January 21, 2011

New Kind of Potluck at the Annual Meeting

An announcement of the annual meeting can be as welcome as the postcard reminder of your  dental appointment: You know you’ve got to do it, but you’re not going to enjoy it. 

Often, it seems, annual meetings stick to the same-old agenda -- perfunctory reports from various commissions, a budget update and a reflection by the priest. And, lest we forget, there's the potluck lunch.

Interestingly, for the meal, we bring our best – the deviled eggs, hash brown casserole or fudge brownies that everyone raves over. We all contribute. But when it comes time for the meeting of our parish, we become the audience. 

I wonder what annual meetings would be like if the business part was potluck too – a time when we all contributed our best. Last year, my church tried something new: the written reports were handed out, and the priest offered a few words about the year. But then we divided into four key groups: Outreach, Formation, Hospitality and Youth. In each small group, everyone was asked to talk about one or two ideas for the coming year. We tried to address three questions: What was working? What could we be doing better? What did we need to start doing?

Some of the small groups fared better than others, depending on the participants and their willingness to let go of personal agendas. But it was, I think, an interesting way to conduct an annual meeting – to invite everyone into conversation. 

As congregations across the Episcopal Church are gathering for the Annual Meetings, I’m wondering: How do we make them more like our favorite potluck dinners?