Thursday, June 28, 2012

Stuck vs. Unstuck Congregations

I had the good fortune to be a student of Edwin H. Friedman, a rabbi whose work in congregational leadership influenced me almost as much as Jesus (also a rabbi). His books are focused on leaders developing three main areas of themselves: self-differentiation, being non-anxious and being present with those you are leading.

I was reviewing my notes from one of his classes, which have become brown around the edges, and came across something I had transcribed: “A church is stuck when it keeps recycling the same unquestioned answers.”

This really does bear up to my experience working with congregations and clergy across the diocese.
When a church keeps saying the same thing over and over again, rehashing the same issues, it is a “stuck church.”

No amount of thinking, rationalizing or discussing will change that dynamic. The answers to the problems are not found in anyone’s rationale, no matter how well-intentioned.

What can move a congregation forward? How can it become un-stuck?

Adventure.

It’s the kind of adventure that takes the form of a mission or a ministry, helping the congregation move beyond itself. It’s something that everyone can get excited about and focus upon.

For example, in my days as a priest, I heard of a parish once that had been vibrant decades before but had declined to nine families. But when it stumbled across an opportunity to provide an after-school program to middle school kids who had been abused and neglected, it found a revitalizing ministry. Ironically, the parish originally was built with an orphanage attached to it called “The Home for Friendless Girls” (tragically true) that had closed decades before. In stumbling across this new ministry of helping abused, neglected and unwanted kids, the parish happened upon its founding adventure. The parish had energy again. That’s what got them unstuck. What had worked in the parish’s inception worked again.

Peter Steinke asks, in his book Healthy Congregations, some questions worth considering, “How many congregations believe they are in the ‘we exist for ourselves’ business rather than ‘we are in mission to the community, even the world’ business?” He goes on to say in his next book Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times, “Congregations can benefit from their steady flow of positive programs, ministerial acts, and supportive gatherings. People can draw from their positive emotional investments as a resource to move past the pressing moment.”

When a congregation finds its adventure – and it’s not the same for every congregation – then it becomes un-stuck.

How does a congregation find its adventure?

It comes from someone in the congregation who is able to think differently, someone who isn’t drawn into rehashing the same problems over and over.

I’m happy to say that we have many un-stuck congregations in our diocese. They have discovered the importance of adventure in ministry and mission.

They also have a sense of humor. When I observe the behavior in healthy congregations, people are playful with one another. They exhibit an absence of anxiety. It’s a wonderful thing to see because in the presence of anxiety, people get really serious. When people are free to dream, when they are able to focus on matters besides their church’s problems, they are free to have a good time together.

The un-stuck churches in our diocese are soaring. The stuck churches can’t move forward and their mission work in the outside world is very minimal.

Is your community of faith stuck, continually recycling the same old stuff? Or is it soaring, energized by adventure in mission and ministry? The kingdom of God needs high-flyers, able to see beyond themselves. I think both rabbis would agree on that.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The Five Marks of Mission


If you subscribe to any of the email lists from The Episcopal Church or The Episcopal News Service, you’ve no doubt come across General Convention information related to the Five Marks of Mission.

For The Episcopal Church, these Five Marks of Mission are a way of acknowledging that the mission of the Church is the same as the mission of Christ; they are the foundational basis for everything we do in our congregations, dioceses and as individuals.

I have a few suggestions for ways that congregations can set themselves up to follow the Five Marks of Mission:

1.      Vision for the mission is required. It means letting go of the constant self-care and building-care that are part of maintenance. You do not see “maintenance” on the Five Marks of Mission. We must be able to envision the mission work in our community and be convicted enough by the Gospel to do it.
2.      Support the vision. Supporting this vision requires some sacrifice from the congregation. In order to move toward the mission, the congregation needs to face sabotage from those who wish to remain in maintenance mode.
3.      Do the work of the mission and put resources toward it. Small committed communities of faith can do this! It requires that we share our resources generously, that we are steadfastly disciples of Christ rather than members of a church.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recently had a conversation on mission in the 21st century that enlightens us to the impact of mission work on the world, and on ourselves spiritually. Our presiding bishop explained how mission work can bring us closer to God. She said, “If we recognized the image of God wherever we go, the world would work very differently, but we live in a society that so often assumes enemy rather than image of God, and the conversation is lost before it begins.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s perspective on mission is clearly personal to him. He explained that if it hadn’t been for missionaries in South Africa during the last century, many of the native people would not have been able to receive an education or medical care. 

“Many of us are alive today because of men and women who built clinics and hospitals. Many of us were educated in missionary schools, and helped to remain healthy in missionary hospitals. We have the capacity to do an enormous amount of good,” he said. “I think if we are smart enough to make atoms that can obliterate us, shouldn’t we be smart enough to be able to feed? It is our privilege and responsibility to help turn this wilderness into the garden that God had always intended for his world to be.”

The Episcopal Church is asking people to take a quiz on their Facebook page regarding the attitudes about mission, as well as submit videos of local ministry in action, which will be voted upon later.
I’d also like to ask parishes how they could use these Five Marks of Mission as a focus for moving from maintenance to mission. These Five Marks really speak to our spending priorities. How are our parishes already using the Five Marks of Mission? These are important questions to ask as we move toward the 77th General Convention.

“Mission is about receiving that love, and then responding,” said the Presiding Bishop. “God comes to us in human flesh to give us the gift to be sent into the world to spread that love. It is a matter of calling the near and far-off together and in one fold.”

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Change vs. Transition


Last week, the staff members of the diocese enjoyed an overnight retreat at The Hermitage in Three Rivers where the Rev. Cindy Nawrocki, who is our diocesan deacon for domestic mission trips and Jubilee Ministries, led us in exercises surrounding the concepts of change and transition.
Since the announcement of my retirement, the staff and many people in the diocese are aware of impending transitions.

In this workshop, Cindy explained that transition can be known as the land of uncertainty, a time between an ending and a beginning. She said “We can use this time to be anxious and worried or we can use this time to grow and learn something new about ourselves.” We were given the opportunity to answer the following questions about ourselves, and then expanded our conversation to the changes that are going to affect all of us:

·        Where were you 10 years ago? (Vocationally, spiritually, physically, emotionally.)
·        Where do you want to be 10 years from now? (Vocationally, spiritually, emotionally.)
·        What have been some of the biggest transitions you have made in your life? Were they made of your own choice? What inner growth came from those times of transition?
·        What were some of the most surprising changes that have happened in your life?

One of the most important things I took away was the distinction between change and transition. Cindy quoted William Bridges: “There can be any number of changes but unless there are transitions, nothing will be different when the dust clears.”

In short, we learned that change is external and transition is internal. One follows the other. 

Sometimes change comes first, but sometimes transition leads us to change. What’s dangerous is when they don’t go together.

There have been occasions during my time as Bishop in which it has been necessary to force changes with the hope that a transition will take place in the hearts and minds of those involved. My hope has been that by doing those difficult things, the Spirit will enter and make things healthier.

But I have found that things get very messy before they get better … and that a mess is a sign that a change/transition is taking place.

Changes and transitions rarely happen smoothly, however, but as Christian people, we trust the Spirit to make things right. As long as we hold onto our own stuff, we can’t receive what the spirit has to offer. In going through changes, we really must allow the Spirit to work to create something healthy.

Recommended reading:
Thirst, by Mary Oliver, Beacon Press
Open the Door: A Journey to the True Self, by Joyce Rupp, Sorin Books
How Can I Let Go if I Don’t Know I’m Holding On?, by Linda Douty, Morehouse Publishing
When the Heart Waits, by Sue Mink Kidd, Harper Collins Publishing
A Time for Leaving, by Mary Fahy, Paulist Press
The Gift of Change, by Marianne Williamson, Harper Collins Publishing
Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, by William Bridges, Addision-Wesley Publishing
The Language of Letting Go, by Melody Beattie
Growing Wings, by Kristen Jongen   (from Grace Church, Traverse City)

Membership is not enough.


Bishop’s Message

I will freely admit that I’ve never had an original idea. I love it when other people give me a model of language to express something I know inside me.  Most recently, I feel a deep sense of appreciation for Timothy Dombek’s exploration of the dichotomy between Membership and Discipleship in the church.

Those of you who attended our 2012 Diocesan Convention in Traverse City last month will remember Timothy Dombek as the keynote speaker. He is the Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of Arizona. He also spoke at Stewardship University which was held in Grand Rapids earlier this month.

While we use the word “member” freely in our parishes, Dombek makes the distinction between those who identify themselves as members and those whose primary focus is to be followers of Jesus, i.e. disciples.

Here are some examples of Dombek’s observations:

The Expectations of a Member:
  • ·        To give money to others to do ministry
  • ·        To pay “dues” to receive services, like a visit from the rector.
  • ·        To fill a slot in the church membership.
Members Assume the following:
  • ·        The mission field is elsewhere, not here.
  • ·        The goal is to get and keep members.
But while the members are focused on the congregation, disciples are focused on following and doing the work of Jesus. Dombek explains that when Jesus is our focal point, “our lives will naturally show forth acts of kindness and generosity and ministry becomes a way of life.”

The Expectations of a Disciple:

  • ·        To do the ministry themselves, offer their resources, discern and deploy their own gifts.
  • ·        To be transformed through worship and faith.
  • ·        To be part of a community.
Disciples assume the following:

  • ·        The mission field is at the door of the church.
  • ·        There are high expectations of disciples, including diligence.
It brings to mind an image about a swimming pool from a sermon I heard once a long time ago.
“All the noise is at the shallow end.”

I have seen my fair share of church fights, and in my experience, they arise from being in the shallow end of the pool. Those who are in the shallow end have time for shallow things; those who move to the more difficult space of the deep water are busy with the work of swimming, or metaphorically, growing in their relationship with Jesus, carrying out his mission, and being transformed by their relationship to him.

Last Saturday, we confirmed, received and reaffirmed the baptismal vows of 64 new disciples. I said in my sermon to them, “Today you are saying you want to move to the deep end of the pool, where life isn’t so secure, where you can’t feel your feet beneath you. The spirit has called you.”

To have an experience of God in worship is most wonderful. But it does not make you a disciple. You need to go deeper into the water.

We need more disciples in the church. Membership in the church is not enough. The disciples came to Jesus with open minds and a willingness to be transformed, as should we.