What if God had a Facebook account? It seems as though a number of people have been thinking about that. 3,465,700 people like the God Facebook page, which comes with no wall updates, a bare minimum info page “Everywhere all the time”, a profile pic of the Earth under cloud, and 154 discussion topics. More humorous is the recent round of Facebook updates put together with a range of historical “what ifs” (see here and here). The first set focuses on creation and the Garden of Eden. The second on Noah and the Great Flood.
I’ve moved into a time of transition this week, ending my 8.5 years as a mission consultant with the Queensland Synod on Saturday, and moving towards my next role as Presbytery Minister with Canberra Region Presbytery in January 2011. The next five months are still full time working with the Uniting Church, in three different roles. I’m working half time as “supply minister” with Indooroopilly Uniting Church in Brisbane, quarter time with Pilgrim Learning Community, and quarter time with Canberra Region Presbytery.
One of my colleagues suggested that the arrangement sounds like a recipe for exhaustion. It may well be. Juggling roles is not easy. It requires new disciplines and rhythms. And of course it involves many layers of induction.
Transition so far has involved signing over the work phone number into my own name and transitioning from a Nokia to an iPhone. The process was complicated and stressful, more than it should have been, but the phone’s working fine now. I’ve also transitioned out of a work Dell laptop into a Mac Book Pro, spreading out transfer of files and systems over two months. And I’ve handed in the work lease car, a Toyota Camry, moving to a temporary loan of a 1994 Holden Barina, which, of course, needs a fair bit of maintenance to get up to a decent roadworthy standard.
Three new offices. One shared with Henry Swindon at Indooroopilly on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. One shared with Karyl Davison at Trinity College on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And an office in Pilgrim Place in Canberra.
I’ve put the Canberra time into four visits to ACT and a national conference in Gympie. The Pilgrim job is focused on developing and brokering resources for pastors around the competencies of evangelism/mission/church planting, community development, and Christian education/youth work. The Indooroopilly role is focused largely on their evening gathering and strategic work around systems and strategies.
I’d be interested in clues people have for working in multiple part time roles.
Tomorrow morning’s lectionary reading includes Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, a straight to the point version compared to the Matthew 6 version usually recited by Christians. Matthew’s version seems to come in couplets, with each concept being backed up with a second phrase. Looking through the Luke version, though, I’m picking up the ways in which dualities are tied together in Jesus’ approach to public prayer.
Our Father (Abba/Daddy) – implying a personal relationship, knowing and being known, loving and being loved.
Holy be your name – implying a sense of God being the unknowable other, whose mysterious nature cannot be fathomed by our words.
Your kingdom come – aligning ourselves with God’s design for the world we live in.
Give us our daily bread – honestly recognising our vulnerabilities and needs.
Forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone who sins against us – trusting in God’s capacity to give us and others a new start.
Lead us not into temptation – letting go our naivety about our potential to go astray.
Implications? I’m thinking about ways to hold these dualities together in public worship. And also other dualities that we hold together in action and reflection, transcendent and immanent, silence and sound, imagination and seeking the facts.
I’m currently reflecting on insights from Mark Lau Branson’s book, “Memories, hopes and conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change”. Mark is Professor of Ministry of the Laity at Fuller Theological Seminary and hosts a class blog on churches in the world, congregation as learning community, missional churches and leadership.
In 2001 he was invited to help Altadena Presbyterian Church, a mostly Japanese congregation in California, to help them write a mission report as they chose their next minister. Mark suggested they use appreciative inquiry rather than work through a typical check list of buildings, programs and needs. The resulting book, written during a sabbatical semester, is informative and inspiring.
Appreciative inquiry is based around the claim that conversations change us. True. Our talk fests often lead us nowhere. But if we frame the conversations with carefully constructed questions and a discipline that leads to action, we have some hope.
Mark outlines ten appeciative inquiry assumptions, collected from a range of sources.
In every organisation, some things work well.
What we focus on becomes our reality.
Asking questions influences the group.
People have more confidence in the journey to the future when they carry forward parts of the past.
If we carry parts of the past into the future, they should be what is best about the past.
It is important to value differences.
The language we use creates our reality.
Organizations are heliotropic – they lean towards the source of energy, whether it is healthy or not.
Outcomes should be useful.
All steps are collaborative.
See Mark’s expansion of these points here. Items 1-7 are adapted from Sue Annis Hammond, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, 2nd ed. (Plano, TX: Thin Book Publishing Co., 1998), 13-21. Item 8 is from David L. Cooperrider, “Positive Image, Positive Action,” in Suresh Srivastva and David L. Cooperrider, eds., Appreciative Management and Leadership, rev. ed. (Euclid, OH: Williams Custom Publishing, 1999), 117. Items 9 and 10 are from Dennis G. Campbell, Congregations as Learning Communities: Tools for Shaping Your Future (Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2000).
The tallest Jesus statue in the United States was destroyed last night after being hit by lightning. Known locally as “Touch Down Jesus”, the six-story-tall statue of Jesus has been raising his arms since 2004, alongside the southwest Ohio highway in front of the Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
Part of the process of finishing in my role at the Queensland Synod is tying up loose ends online. One of those is a set of resources found on the about to be deleted Mission Consultants site (developed in Frontpage) and the Mission Resources Team site (developed in WordPress). Now that the Synod does not have a mission consultants team it seems that the sites have also become redundant. But what to do with the resources pages? Here’s an example of one of those, collated by Graham Beattie, Jenny Tymms, Dennis Robinson and myself at the beginning of the 21st century.
Alban Institute
www.alban.org
The Alban Institute is an ecumenical, interfaith organization founded in 1974, which supports congregations through consulting services, research, book publishing, and educational seminars. Publishes ‘Congregations’ magazine.
21st Century Strategies
churchconsultations.com
William Easum and associates provide some helpful material on leadership in changing situations. Issues ‘Netresults’, a monthly report on the forces transforming ministry in the 21st century.
The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership
www.greenleaf.org
The Greenleaf Center offers resources about Servant Leadership including access to networks, conferences and programmes and membership of the Center. It also provides a range of references to books and articles. This organisation relates well to our context and recommends some excellent books. They also run conferences in New Zealand and Australia.
Institute for Servant Leadership
www.servleader.org
The Institute for Servant Leadership is an educational ministry grounded in the understanding that the servanthood of God was manifested in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The Institute’s mission is to provide opportunities for the spiritual formation and leadership development of people who are called to be servant leaders. Its work and focus is that of convener, teacher and nurturer through conferences, retreats, pilgrimages and publications.
www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/
Published by ChristianityToday.com this website and magazine has a range of content on many aspects of ministry and building leaders.
Leadership Training Network
www.ltn.org
The mission of Leadership Training Network is to “influence and resource innovative church leaders to equip people for biblical gift-based team ministry”.
The Saffold Connection
www.saffold.com
The website of Dr. Guy Saffold, with access to teaching and resources in the area of leadership, church leadership, and leadership for Christian ministry
The Peter F Drucker Foundation for Non Profit Management
www.pfdf.org
Mission: To lead social sector organizations toward excellence in performance. An excellent source of online articles and resources for training in leadership.
Congregational Resource Guide
www.congregationalresources.org
The Alban Institute and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations have created the Congregational Resource Guide to help congregational leaders connect with resources they need to gain insight into problems and encourage transformation in their communities of faith.
Leadership Network
www.leadnet.org
Leadership Network is a private, operating foundation created in 1984 by social entrepreneur Bob Buford for the original purpose of identifying, networking and providing resources for the senior ministers and staff of large congregations (1,000 + in weekend worship attendance) in the United States.
On January 1 2011 I’ll be starting a new role as Presbytery Minister (Mission and Education) with the Canberra Region Presbytery. It’s a regional role, focused on 14 congregations in Australian Capital Territory and 14 congregations in NSW, ranging from Yass and Goulburn to Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains and Eden on the Coast. I’ll be working alongside two part time staff who have responsibilities in pastoral care for ministry staff and administration.
Here’s the list of responsibilities that go with the role:
Helping to equip and enrich all congregations and agencies to engage in mission beyond the bounds of the church.
Engaging in regional planning for the life and work of the Uniting Church in the area through congregations, faith communities, Uniting Care agencies and chaplaincies;
Developing expertise in mission and theological discernment in congregations, faith communities and agencies;
Encouraging the development of local and Presbytery leaders for their ministries;
Advocating for the work of the Uniting Church throughout the Synod and Assembly;
Facilitating relationships between those in various ministries of the UCA;
Helping Presbytery establish and strengthen links with its agencies;
Helping congregations and agencies identify suitable placements for specified ministries;
Encouraging the development of lay education.
I’m really looking forward to it, but have the challenge of finishing well here in the meantime.
We’re getting closer and closer to the release of the Mission Stories DVD, a six session resource on mission. I’ve been working with colleagues over the last two years on a process of discernment that helps communities of faith explore their participation in the mission of God. The DVD emerged as the combination of two resources, telling the stories of local mission and exploring what we understand mission to be about, and a documentation resource that provides an assessment of missional engagement. See more at www.faithstories.org.au
I’ve worked with Jason Bray and his team at Red Earth Films to film on location in Townsville, Emerald, Ashmore, Ipswich, The Gap, Samford, Redcliffe, Caloundra and North India. Peter Armstrong, narrator in the Faith Stories video, continues as the anchor in the Mission Stories video. We also interviewed Geoff Thompson, Beatriz Skippen, Lu Senituli, Colleen Geyer, Rob Bos, Fa Ngaluafe, Rodney Minniecon, James Hughes, Anne Harley, Clive Ayre, Mark Dewar and Craig Mischewski.
Click on the image below to play the Preview video in YouTube (HD)
I started by explaining that last time I spoke at Synod I had with me a street sign for the Uniting Church, and I asked if anyone could tell me what happened to it? David Ellis from Lifeworks Toowoomba told me it had gone home with him in anticipation of a new congregation in the outskirts of Toowoomba. I asked if anyone could tell me what happened to the other one that came to Synod this week? As it turned out it was found on the driveway of the camp site.
I explained that I was taking up the position of Presbytery Minister with Canberra Region Presbytery in 2011, and that with my escape route organised I finally had a chance to “tell you all where to go and how to get there”. Humour, perhaps, but maybe some bite. Here’s what I said next…
In 2005 we took the bold step of recognising our need to explore, encourage and resource new initiatives in mission. The project has been a way to shape our culture, moving us beyond our focus on consolidation, and help us learn again to foster new adventures in mission and ministry. It’s about seeing beyond ourselves. It’s about hope.
We began with a Vision for Mission team who were given the responsibility of engaging with new projects. I want to thank and honour the members of the team, as well as those who took the risk and set out in our VFM projects. Your courage inspires us.
It became clear that the vision for mission needs to be fostered at every level of the church, in the everyday lives of our members, in our congregations, in our Presbyteries and agencies, and in the way our Synod staff resource the church.
We began with $2 million in funding potential. That figure indicated that the Uniting Church was serious about new initiatives. I have at times been worried that centralised funding has the potential to distort our approach to mission, feeding our years-long preoccupation with staffing, programs and buildings.
What encourages me is that we have had a wide range of people prepared to invest their time, resources and energy for the sake of God’s work in the world.
We still have the challenge of fostering new projects as learning communities for the Synod, as well as building a courageous and supportive environment for mission throughout the church.
The dandelion you see on the banner over here and on the screen indicates that we’re called to be a sending church – encouraging new growth in places where it hasn’t been before.
We have learnt about the importance of Christ-inspired generosity and compassion as the foundation of our work, rather than obligation and guilt.
We have learnt about the importance of vision and ministry shared and lived by our members, rather than delegation of mission to committees and employees.
We have learnt about the need for encouraging imagination and creativity, alongside careful planning for people working with people.
Ann Morisy, from the UK, talks about the danger of focusing on “doing mission” for the sake of mission. She suggests we need to approach mission obliquely, from the side, through the lenses of everyday compassionate living in the kingdom of God. With that in mind we’ve discovered something about the need for equipping our members in that living.
Plan Be
Dave Andrews’ work on living out the beatitudes of Jesus touched a nerve with young adults in Greenbelt in the UK. The series turned into a book with a pink cover and started to sell like hot cakes. Here was a way to rediscover the practical teaching of Jesus. As the Uniting Church we partnered with the Bible Society Queensland and other denominations to develop action/reflection resources, video and journals, launched here in Queensland but spread throughout Australia and beyond. The DVD, which we helped develop, features interviews with people on the streets of the Brisbane, unpacking the teaching of Jesus. Let’s see the promo.
Faith Stories
National Church Life Survey results indicate that we in the Uniting Church don’t feel confident about sharing our faith. Part of that’s a reaction to insensitive and narrow expressions of evangelism. But I think we’re often lacking inspiration and encouragement for healthy models of faith sharing. That’s why we developed Faith Stories, an 8 part DVD with stories and studies prepared by Graham Beattie and myself, with narrator Peter Armstrong. We launched the DVD in June last year, making it a long term resource in the care of the Pilgrim Learning Community. Not a lot of people have used Faith Stories yet. I encourage people to use the discussion/training resources in small groups, workshops and during worship services.
Mission Stories
Synod members would have seen the two videos shown in the South Moreton and Central Queensland presbytery reports, from Ashmore and Emerald. They’re two of many videos on the Mission Stories DVD resource, coming out in the next month, available through the Pilgrim Learning Community. Mission Stories a six part series designed to help church leaders develop a shared language and understanding of God’s mission in the world. I’m hoping that congregations will use the material to ground their sense of community in the gospel of Jesus Chris. There’s a strong focus on growing disciples in everyday life. We encourage people using the DVD to build partnerships between congregations, agencies, community organisations and the exiles who find themselves on the edge of the church.
The video and discussion resources will help you discover the people groups with whom God is calling you to journey, be they in your community and beyond. And you’ll be encouraged to hold together the fullness of God’s mission, with respect for each other and openness to learning from the Holy Spirit.
I’ve been working as a mission consultant and advocate for eight and a half years. And I’ve found that the telling of stories of mission has been the most powerful means of transformation – through visiting speakers and written material, yes, but even more so, through visual presentation.
From Here On
We’ve got Faith Stories, and we’ve got Mission Stories. I’m planning to move on to Gospel Stories – looking at how communities embody the gospel of Jesus, Generation Stories, looking at how we foster members of each generation to discover and live out their God-given calling. We could have Green Stories, Cross Cultural stories. Sadly, I’ve run out of time to complete these resources here in Queensland. As much as I can I will continue the work when I move to the role of Presbytery Minister (mission and education) at Canberra Regional Presbytery next year.
Between now and when I finish on July 31, I’ll be completing my work with Gary Adsett and Presbytery ministers to develop a transferable process for appreciative inquiry for local mission, using the Mission Stories DVD to help people with discovering, dreaming, designing and delivering their missional calling as the people of the gospel.
Needless to say, leaving this role is painful, but I find strength in the observation that my role of advocate is being picked up by people all over the place. We’re getting closer to seeing every member as a mission agent. We’re seeing signs of a vision for mission being held by every congregation and agency.
Vision for Mission Advocates
As we prepare for the next phase of the Together on the Way process, I encourage you to share with me as advocates for fresh expressions of mission. At every level of our life together.
Jesus gives us the Advocate – the Holy Spirit – the Paraclete. Being people of the Spirit then suggests that we might also be advocates.
Listening – affirming the testimonies and aspirations of people at the grassroots.
Encouraging – standing with others to build courageous action
Coaching – asking powerful questions that build wisdom, insight and courage to make a difference.
Connecting people with those will share their passion and resources that might help them.
Getting in the way of controllers – protecting new initiatives from being squashed by anxiety and perfectionism.
Telling the story – using every means you have at your disposal to celebrate new beginnings, struggles and breakthroughs
Praying – joining with the Spirit in seeking the kingdom of God.
I finished with the challenge to live out the generous hospitality of God, that comes out of our understanding of the grace of God. “Let’s continue to be the generous, compassionate, faithful, humble, truthful and just people of the Gospel.”
I finished with a video from South Australia Synod’s Uniting People campaign.
Click on the image below to play the Ampersand video in YouTube (HD)
I’ve been reading Ann Morisy’s book, Journeying Out: A New Approach to Christian Mission, and was struck by her use of the concept of obliquity. We need to approach mission obliquely, she suggests, so that it is entered into without self-conscious effort or analysis getting in the way.
Ann draws on Michael Polanyi’s observation that we can and do know more than we can tell. If we focus on tacit or subsidiary knowledge that knowledge ceases to be a medium through which meaning or a skill is delivered.
Analytical focus on loving God and knowing God, for example, can reduce them to more routine component parts, such as prayerfulness, reflection on Scripture and acting in ways that we have come to understand as loving and compassionate, missing the very goals of loving and knowing God.
Ann notes that the principle of obliquity is used in business (focus on service rather than making money) and applies it to the mission of the church. John Kay, in a lecture on Good Business, reflected on British chemist James Black, the inventor beta blockers and anti-ulcerants, whose financial success was achieved by committing himself to work only for companies more interested in chemistry than in making money.
“Effective mission is not achieved by giving it focal awareness. Effective mission is a fruit – a gracious outcome of other factors working effectively and appropriately. This upends all our habits and assumptions. It means that effective mission is something that emerges as a result of looking and journeying outward rather than by means of a self-conscious and self-regarding process.”
Do we therefore stop producing resources that help people with sharing faith? Do we just encourage people to spend time with their friends and hope that they’ll unconsciously make the connections? Do we tell people to forget the mission statements and priorities and get people to just ‘get out there’?
The difficulty is that much of our tacit or unseen assumptions about being church are working against genuine engagement with our neighbours. In some cases we need to step aside and re-examine our foundational framework so that we can reassess the way we use our energy and orient ourselves in the community.
I’ve been using the values of generous giving, forgiving, standing in solidarity, encouraging, empowering, equipping, listening, welcoming and accepting as verbs to help us go beyond thinking about being “missional” and actually enter genuine community engagement. What I hope is that our everyday interactions become framed in terms of generous and compassionate relationships with real people, rather than strategic transactions with analysed targets. But to get out of our self-absorption we may need to remind ourselves occasionally to take on new patterns of life.
In 2001 he was invited to help Altadena Presbyterian Church, a mostly Japanese congregation in California, to help them write a mission report as they chose their next minister. Mark suggested they use appreciative inquiry rather than work through a typical check list of buildings, programs and needs. The resulting book, written during a sabbatical semester, is informative and inspiring.
Ann draws on Michael Polanyi’s observation that we can and do know more than we can tell. If we focus on tacit or subsidiary knowledge that knowledge ceases to be a medium through which meaning or a skill is delivered.