Sunday, September 2, 2012

From Koinonia: Choose Me!

“HERE AM I, CHOOSE ME! CHOOSE ME!” AN APPENDIX TO “A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 141: REDISCOVERING THE SACRAMENT OF UNCTION Hard as it is to get anyone to agree to undertake any form of ministry in the church, I am about to lay upon you an additional impediment. Never ask for, or accept, volunteers. At least, not quickly, spontaneously, or without the same vetting and discernment process that is in place for others being considered. Oh, there is not such a process in place? Then make one. This is important. Here’s why. All ministry roles require contact with other human beings. Such ministers, lay or ordained, staff members or volunteers, represent the church. It is imperative that they do so with charity, hospitality, humility, good humor, graciousness, and generosity of spirit. They require the trust and respect of the congregation. Perhaps most of all, they need an attitude of selflessness. They need the capacity to remove themselves from the picture and focus on God and the person needing the ministry. Would that all those attributes applied to everyone in our congregations, but alas, that is not always the case. These ministries are too important just to assign to the first person who says, “I’d like to do that.” When was the last time the easy way turned out to be the best way? There is no ministry role in the church that just anyone is equipped to do effectively. Sadly, very often the ones who want the role are the least capable of it, or at least the ones most likely to make it all about themselves. Whether the congregation needs a lector, a chalicist, a lay Eucharistic visitor, a catechist, a pastoral visitor, a volunteer receptionist—or a new Rector-- the fact is that it would be better to leave that ministry undone for a while than to put in place someone not suited for the role. Suppose you want to institute a healing prayer ministry that includes both lay and ordained healing ministers. The priest member of the team is to offer the sacrament of unction, the anointing with oil. The lay member(s) of the team will join with the priest in the laying on of hands, with prayer silent or spoken. Imagine the consequences to the ministry, and to the sick person, if the one laying on hands is a gossip, a busy-body, or a bottomless pit of personal, emotional neediness, intent (consciously or unconsciously) on siphoning off as much as possible of the spiritual power present for their own aggrandizement! Ouch! That sounds harsh! I do not charge all volunteers with such ulterior motives. In such a scenario, you might well receive a volunteer who would make an outstanding, superlative healing minister for the congregation. The problem is, you would get one or more of those others, as well. The purpose of discernment is valuable for both, to fathom which is which. If the process is disappointing to the one not discerned to have the charism for a particular ministry, it is in equal measure encouraging and empowering to the one affirmed in that role. I am not saying that the ordained are exempt from any such hazards, for they are not. However, the clergy have experienced an extensive examination requiring the approval of a number of persons at many levels prior to their ordination or call as rector/priest-in-charge. The lay ones need to undergo a similarly careful consideration. The dangers are that grave. The bottom line is to remember that you are not soliciting persons to come forward to take on a particular ministry role in the congregation. You are seeking recommendations of persons to enter the process of discernment possibly leading to selection and preparation for such a role. What a huge and important distinction that nuance makes!

A Volley from the Canon, Number 141--Seventh Sacrament

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 141 THE SEVENTH SACRAMENT Just a few decades ago, what we call the sacrament of Unction, the practice of healing by prayer, with anointing and/or manual touch, was the stuff of tent revivals and Saturday afternoon television programming. We certainly wouldn’t see the act in church, in any of the mainline denominations, including ours. Today, Episcopal clergy, with the active participation of some laity, regularly offer the sacrament to those in need of healing. People are routinely anointed, and receive the laying on of hands, with prayer for healing, in hospitals, nursing homes, and private residences. Many congregations—though not by any means all-- also offer unction at special healing services on a weekday, usually accompanied by the Eucharist. So unction has come out of the shadows. And yet—it is the sacrament that remains isolated, still very much the step-child of sacramental acts. Where we don’t see it enough is in the context of a regular Eucharist, attended by the well and able as well as the sick and impaired. Should not every Eucharist of the Lord’s Day be an occasion for spiritual healing as well as for spiritual feeding? A few years ago, we also did not offer Eucharist every Sunday. We feared, and many warned, that we would get bored with it, that it would “take too long,” or that it would “offend” somehow. That has not been our experience. Now, we might offer the same concerns about making unction available at a regular Sunday Eucharist. Yet I, and many, could name multiple examples where the sacrament has been widely received with welcome and appreciation. It isn’t necessarily easy to work in the additional act, but it is worth the attention and effort. It is being done, creatively, in several different ways, in various places. With regular Sunday Eucharist, we have become a Christian body that emphasizes Christ’s feeding of his people with himself, with his own body and blood. With regular Sunday unction offered as well, we can be the church that emphasizes also God’s desire and willingness to heal, and the continuing, life-giving activity of the Holy Spirit. Couldn’t that be a good thing? 1S

A Volley from the Canon, Number 140, Healing Gardens

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 140 HEALING GARDENS (with thanks to the Rev. John Rice in Encountering God’s Handiwork for ConneXions) Does your congregation have a “Healing Garden?” Perhaps it could, with very little adaptation from your existing, beautiful and well-maintained landscape design. If your property is visible to passers-by, accessible outside of worship times, and visited or transited by both members and the public, perhaps it ought to. What better way to emphasize the great concentration on healing practiced by Jesus himself in his earthly ministry, and the attention the church has historically given to healing of body, mind, and spirit? What would make the garden a healing garden? Maybe, to start with, just an attractive sign proclaiming the space as such. However, there should be other features, too, to make it inviting, restful, and inspiring to visit. Here are some suggestions to incorporate: 1. A water feature adds coolness, peaceful sound effect, a sense of motion, and a drinking source for birds, even if it is a small one. 2. A bench or a few chairs for sitting and meditating. 3. Some shade, as a refuge from summer sun. 4. Smooth, level pathways for safe, unobstructed access. 5. Plantings chosen for color, mature size, texture, and blooming time for variety, interest, and continuing beauty. 6. An eye to the level of maintenance needed. 7. Design around some kind of statuary, or a focal point. 8. Consider fragrance as well as visual effect. 9. For the blind, add tactile elements. 10. Don’t forget plants that attract birds and butterflies. 11. Raised beds offer access to the handicapped, plus additional seating, quicker weeding, and access for hands-on experience. 12. A good mulch helps conserve water, reduce weeding, and give a consistency to plantings. Additionally, To plant a garden including plants, flowers, and herbs that traditionally have healing properties, check out the lists contained here: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0932600.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_plants_used_in_herbalism http://www.liveandfeel.com/medicinalplants.html The coming fall could be an ideal time to plan, dig, and lay out a garden. Have fun dreaming, but remember—don’t plant more than you and your friends can weed! You’ll want to spend some time just sitting in the shade, hearing, smelling, and seeing the results of the handiwork you and God have produced in partnership. A garden, open and welcoming to the public, is a sign of Christian hospitality, inviting friend and stranger alike to enter and to linger. A healing garden is a sign of the life-giving ministry of Jesus, who heals and makes whole, and of the Holy Spirit, who continues to work miracles of healing in the present day.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 139, Reading Camp

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 139 START YOUR OWN LOCAL READING CAMP! In our Diocese, we’ve now run two successful, introductory Reading Camps, one at St. Luke’s-on-the-Island, Wheeling, and one at Premier Park/Welch for the Highland Educational Project (St. Luke’s, Welch). Both were fun, productive, inspiring, and encouraging. The campers themselves had a great time! Now is the time, believe it or not, to begin planning for Reading Camps, 2013. We hope and plan to continue on the Island and in McDowell County. What I’d like to see is half a dozen more one-week camps for local children run out of congregations across our diocese. Toward that end, I am inviting interested persons to attend Reading Camp Training, coming up in October this year. It is very important that at least two persons representing each Reading Camp location attend this training! (We are Network members.) Fall 2012 RC Network Training and Retreat October 18-20, 2012 4:00pm Thursday - 4:00pm Saturday Cathedral Domain Conference Center 800 Highway 1746 Irvine, KY 40336 Fees: $100 per person, Network Members $125 per person, non-members *$30 single-room supplemental fee* A small number of scholarships will be available. (Some additional funding from the Diocese of WV) Any and all are welcome to attend - Reading Camp volunteers, friends, Network members and those who are interested in learning about and starting their own Reading Camp program. The training provides leadership training for young adults and other volunteers. Please make your plans now to attend. Recruit your co-leaders. Sponsoring clergy are recommended to attend as well. Let’s take the onus of low literacy off out state and our diocese—and have a great time doing it! Our children deserve no less.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 138, POP

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 138 The Prayers of the People We Anglicans are a people of prayer—“common” prayer—and that is a good thing. More than any of the Protestants, we pray publicly for each other, by name. We even have a segment of our liturgy designated for that purpose, the Prayers of the People. How, then, does a good thing become a distracting one, damaging the flow of the Sunday liturgy? When it becomes a seemingly endless recitation, poorly or hastily read, featuring intercessions that are not, in the main, the concerns of all the people, but the interests of a few individuals, who might not even be present. The petitions can then become more about the inclusion of various members than about the needs of those prayed for. To be specific, I’ve seen elderly individuals’ names reside in the Prayers of the People longer than the tenure of the average rector, and these are people who are known to only one in the congregation, the relative who put their name on the list in the first place, and who attends only sporadically. But just try to remove that name, and you have a major controversy. Now you’ve declared that you are callously unconcerned, not just about poor Aunt Agnes in Clearwater, but about the nephew or niece who wants her prayed for. Please note, I am not saying that somebody’s Aunt Agnes, whom I do not know, does not warrant my prayers. I am suggesting, though, that a) elderliness is not of itself an illness, and it seems overkill to me to have people languish on the prayer list for many years, and b) I’m not convinced the Sunday Eucharist is the proper place to let that happen. The question is, how can we satisfy the needs for inclusion and intercession on behalf of those “in any kind of need or trouble,” without putting the whole congregation into that condition? At this point, I concede that the whole question is moot for very small congregations. They can pray through their whole prayer list, including all the Aunt Agneses, and still get home before Tuesday, maybe even before the Sunday pot roast burns. They may not know Agnes, but they do know her nephew Henry, and to pray for her is to pray for him. That is a positive value, and those congregations may not need to put curbs on their intercessions in any way. However, the larger congregations have a different reality. Some form of discipline seems called for. A key issue is IMMEDIACY. When one asks for a friend or relative to be included in the prayers of the people, one really ought to be one of those people, i. e. in attendance at the Eucharist most of the time. It doesn’t seem fair to leave the congregation set on “auto-pray” indefinitely. A secondary concern is URGENCY. People can be in chronic need of prayer (aren’t we all?) for years, but in urgent need only for a few weeks or months. There are ways to keep the Prayers of the People more immediate, and more urgent. The most effective of these is to cease list-keeping altogether, and rely on participants in worship to provide their own intercessions. This was apparently the intent of the framers of BCP 1979, and many congregations could still be taught to do this comfortably. What we have found is that in a great many congregations, people are far too bashful to sing out the names of those they are praying for, even softly. They want someone else to do it. In an ancient stone church in Wales, I saw a large, wooden cross in the Narthex, with little clips on it, and a basket of paper slips and pencils nearby. Upon entering the church, worshipers were invited to write out their intercessory concerns and clip them onto the cross. The intercessor picked those up and, at the appropriate time, used them to offer the prayers of the people gathered that day. I’ve seen that done with just a small basket, too. A one-sheet list form would serve as well, and there could be many creative variations. That answers the “immediacy” question, and there is nothing to stop Henry from including Aunt Agnes anytime he is present and desires to do so. A second practice, equally important, is to request that the congregation participate in intercessory prayer outside of Eucharist as well, daily, and to provide the names of those for whom prayers are requested. That list could include not only the urgent needs, noted in the Prayers of the People, but also the more chronic ones as well. More importantly, the discipline of “praying without ceasing” greatly multiplies the prayers of the congregation, taking them beyond the Sunday celebration and into everyday life. A third point is worth raising: teach the intercessors how to offer lists of names reverently, respectfully, and—prayerfully—so that the experience is worth kneeling through for the congregation. And while you’re on your knees, thank God that you have a church congregation that considers common intercessory prayer important enough to do it, and do it well. That is a big part of what we gather as a church to do.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 137--To-Do List

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 137 “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Small Congregations Plead For Their Lives Part V: “More for the To-do List” With the spiritual life of the congregation at the forefront, and the ministry team growing in concept and in practice, only now is the time right for more development to occur, including more active evangelism. Yes, Episcopalians do and must practice evangelism. We can no longer rely, as we did for generations, on our own natural growth, plus the people who have fallen through the cracks of other communions. We have a gospel message to offer, and we must share it. Toward that end, every small congregation ought to do these things, and do them intentionally and well: 1. Plan and expect to grow! Pray for your church. Have an active, creative welcoming ministry that involves the whole congregation. Hospitably receive and incorporate new members. Remember-- Everyone in the congregation is a minister. We all have needs, but none of us is a mere consumer. We all can greet people, introduce ourselves and others, help visitors find a comfortable place, all without overwhelming them • Make, distribute, and wear name tags while at church. Often, that helps more than just the visitors! • Invite people to attend special services, events, and projects. Everyone loves to know they are wanted. 2. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Keep the snail-mail going to those who need it, but use all the modern and growing electronic means as well. Use Facebook, Twitter, You-Tube, and e-lists to keep folks apprised of church interests and activities, including intercessory prayer needs. Never leave anyone out of the loop! • Create and maintain an informative web-site. Don’t rely on a volunteer. This has to be done well, and it is a constant duty, not a spare-time thing, to keep up to date. • Use every means at your disposal to advertise to the community at large. But don’t waste money on out-of-date, expensive venues. Yellow Pages are passé, suddenly. Newspaper ads are headed in that direction. Billboards, well-placed and designed, can get good notice. Yard signs, promotional banners and balloons, flyers well-distributed, posters and notes on public bulletin boards, crawlers on the local cable—all these can be effective. Don’t forget word of mouth, the cheapest and most productive advertising of all! • Place attractive, welcoming signs so that people can find driveway entrances, parking, and locations in the church, including how to get into the building. • Look at your parking area. Is it well-lighted, well-laid-out, well-maintained? Do you have designated spaces for newcomers? Do members greet unfamiliar faces even out in the parking lot, to welcome them and help guide them to nursery or church door? 3. Focus on your mission. Every congregation should have an important, worthwhile ministry for which it is known in the community. Use that, not only to meet the needs of the people, but also to build relationships among members, and to attract new ones interested in that ministry. 4. Engage in cooperative ministries, when practical, with other Episcopal congregations and with other compatible ecumenical ones as well. 5. Avoid internal conflicts and infighting like the Devil. Guess who sponsors and encourages that sort of thing, anyway! One internal brouhaha can undo all the hard work of years of evangelism and congregational development. 6. Enjoy, celebrate, and love the life of your church, as an indispensible part of your own spiritual life. Never let it become a chore or a burden. In the midst of it all, keep an eye on your own well-being, relationship with God and neighbors, and peace of mind.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 136, Job Number One

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 136 “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Small Congregations Plead For Their Lives Part V: “JOB NUMBER ONE” The Church is not a social club. It is the Body of Jesus Christ, a radical, subversive organization bent on changing the world, not by the application of worldly power (as some Christians mistakenly attempt), but through modeling ourselves after the teaching and example of Jesus, and by inviting others to do so as well. The best description of our modus operandi is found in our Baptismal Covenant, one of the great contributions of the present Book of Common Prayer. Looking for a good text for a teaching series? There you have it. As a Ministry Team is forming and preparing itself for leadership and ministry in the congregation, that process itself goes very far toward deepening and enriching the spiritual life of those people, and of the congregation at large. Following up on that, there is more to be done to keep the focus on God. This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some points to consider. 1. What happens on Sunday morning, at the worship liturgies of the congregation, is of paramount importance. Every celebration, whether Morning Prayer or Eucharist, must be carefully planned, prepared in detail, and deliberately focused on the prayer life of the people. 2. Episcopal worship is not about the relationship of the people with one another. It is about their relationship with God. It is vertical, not horizontal. We relate to one another before and after worship, not during, except cooperatively. 3. That doesn’t mean that there is any excuse for poorly delivered, inaudible, reading, or rambling, inarticulate, or pointless sermons. We offer to God our very best in quality and effort. Preachers, if your sermon consists of re-telling what one of the scripture lessons already say, go back and work on it some more. 4. EVERYONE is a “performer” of worship. There are no spectators! The audience to worship is God and the angels, not the people in the pews. That is why the prayer book was placed into our hands in the first place, so that we could all be full participants in worship. 5. Any way in which we act like an audience is counterproductive to liturgical worship. That means NO APPLAUSE! By all means, we should tell musicians, lectors, preachers, and acolytes how much we appreciate their offerings in worship. No one ever tires of hearing they are doing a great job. But let them offer their gifts freely and generously, without reducing them to the role of entertainers. What a great teaching opportunity this is for children! 6. The Prayer Book is our friend, not our enemy. Use it, in accordance with the rubrics. It is fine the way it is, and does not require the amendments of any of us clergy. 7. Music selection is extremely important to worship. Don’t try to use every hymn in Hymns 1982. It is meant to be an anthology, widely inclusive; not every selection is appropriate for every congregation (some, questionably appropriate for any!) Use other resources, too. What the congregation is invited to sing MUST be singable by the congregation, and each must contribute to the atmosphere of reverence and worship. Yet reverence does not mean moroseness! Lively worship is reverent, too. 8. A small congregation should not try to imitate the music of a large one. Use hymns particularly easy for non-musicians to sing, since everyone needs to participate without inhibition. Use soloists or small groups for special music. Keep it prayerful, not performance. 9. Provide for opportunities for private prayer. A votive stand, a holy water font, an intercessory prayer station, an icon or other focal point for prayer, brief moments of silence in the liturgy—all these and more can be very conducive to spiritual expression. 10. Do something to make the Prayers of the People truly that, and not a laundry list, dreadfully read. Here, be creative, within the framework offered by the BCP. (This may call for a volley of its own.) 11. The worship space is made holy by the prayers of generations offered there. Make it express that reality in immaculate, non-cluttered, spiritually-focused appearance. Take a hard look. Are those banners, made by children in 1967, really needed now? The Church is not a refrigerator door. By all means, find ways to include the efforts and contributions of all members—but not necessarily as permanent fixtures building up over the decades in the worship space. (There are other locations where that kind of historical collection can be maintained.) Father Fabulous placed that tacky sign there in 1972, and we love Father Fabulous, at least those living who remember him. But the sign must go! 12. Teach. Teach. Teach. 13. Have teaching missions and preaching missions for occasional, focused growth. VBS, or its equivalent through the year, is not just for children! 14. Regularly, at least twice per year, offer orientation to the Episcopal Church to anyone who might be interested (and cultivate that interest among newer participants.) Our communion does fill a unique niche of Christian practice, and it needs to be shared and understood. 15. Be visible in the community as a worshiping body. Observe the holy days of observation, and publicize them. Many non-Episcopalians would like to observe Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, All Saints Day, and other observances. Ring that church bell! Even a handful of worshipers can experience God’s presence. 16. Remember, it is not about ME. Preaching is not about the preacher. Celebrating Eucharist is not about the celebrant. Singing is not about the singer, nor is playing the organ (or whatever) about the organist. Distributing the Eucharist is not about the patenist, or the chalicist. People do not come to church to gaze into OUR loving eyes: they come to meet Jesus. 17. Plan every gathering of God’s people for worship to be a meaningful, enriching, not-to-be-missed occasion. Step back and get out of God’s way.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 135--Action Plan 1

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 135 “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Small Congregations Plead For Their Lives Part III: “Action Plan, Step One” You’ve had a good, cleansing heart-to-heart discussion as a group, and you’ve decided to move forward and try to re-start your congregation, to get on a firm footing, and to have a chance for continuing life as an Episcopal presence in your community. You know the odds are against you. But you’ve assessed your situation, and you are confident that you have all of the following resources to support your efforts: • The key leadership, elected representatives or not, are thoroughly invested in this decision. • You have a core group of committed lay ministers to carry it through for several years. • You have or can get the financial means to hold on for at least three years, even without any windfall or new member contributions. • You have enlisted the aid of outside resources, especially your bishop and canon, for support. • You have clergy available at least on most Sundays and major holy days, and trained lay worship leaders for the rest. Now, what do you do first? The difficulty is that everything cries out to be done first, and to a degree, a lot can be accomplished by dividing and conquering, among the available ministers. Don’t rush into it!--not until the foundations are being laid in the two vital areas of spiritual renewal and ministry team development. That is because you won’t get far without strong roots in these two basics. Beginning to grow those roots is likely to take the better part of a year (or more.) So let’s get crackin’! MINISTRY TEAM DEVELOPMENT In consultation with your canon (Canon Faith Perrizo for the North, and Canon Donald Vinson for the South), begin to form a ministry team. You will focus on discernment first, because you need to draw on the guidance of the Holy Spirit for a number of decisions. What is the mission of the congregation, as it is and as it could be, now and into the future? What ministries will be required? Who in the congregation might be best suited for each of these ministries (that answer may be plural!). Keep in mind two very important provisos: the best people might not be the ones who have been doing these things all along! In fact, this is a good time to build in some term limits, so that a natural rotation can occur, and no one need get burned out in a particular ministry area for too long. Secondly, the right person may not be the one who “feels called” to a particular ministry or project. It is the calling of the community to the work that matters, not just the interior musings of the individual. (Many people feel called to ministries to which they are patently unsuited.) At the same time, the discernment of the group must be tested and borne out in the individual as well. This is a complicated dance, and it takes time to implement. As the ministry team begins to take shape, it is time to begin training the team for mutual ministry. In several places, we have used a curriculum called “Life Cycles” with benefit to the congregation and participants. It has the advantages of being affordable, readily available, and group-led. It truly models the Team Ministry concept, and the content serves as sound preparation for lay ministry in a community. At this point, someone is bound to say, “I don’t have time to take on another meeting now! I could take charge of the ushers (or something), but I can’t come to a class every week.” That throws us right back to the first two segments of this series. Are we willing to make some significant changes in the way we do things? Do we have the commitment to follow through? Yes, we feel pulled in a number of different directions. Yet people in other church communions manage to attend worship, Bible study, and other church activities, and they have busy lives, too. It’s all in where we place our priorities. Too many of our congregations have gone virtually without adult formation activities for far too long. In part, this is because we have suffered from the delusion that only clergy can teach adults about the faith, and clergy attention has been stretched thin, or not consistently available in many places. We must cultivate and prepare more lay teachers. I’ve heard clergy retort, “You can offer all you want, but it still takes people showing up to make adult formation work.” And that is true. We must focus on making quality, life-affecting formation experiences available, and developing the commitment to take part in them, at the same time. What we must NOT do is continue to invite people to ministries for which they are not equipped and not prepared, as if there were no spiritual or theological basis for them—and as if they aren’t really important enough to require some preparation and reflection. We are not talking about just ticking tasks off a check-list here, but about creating a true team for ministry. While the Ministry Team is a-borning, the first thing it needs to take a good hard look at is the spiritual life and health of the congregation. Some will say, “We just need to build up the congregation, by inviting people to come to worship with us.” That time will come soon. But there is work to be done first. Suppose we invite friends to attend our church: to what would we be inviting them? Would it be spiritually uplifting, prayerful, inspiring, informative, and truly hospitable? If it is not presently attracting (and keeping) committed members, then perhaps that answer is not as clearly affirmative as we would like for it to be. At any rate, it is time for a spiritual check-up, and maybe a bit of palliative or preventive medicine. Looking to the spiritual life of the congregation, especially in what happens on Sunday morning, is Job Number One for rebuilding a faltering congregation. That will be our focus for next week.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 134, Why Is It Easier?

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 134 “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Small Congregations Plead For Their Lives PART THREE: AN ASIDE WHY IS IT EASIER TO PLANT A NEW CHURCH WHERE NONE HAS BEEN BEFORE THAN IT IS TO RE-START AN EXISTING CONGREGATION? It may seem counter-intuitive, but a brand-new congregation has a leg up on any situation where the congregation has gone into decline, for whatever reason, and now wants to make a concerted effort to re-invent itself and live anew. The “assets” of the continuing congregation turn out to be liabilities. Even with deep commitment on the part of the re-start, few of such attempts last more than three years before lapsing back into the old patterns of their past. Both situations share the obstacles of cultural and community problems, but in a nutshell, it all comes down to BAGGAGE: the new plant doesn’t have any, while the existing congregation has plenty. 1) Old habits die hard. If everyone is “new,” and there is no established way of doing things, then the group is free to discover its own way. But if some are long-time members, they will attempt to teach any newcomers the “right” way to do it, which happens to coincide with the way the congregation formerly did it. 2) Reputation. The continuing entity is known, for good or ill, in the community. A rebranding takes a long time and much effort. 3) Dysfunction. If there were people in the congregation whose behavior and state of emotional unhealth ran members off before, they will continue to do the same, if they are still around. They themselves are famously hard to run off. 4) Family Systems phenomena. A “system” seeks equilibrium and will do everything it can to restore it. Some individuals will play the role of saboteur, seeking to derail efforts to produce positive change. You can count on it. 5) Church life-cycle. The upward climb from birth is a hard slog, but it is exciting and energizing, because it is HOPEFUL. Swinging around from the downward death spiral toward a new birth is not only a hard slog, but there is the added burden of guilt and sadness over the death of what was. Hope is harder to maintain. 6) History. If there are memorials, designated funds, or bequests, those may be so restricted as to be worse than useless to the congregation 7) The Edifice Complex. We’ve seen McDonald’s and Bob Evans tear down perfectly serviceable structures to erect a new one fitting their current image. The church is stuck with buildings until the crack of Doom. If the thing burns down (“Act of God”), we’ll build another one just like it on the footprint! A congregation is much better off without a building than to be saddled with one that is no longer functional, or too expensive to maintain. An important principle for liturgy and church life: The Building Always Wins. Not only can an out-of-date building suck up all the funding and energy from a struggling congregation, it also determines what is possible to do, programmatically and liturgically. Having things like Queen Ann silver and Tiffany stained glass windows is a burden and liability, not an asset: you can’t sell them; they do not attract members; yet, you have to become, in effect, a museum, insuring and caring for them. That diverts the focus of the congregation from its true mission, often supplanting it with the false one of operating an historic shrine. This is what we’re up against when we try to re-start a congregation. It is difficult! Even so, it CAN be done, and the above circumstances are obstacles to overcome, not reasons not to try. We’re doing God’s work! We “can do all things through Christ who strengthens” us. Next week: Part IV: “OK, We’re In—Now What?”

A Volley from the Canon, Number 133--Questions

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 133 “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Small Congregations Plead For Their Lives Part II: ASK THE TOUGH, HONEST QUESTIONS This is a conversation for the whole congregation (we’re talking small numbers here) to have together, facilitated by a friend from outside the congregation, trained in group leadership. True, in our tradition, vestries handle the day-to-day decision-making for the congregation. We are not a Congregationalist church. However, there is no point in a vestry doing this hard work only to have it undone by the real powers of the congregation. A serious turn-about requires near-unanimous, informed assent and cooperation. Some of these questions are tough, and the opinions expressed will be honest and not always easy to hear. My preference would be that the conversation be held in a “Circle of Trust” environment, which must be set up carefully in advance, and which would have several provisos for participants. The main one worth mentioning here is: the process is not about assigning blame. It is about sharing, with deliberation and care, the heart-felt observations and convictions of the group. At the same time, honesty requires acknowledging that something is amiss, and that must be recognized in order for it to be amended. THE QUESTIONS 1. Have we waited too late? I said the questions would be tough. Sadly, many small congregations have already missed their launch windows toward new life, barring the miraculous. A congregation in which the youth group is in their seventies is not likely to attract new members in their twenties. If they are few in number, drained of resources, exhausted from trying to hold the roof and furnace together, and plain burned out, the likelihood diminishes commensurately. However, note “likely” and “miraculous” above: unless the handwriting is clearly scratched onto the paint-needy walls, let us reserve judgment on this primary question until others have been considered. They’re just as hard, and relevant to this one. 2. Do we have what it takes to start over? That means energy and inner resourcefulness, primarily, attributes which some septuagenarians DO possess. Financial resources count also, though ability to raise money is almost as good as actual possession of money. It’s much, much better to have a handful of members who tithe, or who are working toward the tithe in a committed way, than ten times as many who toss a tener into the plate when they attend. Why? Because the tithers are faithful in other ways as well, including attendance. Any congregation that wants to survive had better end the taboo on talking about stewardship, and start to teach and encourage generosity and thanksgiving, fostering discipleship rather than membership, and encouraging growth toward the tithe. Push the delete button all you want to: this fact will not go away. More is needed, though, to restart a declining congregation. Innovative, energetic, cooperative leadership matters enormously. Didn’t Jesus say something about sizing up a task before rushing headlong into it? 3. What is our motivation, honestly? Do we really WANT the congregation to survive? It’s time for some soul-searching. O. K., I was baptized and married in this building. So what? That isn’t a reason for it to remain open. (The church is NOT a building!) • We do not need members so that we can have more money. New members are unlikely to give much initially, anyway, and if they are being recruited with that motivation, there won’t be many of them. • We do not need members to take some of the work burden off of us. Success is particularly improbable if we are standing there telling them how to do it. It takes time for a newcomer even to learn that there is much work to be done, much less to discover any joy in offering to share in it. Brace yourself: new people have new ideas. We can’t welcome one without the other. • We do not need to maintain the congregation because it is the “best club in town.” Conversely, that is a good reason for God to kill it. This is why the oft-heard praise “we love each other” is not attractive to potential new members. Love those who are NOT members of the congregation, and then we have something going! Oddly, some of the congregations most in danger have members who get along really well with one another—because they have already run off anyone who would threaten the control of the dominant leadership in any way. These congregations don’t really want new members. They only want their money and compliant work. • We do not need to maintain the church at least until after “my” funeral (whoever “my” is). If it hasn’t found a greater mission than that, it isn’t much of a church, anyway. • Sincerity about these things is imperative. We won’t fool anyone by dissembling. Of course, our motivations will never be pure or devoid of self-interest. Nevertheless, we need to work on them, and encourage each other to do so. The church exists to lean forward into the Kingdom of Heaven as described by Jesus, the Son of God: to proclaim by word and deed the Good News of salvation, to help reconcile people with God and one another, to work for justice and mercy, to worship God. When we focus on these things, we have something worthwhile to offer to others, and God might have a reason to send us some others. 4. Does the congregation regularly experience JOY in being together and in worshiping and serving God? If not, address that situation first. 5. Is someone or something running potential new members off? Stop it! I don’t think I’m allowed by social convention to put that in writing, or to say it out loud. We all know that it happens, though. First, let me reiterate my earlier comment about not using this exercise to settle blame. That is a tempting pastime, but it must be avoided. I’m not suggesting any kind of scape-goating, and the reasons for the decline in church participation are complex and societal. We live in a culture, though, in which it is often more important to be “nice” than it is to be truthful. (Oddly, that rule doesn’t seem to apply to the rude people, only to anyone who might call them on it.) Jesus did not set us an example of silently putting up with just any kind of destructive behavior. Rude behavior must be lovingly but firmly confronted and not tolerated, but dealt with discretely and appropriately (i.e., not in front of the whole congregation!) We’ve seen more than one congregation go under, in the end, in large measure because of the abrasive behavior of one or more of its final members. Why would we give them that kind of power over something we profess to love? 6. A cluster of related questions: Are we willing to change? Change how? -- Are we willing to refrain from sabotaging behaviors? Are we willing to undertake the role of minister in our congregation? Are we willing to be renewed in our spiritual commitment to follow Jesus? Trying new things can be scary, or exciting. It’s all in what we make of them. It is hard work, though, either way. The honest answer to this question determines the result of all the others above. If we are willing to change, sometimes just to get out of the way and let others manage change, then there is likely to be hope for our congregation yet. If we will not accept change, then the answer to question number one has been determined. One more bit of bad news in Part III, and then we move on to the fun stuff!

A Volley from the Canon, Number 132--Small Congregations Plead for Their Lives

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 132 “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Part I: Small Congregations Plead For Their Lives Clergy and lay leaders come to the bishop, or to the Diocesan Council, or to one of us canons, asking for help with “congregational development.” Of course, what they want is not congregational development. That is like asking for an investment strategy when you are broke: you have to have a viable congregation first, before you can develop it. When folks ask for a reduction of their diocesan apportionment, or for diocesan-subsidized clergy, or permission to sell off a piece of property to pay their bills, they are saying, “We’re dying here! We can’t make it anymore!” They don’t want to develop the congregation they have, they want a new one. What people mean is, “How can we grow?” or even “How can we survive?” Church growth is different from congregational development, and our congregations, small to middling size, do certainly need it. We are not alone in our standing as “The Amazing Disappearing Church,” if that brings any comfort. Active church members or clergy of various denominations ask me about the present state of the Episcopal Church. I respond honestly, describing both positive and negative observations. I used to be a bit hesitant, expecting some derogatory, judgmental comment, as these are people who would not be described as friends of TEC. That never happens, though. The response I get is a sad, “We have the same situation in our church. Maybe worse.” Yet we are more vulnerable than some, because we lack the membership “fat” of many communions, to feed off of during today’s leaner times. A 10% loss to a larger congregation is disconcerting: to most of ours, it is catastrophic. The reality is that the care and nurture of the small congregation is absolute life-and-death for us, especially in West Virginia, because that is who we are. When I make presentations about the behavior of congregations according to church size, I don’t bother with the two largest sizes—we don’t have any of those. All of our congregations are in the two smallest categories, and most are in the smallest. We have struggled, over the years, trying to make the Episcopal Church available as an option to the Christians in all of our West Virginia counties, with congregations located in as many of our market towns as possible. Every time we lose one of those congregations to attrition, we force tens or dozens of people to make a different choice, and that whole population loses the option of worshiping God in the Episcopal tradition. That is a serious and sad situation. I have some good news. Our church is growing in some places, and it remains strong and vibrant in others. To get to the good news, however, in all honesty, we have to dig through some bad news, and some very bad news, by way of several tough, challenging questions. The time for sugar-coating, if ever there was one, is long gone. If we want our small congregations to make it through the coming decade, as many of them as can, we have to face up to those questions, and answer them honestly. Over the next several weeks, I plan to explore them and offer some concrete suggestions for church growth, leading to congregational development for those brave, energetic, and motivated enough to use them. For this week, I offer one major suggestion that is prerequisite to all the others: DON’T FALL FOR MISTAKE NUMBER ONE: TO KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE, HOPING FOR A BETTER RESULT. Salvation requires change. Yes, always.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 131--The Single Best Thing

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON NUMBER 131: “THE SINGLE BEST THING” If you could do just one easy thing for half an hour every day, that would promise enormous, across-the-board health benefits, and leave the other 23 ½ hours free for anything you want to do, would you do it? Of course you would. Take the first part of one of those half-hours just to sit and watch this nine-minute presentation from You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo This message is so clear, so well-presented, and so important to our life today, that I’m suggesting that all of us listen, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it as Holy Writ. Yes, show it in church. Spread the link all around town. And follow up with supportive activities. We offer Parish dinners and reading groups—why not parish health breaks? Parish walking clubs? • Organize one or more Church walking groups. • Encourage a set time for A Covenant of Walking. • Ask your church members to make a Walking Pledge. • Give every church member a dog. OK, I’m only partly serious about the dog. The rest is Gospel serious. We all have to die. We don’t all have to die sick, or soon. If healing is the church’s business (and it is), then staying healthier, longer, is, too.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 130--Endow Your Pledge

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON NUMBER 130: “ENDOW YOUR PLEDGE” The Book of Common Prayer exhorts our clergy to remind their flock, regularly, to remember the Church in their wills. Most, it is hoped, do so in various ways. Here’s a way of reminding, that is easy to remember and rather compelling (via Donald Romanik of Episcopal Church Foundation): Endow your pledge. It’s easy, and it’s attractive. None of us wants to see the church suffer sudden and catastrophic loss upon our demise. We want our legacy of faithfulness and support for the work of our church to continue and grow. Adding more pledges through membership growth is great, especially if it expands the ability of the church to minister, not merely keeping up with losses through deaths and transfers. Therefore, if we leave to the church, through a specific bequest, twenty times the amount of our annual pledge or gift, we extend that pledge or gift in perpetuity. Don’t tie the hands of future vestries with ministry-hobbling restrictions, for we don’t know what challenges and opportunities the future will bring with it: just make the pledge, forever. Both in heaven and on earth, “joining our voices with angels and archangels” in continuing hymns of thanksgiving and praise will be all the easier for it.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 129--Lead from "Why"

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 129 “LEAD FROM ‘WHY’” When you get a chance, view this short You Tube presentation by Simon Sinek. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 Sinek has something important to say about how the Church’s traditional way of leading works (though he doesn’t mention that context). He calls his image the “Golden Circle;” three concentric circles, with the outer circle labeled “What,” the center circle labeled “How,” and the inner circle labled “Why.” Sinek says that most people begin by describing “What:” the product, the activity, the end result. Then, they move to “How:” the process by which they arrive at the goal. But what really matters in decision-making, Simon maintains, is “Why:” the purpose of the whole enterprise. People are motivated by purpose, not by product or by process. (He ties “Why” to the reptilian, primitive brain. “What” is of the neo-cortex, the most verbal and intellectual part of the brain.) We do well to remember to begin with “Why.” Motivation is key to the Christian endeavor. My thanks to Allison Duvall, Executive Director of Reading Camps, for this helpful link.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 128--For a Leadeer

I came across this “charge” or pre-blessing piece at Reading Camp training, and I thought many of you might find a use for it. If so, please be sure to credit the source. I wish this blessing for all of us! Donald For a leader By John O’Donohue From To Bless the Space Between Us May you have the grace and wisdom To act kindly, learning To distinguish between what is Personal and what is not. May you be hospitable to criticism. May you never put yourself at the center of things. May you act not from arrogance but out of service. May you work on yourself, Building up and refining the ways of your mind. May those who work for you know You see and respect them. May you learn to cultivate the art of presence In order to engage with those who meet you. When someone fails or disappoints you, May the graciousness with which you engage Be their stairway to renewal and refinement. May you treasure the gifts of the mind Through reading and creative thinking So that you continue as a servant of the frontier Where the new will draw its enrichment from the old, And you never become a functionary. May you know the wisdom of deep learning, The healing of wholesome words, The encouragement of the appreciative gaze, The decorum of held dignity, The springtime edge of the bleak question. May you have a mind that loves frontiers So that you can evoke the bright fields That lie beyond the view of the regular eye. May you have good friends To mirror your blind spots. May leadership be for you A true adventure of growth. Donald K. Vinson (The Rev. Canon) Canon for Mission and Transition Diocese of West Virginia P. O. Box 5400 Charleston, WV 25361 304 541-9963

A Volley from the Canon, Number 127--A Eucharistic-Centered Community

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 127 A EUCHARIST-CENTERED COMMUNITY We’ve called ourselves a Eucharist-centered community in the Episcopal church for over 40 years now. Such a thing as a “Morning Prayer parish” hardly exists any more It’s a complete triumph for liturgical renewal. Or at least it has been. Now, forty years in, we’re beginning to face some tough choices that are causing us to reflect on just what it means to be Eucharist-centered. Many of our congregations can no longer have a priest of their own, every Sunday. Substitutes and part-timers are rare and in great demand. Now, we begin to ask ourselves—just what does it mean to be a Eucharistic community? Does it mean that all liturgies must culminate in the distribution of bread and wine? Is our worship unfulfilled and unfulfilling if we don’t receive the “chip and a sip” at the end? Or is there more to transcendent worship than even that? When we offer Morning Prayer together (remember, that form of worship we used to love so much, which most congregations hardly know how to do anymore?) are we NOT Eucharist-centered? How many celebrations does it take to tip the balance?—weekly? Biweekly? Monthly? Were our grandparents and our historic congregations non-Eucharist-centered in the past? Eucharist is more than mere consumption. In the amazing transformation of communicants into disciples, Jesus continues to perform miracles of sacramental blessing. We may just discover that we do not come to worship on a weekly basis just to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. We gather to BECOME the Body and Blood of Christ. In making Eucharist of us, he also makes us truly community.

A Volley from the Canon, Number 125--The Silver Bullet

THE SILVER BULLET “What I’d like to know,” said the Senior Warden, “is ‘What is the silver bullet, if you will, the best plan for growing the church nowadays?’” This is not the first time of asking, by various people around the diocese. It seems this is what pretty much everyone wants to know. I wish it were that easy. The answer is, there is no silver bullet for growing a church congregation. What works well one place, one time, might not another place, another time. Frankly, I think a lot of things can be helpful, and several things together, programmatically speaking, are probably the best hope—and there are no guarantees for success at growth! Ironically, however, I can offer a silver-bullet, guaranteed method for destroying a church congregation—for church shrinkage and loss of members! (How sad that the negative is so much easier to accomplish than the positive!) The key to church LOSS is negativism. Tip the balance to the negative in your congregation, and you WILL kill it. I guarantee. Find fault with everything and everyone. Undermine all projects with carping and nay-saying. Go to events, if it suits you, but complain about how they were done, especially behind the scenes. Have nothing good to say about your congregational leadership, and stymie them at every turn. Launch a campaign to overthrow your rector or priest-in-charge. Show your anger. Make unpleasant scenes, especially around any newcomers. Be sarcastic, bitter, and rude. Coordinate your attacks with others. You’ll see the results in no time. Then, you get to complain about the membership and financial losses, as if you had nothing to do with them, thus accelerating the decline. If this is the negative silver bullet, I wonder if the flip-side of it might be a positive one, albeit more difficult to achieve. Go positive! Cultivate hopefulness and positive expectations. Practice listening compassionately to others’ hurt, while avoiding getting sucked into their sphere of negativity (which is a form of emotional indigestion, not to be shared). Get immersed in ministry rather than power struggles. Resolve to live joyfully, faithful to the conviction that God is, after all, in charge, so you don’t need to be. Speak your convictions appropriately, but support the congregational leadership without trying to control the direction of it—the congregation cannot succeed unless the rector or priest-in-charge succeeds! Advocate for success, live in expectation of good things, and accentuate the positive. I truly believe that, if the scale of energy in a congregation is tipped toward the positive—hopefulness, celebration, encouragement, compassion, joy—that church will grow. And even if it did not, it would be a much, much nicer place to hang out, praise God, and do God’s work!