Leadership that Leads to Flourishing

Lately, we’ve certainly gotten our money’s worth out of our Dallas office! In May alone, we’ve hosted the Presbytery Leaders Meeting, both ordination retreats, the Synod Executive Council, and several other multi-day collaborative gatherings. Altogether, dozens of leaders and candidates have spent time in our space—and we love the opportunity to host these events.

In each of these meetings, we’ve been reminded of our core mission and purpose as a denomination: to build flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ. We’ve also reiterated that our primary leverage point for accomplishing this mission is the development of leaders who can start and strengthen these flourishing churches. It’s important to remember that it’s not the synod or presbyteries that directly create flourishing churches; rather, we work to cultivate the environment where flourishing can happen. And our most powerful way of supporting that environment is by identifying, developing, and empowering leaders.

As we head into summer, I want to highlight two key leadership transitions in relationship to fulfilling that mission.:

First, Rev. Lisa Johnson will be stepping down from her full-time role as Executive Director of Leadership Formation later this summer. Thankfully, she will continue serving in a part-time capacity, specifically with ordination, through the end of the year to ensure continuity and stability in this vital area. Attached to this newsletter, you’ll find a letter from Lisa sharing her gratitude and the discernment process that led to this decision.

I am deeply grateful for Lisa’s leadership. She is someone who abides in the Lord and bears great fruit from that abiding. Over the last eight years—both in part-time and full-time roles—she has led the charge in creating many of our leadership development resources. This includes the Lay Leader Training Program, Flourishing Leaders, the ordination process, and the development of Mentored Ministry for both ECO and the Flourish Institute of Theology. Not only has she built strong ministries, but she has also raised up other leaders to carry these ministries forward. In the short term, we have support plans in place for those involved in lay leader training. In the longer term, I will be working with the ordination team and others to determine how this important aspect of our ministry will thrive in the next season. We have been so blessed by Lisa and she has been such a wonderful part of our staff! 

Second, we had previously shared that Dr. Mark Patterson would be retiring from his role as President of Flourish Institute of Theology, and that a team from the Synod Executive Council and FIT core faculty would oversee the search process. After posting the position on ECO’s website and reaching out to those engaged with FIT, I’m pleased to share that the team has offered the role to Rev. Dr. Chris DiVietro. Chris currently serves as pastor of Park Road Presbyterian Church in Wyomissing, PA and has also served as the Moderator of Heritage Presbytery. With a PhD in Organizational Leadership, he has taught for FIT as well as other organizations. He has also done strategic consulting to help FIT sharpen its focus and move toward accreditation. Chris will begin serving part time in September so that he can overlap with Mark and help Park Road through its pastoral transition before becoming full time in January, and then relocating to Dallas.

I love these seasons when we both celebrate the faithfulness of God in the past and look forward with anticipation to what He will do next. Please join me in prayer for both Lisa and Chris, as well as our entire ECO family as we seek to build flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ together. 

In Christ,
Dana

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