By Cheryl Scramuzza

The context I am serving in is a long-standing Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) church that is in the midst of a lot of transition. The Senior Pastor is just over a year into her call, and she is the first woman and first African American to hold the role of Senior Pastor at Northway Christian Church in its 113-year history. I am also a new staff member, and I joined the church for my first full time position in ministry after I graduated from seminary at Perkins School of Theology in 2018. Our entire ministry staff has a tenure here at Northway of three years or less. The church and its lay leadership have been intentional about the people who have been called to serve, seeking specific gifts and skill sets. There is a desire here, like many other churches to build more connections to the community and to grow our membership through meaningful relationships and discipleship.

My skills are broad. I served in many different leadership capacities in the corporate world, including Quality Manager and Supply Planner. I have strengths in execution and can always find a way to finish an array of projects and assignments. I am passionate about finding a way. I am a good listener and know how to invite others into the ideation process, so I work well with teams. I am also a writer, so I like to journal, write letters, compose sermons, and doodle in poetry. Another gift I have is in the area of learning and sharing; I can read a book on an approach to business or leadership and then breakdown the takeaways to help others understand and implement the concepts. I am always seeking new ideas and new ways to make a difference.

What drew me to Launch & Lead was the desire to discern both my call to building community and to work towards supporting Northway’s desire to make these connections. We understand that church is no longer the given it used to be in the daily lives of many Americans. In order to make new connections with the world and neighbors around us, we need to have non-traditional approaches to neighboring. As I learn more about Missional Imagination in my course work, I am excited about where the ethos will lead me and my church. When I bring back my learnings, I hope we can discern new ways to consider where we can show up, how we might pay better attention so that we can cooperate with God, and release the outcome.