Anyone remember Ecclesion?

Another fascinating talk we heard last week was from Dr Greta Vosper, minister of West Hills Uniting church in Toronto. Her extreme progessive position has led her denomination to resolve that she must leave her congregation.

But what interested me was one aspect of Greta's description of her congregation's Sunday mornings. They consider issues that are real for the congregation. They  draw freely on other inspiration than merely the Bible. And when business decisions come along they make them on the spot. There is no church meeting nor council so no group of individuals in assigned responsibility to make decsions on behalf of the whole community.

It interested me immediaely. Here was a working model of the Ecclesion Church that I proposed 25 years ago for small congregations.  I reckoned the contemporary church should devote its only gathering time in the week to elements of worship, education, fellowship and doing necessary business.  I'd still be very comfortable in that kind of gathering.

RIP LSM

The Lay Ministry Support Group of the Methodist Church of New Zealand - Te Haahi Weteriana O Aotearoa - will hardly be expecting my congratulations on their offering which arrived this week.
The Group seems to be keen to be invited to do local training of lay people. They suggest a list of twenty topics for workshops they could present.
Lost somewhere among the twenty is "exploring Local Shared Ministry and Team Ministries". Well, I guess I should be pleased to see it at all. But alongside such offerings as Story-telling and Retreat Days and Tools for Decision-Making, I cannot judge if LSM is being damned with faint praises or praised with faint damns.
LSM was never about lay people learning a few new skills to help them make more of a contribution to their local church. LSM is about a completely new way of "being church". It's about the local people wresting control and management of their small congregation from the clutches of stipendiary ministry before their communal life is extinguished through sheer economics.

Of course there are still a few decent size churches where the luxury of paid ministry can be afforded. Let them indulge in any number of workshops that may or may not be of interest and relevance to their people - and may or may not fit into the strategies of the local clergy concerned. And of course there are many Pasifika and Asian congregations who are doing just fine in their understanding of the dynamics and strategies of local church.
However, most of the denomination's papalagi (non-Polynesian) congregations are small and tending to dwindle. They are all too easily persuaded to give up the struggle to meet the costs of ministry. In centre after centre for five decades, Methodism has abandoned a local witness because it could not see beyond paid ministry and expansive properties.
By contrast, LSM is a way forward for such congregations. It's an opportunity for local members to completely re-think and re-strategise their way of "being church in our community".
Oops, beg pardon, I see there's a workshop about "Visioning for your Future". Oh, well, that could be a second really useful item on the list of twenty if anyone in the Group actually has a hopeful vision for such congregations...

(I have nicked the cartoon from Tim Norwood... I would have nicked it earlier if I'd seen it earlier.)

The shape of Sunday worship

Our local church is a hexagonal shape with flat floor, carpet and chairs. It lends itself to all kinds of arrangement for different kinds of services.

With more or less movable furniture this imaginative building was designed to reflect a whole lot of different ways of being church. For instance, it could be a "people" kind of church where worshippers could see a little more than the backs of people's heads in front of them. Or perhaps a "participatory" kind of church where contributions could be made and seen and heard from some other place than up front, concert style. Or maybe a "gathered" church where the congregation could be seated around the (hexagonal!) communion table for the fellowship meal. The possibilities are limited only by our imagination.

And there's the problem.  In more than two decades of occasional visits and eighteen months of fairly regular attendance I have never seen it arranged in any other manner than what I would call "railway carriage" style. Rows and rows of chairs, all facing the same way towards a table that is always against the same wall.

Somewhere, sometime, a vision for this sanctuary was lost. And now, just to make absolutely sure of our fundamentalist understanding of worship and its setting, I have just found on the wall a diagram showing us exactly how the chairs should be rigidly laid out to marks in the carpet! I suppose some committee put a lot of work into this to save things being a little untidy on Sunday mornings.

I'd have preferred a bit more untidy and a lot less rigidity...

A Visit "Home" and the Gospel

We have just had another great weekend away, enjoying some remarkable back roads around mid-Northland and delighting in the community and congregation which has been so much a part of our lives in the last quarter-century. We visited 20 Tui Grove and shared the excited plans of the new owners who have great hopes for major development of the house and the lovely property. They have the same feel for the bush and the view that we had...

On Sunday morning the strengths of the small church were clearly evident in the way people cared for each other, noticed absences, gave hospitality to a couple of other visitors and shared together for a long time after the service. This particular congregation has always been open to new ideas and it was really stimulating to develop a somewhat provocative interpretation of Matthew 18:3. It received only the most enthusiastic reception, even from people I might have expected to be a little resistant to my views. I would hesitate to use that sermon if I were asked to take another service our local church here at Red Beach.

Next Thursday I am to talk for five minutes about "My Gospel". Three of us are going to do this in the context of a two-monthly gathering of retired Methodist Presbyters -- a daunting audience. And of course the idea of "my" Gospel is a bit uncomfortable. But I understand the group is simply wanting to know how I interpret the Good News of Jesus in today's context. That will be interesting. Maybe I will go back to Sunday's Mt 18 and "the child in the midst", so significantly interpreted by Chris Scott in his book "Goodbye to God - A Search for a Human Spirituality"...

But any inner stirring to find new ways of offering a theoretical Good News to people in today's world pales in comparison with the urgent human need that is surfacing so dramatically in the thousands of people on the march in Europe. And the anti-refugee, anti Muslim, anti-immigrant sentiment that is swilling around the sewers of social media in this country sickens the soul.

Maybe we retired clergy should take up an offering for refugee rehabilitation rather than just "discuss" the Good News on Thursday...

Small is just great!

For someone who has a passion about small congregations, seeing this tiny bird at its nest yesterday was a magical moment.

At 9cm, the weebill is the smallest of the Australian thornbirds. This pair has crafted the most beautiful little nest under the low-hanging leaves. The two birds flew to and fro several times as we stood off and watched them at work. Lindell's huge lens produced another stunning photo for us.

The completeness of detail reminds me that the small congregation also has all that it needs for a home. It finds the resources and it builds and works on a scale that is appropriate for its situation.

An easy "out"?

I normally seek out a small church when looking for a place of worship. But staying last weekend with our son and daughter-in-law in Sydney we went with them to their usual place of worship - the large congregation of Wahroonga Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The preacher of the day commenced with some statistics about church growth and decline. Leaving out the percentages and other details, the memorable one was:  "Almost every member who leaves us says that the reason was 'relationships'".

For a congregation that has a strong sense of "family" and prides itself on its effectiveness with relationships, this was no doubt something of a shock. It certainly got attention among the large crowd of people of all ages who comfortably filled the very large church. It made for a smooth entry into a sermon on compassion.

Later, I reflected that most small churches also value the quality of their relationships. And people leave small congregations as well as larger ones. And they would probably also say they left because of something to do with relationships (especially if their former church or denomination were asking the question!).

Relationships within and among a group cannot be taken for granted. They need to be nurtured, and some members will always do this better than others. At a personal level, individual relationships have to be related to the good of the whole fellowship. Conversely, the declared wishes of the whole group have to be achieved within the context of the relationships between the individuals in it.

When individual relationships fail the group has not necessarily failed. On very rare occasions it may be appropriate for people to withdraw. But this is usually because they no longer feel the overall sense of belonging that is strong enough to balance any sense of unease with one or more individuals. Probably they no longer wish to make the necessary effort to include themselves.

But I wouldn't be at all surprised if they said "relationships" was the reason for leaving.

End of the Road for Small Congregations?

The word came to me today that the Methodist Church is moving away from Local Shared Ministry. They have a new word for whatever it is that they are going to put in place. It seems to be ministry teams of lay people. But it doesn’t seem to pick up the simple essentials of Local Shared Ministry.

In a sense, this is no surprise. My denomination’s commitment to LSM has never run much deeper than putting some provisions into the law book a few years ago. Dedicated leadership in implementing the policy hasn’t been given. The revitalisation of dwindling papalagi congregations has not had high priority in a church with multi-ethnic responsibilities.

Now, after decades of being ignored, small congregations are learning that all Methodist buildings be closed unless they meet twice the level of earthquake security that the government requires. It must seem as if the denomination is deliberately planning their demise.

Perhaps it is. Who knows?

"Home" again!

We're just back from five nights away in Paihia. The Sunday service with the Lex Pistols was a blast, with a good congregation including a number of visitors who came along for the music. We were so grateful to host the group and enjoy their passion for the music. It was a privilege to integrate so many great pieces into the liturgy.
And, of course, it was wonderful to re-visit our friends in the congregation and spend some time in one of the units that we have been so closely involved with for the last three or so years. We helped out with a few odd jobs and stayed on to attend the local meeting of Probus where we had a fascinating - if somewhat puzzling - introduction to the Scenic Hotels venture on Tongatapu. And in the evening we joined the Probus Club's first "dining group". Jimmy's Rib Shack was crowded to the doors for the two-for-one ribs deal...
We collected some bits and pieces from the workshop at our home at Tui Grove where Gary seems very comfortable. A smooth trip home rounded off a very pleasant break.

Good on ya, Auckland!

Auckland Methodists are asking for relief from the Conference's requirement that all church buildings be brought up to 67% of the National Building Standard. I can't claim any credit for this sensible proposal, but I have previously stated my view that the church's response to earthquake risk was heavy-handed and likely to do great harm to the denomination. 

Auckland City Council is proposing 37% as the minimum standard and this is the figure that the combined Synod feels is appropriate for church buildings in this low-risk region. The City is also prepared to allow 30 years for some buildings to come up to that standard whereas the Conference wants everything put right in ten years.

As I said before, there is risk in everything. We cannot live without it. All we can do is estimate relative risk and make decisions based on our estimates. Earthquake death is not a high risk in any part of this country. The Synod paper points out that although nearly 500 people have died in NZ earthquakes since 1843, mostly in only two events in Napier and Christchurch, we have allowed about 37,000 people to die in road accidents in the same period.

I am delighted to hear about this recommendation and hope that it is listened to by Conference before more of our cultural and spiritual heritage, not to mention our financial resource, is lost. The recent closure of the charming Cambell's Bay Methodist Church has already meant not just the loss of the building but the loss of the congregation itself. This should never have been allowed, never mind encouraged.

Opportunity even more lost!

A few weeks ago we worshipped in a room where the small congregation had been turned out of their church because of the earthquake code. I noted that the chairs were all arranged in rigid "railway carriage" layout. On 6th June 2014 I suggested that arranging the chairs in rows was a lost opportunity to create a more intimate, interactive fellowship than would have been achieved in the church.

This week we went to a weekday meeting on church premises and discovered a another room set up to serve the same purpose. This wasn't an earthquake refugee congregation but it seemed to be doing just what I have suggested many times for small congregations:  move out of the great big old building and set yourselves up in a smaller room. It was even called the "Chapel".

They had found a pleasant compact space, carpet on the floor and there were plenty of comfortable chairs stacked up against the wall for use. But instead of the flexible layout the chairs would have enabled, there were four pews! We had to move them for our meeting of about thirty. I helped put the pews back again afterwards with a heavy heart....

"Give me a child...."

After Barbershop Chorus practice this morning Bev and I sat at morning tea in a somewhat one-sided conversation with another member. From somewhere she had learned that I was a minister so she embarked with enthusiasm on a convoluted story about revival of Christianity in the country. She said that one primary school of 400 pupils now had 100 who had given their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I signed a Decision Card for Christ in 1944 at the age of nine so perhaps I should have not experienced the sudden sinking feeling in my heart at our friend's delight over this statistic. But my evangelistic zeal has long since moved away from persuading children to make rather glibly what I think should be an adult commitment.

Two of us have been working for some weeks on the century-long story of Russell Methodist Church that closed last year. As we look over the available resources of the 1940s and 1950s we find many warm reports of Sunday School, junior choir and youth work in that church and community. Working with children was obviously a very high priority for this congregation which never numbered more than 27 members in 100 years.

Of course, many of those Sunday School children had to move away for secondary education or work. But whether they stayed or left, statistics suggest that relatively few found their way into an adult commitment in the adult church anywhere. Certainly, none remained in the Russell congregation by the 1990s. So when most of the last half-dozen local members of our congregation died, it seemed logical to close the church.

It’s a little ironic to me that the building has passed into the hands of another denomination which also places a very high value on ministry with children and young people. Perhaps in decades to come some of them will also enthuse about the programme and the fun they had. But will they graduate to an adult, thoughtful, reflective, living faith that brings compassion and understanding to an ailing society? 

More on the Hospice Church

Our denomination has recently circulated some material to encourage small churches; it’s full of practical and imaginative advice about how to serve such congregations.
But the advice has come from the USA, where the definition of a small church is around three to four times the number of members that we would expect to find in a "small" church here. And there would be no way that such a church in this country could even contemplate paying for much in the way of ministry.

I’ve been doing more reflecting on my concept of the “Hospice Church” where an ageing congregation of less than a dozen members in a town going into recession are still willing to roll up for worship if someone else provides the resources of leadership. I was a little disparaging of them in an earlier post. But there are some strengths in that situation and I am going to explore them.

Too often we have told the congregation of under 30 people that they really should “make a decision” about their future when they were actually already working on it. Too often the wider church has imbued the small church with a sense of failure. Too often, we have put before them programmes and strategies and ideas that may be appropriate for a medium or larger congregation.

But we have forgotten that the small church is not just smaller, it is different…

It was a good day at church.

Heather led us in a challenging service on the lectionary theme for the day - the Sadduccees’ question about the resurrection. Marie, soon to return to UK, helped us to reflect on Remembrance Sunday and we shared our convictions in well known and well-sung hymns. Then we adjourned to "an upper room" where the newly established Ocean Rock Café provided us with excellent facilities for our annual meeting.

Nineteen of us sat around the one table. Nine apologies accounted for our entire membership. We listened to very brief prepared reports from our Ministry Coordinators. We re-elected our representatives to the Parish Council Team. And, in the light of the news coming through from the Philippines, we decided to donate $800 for Typhoon relief.

And as noon came, so did lunch. We moved to small tables nearer the window and enjoyed excellent lunch meals or traditional Sunday roast. And at only $10 a person, with free tea and coffee, it was generous value - and the parish picked up the bill.

It was a thoroughly pleasant occasion. We were all amazed and grateful for the efficiency of our hosts, the great facilities and the quality and economy of the meal.

But we did well ourselves, too. We played to the strengths of the small church. We couldn’t have done it with 100 people. But a church of a couple of dozen is a family. And it was as a family that we worshipped, did our business and enjoyed our Sunday lunch together today. That’s what small churches are all about.

The Yotel and Local Shared Ministry

We tried out the Yotel at Heathrow. It’s not a room or a suite --- they call it a cabin. Usually, you don’t need to register at a desk, you just dial in your internet booking number at a docking station where you’re given your magnetic-striped key. Once there, if there is something you need, you can phone “Mission Control” and they’re most obliging with free hot drinks and other stuff.

I wouldn’t be promoting them especially - the smaller unit is definitely for very “good friends” and we’d recommend the premium unit for people of our age and build. But obviously I could hardly fail to draw a comparison with the small church.

Here was everything we needed for a short overnight: a complete bathroom in less than two square metres, table, case rack, hanger (just one…), and the cutest cubby hole with a very comfortable bed for two (very good!) friends. There was even a large TV at the end of the bed and wifi was available. Furthermore the whole thing was just across from the entrance where the bus dropped us and only one floor from our check-in desk. Only the Hilton could have been more convenient…

The parallels with the small church are inescapable. The Yotel provided everything we needed with the minimum of bells and whistles. It offered full facilities without charging an arm and a leg. The friendly young staff responded to requests with alacrity but probably didn’t have degrees in hotel management.

The Yotel and its friendly people epitomised the Local Shared Ministry team in the small church. Both groups are chosen for their specific skills. Both provide a service that relates to their situation. Both provide an unconventional approach that is relevant in a changing world. Both should have more use.

Another Museum experience...

Parable of the Museum

One of the many uncomfortable parables of Jesus is about the workers in the vineyard. All received a full day’s pay whether they worked a full day or just an hour at the end of the day. At first glance, it seems a bit unfair.

Bev and I have twice experienced the reverse situation recently. We entered a small museum with just time for a short visit. What was offered was a subscription with free entry for a year. No, we just wanted to have a quick peep at one or two things that had been recommended to us. Couldn’t we just pay for an hour? Sorry, you have to pay for a year’s subscription. Well, it wasn’t a huge amount but we declined.

In the next day or two the same kind of thing happened twice in car parks (probably managed by the same District Council). Four pounds for day, the notice said. How much for half an hour? Four pounds. We didn’t want security for a whole day, just a parking place for a few minutes. So for a 200 metre walk back we found an hour for 30p…

I understand there’s an economy of interest operating in this system. The provider has one kind of interest and we have another. And that’s just life. Both parties make their choice and live with it. Maybe the parable is about something like that. It has to do with some kind of need rather than some measure of entitlement.

So the small congregation doesn’t choose to have all the programmes and properties and paid personnel of a “normal” church. The small church lives by a different standard and contracts for what it needs and no more.

Dream Machines

We’ve been in England over two weeks now and have yet to drive on a half-kilometre of road that didn’t seem to be occupied by at least one other vehicle. We’ve been hemmed in by heavy transports and cut off by motorcycles. I have always known the latter are infinitely more versatile than anything else on the road. Whether they’re on country lanes or six lane motorways I am always prompted to say to Bev “That’s the way to go”

So it was with some enthusiasm that I rolled up at Dream Machines at Poole last night. There were, we thought, perhaps 1000 motorcycles, out of the showroom and almost as old as us; as built, or heavily customised into all kinds of things.

The oldies were of great interest: here was the water-cooled Velocette that Evan rode in 1957. Next to it a beautifully restored “Beeser” Bantam that Basil had. Further along the line were some that I had short but non-eventful tries in 1951. One was a big Norton that my cousin later wrecked in a bad accident; another a Matchless that I swapped for my 48cc power cycle for a short but terrifying trip along Evans Bay in 1952. And there was a very smartly presented Honda that I borrowed from my son to go from Dunedin to Christchurch in 1977. But his one, against a gale, couldn’t do more than 80 kph up the Canterbury straits and I was late for the meeting.

But nowhere could I find that that Rolls Royce of scooters, the 250cc Triumph Tigress. In 1965 mine went up the new motorway extension in Auckland at 70mph with two of us aboard. It was with her that I learned the craft of being reasonably safe on two wheels. She was a beautiful bike and for four years she served me well. So it was for her that I yearned last night, more than for any of the V8 powered monsters that we saw. And I can tell you there was quite a lot of yearning…

I suppose if congregations are somewhat like motorcycles, I am on the side of the small ones. They may not always have the comfort of the big trikes with upholstered saddles, they may not be as fast as the supercharged Harley D‘s, they may not be as comfortable as the lowered Road Kings, they may not look as flashy as the custom machine that sported the rear end of a Porshe 911, they don’t usually have all the architectural qualities of the bike that was encrusted with industrial diamonds.

But small bikes, like small churches, can do their job, they can be simple to maintain and even when petrol is over $3 a litre, they’re needn’t cost much to run. We need more of them - perhaps like the Triumph Tigress.

Policy and Acting in the LSM congregation

     As a general rule there should be separation between the Parish Council that determines policy and the LSM team which carries it out. Normally, Council members are elected by the parish membership but the Team is put in place by the wider church.

     But it’s a fine line and in the smallest congregations it may prove impossible to set up two different groups to live out these two roles.

+ Some very small LSM Teams are called to be the Council as well.

+ In some others the two groups of people usually meet together.

+ In any Council there should normally be some representation from the Team but not so many members that the Councillors are outnumbered or outvoted.

+ Some churches safeguard voting by not permitting Team Members to cast a vote.

Decision-making in the small church

     We have another Calling coming up for our lay ministry team and the first thing we will do is re-consider the strategy. As always, we will pause to consider if there is any alternative way of providing ministry for our small fellowship.

     This year is our nineteenth in Local Shared Ministry so perhaps there will be more discussion than usual. Maybe we will even need a formal vote about the principle before we can go on to implement it.

     I recall a maxim we trotted out when we were considering new ventures in the feisty 1960s: “Ten percent in favour is a mandate for action”… It was never quite true of a Parish Council. But it is true that many significant policies have been initiated because a small minority became enthusiastic and vigorous. And many a programme has died because a small minority vigorously opposed it openly.

     In decision-making in the small congregation, I think I take off my hat to those who sit near the middle of these kinds of debates. Sometimes they struggle to understand the issues and to cast a wise vote. Afterwards, they will probably not be the leaders of the action (or inaction) that will follow.

     But they are loyal to the congregation. They will give their support where they can. And even if they are not actively involved, they do not bad-mouth the policy or those who implement it.

Error Messages in LSM #5

     Any difficulties that develop between the members of a Local Shared Ministry unit, or conflicts between the parish council and the Ministry Support Team, must be addressed with urgency.\

     The nature of ministry through a team of individuals is that there is not usually a clearly defined “leader” in the local setting. When differences develop and the Enabler and the normal routines of personal supervision and team-building are not able to deal with them it is time to seek outside assistance.

     In a regular parish the ordained minister would recognise a pastoral responsibility to deal with this kind of situation. If the minister is not able to engage effectively in handling any conflict, it is normal to seek some assistance from beyond the immediate pastoral setting.

     Exactly the same situation applies in the LSM situation. The Enabler should seek advice and assistance from beyond the local setting and these should be readily forthcoming.

     The very worst thing that can happen to developing conflict is nothing. Too often that is what seems to happen. Team members, parish Councillors, and Enablers all need to take great care. And when their concerted efforts are not enough for the task and they call on outside assistance, that must be offered quickly, compassionately but decisively.

LSM Error Messages # 2 WRONG PASSWORD

      Congregations with relatively few business skills can often manage OK when there are no big challenges. Routine matters of organising volunteer rosters, working bees and mowing lawns and so on are no trouble.
     But when there’s a major matter of maintenance and only limited funding available, or a commercial contract to be let for specialist work, or a purchase of a complex item of equipment, it’s important to have competent people on business committees and to see that good business principles are followed in the decision-making and execution. The right people are the password to success.
     Finding them can be a challenge.
· Not all small congregations have people with competence to seek and compare quotations – indeed, some church committees don’t even bother with them for quite large purchases or contracts.
· Many committees don’t have the ability to prioritise different kinds of spending from a modest, fixed budget.
· Some even cannot even understand a simple statement of accounts.
     It’s very important that people with the right skills and knowledge and a sense of Christian stewardship are drawn onto Councils and committees which carry substantial responsibilities. Usually, but not always, the same people will also have vital skills in meeting procedures and rules of debate.
     The point is that a place on the council of a small church is not just a reward to be handed out to faithful members. Nor is it an open forum for everyone to come along and have their two cents’ worth. Sheer goodwill and confidence is not enough. We need to get the right people for the job.