Work History
I have worked with the same company for many years. When I started as the Human Resources Administrator, they were a small startup company. The company grew and was bought by the Dow Chemical Company. I now am the Sourcing Manager for the Reverse Osmosis division and am responsible for the procurement of roughly $150 million of raw materials.
Call to Ministry
I’ve heard the saying “make plans and God smiles”. I believe God is smiling because I am listening and taking action on His call for my life. By applying my God-given gifts of faith, leadership, administration and giving I can serve Him through a ministry role in the local church. God is calling me to serve the local church(s) in a pastoral role.
Vision of the Church
I love the theme of the 2015 Minnesota Annual Conference: God’s Vision, Our Mission – Unleashed. My desire is to ask God to give us (the church) the vision, we deeply listen, we establish the mission and goals, create the actions to achieve the goals and then watch what happens.
Leadership Style
My leadership style is a combination of visionary and democratic. My style is visionary in that I desire to create a shared vision and partner together to achieve that vision. I also demonstrate a democratic style as I rely on participation and consensus to set shared goals and achieve results.
Gifts for Ministry
Leadership – A leader is one with and/or without a title. I am inclined to take on the title and also act in the role in my personal, business and faith journey. In my personal life I have participated on and chaired numerous educational committees, boards and neighborhood groups. In my business career I participate in and lead teams, projects and groups and in my faith life I participate in and lead teams/committees, Sunday school classes, retreats, studies and worship. Leadership is my way of serving in much that I do. I am a visionary, I am goal oriented and I understand, as much as anyone can, change.
Administration – I use the gift of Administration to organize, direct, and implement plans to lead others in my personal, business and church life. My gift of administration feeds into the gift of leadership as it focuses on the goals and tasks. The gift of administration keeps me focused on the details and allows me to remain organized.
Faith – I once saw a church sign that said “prayer is asking for rain” and below this it said “faith is carrying an umbrella”. I trust God is as the Bible says, I have confidence in what He tells me and no one needs to prove it to me. I just believe!
Giving – God has given me the gift of Giving. I give freely of my resources and time, with no strings attached. I enjoy learning of the needs of others so I can share of the blessing I have. The gift of giving also requires being a good steward of what God has given me allowing me then to give to others.
Exhortation – Perhaps the gift of Exhortation should be defined as the gift of encourager and listener. God has blessed me with the gift of encourager and to be an encourager one must be a listener.
Family
Rod and I have been married for almost 38 years. We both grew up in southwestern MN, Rod on a farm and I lived the first 12 years of my life in towns small enough that we had a barn for our horses. We have lived in the Twin Cities since our marriage, but still return to southwestern Minnesota and to Schaffran family farm to visit Rod’s parents. Although having lived in the Twin Cities for many years, we both are rural people in our hearts.
We have two adult children. Ellen is 27 and lives in Hopkins while David is 29 and lives in St. Louis Park. The four of us share many interests. David and Ellen participated in many music programs during high school and college and Rod and I have sung in church choirs off and on since we were married. We all have a love of baseball and Rod and David share a love for softball. Ellen and I enjoy shopping together and Rod and David ride their Harley’s together.