takes memberson a three hour tour of Planeview, showing themthe neighborhood and introducing them to peoplelike Atherly and Johnson. For Gannon, it’s a part ofthe ministry that is every bit as essential as servingthe poor: breaking down presumptions people inthe congregation may have about the poor.

“Frankly, I am very honest about the fact thatsome members are challenged by our involvementin Planeview. There are some who choose not toparticipate. And that’s fine,” says Gannon. “I wouldnever force anyone to do that. We’ve had peoplewalk out of poverty training. That says to me we’reon the right track.”

Gannon shares a story about taking 25 people tovisit Principal Atherly: “She will look outside herwindow and point you to a home that is literallythe size of my office and six families live there.

“Kids do not have to go hungry anymorein Planeview because of these partnerships.”

Chapel Hill Fellowship United Methodist Churchof Wichita has made a 10-year commitment to theimpoverished neighborhood of Planeview in southWichita. Church members have already helped builda new health clinic, bring a soup kitchen and providesupplies and support to neighborhood school children.

CHAPEL HILL

Pastor Jeff Gannon stands in front of a muralin Planeview, in this screenshot from a videohe presented to the congregation in August 2009,urging members to become partners with peopleliving in the impoverished neighborhood.

22. 23.


She will tell you how they are very strong supportersof education, how they don’t count down the daysfor school to end but for school to start. The kids sayto her, ’we don’t want this school year to end. Wewant to keep learning. Can we come to school inthe summer?’ A grown man started to cry whenhe heard that.”

Gannon wants to see more of these moments.So far, a relatively small number of members fromthe congregation have been directly involved inPlaneview, mostly in the coalition or as volunteers

serving meals at the Diner. Those who get directlyinvolved are transformed, says Schwarz. “Whenpeople put the time and effort to come over hereand volunteer, it really changes their perceptionabout what is valuable in life,” he says.

Hundreds more church members have been generous,purchasing school supplies and helping to fund apart-time pastor at the Brookside church that housedthe original health clinic. With just 25-30 members,Brookside can no longer support itself.

“Now there are times when we need to spendmoney. But I don’t want that to be our easy wayout,” says Gannon. “Because when you are on thisside of town, it’s a lot easier to write a check thenit is to spend time getting to know a person whois different.”

Steve Coen, another Chapel Hill L & F Team memberbelieves Chapel Hill’s involvement in Planeviewenergizes members and contributes to the congre-gation’s tremendous growth. “We have a lot ofpeople with big hearts and they want to do some-thing.”Giving people something meaningful to do isdrawing them in,” he said. “A lot of people comebecause we’re being progressive and tryingto serve the community.”

L&F team member Charlie Schwarz describesthe construction of the new six-room health clinicin Planeview, behind him.

25.

In her own words:

SYLVIA KVACIK,Minneapolis FUMC

August 2010 was the beginning of a big change inmy life—and it all started with the Kansas LeadershipCenter’s Leadership & Faith conference. I had beento many leadership events, so when my pastor askedme to attend KLC, I thought it would be nice to havea few days away but assumed I would sit bored through“the usual.” Instead, I had an experience for whichI will always be grateful.

It’s true that the magic happens outside of that oh-so-comfortable comfort zone.Our Leadership & Faith team formed a community coalition which broughtschool policy changes and an increased community awareness relating to theharrowing problem of synthetic drugs.Though our original group eventuallyfell apart, it is likely that we energized others to take on new challenges in ourcommunity, as several new groups have formed and they are making a significantdifference. On a personal level, my life has been forever changed since my experi-ence with the Kansas Leadership Center.While I still struggle with a waveringself-confidence, I know that my ideas have value -- and that people are listening.I have also become a Faith Facilitator for KLC, teaching lessons of leadershipto more people in my area.My hope is that this is only the beginning.

24.


Ministering to the homeless in downtown Lawrence– a college town of 88,000 known for its liberal bentand abundant social services – is a big part of theidentity of First United Methodist Church. Twicea week it hosts the Jubilee Café, serving a freehot breakfast to up to 100 people each morning.

Four times a year, the church serves as an overnightshelter to homeless families, putting cots in thefellowship hall and Sunday school classrooms.

It’s a big commitment for a congregation heavilyweighted toward retirees. Members must makepeace with the presence of mentally ill and theoccasional encounter with someone washingup in the bathrooms. But this kind of communityconnection is crucial to the vitality of his church,Tom Brady, Senior pastor believes – and the primaryreason he is an enthusiastic supporter of the KLC’sLeadership & Faith program.

For a number of reasons, no KLC-driven initiativeever got off the ground here. Brady says he lackedthe foresight to bring more people to the sessions;he only invited a couple. “I didn’t know what itwas,” he recalls.

His L & F team invested significant time in trying todiagnose local problems, gathering and reviewingdata, then hosting a series of after church meetingsthat drew more than three dozen people. “It nevergot to the point where somebody said, ‘I’m goingto make this happen.’ It was all idea gathering.”Brady says he got weary of the process. “I’ma doer…I wanted to know, when are we gonnastart doing something?”

Despite major effort at

DIAGNOSIS,one team never makes it to next step

But Brady says diagnosing was valuable; hediscovered that he lacked an understanding of thehomeless and what their primary needs are. “Wethought we were doing the right thing giving themfood, clothing and a place to sleep. What we learnedwas we need to get to know the people we areserving and hear from them about their needs,not just assume that we already know what theyare. That became our project – to build relationshipswith people in our community that we want toserve, and that’s where we kind of left off.”

Brady says it’s possible the others on his teamwere waiting on him to initiate something, whichhe didn’t. “I had my plate pretty full at the time.“At the time of the training, Brady was preachingevery Sunday at two locations, driving back andforth between the flagship church downtownand a second church six miles west.

The intent of the KLCLeadership & Faith program– to bring vitality to congre-gations through activecommunity engagement– is a worthy goal, Bradysays. “It’s aimed exactlyat what would make thischurch more vital, whichis making a difference inthe community and makinga difference in lives ofpeople. But we’re alsodoing a lot of that already.”

Pastor Tom Brady

First United Methodist Church in Lawrence takesan active interest in serving the homeless, hosting afree breakfast twice a week. Church members spentweeks diagnosing the needs of the homeless, butnever put any new ideas into action.

FUMC LAWRENCE

FUMC Lawrence hosts the “Jubilee Café” twice a week, serving a free breakfast to the homeless population downtown.

26. 27.


28. 29.

In her own words:

VALERIE BLACK,Dellrose UMC,Wichita

“I am the youth pastor at Dellrose United MethodistChurch inWichita and I would have to say “ManagingSelf” is a KLC skill that really helped me. I have learnednot to take things personally.That used to bother me. I alsolearned not to be triggered by things that usually set me off,like people not showing up or doing things they are supposedto do. Instead of getting upset, I guess I have been givingthe work back, putting it back on them. It has been really

important to me to not put my personal feelings on things, but to really allowthe youth the opportunity for their voices to be heard.”

In his own words:

DICK HOLDMAN,Church of the ResurrectionWest, Olathe

I do consulting in leadership development, so leadershiptraining wasn’t new to me – the four competencies were.Learning the core competencies taught by the Kansas Lead-ership Center has caused me to more actively consider whatI do, why I do it, how I do it. Diagnose situation, energizeothers, manage self and intervene skillfully – I go throughthe four competencies rapidly when I am making decisions.It has helped me to manage myself much better in both

my personal and professional life.

The skills are so useful, so adaptable to just about any type of leadership situation,whether secular or faith-based, that I have changed my own consulting leadershipcurriculum to utilize the best portion of the KLC competencies. I had to look atthat really carefully knowing it would be a drastic change from what I had taughtsome of my clients for many years. So far it has proven to be positive, but at thesame time I can see pushback coming, which is expected.

I think the notion of raising the heat is new to them.The old style in groupdynamics was more about keeping everyone somewhat happy and on a positiveflow, rather than pushing them to make in-depth, conscious, purposeful decisions.The idea of intentionally raising the heat continues to be one of the harder aspectsfor any group that utilizes a team atmosphere to get used to.The challengeis getting them to understand this as a better decision-making process.You getstronger, more sustainable solutions when you go through this process.


In a survey of Leadership & Faith: Transforming Community participants conducted in September 2012, respondentsidentified the above challenges as the most difficult. The larger the word appears here, the more frequently it was mentioned.


31.

HIAWATHASeeking out the Unheard

Like many rural towns, Hiawatha is aplace where people are deeply rootedto place, but not necessarily each other.Until recently, social circles in this countyseat have had little reason to overlap,even among those who have attendedthe same church for decades.

Divisions are driven mostly – but not entirely –by geography. Located in the northeastern cornerof the state, Hiawatha sits about a dozen milesfrom borders belonging to Nebraska and Missouri.

Gene Hillyer, a HUMC member and fourth-generationBrown County farmer, says he has neighbors wholive only a couple of miles away that he sees once ayear at harvest time at the grain elevator. “That hasalways kind of struck me -- how we can be so close,but not really,” Hillyer says.

Surrounding Brown County are three Indian reserva-tions – the Kickapoo, the Iowa and the Sac and Fox .And though Native Americans make up 9 percentof the county population, HUMC Pastor RandyQuinn says you never see them in the community.“They are almost always overlooked.”

Quinn views people living in isolation from oneanother as the biggest challenge facing bothcongregation and community. It’s a cultural dynamicthat presents its own adaptive challenge – and one

that members of HUMC have made dramatic progresson since the group first attended the KLC’s Leadership& Faith program in January 2011.

Taking the instruction to “Engage Unusual Voices”to heart, the Hiawatha UMC team has for the firsttime brought together dozens of disparate demo-graphic groups and individuals around a commongoal – increasing everyone’s access to healthy food.

UNUSUAL VOICESReveal food access problem

Members of Hiawatha United Methodist Churchaggressively sought unusual voices as they diagnosedneeds in their community. They were surprised todiscover poor families and seniors living withoutaccess to healthy food.

HIAWATHA UMC

33.32.

“What they took on is something this communityhas needed,” marvels Pastor Quinn, who viewshimself as supportive but not driving the effort.“There are a variety of pieces to it – and it’s justamazing to me how it has unfolded.”

From the beginning, HUMC involvement in theLeadership & Faith program was member-driven.Pastor Quinn initially wasn’t all that interested.If the purpose was to get congregations engagedin their communities, Quinn thought his church wasalready doing that. But Annette Wilson, a retired socialworker and longtime church member, persuadeda team to go.

Besides Hillyer and Wilson, the team includesSteve Smith, a pharmacist and longtime communityactivist, Karla Harter, a public health nurse, DeniseWolney, director of the local nursing home, and DebiFarnen, a former librarian.

The team gave themselves the name “Transformers.”Harter said she has never been a part of such aneffective, energized group of diverse talents. Shecalls Hillyer and Smith the “powerhouses” – menrespected, with ties to farmers, business peopleand the Indian tribes. Wilson, Harter, Farnen andWolney offered professional connections tolow-income families, children and the elderly.

These diverse connections were critical to thegroup’s success as they sought to identify theircommunity’s most pressing needs.

“The first thing they realized was they neededa community foundation,” says Quinn. The needbecame apparent when the team learned BrownCounty had missed out on a large bequeath by an arearesident – “a million-dollars large,” said Quinn -- becausethere was no vehicle to receive a donation for thegood of the community. “They saw that immediatelyand had that done within six months,” he says.

At the same time, the group also launched aninvestigation phase, creating and distributingsurveys to area residents from all walks of lifeand eventually hosting 17 listening sessions withlarge and small groups of people, taking specialcare to seek the voices of those not often heardin community discussions – the Indian tribes andlow-income people.

Harter had ready access to the poor as a publichealth nurse. She interviewed people visiting heroffice for social services. “When I did the survey,I told them, ‘Your opinions are so important to us,and they said, ‘Wow, no one has ever asked uswhat we want!’“

The survey asked questions addressing such thingsas access to healthy foods, recreational activities,elderly care, transportation and housing. Nearly 200survey responses were collected. Listening sessionsexplored themes that appeared in the surveys.

Smith says it was a process no one would haveattempted if not for the emphasis placed on it byKLC. “They told us you have to gather the harddata, do the surveys and do the focus groups.We never even dreamed of doing those things.”Smith and the others were startled to discover howmuch they didn’t know about their own community.The biggest shocker, people without access to food.The team discovered Brown County has one ofthe higher rates in the state of “food insecurity” –a measure of how likely people are to worry wheretheir next meal will come from. The problem stemsfrom isolation as well as economics. Brown County

has just three grocery stores located within its 572square miles, but more than 100 families living morethan a mile from a store with no access to a car.

Many more households have only one car, whichis not necessarily available to the grocery shopper.

“I never would have thought that we have a wholehost of people who have no transportation to getfood, let alone to go to other functions,” says Smith.“I never would have thought there was a motherwho walks two miles with three children just toget groceries. These things just weren’t apparentto me in my insulated world.”

Hillyer, the successful, fourth-generation farmer,is struck by the irony of a lack of access to healthyfoods in Kansas.

“Here I was, involved in the big picture of producingcorn and soybeans for the world, not thinking theremay be low income families with one vehicle thatgoes to work and what does mom do if she needsto buy a loaf of bread or something?“

The discovery of the problem started a flurry ofactivity. Working through their newly establishedCommunity Foundation of Northeast Kansas, theteam applied for and received a $25,000 planninggrant from the Kansas Health Foundation to developprograms aimed at increasing access to healthy foods.

Drawing on relationships developed during theirlistening sessions, the team recruited others includingrepresentatives from area tribes, farms, schools, andhealth agencies – to establish the Brown County

“They told us you have to gather the hard data,do the surveys and do the focus groups.Wenever even dreamed of doing those things.”

More than 70 people came to an event called the FEAST (Food, Education, Agriculture Solutions Together) to learn aboutthe problem of access to healthy foods and to discuss possible solutions. Here FEAST participants enjoy a locally sourcedand prepared meal at Highland Community College's historic Klinefelter Farm. Photo courtesy of the Kansas Rural Center


35.34.

Healthy Foods Coalition. That group then begananother round of surveys, looking at whetherfarmer’s markets or mobile food trucks couldincrease access to healthy foods.

In September 2012, the Transformers and the coalitiondrew in even more people with an event called aCommunity FEAST – an acronym for Food, Education,Agriculture Solutions Together. More than 70 peoplecame to learn about the problem of access to healthyfoods and to discuss possible solutions.

The event was well-attended by local ag producers,city and county officials, leaders of Indian tribes,school administrators, health departments, thecommunity action agency, hunger relief agencies andexperts from Kansas State University. Guests camefrom as far away as Topeka and Missouri.

The team’s efforts have launched projects bothlarge and small. The first quick fix was getting thelocal library to serve healthy snacks in its after schoolprogram. Then the team arranged for area farmersto supply local school cafeterias with fresh produce.“You would think that would be a no-brainer, but

there was no framework for them to sit down andtalk to each other until the Brown Country HealthyFoods Coalition had them at the same table,” saysQuinn. Using donated farmland, the HUMC Congre-gation plans to start a garden and donate the freshproduce to people in need.

More complicated solutions are also in the works,such as adding farmer’s markets and possibly estab-lishing a mobile farmer’s market to bring fresh foodsto the different areas where people are isolated. Thevision goes beyond providing food to hungry people.“I am interested in it from a business developmentangle to see how we might develop businessesaround the whole issue of food access,” saysHillyer, who serves as president of the HiawathaFoundation for Economic Development.

Because of unique challenges facing the elderly,the Transformers and their off-shoot organizationsare also exploring ways to provide isolated seniorswith transportation and possibly a new senior center.

Smith admitted that in 40 years of attending hischurch, it did not occur to him how many seniorscould not get there – not until the Transformerswent out of their way to hear from unusual voices.“Until it actually hits you in the face, you don’t realizehow many people are now living in situations withno transportation,” he says.

Though initially uninterested in the KLC’s Leadership& Faith program, Quinn said he can’t help but seehow much good it’s done. “They are changing thecommunity and they are making a difference – andthat is good, this community needs that,” he says.

But has any of this made the church itself more vital?

“I am not sure the congregation sees it as theirministry because I am not sure they (the Transformers)have taken the congregation along with them,” saysQuinn. “But in terms of church, I think we have a lotof people who think church is a spectator sport. TheTransformers are not spectators anymore.”

In his own words:

JIMMY TAYLOR,Epworth UMC,Wichita

One of the best things to come out of my time withthe Kansas Leadership Center was a challenge towork across denominational factions and begin buildingrelationships with the other local churches in myneighborhood. (I am the pastor at Epworth UMCinWichita.) It took months – and phone calls andrejection both in and out of my church, but we eventuallyteamed with a couple of churches in our neighborhoodfor our annual Day One/DayTwo event.

We had 250 people take advantage of services we offered that included free food,hygiene products, household cleaning products, haircuts, dental screening, freefamily portraits and more.

My vision for such an event draws critique from some who are afraid such a serviceis only a “Band-Aid” on a greater wound. I get that. I’ll own up to the fact thatwe didn’t solve any obesity/crime/education issues. But for one day we encouragedpeople, saved them a lot of money and shared our life with people from a widerange of backgrounds, ages and races.

One guy told a volunteer that the event “saved his life.” I don’t know how serioushis comment was, but it got to the core of what our purpose is – pointing peopleto the hope and life and love of Jesus Christ.

Gene Hillyer and Dan Nigel of the Hiawatha Foundationfor Economic Development see an opportunity for newbusinesses to fill a need for access to healthy foods,perhaps through the creation of farmers markets.



37.1.

GARDENCITY

Building Paths out of Poverty

Garden City’s population is nearly threetimes what it was when the current UnitedMethodist Church was built in 1957, anincrease that has changed the complexionof the community.

The transformation began in 1980 with the arrival ofIBP (now Tyson), which began recruiting thousandsof immigrants and international refugees to fill thehigh-risk, low-wage jobs at their meat-packing plantin town. Once predominantly white, today half ofresidents are Hispanic, while non-Hispanic whitesare just 43 percent of the population. Immigrantsfrom Southeast Asia, Burma, Somalia and Ethiopiaaccount for much of the rest.

Changes are more pronounced in the public schools,where Hispanics are 68 percent, and non-Hispanicwhites just 24 percent. School demographicsalso reveal the economic impact of thousandsof newcomers working low-wage jobs: 72 percentof students are classified as economically disadvan-taged – one and a half times the rate statewide.

The presence of poverty in the community iswell-known to the First United Methodist Church,which hands out roughly $25,000 a year in $50vouchers that can be used to pay rent and utilities,or buy food. Another $30,000 a year goes to theUnited Methodist Mexican-American Ministries,a mission for the poor founded by the UMC in 1974,which provides medical and dental care, along witha food pantry and other social services.

But FUMC Pastor David Bell wondered if therewasn’t a better approach. “I felt like we were justputting a Band-Aid on a huge problem and we really

weren’t doing anything to help anybody out of themess they were in,” he says.

Prompted by the KLC to address an adaptive challengefacing the community, Bell and others who wentthrough the Leadership & Faith program settledon an initiative to lift families out of poverty one byone, surrounding them with support from peoplein the middle class. That initiative is called “Circlesof Hope.”

Church members learned about the program fromother churches at the annual UMC Conference.“Somebody made the statement, ‘I think Jesus

CHURCH INTERVENESin poverty by teaching middle-class rules

First United Methodist Church of Garden City is tryingto improve community health by attacking povertyone family at a time through Circles of Hope. Theprogram enlists middle class volunteers in helpingpeople in poverty change their lives.

FUMC GARDEN CITY

39.38.

would say yes to this,’ and I say yes to this,”says Jane Krug, who like her husband Bob, is aretired Garden City teacher with a special passion forhelping disadvantaged children and their families.Both Krugs are L&F team members activelyinvolved in implementing Circles.

Circles is designed around the ideas of educatorRuby Payne, who suggests that upward class mobilitydepends on knowing class rules, essentially valuescreated by cultural experiences and expectations.

A key value for the middle class is achievement,which comes with a plan-for-the-future mindset.In contrast, a key value for people in poverty issurvival, which comes with a here-and-now mindset.Unrelenting financial struggle can make thoughtsof the future frightening.

Moving to the middle class requires learning howto plan ahead, set goals and work toward them.The Circles program helps people do that througha 12-week course followed by an 18-month periodin which people going through the program arematched with a team of “allies,” volunteers thatagree to meet regularly with the circle leadersand provide social and practical support.

Bev Miller, L&F team member, says this approachis so much better than giving out vouchers. “Byhanding them things and enabling them, it helpsthem, yeah. It gets them through today. But thisis a way for them to pull themselves up by theirbootstraps.” The program does include a payment.As an incentive for showing up to class each timethrough the 12-week program, participants receive$30 gift cards for gas or groceries; it’s a benefit thatdoesn’t continue through the 18-month allies period.Bell says the gift cards play a role, teaching partici-pants their time has value.

Miller is quick to point out that the program doesn’tjust help the poor. “We learn from them, too.It works both ways,” she says, noting the value

people in poverty place on relationships. Payneobserves that relationships are more important topeople in poverty than in the middle class becausethey are key to survival.

Bob Krug is a Circles class facilitator. Each Thursday,he and Bev Miller take 11 people through the Circlescurriculum. Classwork starts after the Circle instruc-tors, their adult students and their families share ahome-cooked meal in the fellowship hall. Communityvolunteers provide the food and activities for thechildren, so their parents can give their full attentionto the lessons.

Many of the students come from work; it isa misconception that all people in poverty areunemployed. Most are simply underemployed,working low-wage jobs with incomes that barelycover basic expenses.

Cultural tensions manifest throughout Garden City,showing up in conflicts within the community,within the church and even within the L&F Team.

“Even when we were talking about (Circles) at ourchurch, there were people who were upset aboutit, who said, ‘Don’t we do enough for them? Don’twe give them enough?’” says Miller.

“Garden City is very giving, but not everyone isthere yet,” says Jane Krug, “But if you pinned themdown they would tell you that we count on peoplefrom Mexico to help with our economy. Who isgoing to work at Tyson’s? Not the average Joe.We would be lost without them. On the other hand,they have lots of needs and we have lots of agencies.”

Patricia Tristan says cultural tensions have evenstymied the Circles program. Tristan left the teamafter others decided to only allow English speakersto participate. The decision excluded Spanish speakers,though English-speaking Hispanics are welcome.

“My intention going into this was helping my people,and for my church to be a part of this,” she says.Tristan moved to Garden City two years ago withher husband Pastor Sergio Tristan, to rehabilitatethe oldest Hispanic Mission in the Kansas WestConference: Nueva Evangelica serves a Spanish-speaking congregation with bilingual services. FUMCpartners with Nueva Evangelica, providing supportfor its programs; dozens of FUMC members includingBob Krug put in volunteer hours to make overthe basement of the small church for use as achildren's ministry.

“I felt my voice was not being engaged and myopinion was often dismissed,” she says. But Tristansays she’s found other ways to apply what she learnedthrough Leadership & Faith. She also remains involvedwith FUMC as an administrative secretary, a jobshe enjoys.

Missy Allen, a L&F team member hired as a part-time employee to coordinate the Circles program,says the decision to limit participation to Englishspeakers was made because the Circles curriculummaterials are not available in Spanish and becauseinstructors thought use of translators would be adistraction. But Allen would like to include Spanishspeakers in the future when a Spanish curriculumbecomes available and if enough bilingual volun-teers can be found.

Whether KLC’s Leadership & Faith efforts bringabout progress in Garden City, toward goals ofimproving community health and revitalizing thecongregation through an external focus, dependson what happens next.

Bev Miller and Bob Krug believe the congregationwill become more engaged in lifting people out ofpoverty if Circles can produce results. “Hopefullywe can get people to make presentations and say,‘This is what has changed my life.’”

The First United Methodist Church of Garden Cityis an expansive structure with a membership of 1,200and a weekly attendance of about 400 worshiperswho are mostly white, middle class.


41.40.

The congregation has 1,200 members -- about 400attend church weekly – and Bell says most of themdon’t know much about Circles yet. “We have beentalking to the congregation about this for well overa year. But in terms of all the details, I am sure mostof them are pretty oblivious” says the pastor. Thecongregation is overwhelmingly white, middle andupper class, made up of farmers, business ownersand educators. “We’re not reaching out to the newHispanic population that is settling in the communitybecause Hispanics who immigrate to this countryaren’t looking to be part of an Anglo congregation,”Bell says.

For Circles to succeed, organizers say it needs atleast 100 volunteers willing to serve as Circles allies,an 18-month commitment to befriend a stranger.Some will need to come from the congregation,

though team members hope to draw most fromthe larger community because they don’t wantthe program branded as a Methodist project.Neither group has been forthcoming so far.

“We have to get outside our church and talk topeople, we need to put ourselves out there andfind ways,” says Jane Krug, who plans to meetwith local law enforcement and the local hospital.

Bob Krug is hopeful the team can enlist the neededvolunteers to encircle the less fortunate, who providevaluable insights into what it’s like to be poor inGarden City. “Everybody has stories,” he says.“If some of us middle class would hear some ofthis, we would be shocked.”

In her own words:

PATRICIA TRISTAN,Nueva Evangelica, Garden City

I was a stay-at-home mom and a volunteer with the kids programat our Hispanic church when I attended the Kansas LeadershipCenter’s Leadership and Faith program in January 2011.

Since then many things have happened that allow me to seechallenges differently. I now recognize what an adaptive problemis and what a technical problem is, how to diagnose a situationand how to read and understand how peoples’ beliefs, experiencesand loyalties shape their viewpoints.

My communication with my family has improved,my work environment is more productiveand my faith has taken me to a new level of trust.Through the KLC training, I havelearned that change can be made only if we take risks and move out of our comfortzones, while at the same time embracing our values, loyalties and beliefs.

This past year I joined the workforce to be in ministry with First United MethodistChurch as an administrative assistant to the pastors.Adapting to this role has not beeneasy.Working with individuals that are the best at what they do is challenging. Everyonehas an opinion of what is right and what we need to accomplish.

Timelines and expectations vary from individual to individual, and that is when I needto climb up to the balcony, observe and diagnose and then proceed with a clear understandingof the issues at hand. Learning to embrace others’ values and beliefs can be difficult butknowing that if we do, we hold a precious key to a good outcome and better communication.

Each Thursday for 12 weeks, the First United Methodist Church in Garden City hosts 11 people as participantsin an anti-poverty program called Circles of Hope. The evening always starts with a home-cooked meal forparticipants and their families. Church volunteers provide the food.


43.42.

On Oct. 22-23, 2012, five dozen alumni ofLeadership & Faith: Transforming Communitiesgathered in Wichita for an opportunity to refreshtheir skills and discuss experiences with otherswho had been through the program. What followsis an abbreviated transcript of one of the exchangesthat took place during a session called, “LearningThrough Story.”

Moderator:Polly Basore

Participants:

Lyle SegerPastor Valley View UMC, Overland Park

Jimmy TaylorPastor Epworth UMC, Wichita

Kent RogersPastor First UMC, Wichita

Randy QuinnPastor First UMC, Hiawatha

Polly: It was discussed earlier how people inauthority are called upon to maintain order, whileleadership requires risk-taking. Since I have fourpastors here, I am going to ask whether yourposition of authority hampers your ability toexert leadership.

Kent: I don’t know if this answers your question,but my role at First UMC in Wichita has been todistance myself from a role of authority. WichitaFirst is a place that has given an incredible, almostunhealthy amount of authority to its senior pastor.My office is ungodly, probably twice the size of thisroom. It’s the highest spot, the most distant spot(in the church). The pulpit is lofty and it hoversabove the people.

So I distanced myself by setting a different example.This is a church that expects the senior pastor towear a robe and stole. So on the first Sunday, I hadmy robe and stole on, and as we got to the momentwhere the Doxology starts, I felt the need to takemy robe and stole off and lay it on the alter table.

A CONVERSATIONwith Leadership & Faith Alumni

Polly: So you’re throwing off the authority, andyou’re obviously intentionally experimenting?

Kent: Over and over and over again.

Polly:What about you Randy?

Randy: I haven’t seen it (authority) as a hindrancein the church I am in now. I have in the past. Therewas a church where when the pastor says jump,everybody says how high? I remember somebodyasking me a question on the ad council and I turnedit back on them and got a deer in the headlightslook, like I didn’t know what I was doing.Leadership isn’t about telling you what to do.But that’s what they were expecting, and man,I didn’t want anything to do that. It’s as thoughthey want a dictator, an authoritarian person who …

Polly:Who sets order and keeps things going?

Randy: Absolutely. Then it’s safe for them.But in the church where I am now, authority is ahealthy complement to leadership. There are timesI use authority and say, “As your pastor, this is reallywhere I think we need to be going.” And that’s okay.Sometimes I say,“I think we need to take his chanceand try it out.” There was a service we tried, a Sundayevening service we called it Pizza and Praise.

Randy: I said, “Let’s try it out, and it didn’t work.”At the end of it, when they looked at me, I said,“So it didn’t work. We learned something!” Welearned some things that were important to knowabout us, our community and the perceptionswe had. Okay, cool.”

Polly: Thank you. New question: Can anyonegive me an example where a KLC competencywas essential to the success of things you tried?

Lyle: Manage Self has been a lifesaver for me.I still need to do a better job -- some health issuesare creeping in. But both the associate pastor andI are taking some intentional time off. The previouspastor would come in at 7:30 and not leave theoffice until 9 at night. He was there all the time,stayed busy, but not necessarily productive.

The associate pastor and I believe if we’re goingto make worship a primary component, we’regoing to have to take time away from the church.It’s starting to have an impact through our wholecongregation, with people saying, “If you’re doingthat, maybe I need to do that for my own self.”

Polly: That can really be important when youdo that as someone in authority and get peopleto model your behavior. Jimmy?

Jimmy: The concept of differentiating betweenself and role has been really helpful to me, saying,“Okay, I am not going to take this personally.” It’sbeen better for my marriage, for my own health,family time. Taking one day off? I will take as muchas I want if I feel like I need that, if I have beenneglecting my family. Whereas before KLC itwas like, man, I don’t want to disappoint anybodyat the church.

Lyle Seger

APPENDIX

1.

KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • SPRING 2011

Polly:What’s been critical to a success?

Kent: Diagnosing Situation, gathering as muchinformation as I can, almost saturating myself withas much history and information and multiple inter-pretations as I can get. From pastors to lay peopleto having friends and family members drive by thechurch and give me first impressions, then saturatingmyself with prayer saying, “God, you gotta give medirection.” How do I make changes skillfully?

Lyle:Would you say the diagnosis situation hashelped you to avoid land mines?

Kent: Oh yeah…

Lyle: Because I thought I had thought thingsthrough pretty well, and gosh, there’s anotherland mine. I just stepped on it.

Kent: The best thing I did, found out (the newassignment) in February then spent all throughMarch and April talking to everybody at thenew church.

Polly: I’ve heard several people say that diagnosingfrustrates them, that it takes too long. Do you find that?

Randy: Yes. It’s tedious and you gotta figure outwho to ask.

Randy: Learning to manage self and understandingmy triggers has been really helpful for me. Anotherthing is I have probably taken risks and experimentedmore than in the past. And I’ve started giving workback to others. Since KLC, I have said, “Here’ssomething that needs to be done. Somebody needsto do it, but I am not the one to do it.” If it doesn’tget done, that is okay with me. There are somepeople who are really uncomfortable with thatand really don’t like that ambiguity.

Polly:When you give the work back, it’s notalways accepted?

Randy: No.

Polly: Great examples. Thank you everyone.

Jimmy Taylor

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KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • SPRING 2011KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • SPRING 2011

In order to assess the impact of the Leadership and Faith Transforming Communities program,Wichita State’s Community Support and Research arm conducted a survey of alumni.

Online SurveyMETHODOLOGY AND PARTICIPANTS

The link to the online survey was sent to 250 participants from the first five cohorts in the KLC Leadershipand Faith: Transforming Communities programs. Thirty-eight persons responded following an initial e-mailinvitation and two reminders over the course of two weeks. Of 49 churches participating in the Leadershipand Faith programs (cohorts 1- 5), 29 were represented by the respondents to this survey: Americus, Benton,Blessed Sacrament, Church of the Resurrection West, College Avenue Methodist Manhattan, DellroseUMC, Dodge FUMC, Emanuel Lutheran – Hutchinson, Epworth United Methodist - Wichita, Eureka,Garden City FUMC, Hiawatha FUMC, Hutchinson Trinity UMC, Lecompton UMC, Lenexa, Liberal FUMC,Lyons FUMC, Medicine Lodge, Minneapolis, Mulvane, New Trinity Heights, Pleasant Valley - Wichita,Pomona, Salina Grand Ave., Topeka FUMC, Wakefield/Ebenezer/Countryside, Wichita Chapel Hill, WichitaEast Heights.

Leadership and FaithTransforming Communities

ALUMNI SURVEYRESULTS

Survey Findings

Overall, how helpful was your KLC experiencein preparing you as an individual to make progresson the challenge your church team chose to address?

1. 2.

KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • SPRING 2011KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER • LEADERSHIP & FAITH REPORT • SPRING 2011

Compared to other Leadership trainings/experiences,I would rate my KLC experience as…

Has your church’s experience with theKLC Leadership and Faith program impactedyour involvement in a community issue?

What is the community issue?

How has your church been impacted overall?

• Poverty, including Circles of Hope (n=6)

• Unspecified (n=4) – This theme included comments that referred to the value of the experiencerather than a specific issue or effort.

• Hunger (n=4)

• Children/youth programs (n=3)

• Neighborhood/community engagement (n=2)

• Housing (n=2)

• Support for military parents (n=1)

• Substance abuse (n=1)

• Fitness (n=1)

• Healthy food (n=1)

• Church renovation (n=1)

3. 4.

ABOUT THIS REPORT The report was written by Polly Basore, a Wichita-based writer who spent 15 yearsas a newspaper journalist, working as a reporter in Washington, D.C., before coming to Kansas in 1998 to workat The Wichita Eagle as a supervisory editor. Since 2003, she has worked as a communications professionalassisting nonprofits. She is a native of Stillwater, Oklahoma and a graduate of Oklahoma State University andthe Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

This report was produced under the direction of Sue Dondlinger, project director of the Leadership & Faith initiative,Ed O’Malley, president and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center,Mike Matson, KLC director of innovative andstrategic communications and Chris Green, senior communications associate. Photography by Jeff Tuttle andgraphic design by Clare McClaren.

Diagnose, Engage, Transform: A Report on How Congregations Use KLC Training to Improve Communities

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Transcript of Diagnose, Engage, Transform: A Report on How Congregations Use KLC Training to Improve Communities