Board Meetings, Never Bored

As a kid, I looked forward to Mid-Year Board Meetings.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I can’t say I was especially interested in budgets, reports, or the finer points of church governance. But I knew there would be people I wanted to see.

There were friends from other churches, like Ryan Kendall, who remains one of my best friends today. Annual Conference meant seeing people like Kevin Hicks and Ken Schoonover. And, in the interest of historical accuracy, there were also a few young ladies I hoped might notice me.

I’m glad one of them eventually did. Now I no longer have to worry about that aspect of yearly meeting.

My enthusiasm wasn’t entirely theological.

But something important was happening, even before I had words for it. Through those gatherings, I discovered that my church belonged to a larger family. People beyond my own congregation knew me, shared my faith, and were becoming part of my story.

I came to see my friends. Along the way, I learned what it meant to belong to Friends.

That still matters.

This coming week, Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting will gather for Pastors and Leaders Day and Mid-Year Board Meetings on October 9–10. I’ll have the privilege of spending time with our pastors, leaders, and church representatives, sharing a superintendent’s report, and offering a brief devotional reflection on Friday evening.

If you are wondering whether you should come, I hope you will. Come because your presence strengthens the connection between our churches. Come because you will hear what God is doing across Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting—and because others need to hear what God is doing in your congregation. Come because shared ministry is easier when we know one another, pray for one another, and make decisions together.

You can expect meaningful worship, honest conversation, practical updates, and opportunities to encourage fellow pastors and leaders. You can expect to participate in the business that helps our yearly meeting serve faithfully. You can also expect time to reconnect with friends, meet people you may not know yet, and discover that you are part of something larger than your local church.

And yes, we will conduct business. There will be reports, decisions, and details that deserve careful attention. Faithfulness includes stewarding our resources, supporting our leaders, and carrying our responsibilities well.

I won’t promise that every agenda item will keep you on the edge of your seat. My childhood self would want me to be honest about that.

But I hope we come expecting more than an agenda.

We gather because the work God has entrusted to us requires relationship. We need to hear what is happening in other churches, notice when a pastor is weary, celebrate where a congregation is finding new life, and ask how we can help one another take the next faithful step.

Some of that happens during a meeting. Some happens over coffee, around a meal, or in a conversation we didn’t know we needed.

Our Pastors and Leaders Day will center on “The Refuge of God,” drawing from Psalm 91. Before we ask what we need to accomplish, we will make room to dwell in God’s presence—to rest, listen, pray, and receive.

I need that invitation as much as anyone. As I write this, I’m praying:

“You are my refuge, God. Jesus, you are my safe place, and Holy Spirit, you are my lead. Speak, Lord; your servant is listening.”

Leadership can quietly become a cycle of responding, solving, preparing, and carrying. Even meaningful ministry can leave us depleted. We need time with Jesus and people with whom we can be honest about how we are doing.

My prayer is that our leaders leave encouraged, more deeply rooted in Christ, and aware that someone is praying for them.

From that place, we can look toward the future together.

Our calling to Equip, Energize, and Establish gives us practical questions to bring into these gatherings:

How are we forming and supporting leaders?

Where do our churches need renewal and encouragement?

What new expressions of ministry might God be inviting us to nurture?

We need strategy and vision. We also need the humility to seek God’s face together and allow what we hear to shape our plans.

The decisions before us belong to this season, but their influence will reach beyond it. They will help shape the churches our children inherit, the opportunities emerging leaders receive, and the ways our communities encounter Jesus.

I think about that when I remember being a boy at these gatherings. The adults were attending to matters I barely understood. Yet the family they were nurturing gave me friendship, belonging, and room to grow.

Now we have the privilege of doing that for someone else.

So come ready to listen, pray, reconnect, and participate. Come prepared to bring your questions, ideas, stories, and encouragement. Come expecting God to meet us not only through the formal program, but also through the people gathered around you.

And if you see a young person who seems more interested in finding friends than following the reports, introduce yourself.

They may remember your kindness long after they forget the agenda.

They might even become the superintendent someday.

See you at Mid-Year Board Meetings—not Bored Meetings.

Donnie Hinshaw
Superintendent, Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting of Friends