Click to listen to the conversation with Dave Decker
Dave Decker, Iowa Conference Lay Leader, is the new president of the North Central Jurisdiction Lay Leaders.
Having served as secretary for the executive board “they thought it would be good if I would become president of the North Central Jurisdiction” group.
Reflecting on the meaning of his election Decker noted, “it means that we have an opportunity to be in a more ambitious relationship with our Bishops and our Conference lay leaders in the North Central Jurisdiction.” The NCJ lay leaders had been loosely organized until this year’s meeting, which was held in Kansas City. He’s hoping “to move us into a new era where there’s more open communication between the Bishops in our Jurisdiction and the Conference lay leaders here.”
A meeting of the College of Bishops and the lay leaders would afford the opportunity “to be in a more healthy relationship with our Bishops, get to know each other face to face, discuss how the church is progressing, and what we can do to help each other in that work.”
The group of lay leaders talked about ways of becoming more active. Bishop Robert Schnase led the group in a discussion of his new book, Seven Levers. In the course of the conversation “we were invited to live into that, to try to bring our church into a new era of some growth in membership, which will happen through a connection with our people.”
“I am honored to have been elected to be president. I see a log of work ahead of us and I’m looking forward to working with my fellow lay leaders.”