CLM Homework Emails –
CLM Module 1 – Homework Assignment #1 of 6: Getting to Know You
Dear friends:
I’m looking forward to our time together when we meet at Little Grassy for the Certified Lay Minister Module 1. Typically classes in college are spaced out with time in between that allows you to study after you spend class time with the teacher and also do homework between classes.
Our CLM class meets one time over Friday night, and Saturday morning and afternoon. This means we have to study prior to class and arrive ready to talk about we have read. Therefore we do homework in advance!
First, please let me know if you have had any difficulty downloading and printing the class “book” – Module One: Call and Covenant for Ministry. This is the new edition for 2016. Please read over the 55 pages, make note of questions you have in the margins and be ready to talk about it in our class.
In order to help us be ready when we arrive at Little Grassy, I’ll have 3 homework assignments a week which you’ll receive by email. They are not going to be difficult but are designed to encourage you to think deeply about this amazing model for ministry which we call the Certified Lay Minister. You just answer the questions I ask, responding as you would to any email.
The First Homework Assignment – the CLM model of ministry is one where we work as a team. All the books on management and leadership are beginning to understand what has been taught in the New Testament all along – we do better when we work as a team, when we know each other, are comfortable with each other, and where we feel that we can trust and rely on our teammates.
This is very different from the Lone Ranger style of ministry where you ride into town, save the day, but never get to know the people you are helping – you never take off your mask, and you leave before you really ever get to know the people. Our experience shows that this style of ministry chews up people and isn’t that beneficial for the church folks who are only consumers who sit quietly and watch the hero do all the work of saving them.
So … as we begin to study this CLM model of ministry, we’re going to also live it. Below you will find a list of questions that I designed to help my church members tell me more about their lives so that I could get to know them. Building community comes first.
Please “reply all” to this email – this will let the entire group know your answers and help us get to know each other – then put your cursor after each statement and finish the sentence with information about yourself. Don’t write a book, but feel free to express yourself. You can answer below, or copy the “Getting To Know You” statements to the top of your reply if you like.
Below these, you’ll find my answers … I might as well go first. If you have questions for me to privately answer, please email me. (Including “How do I ‘reply all’?”) Homework assignment #2 will arrive in your email on Wednesday.
Dave Kueker … blessed to be your instructor.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17-18
GETTING TO KNOW YOU:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
Help us get to know you better, so that we can do a better job of loving you as Jesus would! Please complete the sentences below and return to the pastor or the church office.
My name is …
I grew up in …
I went to school at …
I work (or worked before I retired) at …
These skills were important in my job there …
When people talk about sports, I have to talk about …
My family includes …
In my spare time I like to …
Something interesting that most people don’t know about me is that …
My favorite TV show is …
I’ll bet you didn’t know that I was related to …
I attend worship most Sundays at …
The thing I like most about my church is …
One question I’d like to ask God is …
What experiences helped to form you as a person?
(Hobbies, sports teams, military service, etc. )
DAVE KUEKER’S ANSWERS …
My name is … David Oliver Kueker (the last name is pronounced “Key-ker)
I grew up in … Belleville and Champaign, Illinois.
I went to school at …
Centennial High School in Champaign (Go Chargers!)
Eastern Illinois University (Go Panthers!)
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (Go … uh… never mind)
Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
I work (or worked before I retired) at … Kinmundy and Wesley United Methodist Churches as the pastor. (Since July 1, 2014)
These skills were important in my job there … Preaching, pastoral care and administration/leadership.
When people talk about sports, I have to talk about … how little I know about sports!
My family includes … my wife Kim; three grown sons (Don in Chicago, Mike in New York City, and John and Crystal and grandchildren Damali, Lili and Loyal Liam in Austin, Texas); my brother and his family live in Dallas.
In my spare time I like to … read, read, read. Then buy more books.
Something interesting that most people don’t know about me is that … I participated 2005-2013 in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, where people attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in November. Fortunately, they don’t have to be good novels … if you finish, you win – www.nanowrimo.org.
My favorite TV show is … Whatever Kim is watching, as long as it is not too drama intense – not into soap operas, or any portrayal of suffering.
I’ll bet you didn’t know that I was related to … Col. Edmund Kueker, famous auctioneer in Waterloo, Illinois, whose collection of western memorabilia was the foundation for the Monroe County Historical Society museum.
I attend worship most Sundays at … Kinmundy First and Wesley United Methodist Churches, where I am the pastor.
The thing I like most about my church is … how nice they are to their pastor.
One question I’d like to ask God is … what exactly would Jesus do if he were a local church pastor?
What experiences helped to form you as a person? (Hobbies, sports teams, military service, etc. )
I played basketball until I retired as a high school sophomore; I was tall, but very, very slow.
I volunteered for service in the Air Force in 1975 but flunked the basic eye test. So I went to Seminary instead.
As a fifth grader, I became fascinated with designing ocean going sailboats and suburban homes.
At the age of 30 I became fascinated with computers and taught myself programming. I retired when Windows came out. Now I’m on Facebook, have a website and I blog.
Note: This post is one in a series of emails to allow discussion as a class via email prior to the first gathering of the class for Module 1 of the Certified Lay Minister program of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference. David Kueker is the instructor and developed these introductory emails.
CLM 0.1, Reviewed: 2-19-22.