Bishop’s Blog #1 — July 11, 2009

I am taking the lunch time to blog a bit, having wanted to do so since arrival, but not finding time within the daily schedule to offer comments that might be coherent.

In addition to the regular schedule of committee meetings and legislative sessions, I am also one of the people who presented my public narrative story during the training for coaches who are leading table groups in Mission Conversation.

For those not familiar with “public narrative,” it is a model for telling our story within and beyond the church that calls for saying something about oneself, the church, and our mission (with a sense of urgency) within 2-3 minutes.

Listening to experienced people do this (not me, yet), it is amazing how powerful and memorable a personal account of how an individual has come to be where she is in the church and how quickly such stories are engaging and “real” to others. Though we have begun the preliminary training with Diocesan Council, there is more to be learned and practiced in the form of public narrative in our diocese.

In terms of committee work, for the third and last year I am on Program, Budget and Finance, which requires trying to finalize a budget with priorities and mission focus for the next triennium before next Monday. It is an utterly impossible task, and the encouraging word is that this is increasingly apparent and acknowledged. More, louder voices are saying “business as usual just won’t do.”

We had simulating conversation at the PB&F hearing last night in the form of interactive table groups conducting candid conversation about what is and is not working with the system and structures we are now using. Questions about the Asking formula reflected the work underway already in our diocese by the Askings Task Force. Last evening’s open conversation was an important step toward sharper focus in mission and more creative thinking in using the resources we have. Our own Pia Longinotti spoke to the group in a knowledgeable, compelling way.

This morning in the House of Bishops (HOB), we heard two very moving presentations from 18 year old youth representatives. Both expressed enthusiasm, while telling the bishops it’s time to get moving in Evangelism and Service! They were right and I was delighted. We will all remember the young man’s comment that, “we have gone from being fishers of people, as Jesus commissioned, to being keepers of the aquarium.” In too many ways, he was right.

On legislation, I think it important to note that the House of Bishops yesterday adopted a resolution that calls for a 50% cut in the cost of meetings by boards, commissions and committees during the next triennium, and that the money saved go directly to mission. While this will call for substantial change, if it passes in the House of Deputies, I am enouraged that it will at least force the overdue conversation about using our resources more collaboratively and creatively. For me, this holds some positive potential. More to come.