Marco Polo has enabled the coming alongside for our group despite the fact that we live in the north, south, east, and west of the United States.
#MARCOPOLO CHAT FULL#
She concludes, “Through mutual encouragement and by establishing healthy rhythms, pastors can come alongside one another to seek and to know the full shalom of God.” In her dissertation, Julia writes about how ministry leaders face unique challenges that hinder their ability to form intentional communities and collegial relationships. One of my Buildings and Grounds guys is going to come and have early Thanksgiving I think!” “So have any of you had issues with wild turkey? We got a wild turkey that is pooping all over! Trying to get rid of him. No family should have to go through this.” “I only got four hours of sleep last night. If you have any thoughts or feedback I sure would appreciate it.” “Working on our women’s retreat, and the theme is prayer. It’s a small church, and I am just praying I’ll be able to help them.” “I got connected with another church in the area who is having serious conflict issues. for you to take care of yourself as you try to take care of them.” “We will be praying for the doctors to have wisdom, and for you. Here is just a glimpse of how Marco Polo has allowed us to share life together: I smile because that “ding” is a reminder that I am not alone in ministry.
#MARCOPOLO CHAT UPDATE#
I always smile when I get the little “ding” on my phone that one of my sisters has left me a message, wondering what funny story they will tell, what prayer request they will share, or what update they will give from the last time we talked. Several of us are planning on meeting up again this spring in California.* She has been working for months on this paper, part of which will share the research and data she collected from each of us-data from what was only to be a nine-month covenant group. Soon Julia will be defending her dissertation.
Over the past 17 months, we’ve supported one another through community tragedies, discerning new calls, online dating debacles, StepBet challenges, new hires, deaths, surgeries, home sales, engagements, retirements, marriages, challenges with colleagues, and across-the-country moves. Marco Polo was helping us do ministry, and life, together.
I shared a video from the beach while on vacation in Florida. Jamie showed us the view from her hotel room in Kenya. Julia gave us a tour of the Christmas lights in her neighborhood. We sent messages (known as “polos”) from our homes, our offices, our cars, and our local coffee shops. And as we walked alongside each other we started to communicate more and more on Marco Polo. We talked about our faith journeys, our current ministries, and our personal lives. We started to get to know each other better by sharing our joys and concerns. Over the next few months, we continued to meet and pray together, doing our online check-ins every Thursday. It was new for a few of us, but we agreed it was better than texting, e-mail, or using Facebook messenger. So, one of the Shalom Sisters-the name we coined together as a nod to Julia and her shalom project-suggested we use the video app Marco Polo. We committed to doing readings, praying for one another, and meeting online every week.īut after our first meeting, we decided that we needed a way to stay in touch throughout the week. Her focus was on experiencing the shalom of God, and how covenant community helps pastors experience shalom, both as individuals, and together. Julia, the convener of the group, sent us an e-mail describing her project. Little did I know how these seven other women would affect my life. This group would be a part of her study in pastoral leadership. One of her pastor friends was working on her doctor of ministry degree. In the fall of 2018, I received a call from a former colleague, asking if I would be interested in being a part of a cohort-covenant group of other women pastors.
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