Remarks at Luther Place Annual Meeting Jackson Droney May 13, 2018

Serving as president of Luther Place these past three years has been really cool. I’ve loved it. This is an awesome congregation, with incredible people engaged in pretty great work. And we do it because we love God and each other – and it’s fun!

As President I got a chance to shape a lot of the action. And that was just fantastic. And it could also be really hard and really infuriating at times. But it was mostly fantastic.

There were three things we did over the past three years that I want to give a shout out to:

First, we consolidated our Sunday morning worship services. It was my first meeting as council president and that proposal was dropped in my lap. I did not expect it to go well. I knew that people had all kinds of preferences about worship and music, and a lot of people have very strong opinions this. But the council went to work, we asked a lot of tough questions of each other and of the staff. And then we brought it to the congregation. Talked about it in blog posts, and Q&A sessions, and through comment boxes. And at a meeting like this we voted on it. . . . and it passed unanimously.

No, our worship isn’t old-school high church Lutheran with all the bells and whistles. And no, it’s not contemporary wannabe hip Christian campfire time. Our combined service – our only morning service – is a vibrant, deep, textured space where a smash up of people from all walks of life get to gather around the table and marvel at what happens when we’re together, when Jesus is among us. Maybe you don’t like everything about it, but I think it’s fair to say we’ve grown to love most all of it and to recognize that a little discomfort in worship is probably good for us. I think the Spirit spoke to our hearts in that meeting when we voted unanimously. And I think it’s a good reminder of the power of listening and discerning together.

The second big thing we did that I want to mention was when we as a council voted – again unanimously – to reorganize the Parish Hall, moving the Steinbruck Center to the fourth floor and paving the way for reimagining the rest of the parish building. That was also hard. I know many felt uneasy or unsure of what it means that N Street Village will no longer operate a night shelter in the building, effective later this year.

Our strong, yet evolving, relationship with N Street Village is important to so many here at Luther Place – and rightfully so. And being awake and responsive to what to what is going on in our neighborhood and community now is just as important. The council saw that reorganizing the building would allow greater opportunities for justice-minded community engagement, which in turn can help stabilize our financial position. The report we received today from the Steinbruck Center and Building Vision 2017 is evidence of how the building reorganization is already having an impact and inviting more possibilities. I’m excited – and I hope you’re excited – to see and be part of where this all goes.

The third big thing council has done – in a more under the radar, subtle sort of way – is to bring clarity to they way we do business here in the church. For people who have been part of congregations all their lives, there’s a lot of things about how we operate that may seem obvious to us, but not so much to others. And some of the ways we do things need to be reexamined periodically and questioned: Are these systems and processes really serving us well? Why are we doing this? And why are we doing this, this way?

Part of what makes Luther Place so cool is that many of us are from DC and many of us are from places far and wide. Many of us have always been Lutheran, and many of us still don’t know what that means. But we all love what Jesus is up to in our lives and here at Luther Place. Our variety of experience is really great, and it means that we have to think all the time about how to do things better, how to organize ourselves better, how to communicate better, how to serve better, and how to lead better. The documents in the appendix of the annual report reflect some of council’s learnings over the past year.

A word of caution though – and maybe this is a word of political caution – there is always a reason why things are the way they are. I have learned it’s important to figure that out first before moving forward with a change. Be wise as serpents, and gentle as doves.

And there are so many doves I want to thank – and a few serpents too.

First, I have to thank anyone who has served on council with me these past five years. Would anyone who has served on the council since 2013 please rise? Can we please acknowledge the service of these folks? 2013 was the first year of our vision, and these folks should be commended for all the work they have done to make it come alive. You all were fabulous companions on my journey. And I’m grateful to the ways you taught me, encouraged me, and yes, even put up with me at times.

Next, there are my friends who served with me on the executive committee: Chelsey Christensen, Faith Korbel, Kate Wulff, and Tara Hogan. Ladies, you rock. It has been such a joy to work on all of the ups and downs of council leadership together. Chelesey always had the perfect answer to every question I asked. I can’t imagine serving in this role alongside else. There’s an old saying in politics – dance with the ones who brought you to the party. I’d boogie with you four any time.

Then there are my friends who have served on the Personnel Committee: Krista Martin, Bill Sickert-Bush, Gretchen Desilva, Charlie Stepanek, Betsy Mountenay, and Susan Boyle. Wow. What a group, and what a journey we have shared. We’ve carried some heavy stuff, but I am so glad we did it together. It’s been important work, and you’ve all taught me a lot about faithfulness and inner strength. We’ve made a lasting mark on this place, in ways that aren’t always apparent to everyone else here, but we know. Thank you for everything.

We have an amazing staff at Luther Place. I’m not going to go through them all, but I am so grateful for the ways they have led the congregation, and supported lay leaders and the council over the years. You are all so talented and dedicated, and you’ve made an impact on so many of us here and outside these walls.

I do want to thank Kristen Kane by name. Kristen encouraged me to join the council five years ago, and I’m so glad she did. Kristen has worn many hats here, but throughout all the years she has been someone I could count on to be a solid thought partner, offering wise counsel and a healthy reality check or two. She is deeply committed to making Luther Place be all that it can be.

And I must thank the Senior Pastor, Rev. Karen Brau. When I was thinking about being President, Pastor Karen and I walked her dogs a few loops around Logan Circle, talking about the congregation, what the Spirit is up to, and what leadership challenges we would face. I was so inspired by her energy, her enthusiasm for her work, and her deep well of spiritual wisdom. Over the next three years Pastor Karen and I worked on everything together, from worship, to personnel matters, to budget issues, to deciding the theme for Lent, to teaching classes, to picking the carpeting color in the sanctuary. The thing I will miss most about being president, is all the time we got to spend together working on all this stuff, however exciting or ordinary or easy or difficult it could be. Thank you, pastor. After working with me for three years, you really earned your sabbatical.

Finally, I have four friends here today: Nick Lawson, Tyler Ford, Bethany Van Kampen, and Miguel Boluda. These four people probably know more about Luther Place than a lot you sitting here – and they don’t even go here! But they have been with me from the start, helping me see things with a fresh set of eyes, putting up with me always having to go to another meeting, and handing me a drink at the perfect time. I love you all. Thank you.

I know it’s Mother’s Day, and so I want to leave you with four leadership lessons my mom taught me. She said these things a lot, and I think they really affected how I turned out as a leader. Just keep in mind, my mom’s family have a flair for the dramatic and the unabashed. So I’ve translated these into less offensive language.

1. Don’t burn your bridges. Don’t blow up relationships over work stuff. Maintain comity on teams, have group norms, and don’t push people’s buttons. And when you have to disagree, do it in a way that let’s you come back to each other after.

2. Pick and choose your battles. Leaders have choices in what problems they’re going to tackle. You can’t possibly tackle them all, so choose wisely. Have the wrong fight at the wrong time, and you make yourself and your team less effective going forward. For example, I never chose to address how long the service – or the sermon – can go sometimes.

3. The only person you really know is yourself, and sometimes you don’t even know yourself. Life is complicated. People are complicated. Situations with people are complicated. Through all the not knowing and complications, we learn to trust each other anyway. And real trust is a precious commodity. It’s what lets us be ourselves. But that doesn’t mean people won’t fail you, and it doesn’t you want fail others sometimes. God forgives us, we forgive ourselves, we ought to forgive each other.

4. You’re never going to get everybody to like you. Don’t try. Just try to do the right thing, speak your truth, and work hard. Don’t be a showboat about it. Enough people will see on their own, the chips will fall where they fall, and you just keep going. In the arena, you may get punched in the face. But you get up, and for as long as you can, keep going.

Well, this speech is not going to keep going. Thank you for all the ways you support and serve this community, for being open to change and doing what it takes to grow a beloved community. Please show the next president the love and grace you have all shown me. They’ll need it, I know I did. It can be a tough job, but it can also be a blast. Even when it was hard, I loved it. I am so honored to have had the opportunity. Thank you.