Brian Pearson writes

Might This Work For You?

It’s that time of year; annual meetings, swearing in church wardens, appointing PCC secretaries and treasurers.  Some have agreed (again) to do ‘just one more year’, others have been coaxed, goaded, bribed (surely not) or begged (more likely) to take on roles for which they feel inadequately prepared and are short on time to fulfil. 

This is church as we know it, and for better or worse local congregations have lived with this for years (if not decades or centuries).  But there is another way of ‘doing essential ministry’ that, while not new, is slowing emerging to become a welcomed norm in a growing number of places.

But there is a difference.  These strands of ministry play ‘the long game’, given that they focus on providing a long-term complementary and supportive role to the ordained ministry, especially in places where resources are really stretched. 

One such example is that of Lay Worship Assistants and a recent conversation with Rev Tristram Rae Smith provided me with an intriguing insight into how they are becoming woven into the fabric of local ministry by offering an authentic and valuable contribution to worshipping communities.

Tristram brought together about a dozen folk who went on to explore and then commit to training as LWAs.  For some the starting point had been an evening designed to identify individual gifts.  Interestingly, not everyone present identified an obvious fit between gifts and (traditional) tasks but on closer examination leading worship seemed as if it might be the answer.  

Another, more ‘proactive’ approach yielded further candidates.  Tristarm’s is not the only benefice facing the reality of fewer stipendiary clergy being available in the multi parish setting. The hard choice for many small rural churches had lain between having relatively infrequent services led by a clergy person and more frequent services some of which need to be led by local appropriately trained lay people. 

Faced with this it was heartening to find more candidates emerging who were primarily motivated by the desire to help their local church retain as regular a service pattern as possible. In terms of the ‘long game’, Tristram saw the need to adopt a long-term view, taking maybe five years or more to identify, prepare and equip the right people to become LWAs.  He also acknowledges that ‘acceptance’ of LWAs is not a ‘given’.  There may be fewer stipendiary clergy to go round but some churches retain the strong desire (and even unrealistic expectation) that ‘their’ priest will preside at a service, (ideally Eucharistic), at their church every Sunday.  At the same time the clergy (when not clocking up vast mileage as they dash around their multi-parish benefices) are asking themselves the taxing question: “How are we going to sustain appropriate patterns of worship?”

Inevitably, with the shift that comes by establishing LWAs in their roles, it will take time before some will acknowledge the benefits rather than dwelling on the ‘loss’.  In fairness, a great deal will depend on the LWAs themselves proving their worth and value but this in itself is dependent largely upon providing a sound, comprehensive and thorough form of structured training – and Tristram (who has run the training course) sees in the School of Formation’s provision precisely the right vehicle to achieve this.

Currently, we are well short of the 5+ years that Tristram has marked out and by his own admission the benefice is “feeling its way with these posts”.  The LWAs themselves are gathering experience and their own sense of being valued and fulfilled is increasing.  Of course, for them and the churches involved, this is very much a ‘work-in-progress’ but as a model it is arousing interest in other parts of the diocese – hence Tristram accepting an invitation to speak at Exmoor Deanery.  

My guess is that what has now begun is likely to spread, with churches applying and adapting the concept to meet local needs.  And if the role of LWA is something you as either an individual or church leader wish to explore, then the School of Formation staff would be very pleased to hear from you. 

 

Is it just me?

Is it just me or does your mind go completely blank sometimes when asked a very simple question? Maybe there was not a lot in there to start with! Graham just asked me for a verb – easy question there are plenty, could I think of one at the time? Not a chance, completely blank.. lights were on but no-one home.  Sometimes we are trying to think of twenty things at the same time and the brain just does not compute! I am sticking to that excuse anyway!

Judas

Jennifer led our team reflection this morning. We looked at Judas asking the question ‘Was he responding to his calling when he betrayed Jesus?’ He was one of the disciples, was called to such by Jesus and without his actions Easter would have been very different.

If he was responding to a call by God to do what he did, we wondered what does that say about the nature of God and whether Judas is forgiven and redeemed. This led us on to think about the extent to genes and circumstances into which people are born can be so powerful that it explains why some people act criminally and if this in any way excuses them.

Going down such avenues ducks the issues of free will and personal accountability. We did not arrive at any conclusion here rather returned to the thought did Judas exercise his will or God’s will in his act of betrayal?

Mother’s Day and Lent

Since I have to preach this Sunday on Mothering Sunday I’ve been thinking about why Mothering Sunday comes in Lent. Wouldn’t it be nicer in the summer months when us blokes could take our mothers out to a nice pub and sit in the garden for a lunch? Instead it provides a headache for preachers as the readings, apart from the Book of Common Prayer epistle are not on much to do with mothers. Nevertheless I shall try and weave into my sermon on the man born blind, something to do with motherly love and mother Church and Mary. Perhaps it should be called Refreshment Sunday or even Rose Sunday like in a few other countries.

 Any ideas about the link with the man born blind gratefully received.

New smells

I took my dog for a walk around the edges of Taunton Racecourse and she was in heaven. She had discovered a new smell – rabbits. Even though we didn’t see any, the smell was enough for her to be completely entranced and focussed on the ground. Her nose disappeared into every little hole she could find and going on

I was there because I was attending a conference for the Readers of the diocese where we explored some of the Old Testament themes and the Psalms. It was a great day, very well organised, good speaker, books for sale, lots of opportunity to meet with others and it finished with a good lunch.

Charley, my dog had discovered something new and exciting which no doubt will be replaced by something else on our next outing.

Readers preach and lead services, attend training days and are committed to develop their gifts to be able to serve the parishes they are in. This is a lifetime commitment  not just following the latest fad (smell) and this really came across at the conference.  They had come with an open mind, they really listened, engaged in conversation and asked questions.

What a focus!

Upgrading the system

We have been trying to decide when to upgrade our computer system to the new formats, Office 2010 etc. Trouble is that we know it will be out of date as soon as it is installed and we shall have to face the possibility of training for the new system, upgrading other hardware, trying to make everything compatible and then working out how long we shall be able to use this system before the next is essential.

 Once upon a time I thought the new technology would save time – rubbish – it takes much longer and can easily become obsessive. There’s something about slaves and masters in all this and the temptation is to think that I can in control. Perhaps it’s a good learning point to realise that I can’t be.

 In a sermon in the Cathedral this last Sunday (the first Sunday in Lent) we heard that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, but this was after he had lived his life for thirty years as a good Jew and son of his parents. I want in Lent this year for it to be a time for me to think about who I have become and who I am becoming. Like our computer system, to think about what areas of life need to be upgraded at the moment – that is, what needs renewing; what needs to be retained from the past and what needs more work. This is my opportunity to pursue a discipline for these forty days

Bad news stories

This weeks news headlines have made me reflect on how lucky we are despite many problems this country has at the moment. Especially so the ongoing situation in Japan. Not only the earthquake and subsequent tsunami and the huge destruction and loss this has brought but now the developing problems with Japans nuclear powerstations. We really should learn to appreciate how fortunate we are in comparison to others in the world!

Having a breakthrough

Having a breakthrough rather than a breakdown seems much healthier to me, especially this last week in which I have been ill most of the time. Between bouts by chance  I came across a model about having a breakthrough, written by Chris Johnstone in ‘Find your power a toolkit for resilience and positive change.’

It is a five step process but for me the first step was the most powerful

It has three elements

1 Write down your thoughts about ‘What is the problem?’ – write as much as you can about the problem

2 Write down ‘Why is this a problem?’ – write down a much as you can about the reasons why it is a problem. I find this the most insightful part of the whole process. Asking why brings greater insight.

3  Reframe the problem in a few sentences beginning ‘The problem is……’ This distils the thinking from the two elements above.

The remaining steps of the model involve listing as many solutions  as you can think of, even ones which may seem impracticable, then going through the list to cross off what is unacceptable to you, then picking out a small number of cherries-  acceptable possible solutions and working out the pros and cons of each. The final step is to  work out a 7 day action plan , write it down and tell someone about it.

We have just applied it in a School of Formation meeting to a problem I have had for years, not saying here what is was, but the model has certainly helped me find a way forward on something seemingly that I had thought I just had to live with. So there has been a breakthrough this morning.

Breakthrough collaboratives achieving tangible improvements

I have been thinking about how to bring about significant improvement in churches. Operating strategically, through the School of Formation, and being impatient for progress by nature I want to help make a difference rapidly to the practice of ministry, especially in austerity when the need for churches to serve their communities is even greater.

I thought about providing training to encourage and enable local ministry teams and certainly have not ruled this out. However training teams to lead and enable others to improve ministry feels a touch top down, remote, and slow. What is needed is a rapid  improvement model at least I think it is.

The collaborative breakthrough model is well-known in bringing about rapid improvements in health care.  I’m thinking about trying to apply it to help improve how churches in Somerset support their communities as they face the consequences of the economic austerity measures being applied by the government.

If anyone has experience of using the breakthrough approach in church settings or of using it in health care and has lessons to share please get in touch.

Unprincipled

Yesterday was the last day of a four day course on Leadership for the Church. It was part of my training as a curate.  At various times we used different instruments to help us find out more about ourselves and our preferred leadership styles.

Yesterday we used a simple questionnaire to find out what our preference was in terms of Tasks, People or Principles. As a group we all scored very low on principles  which meant that we approach any given situation either from a concern for people or focused on a given task.  

Luckily I am part of a team which is well balanced in terms of those three headings, with one person being very task focused and always asking … and therefore we are going to do what? , the other always trying to tease out the principles we are or should be working to and myself being concerned with enabling people and responding to their needs and gifting.

I did wonder what it would be like if we were all the same in a team?