Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

From the President

Photo of Bryan Sickbert At the 2010 Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, I spoke about my growing sense that CHHSM is, and is becoming, a congregation rather than a trade association. Since January, our Leadership Formation Task Force has been working on what it might mean to define ourselves as a congregation. Here is some of our current thinking, drawn from a white paper currently being considered by CHHSM's Board of Directors:

CHHSM is a community of individuals and organizations committed to service. We are a spiritual community, a congregation. Our service is a sign of God's presence in the world. And our congregation is a reminder that we do not and must not serve alone. Here and there, in ministries large and small, in times past and present, our service is good news to the world and good news to us. It is a story we celebrate, a story we share, a story that forms us.
Our mission is fundamentally about the formation of leaders whose task is to advance the healing ministry of the church of Jesus Christ. We regard formation as the developing, integrating and flourishing of leaders who ground professional excellence in faith-based purpose. Such formation, we believe, requires an intentional community of mutual support. In CHHSM we find kindred spirits who share our vocation. In this community, we nurture relationships and discover resources that sustain us and strengthen our ministries.
To name our fellowship a "congregation" is to speak both of the present reality of CHHSM's identity and our aspiration. We are a congregation, and we are becoming a congregation. At our best, CHHSM is a community marked by vital heritage, meaningful relationships, mutual accountability, and spiritual grounding. Looking back on our life together, we see these signs of a congregation. For many of us, these are the reasons we remain. Looking forward, we see these signs as markers of CHHSM's growing edge. Many of us want to strengthen the experience of our fellowship; we want the idea of congregation to be incarnated even more. Therefore, we desire to deepen the commitment we make to each other.

Over the summer and into the fall, CHHSM's leaders will consider what it might mean to develop and express our commitment to one another--to form a new covenant. As we work, I welcome your thoughts about the value of CHHSM's fellowship in your life and work, and I invite you to hear what some of your colleagues have to say in our new CHHSM video. Let me know what you think.

President Bryan Sickbert


Earlier Columns