Transcript The Report of our Executive Presbyter

How we are helping an
entrenched system that is
resistant to change adapt to a
context that is “smoke filled” and
whose “foundations are shaking.”
Our Context in the Presbytery of
Southern New England
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We are getting smaller
We are feeling scattered from one another
geographically and theologically
Our structure no longer works well
Our culture treats us as outsiders
We are anxious about the future and change
Our faith communities vary hugely from each other
“I want to trust in this universe so much
that I give up playing God. I want to stop
struggling to hold things together. I want to
experience such security that the concept of
allowing – trusting that the appropriate
forms will emerge – ceases to be scary. I
want to surrender my fear of the universe
and join with everyone I know in an
organization that opens willingly to its
environment, participating gracefully in the
unfolding dance of order.”
Margaret Wheatley
Leadership and the New Science
Three “Allowing” Strategies
 Organic
Planning
 Narrative Process
 Disruptive Innovation
1. Organic Planning
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Organic Planning is not:
Vision or Goal Based Strategic Planning
 Issue Based Planning
 Alignment Model
 Scenario Planning
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These are all linear, mechanistic, use SWOT analysis
1. Organic Planning Is:
Organic Planning Is:
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Ever evolving and self-organizing
Membrane is common values
Dialogic
Process oriented
Changes by using leverage points
Information as food
 Events as opportunities
 360o pressure points
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Organic Planning in PSNE
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System-wide decision making
Process focused at Presbytery meetings
Multiple pressure points
Deliberately altered vocabulary
Information flooding
Change in role of EP
Nimble and evolving foci
An Example:
“Discerning the Way”
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Event/Obstacle: Congregation wanting to leave
The Main Question: How will we make decision
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Letting go of outcome
The Need: Create an approach widely shared
The Steps:
Wiki document creation
 Continual modification
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Trust the wisdom of the system
2. Narrative Process
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Storytelling
My story
 Your story
 The story of now
 God’s story
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The interaction becomes Our Story
Advantages of Narrative Process
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Personal and non-confrontative
Honors the wisdom in the system
Flexible and adaptive
Non-linear and fogging
Multi-valent
Draws on emotional content
Interactions create shared identity
Narrative Process in PSNE
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Adversary story telling
Small groups at Presbytery meetings
Groups/Committees urged to tell stories
Exile metaphor as meta-narrative
Different physical and theological geographies
 Multi-faceted
 Biblical
 Connectional
 Ubiquitous
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An Example:
Adversary Story Telling
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The Issue: Gay ordination/marriage
The Need: To hear the stories of each other
The Challenge: To get away from argumentation
The Process
Invite adversaries 2 X 2
 Create structured safe environment
 Imagio Storytelling
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3. Disruptive Innovation
3. Disruptive Innovation
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It is not progressive innovation
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To make current things
Better
 Faster
 More faithful
 Efficient
 Attractive
 Economical
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Disruptive Innovation:
An innovation that replaces the original,
complicated, expensive product with
something that is much more affordable
and simple and that a new larger
population can buy and readily use.
Center for American Progress
“Disrupting College”
3. Disruptive Innovation
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Quantum leap change
Discontinuous
Disentangled with the past
Outside the reach of change regulators
Game changer
Often disparaged
Accessible, esp. to new populations
Disruptive Innovation in PSNE
A new leadership position
that is organic,
story-oriented,
and disruptive
My role in Presbytery now
defined
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By the prophetic roles in the exilic and postexilic narrative
By fluid metaphors and not linear objectives
Dramatically different than traditional executive
Presbyter
to the Spiritual Community
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Sentinel
Midwife
Tender of New Vineyards
A job description defined by metaphorical roles
rather than duties and responsibilities
What are words or images to
describe:
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Executive
Sentinel
Midwife
Tender of New Vineyards
Sentinel
Inquire into what God is doing
And how God’s people can join in that
holy work
Sentinel work in PSNE includes:
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Research, travel, visit, read
Tell the spiritual community what I see and hear
Host conversations
Speak, write, blog and share
Midwife
Coaches the current church
To be healthy
and engaged in the process of birth
Midwife work in PSNE includes:
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Coaching current leaders into new ways
Empower the voices of new ministries and faith
communities
Challenging sessions and congregations
Working to change the system and structures
Provide safe environments for groups to explore
and experiment with the new
Tender of
New
Vineyards
Nurturing
Gods new
work that is
emerging
Tender of new vineyard
work in PSNE includes:
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Advocate new ways of being church
Nurture fellowships, new ministries and faith
communities
Support the creation of networks
Feed the system with new information
Scatter seeds of new possibilities
Celebrate new harvests
Time Allocation
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40% Sentinel, Midwife, Tender
20% Coaching and Delegation
20% Management and Administration
15% Pastoral Care
5 % Presence at events
Places of Struggle
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My lifetime of living in the old ways
Learning how to say ‘no’ well
Providing pastoral care
A system that may maginalize this work
Creating economic justification
Finding clarity about what this work really is
No benchmarks for success