February 29, 2012 by Anne Ditzler
I’ve been cleaning out my office. While sorting and dumping most papers into the recycling bin, a few gems surfaced. One is a simple chart called Managing Complex Change.
February 28, 2012 by Miguel Escobar
As congregational leaders, you are undoubtedly aware of the need for significant changes in your church. After all, rising to the occasion, making critical decisions, and implementing positive changes in the face of challenge is what leadership is all about. And yet, in most places, leadership teams will frequently disagree about the extent of what must be changed and the appropriate pace for making these changes.
Recently, when I’ve found myself in a group that is discussing change, I’ve noticed that nearly everyone - myself included - will appeal to either core experiences and/or folk wisdom. We have all sorts of colorful phrases for helping us navigate these murky waters. These include sayings such as:
You just gotta rip the band-aid off Slow and steady wins the race Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know You better go big or go home If these sayings are any indicator, it would appear that leaders must choose between two mutually exclusive, frequently alienating approaches. Those who opt for the slow and steady approach will be deemed as excessively timid, fearful of change, and too weak to make hard choices. Yet those who opt for sweeping changes are seen as too rash.
Recently, when I’ve found myself in a group that is discussing change, I’ve noticed that nearly everyone - myself included - will appeal to either core experiences and/or folk wisdom. We have all sorts of colorful phrases for helping us navigate these murky waters. These include sayings such as:
You just gotta rip the band-aid off Slow and steady wins the race Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know You better go big or go home If these sayings are any indicator, it would appear that leaders must choose between two mutually exclusive, frequently alienating approaches. Those who opt for the slow and steady approach will be deemed as excessively timid, fearful of change, and too weak to make hard choices. Yet those who opt for sweeping changes are seen as too rash.
February 23, 2012 by Donald Romanik
Over the past several years, the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) has been advocating for a new type of local congregation - one that serves as a transformational faith community. Its primary purpose is to inspire and empower members to become actively engaged in God’s mission in the world.
This new idea of congregation requires a very different leadership model. The role of the priest becomes that of a catalyst, facilitator and community organizer who helps to raise up lay leaders as full and equal partners in the mission and ministry of the congregation. Rather than a top-down, hierarchical structure, the congregation organizes itself and operates on the basis of trained and empowered teams of lay people with clearly delineated roles, responsibilities and accountability. While the priest, as leader, may ultimately be responsible for the well-being of the entire congregation, he/she is not expected to do it all by him/herself.
Under this approach, the congregation gathers around “ministry” and not the “minister.”
February 22, 2012 by Richelle Thompson
I like shiny and new.
I’m not typically first on the bandwagon of the latest trend, but I normally get in line for ride two or three. This is especially true with communication, and I’ve spent many keystrokes for ECF Vital Practices and other arenas encouraging the embrace of new technology, social media and other tools to share our faith.
But my daughter and three of her friends reminded me that sometimes communication can take the form of an ancient tradition.
A local TV station carried the story: My daughter and three of her friends found a message in a bottle three weeks ago at a lake about an hour away. When they uncorked it, they discovered a letter written in 2008 from a boy in a neighboring community. The girls decided to write back.
They tracked down his school and called the principal. The boy, in second grade when he launched the bottle, is now in middle school but still in the same district. The girls wrote a simple letter and sent it to him – this time, via snail mail.
The news glommed onto this as a novel way of communication against a backdrop of texting, tweeting and Facebook-ing.
February 21, 2012 by Miguel Escobar
Over the past ten years of working on various committees and church groups, there have been a few critical moments when I've found myself thinking “I didn’t sign up for this.” Please note: I’m not proud of this fact. For me, this is a boiling point comment; it’s what I mutter to myself when all my alarm bells are going off and all my instincts are telling me to run away.
Chances are that you have your own versions of this phrase. Moreover, chances are that at some point in the next year or so you’ll have an occasion to mutter something similar. Off the top of my head and with absolutely no (none, zero, zip, zilch) relation to things I’ve experienced, here are some examples of moments that may leave you thinking “I didn’t sign up for this.”
After much pushing and prodding, the true financial state of your church is revealed to be far worse than anyone expected. Your favorite projects are shelved as the leadership team’s time and energy becomes consumed by a conflict. A phone call alerts you to financial improprieties taking place at church. An action is taken that offends your core values.
Chances are that you have your own versions of this phrase. Moreover, chances are that at some point in the next year or so you’ll have an occasion to mutter something similar. Off the top of my head and with absolutely no (none, zero, zip, zilch) relation to things I’ve experienced, here are some examples of moments that may leave you thinking “I didn’t sign up for this.”
After much pushing and prodding, the true financial state of your church is revealed to be far worse than anyone expected. Your favorite projects are shelved as the leadership team’s time and energy becomes consumed by a conflict. A phone call alerts you to financial improprieties taking place at church. An action is taken that offends your core values.
February 21, 2012 by Richelle Thompson
The festivities were well underway by the time we arrived.
Sequined dresses and glittered faces greeted us at the door. The normally more staid atmosphere of a diocesan convention was replaced with the upbeat celebration of Mardi Gras, complete with jambalaya, colored beads and auctions to benefit Haiti as well as local ministries.
I was instantly envious of the masks. Ladies in full regalia walked around with intricate masks – peacock feathers, beads and sparkles. What more could a girl want?
Despite my nudging, my husband passed the booth without stopping. But, God bless her, the only other woman in our delegation purchased two and presented me with the masked gift.
It was great fun during the night to don the mask (though I was careful not to wave it too high, lest someone mistake the gesture for a bid on one of the magnificent – but out-of-my-price-range – auction items).
Tonight, too, at our church’s pancake supper, I’ll wear the mask and embrace the frivolity and joy of Mardi Gras before laying it aside on Ash Wednesday.
February 15, 2012 by Anne Ditzler
This morning I received the letter from my Rector saying he was leaving our parish in New York City and going to a congregation in Vermont. We knew it was coming…he’d always said he’d serve at St. Mary’s for about 10 years. At last year’s annual meeting he reminded us the time was coming.
But now it’s real. He delivered his resignation letter to the wardens and vestry. The announcement to the congregation has been made. A date for his last Sunday is set.
The transition process begins.
I’ve been feeling and thinking a lot about transition because I, too, am leaving. I’ll be leaving this beloved parish after 18 years and moving out of NYC. I’ll also be leaving my job with the Episcopal Church Foundation after 14 years of wonderful work. Like my rector leaving our congregation, there comes a time for a healthy change – the Holy Spirit calls us to go and grow in new ways, even though it means leaving many of the people and places we love.
In the last two weeks of the emotional rollercoaster with my own transition, I’ve taken time to remind myself about best practices for moving gracefully through change. I’ve read articles by William Bridges, including his wonderful retelling of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness. I’ve taken time to touch base with my colleagues about what they are feeling and thinking, in addition to drafting the action plan that will guide us for the next six weeks. I’ve been journaling and praying each morning, trying to get enough sleep every night.
February 15, 2012 by Richelle Thompson
Be mine.
I thought this was simply a sweet if trite sentiment on a candy conversation heart. But an astute wordsmith preacher taught on Valentine's Day that this phrase takes on a dark twist in the word “cupidity.”
Instead of an arrow-wielding, chubby cupid in a diaper, cupidity means possession, a greed that borders on malice.
I spent the day thinking about how these two ideas co-exist in the same root word.
We all need a reminder about how love without self-sacrifice and generosity of spirit can slip into possessiveness and control. This is true not just in our relationships with people but also in our connection to our churches.
February 6, 2012 by Richelle Thompson
A month into our move the shininess has worn off, and we’re beginning to call this home – and the other place, “where we used to live.”
Now comes the hard part of making friends and building community.
Last week our church held an ECW event, which attracted 30-plus participants. For our reflection, we talked about the importance of our women friendships, how to nurture and cherish them. I spent a little of the time wistful.
Even when a move, like this one, is good on so many levels, there is still loss. I’m in the midst of experiencing which friendships can bridge the chasm of distance – and which ones cannot.
January 26, 2012 by Nancy Davidge
Tom Ehrich and Frank Logue are right. Christendom* ended in the early 1960s (in the USA).
My trip to Iceland helped me to see this more clearly. An island, not quite midway between Northern Europe and North America and settled in the 9th century, Icelanders share a common narrative of hardy Viking and Celtic settlers who founded a community in a remote land.
This shared narrative was evident everywhere we went.
Over the centuries Icelanders moved from the Norse gods of the Vikings to Christianity (Roman Catholicism) to, in the 16th century, their present day Lutheran faith. They share a common – and ancient – language (Icelandic) and as a people one of the most homogenus ethnic backgrounds in the world.
We no longer have a shared narrative in the United States – and perhaps we never really did.
January 13, 2012 by Nancy Davidge
Does your congregation’s parochial report represent what is really happening in your parish? How might you change your ‘scorecard’ to represent the many ways your congregation is serving God’s mission?
These questions were raised at the recent Congregational Leadership Conference at Kanuga. Plenary speaker Reggie McNeal, author of The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church, and Missional Communities: The Rise of the Post-Congregational Church, shared the startling statistic that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world – everywhere that is except the West and suggested that we might learn from those parts of the world where Christianity is growing "so fast that there is no time for evangelism."
January 9, 2012 by Richelle Thompson
“This is no place for children.”
The usher clucked, then shook his head and muttered a few other dismissals.
Heat rose from the pit of my stomach, filled my chest and sucked out the joy. I held to the hand of our 2-year-old daughter, who had been asked to be an oblation bearer (along with me) for her daddy’s (and my husband’s) ordination.
“This is exactly the place for children,” I said tightly, then pasted on a smile as we processed down the aisle.
A few days later, the priest of the church approached me, I was sure, to apologize. Instead, he berated me, saying I mishandled the situation and didn’t understand church decorum.
January 4, 2012 by Richelle Thompson
I pull out my diocesan credit card and survey the moving boxes. As I slide the card to the salesman, I'm distracted, calculating how many boxes I might need for my office.
The salesman looks closely at the card. You have the same name as Bishop Thompson’s wife.
I whip my head around. The salesman is talking about the former diocesan bishop of Southern Ohio, my boss for four years before he retired in 2005. He died suddenly less than a year later.
You knew Bishop Thompson, I ask.
He was a customer here, says the salesman, who not only rents moving trucks and boxes but also runs a storage unit business. Bishop Thompson was a good friend. A great man, he says.
December 27, 2011 by Melissa Rau
After reading the book, Community—The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block, I’ve been consumed with learning more about ways to live in and build better community (for myself and others). Shortly after having been transformed by the words I read, I also became interested in Asset-Based Community Development. Though Peter Block didn’t coin this term, his book certainly echoes the sentiments that ABCD encapsulates. What is Asset-Based Community Development and why is it important for the Church?
First, before I try to explain, please know that I am only reflecting on how I’ve been impacted by what I’ve recently learned. I am in no way an expert in ABCD, so I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself by reading about Asset-Based Community Development independently. I would start with books from John McKnight and/or Peter Block.
December 14, 2011 by Richelle Thompson
Like most kids, my son’s best friend has carefully crafted his Christmas list for Santa. A few Wii games made the cut, along with some Star Wars paraphernalia and Beyblades (don’t ask me – it’s some funky disc game that’s the current rage).
But the top of his list, his most-desired gift, is a surprise. He wants, he really, really wants, a dirt pile.
His parents had their gravel driveway paved a few months ago, and the excavation created a 7-foot-tall mound of dirt. Like a bee to honey, it drew all the neighborhood children. They played war and captured the mountain. They dug for treasures and raced to the top. They left the pile reluctantly each night, with dusty knees and dirt-caked fingernails. But they were joy-filled, with the kind of tired that comes from the tricky mix of physical activity fueled by imagination.
November 23, 2011 by Richelle Thompson
After the turkey tryptophan has wound its way through our system and we’re bright-eyed again, my mom re-sets the table. We’re not allowed into the kitchen while she works, so we wait.
When she finally calls us in, the table has been transformed into a landscape of upturned, off-white Tupperware bowls, baseball cup giveaways and dish towels. Underneath are the bingo prizes.
This has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember, with the inner 8-year-old of my dad racing us for prizes, my sisters and I teasing him and each other. My mom is at the helm, in charge of all things bingo, including the top job of winding the crank so the wooden numbers pop in the metal cage and roll out one by one.
November 21, 2011 by Richelle Thompson
The call came a few hours after the parish meeting.
A young dad, he wanted his priest to know about a situation, in case it escalated. The diocesan transitions officer was meeting with the people of the parish to talk about next steps since their priest had accepted a new call. We didn’t stay for the meeting – to give people space and time to discuss the transition without the priest at the table – so we didn’t hear about the kerfluffle until the call.
This couple started attending the church around Easter. Two weeks ago, the bishop celebrated their reception into The Episcopal Church. Yesterday, they hosted coffee hour, and the wife is heading up the Giving Tree. In short, they are an answer to what every congregation says it wants: young, involved families.
October 31, 2011 by Richelle Thompson
Growing up in a competitive, game-playing family, if I was thoroughly thumped during a card game, then the score promptly went up on the refrigerator.
The good-natured taunts of “refrigerator score” would begin about midway through a game, particularly if I had fallen a trick short of the bid in Spades.
At my home, I’ve had one refrigerator score posted for four years. It’s the last card game my mom and dad played with us before we learned they were getting a divorce.
For awhile, I held onto that scrap of paper in the hope that life would return to that afternoon, that my parents wouldn’t separate and I wouldn’t be forced to acknowledge their unhappiness. In time, I’ve been able to look at the score card without feeling the stab of pain and the ache of loss. And on some days, I can see past that frozen moment of time and into the years of laughing and joking, teasing and taunting around kitchen and picnic tables, from childhood to my own home.
October 20, 2011 by Nancy Davidge
Real change can happen when we make the shift from meeting needs to recognizing and accepting gifts.
I’d like to share a story I heard last week during a workshop on Asset Based Community Development at the Everyone, Everywhere conference …
Damon is a minister serving a congregation in the poorest section of a Midwestern city. People living in this part of the city receive lots of services: assistance with food, clothing, medical care, housing, etc. Yet, after years of service delivery, no real change has occurred in this community.
Damon’s first encounter with Clint was when Clint approached him in front of the church and asked for money. Damon refused, and invited Clint to come to church. This scenario repeated itself over time, with Clint asking for a handout, Damon refusing and instead inviting Clint to church. Each time Clint refused, sharing that he was an alcoholic.
October 17, 2011 by Richelle Thompson
Every organization needs a shake-up.
Not all the time, of course. After all, constancy is valuable, as long as it’s not prized above all else. But organizations, like churches, diocesan offices, denominational centers and General Conventions, occasionally need a leader to shake things up.
A report last month by Bishop Stacy Sauls, the new chief operating officer of The Episcopal Church, did some shaking. He recommended a complete evaluation of the structures and financial resources of The Episcopal Church, with a keen eye on mission and ministry. His proposal set the blogosphere aflutter.
The prospect of change will do that.
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