April 21, 2015

Local Temperature Control

The clerk shrugged apologetically.   

Sorry, it’s a little warm in here, she said. Our corporate office controls the thermostat.   

So we shopped, a sheen of sweat on our foreheads. The sweet wind of spring was outside.   

Oh, and did I mention we were in Kentucky? And the corporate office? Texas, naturally.
It’s ludicrous, really, to think that a corporate office controls the temperature of a local store. Somebody made that decision based on dollars, not sense.   

But even as I shake my head in wonder, I think about how we do this in the institutional church. Decisions are all too often made at the wrong level, control arbitrarily (or traditionally) held by certain groups when common sense and expediency argues for another solution.   

This is not a bash against church-wide offices or leaders of a diocese. We definitely need to reexamine our structures and imbue decision-making power in the right places. But our local churches are guilty of this same practice. Consider the relationships between commissions and vestries. All too often, leaders say they want to empower others to act. The vestry creates a building and grounds committee, for example. That group delves into the nitty-gritty of maintenance schedules and energy-saving practices. But when it comes to action, the committee has to get permission. And frequently the vestry wants to rehash the entire process, undermining the committee’s work and removing any authority or ownership.   

This is not to say that the vestry shouldn’t have oversight. It should. But oversight, if not a guarded, intentional practice, can morph into micromanagement in a heartbeat. When committees are developed and/or charged with certain tasks, it’s helpful to also decide upfront its authority. Can a buildings and grounds committee schedule regular maintenance without vestry input? Can they order new parts or equipment? Is there an under/over amount they can spend? Can they repaint the Sunday school rooms? Do they need permission for a different color?   

It sounds silly, in a way, but in practice we’ve all been in the situation where we’ve been told that we have authority to act. And then when we make a decision and take the next steps, the brakes are thrown on. We can’t raise up new leaders if we don’t allow them to lead. And our current leaders can’t do the vital big-picture work in they’re mired in the weeds.   

Having clarity and sharing control are critical elements to a thriving parish. Otherwise we’ll find ourselves on a balmy spring day starting to wither on the vine. 

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