Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Our congregational life is a common life, complete with the joys and challenges that come from being in relationship. As congregational leaders, our role involves managing the sometimes ‘sticky wickets’ of relationship that hamper our work of building the beloved community.

The May/June issue of Vestry Papers explores the theme Caring for Each Other. We share resources and articles offering ways to model mutual respect and care with congregational leaders (lay and ordained, volunteer and paid) and the community as a whole.

Here’s what you’ll find in this issue of Vestry Papers:

• Email and social media have changed how many of us communicate with each other. In “Tone Matters,” Scott Gunn looks at how the casual nature of this media can create opportunities for hurt feelings and offers steps you can take to minimize misunderstandings and create an environment of truthfulness and love.
• The regular flow of congregational life often includes people impacted by addiction and codependency. “So You Think You Don’t Know One” by Chilton Knudsen offers a look at the impact these issues can have on a congregation, identifying patterns and symptoms to look for as well as a call to mindfulness that can open the way to healing and a renewal of congregational health. 
• There’s a correlation between highly functioning, fruitful vestries and a culture of respect, caring, and transparency. In “No More Parking Lot Conversations,” Nancy Davidge and Mary MacGregor explore ways congregational leaders can encourage a culture of mutual respect.
• Caring for each other includes treating people fairly. When it comes to our church employees, both clergy and lay, our commitment to being ‘fair’ often runs up against budget realities. “Valuing Lay Employees” introduces readers to the church-wide lay employee pension system mandated at the 2009 General Convention and the resources developed by the Church Pension Group to help congregations and church institutions discern how best to implement this benefit.

Recent Vital Posts blogs also offer resources related to this theme. What Miguel Escobar’s “Google and the Human Touch,” Peter Strimer’s “Who’s New and Who’s Missing,” and Richelle Thompson’s “Care and Feeding of Priests” have in common is a call to take one extra step in recognition of our relationship with each another. And, on June 1, we’ll post four new Vestry Papers articles on this theme.

Building healthier relationships in congregations is the theme of our VP Talk with retired bishop Chilton Knudsen on Thursday, May 19 at 7:00 pm ET. Using case studies from her book So You Think You Don’t Know One? Addiction and Recovery in Clergy and Congregations, Chilton will explore the theological dimensions and symptoms of addiction and codependency and offer strategies for congregational healing.

As always, I invite you to share your “Caring for Each Other” resources in the Your Turn section, by participating in VP Talks, and/or posting comments related to our articles, blog posts, or other content.

Working on this issue, I’ve developed a heightened awareness of the ways I interact with others and the intentional and unintentional messages I send with every action and communication. I invite you to join me in this intentional mindfulness.

Faithfully,

Nancy Davidge
Editor, ECF Vital Practices

PS: I invite you to join us on Thursday, May 26 at 1:00 pm ET, for a VP Talk, “Creating a Sustainable Community,” with Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland and Richard Horton, chair of Trinity’s Green Team. They’ll share how the Cathedral is using sustainability as a tool for evangelism and church growth as well as an economic engine for the rebuilding of a city and region, and the faith community’s role in that rebuilding.