Northwestern Illinois is my home district, and they are in the process of electing a new D.S. today. I haven't heard any updates thus far, but my dad is their District Secretary, and he told me a while back he was anticipating it might take as many as 10 ballots. I have heard several names mentioned as possibilities, but it's an open ballot, so they're starting from scratch.
Please join me in prayer for God's will to be done in Northwestern Illinois.
Last edited by Abram Book; April 14th, 2012 at 04:50 PM.
Welcome to NazNet Abram - please report back with the results.
Deleted - sorry, that is not Rich's district. He's NW Indiana.
OK, Scott, according to my sister-in-law, who is attending the assembly, they have elected someone. However, because I do not know whether the individual has accepted and/or been able to inform his church board and because I believe that individual also posts here on NazNet occasionally, I do not feel it would be appropriate to release the name yet.
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Cool a Naznet DS.Originally Posted by Abram Book
Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie von Ebner-EschenbachPost Thanks / Like - 0 Thanks, 3 Laughing
Sounds like now is a good time to let the speculation begin. (jk)
Post Thanks / Like - 0 Thanks, 1 LaughingSusan Unger - thanks for this funny post
That's never stopped 'em before. My DS's associate pastor knew he was elected before he did!
I was out and about looking around, I didn't see any white smoke ...
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I haven't either, but that could be because I can't see anything through all of this rain we're getting today. Talk about a wet blanket.
Rev. Scott Sherwood, Senior Pastor of Richardson, Texas, Church of the Nazarene was elected District Superintendent of the Northwestern Illinois District on the 5th ballot today.
Post Thanks / Like - 13 Thanks, 0 LaughingSusan Unger, Ryan Scott, Nelson Bradford, Steven Martinez, Meghan Schoonover, Gina Stevenson, Marg Shurtliff, Marsha Lynn, Mike Schutz and 4 others - "thanks" for this post
Thanks for the update and congratulations to Scott Sherwood on his election.
Congratulations, Scott!
I know Scott well. He's a wonderful man of God, and the NWIL District will be in very capable hands. He pastored Bloomington First Church of the Nazarene on the NWIL District for a number of years and is well known and respected there. Praise the Lord and congratulations to Scott.
Congratulations Scott!
Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
Wow. Did he accept? If so, congratulations.
WOW! Scott congratulations!!! On March 8, at symposium, I did mention being in the same room as future District Superintendents!!! It must have been the supper at Arthur Bryant's.
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You start to feel old when people you knew at age 17 are new DSs.
On second thought, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.Post Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
Cool! And to think I knew him back when he was just another pastor on NazNet.
BTW, this is my fourth Facebook friend to become a D.S. -- 1%. I suspect that says more about the generous friendship of people headed toward such positions than anything about my friend list. I should look over the list and figure out who is next. (Not sure what percentage of my friends are Nazarene clergy.)
Congratulations, Scott!
Marsha
"Transformation comes more from pursuing profound questionsblog: www.marshalyn.blogspot.com
than seeking practical answers."
-- Peter Block in The Answer to How Is Yes
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Yes, from what I understand, he has accepted.
Congratulations!
Grace and Peace,
Jon Twitchell
Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene | YourChurchWeb.net | YourChurchPianist.net | FuneralChaplain.com
As a member of Scott's current board, can I please ask that those of you who have chosen to "run" with this news behave like responsible leaders. Tomorrow, there will be people in his church grieving the loss of a pastor and family whom they have only known for a year. Tomorrow, he will announce it to his board. Fortunately, there seem to be people who just can't respect boundaries of etiquette. At our church, we do all we can to ensure that word of a pastoral call isn't made until the pastor has announced his resignation out of respect to the church who is losing their pastor. I truly do not wish to sound ugly about this, so please don't read that into it. We have had two pastors in the last 10 years announce resignations to their boards AFTER the Nazarene rumor mill decided to "share in love"the the great news. Just show consideration for other churches and maintain some gossip discipline, please.
By the way, we do love Scott and Sherry and their girls dearly. Our lives in Texas are better because we have known them.
Jeff, yours is a good reminder that one person's good news is at the expense of another's loss. I'm praying right now that things will go well for Richardson church tomorrow and in the future as the pastoral transition takes place.
In this day of social media I don't think it's possible for a district to elect a new leader and for the word not to get out. It's a bit different in the election of a DS than it is with a local pastor. That process can sometimes be kept quiet - although the "Nazarene grapevine" has a distant reach!
Around 17 years ago my name was voted on by a church and within hours a friend of mine who I didn't think had any possible connection asked me in front of some other friends if he'd heard correctly that I'd been called to that church!
Anyway, and again, I do pray that things will go well for your church in this transition.
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Yes, two who were at ONC/ONU when I was are now DS's ... one in the US and one in Canada.
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.
~ Stella Adler ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It takes a great deal of maturity to accept that trying to eliminate all risk eliminates life.
~ Susan Lapin ~
Appreciate the noble intent of your desire. If you find some way of shutting down the Naz jungle telegraph (which was like greased lightning in the old pre technology days, you can then move on to something easy like peace in the Middle East.
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Jeff - Thank you for your concern, not only for your church and board, but also for Scott and his family. Scott is a personal friend whom I greatly respect, and I certainly was not sharing the news of his election as gossip, but as exciting evidence of God's will, love and power at work in my home district.
You should also be aware that I heard the news of Scott's election from three different individuals before I posted it here on Naznet, and thus considered it to be information of at least semi-public record by that time. If you note my previous posts, I noted that NWIL had elected a candidate, but did not actually share Scott's name initially because I didn't know whether he had accepted and/or informed his board. It was only after three separate people imparted the news of his election to me and informed me that he had accepted that I actually posted his name.
I apologize profusely if I made what I know is an already difficult situation for both Scott and the Richardson church board even more complicated. As I stated, that was certainly not my intention, and I am sorry for any additional difficulty my decision to share the news of Scott's election may have created.
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I can understand the need to keep news like this under wraps, but it is simply not possible (or even necessarily advisable) to do so in this era of cell phones, text messaging, and social media.
This evening I received internet communication of the death of a friend's dad. I got the word via a parishioner from thirty years ago. I didn't know she knew the family, and I still don't know why she knew to contact me. A more formal announcement was made, but not until an hour after I had been told. Her telling me was just a little inappropriate, and not the way the family wanted the word to get out.
Unfortunately, we don't really know how to deal with the internet, yet. Frequently, we discover that what we mean to say doesn't come across like we meant for it to. There isn't ill intent, but we don't stop to think, and we don't work very hard to make sure we proceed with the best interest of anyone else who might have access to the internet.
Sorry for those who may be informed in a way that will be painful. Hopefully it won't be spiritually damaging to anyone.
Brother,
Please know that I am aware that it was not your intention. I did not intend my comments to be a chastisement or anything like that. As denominational leaders (not strictly local church leaders), we all need to be extra sensitive to potential ramifications of what we glibly call "the Nazarene grapevine".
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As a veteran of the first gulf war and am pretty familiar with life in SW Asia, I will take that in the manner of which I am worthy . . . with the dignity instilled in me by the U.S. Army Military Police Corps. HOOAHH!!!
Thank you for the reminder, Jeff. It is indeed difficult to balance the joy of what is good news for some with the grief of what will be much less joyful for others and remain sensitive to the fact that there are always readers who thrive on being the ones to "drop the bomb" and observe the effect on those who will most be hurt by this news.
Even as I saw the news and was glad to know the outcome of the election, my heart went out to your church, knowing you aren't far beyond your last pastoral search. I pray that this loss for you and your faith community will also contain surprising blessing.
Oh, and welcome to NazNet. As you know already, it's far from a perfect environment, but most of us truly do care.
Marsha
"Transformation comes more from pursuing profound questionsblog: www.marshalyn.blogspot.com
than seeking practical answers."
-- Peter Block in The Answer to How Is Yes
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Jeff,
Knowing a little of RCN's journey in recent years, please know we at Denison will be praying for you in our service today. - your Dallas District neighbor.
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I will admit that I struggle with this. Maybe I am young, or naive, or ignorant. I'm probably all 3.
Last year, when our district (Indianapolis) voted for a new DS, I updated a NazNet thread with the top 3-5 nominees after each ballot. I *think* people appreciated getting to know what was happening on a district many people are familiar with, and to be completely honest, I hadn't at all considered the feelings of those at the church where our new DS (Ron Blake), came from. Dr. Blake is doing a phenomenal job by the way! I do realize that our gain was their loss, and had no intention of upsetting anyone.
Personally, I would want to know what the specific boundaries of etiquette are. At a General Assembly, we broadcast to the world the voting for a General Superintendent, and they often come from ministerial positions. Am I to understand that it is ok at the global level, but not at the district level?
I really do think a conversation needs to be had about how to approach this issue. Technology is an incredible thing. I remember when my family got our first computer that would surf the internet when I was in 6th grade, it was a marvelous thing. I remember watching online when the DS of my old district (Jerry Porter - Washington District - now Mid Atlantic) was elected. We need to figure out how to use this to our benefit.
I will be praying for your church, and for a clear vision in calling your next pastor.
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I for one appreciated your updates from Indianapolis and also those of Abram on this current election. You both were posting on a forum read by people who are interested in such happenings in the denomination. In the case of Ron Blake, someone else (not you) immediately congratulated him on his Facebook page. That's a place frequented by his friends and family. I found the announcement on NazNet to be appropriate but the early congrats on Facebook to be insensitive to those he would want to notify personally.
The problem is there's nothing to keep people from reading it on NazNet and carrying it to other more personal settings. Nor is there anything to keep someone sitting in the district assembly from immediately texting the friends and family of the person elected with the news.
Maybe it's simply because I like hearing the news, but if I could control the news flow, which of course none of us an do, I wouldn't keep it off NazNet. Rather, I would try to shut down the channels that take it from NazNet (or the assembly) to those for whom it has the potential to be bad news -- friends and family (including church family) of the person elected. I wish those people could find out personally from people who truly care about them.
Marsha
Last edited by Marsha Lynn; April 15th, 2012 at 04:48 PM. Reason: get the name right
"Transformation comes more from pursuing profound questionsblog: www.marshalyn.blogspot.com
than seeking practical answers."
-- Peter Block in The Answer to How Is Yes
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Hi David - First off, greetings to a fellow Indianapolis District Nazarene. I know I have seen you previously at district events, but I have never introduced myself. I will be sure to do so sometime.
Secondly, you make an excellent point about the boundaries of etiquette related to passing along important Nazarene news. I really think there does need to be a denomination-wide conversation about this...perhaps at General Assembly next year? Given all that can happen on the floor at District Assemblies, especially during a D.S. vote, (being the son of a Nazarene District Secretary, I am well acquainted with some of those things), isn't it at least as important for those connected to the assembly but who are not able to attend to receive updates on how things are proceeding as it is for the elected individual's board/family not to?
My wife's cousin attends College Church in Olathe and remembers finding out about Dr. Graves' election as a General Superintendent while watching the General Assembly simulcasts. Interestingly, she made the comment that she was glad she found out that way than if that news had somehow been kept quiet and she had been blindsided by the announcement at church on a Sunday morning. Anyway, just a thought.
Marsha - Greetings to a fellow Hoosier Nazarene. You are absolutely right - controlling news flow is extremely difficult, as is knowing exactly when it is or is not appropriate to post news in a forum like this.
Controlling information leaks in a pastoral interview situation is usually not that difficult if the church board and candidate involved make a conscious effort to do so, because that scenario usually involves a minimal number of people. In contrast, doing the same thing in an assembly situation where hundreds of delegates with cell phones and laptops have first hand access to the necessary information, is simply not possible - short of imposing a zero tolerance policy toward and/or confiscating all cell phones, electronics, etc. before delegates can be allowed on the assembly floor (which is neither practical nor advisable).
Abram, I would say to the suggestion of electronic device confiscation that I hope you are only kidding. I would never suggest that. I would only suggest that people are capable of behaving responsibly with information they possess. The fact that I am in possession of some knowledge does not necessitate my prompt broadcasting (or social media posting) of said knowledge. The comparison to General Assembly elections really doesn't hold much water since candidates for election as a General Superintendent are usually known ahead of time and the entire denomination is observing assembly proceedings at the same time. Again, I respect the fact that your intention was not to be premature in the dissemination of the information about the Sherwoods. However, establishing guidelines is really less about corporate guidelines and more about being individually respectful of potential damage by choosing to be informational gatekeepers. We CAN do that. It starts with each person in the assembly opting to NOT be the newsbreaking source before the pastor/D.S..
I was definitely not suggesting device confiscation at assemblies, and I would never suggest or promote that, either. I mentioned it only to say that short of confiscation, there is really no practical way to prevent at least a few out of hundreds of people with access to information and electronic devices from sharing that information.
D.S. elections are basically miniaturized G.S. elections, and the NWIL District election yesterday was no different. Scott, along with several other men (my dad included), had been publicly talked about as a possible candidate for NWIL D.S., and given his significant connection to that district, his election was considered a serious possibility by many on the district.
Thank you all for your kind words. There may have been some conversation back on the district, but we had no reasonable expectation that the district would feel led our direction. Certainly not the most accomplished or experienced option they had. We have followed God into uncertain waters before and follow Him into these knowing that his purpose for us there may be richly rewarding or it may be difficult or it may be both. We do love the people of our home district and are very excited about being on their team again. Leaving RCN after just getting a good start is difficult, gut-wrenching in fact.
I have been in a lot of humble positions as a minister and been proud to be there. I've never felt smaller or more humbled than in the last 36 hours.
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Just want to let you know that your friends and the churches on the Illinois district are praying for you, your family, NWIL, and Richardson Nazarene during these upcoming transitions. And if you ever find yourself in the Mattoon area of I-57 stop in and say hello! (though it is a little our of your jurisdiction)
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