I'm reading a book for my Lewis Fellows meeting next week called, The Missional Leader. The book is incredibly interesting. Beginning on page 6 the authors talk about my new favorite phrase that shows up everywhere in the book like it is the Pee-Wee Herman phrase of the day: discontinuous change. In order to understand the difference between continuous change and discontinuous change, the authors offer these definitions:
"Continuous change develops out of what has gone before and therefore can be expected, anticipated and managed." (p. 7)
"Discontinuous change is disruptive and unanticipated; it creates situations that challenge our assumptions." (p. 7)
No matter how wonderful my MDiv. program was, or how much training I continue to seek, there is nothing that can prepare us for discontinuous change, they suggest. So the book goes onto to say that our society, church, families, persons are experiencing different levels of discontinuous change all the time. No wonder it is so hard to take a cookie-cutter packaged program and make it work in every context!
But it also resonates with how different ministry is now than it was a generation ago. I have colleagues and friends who've been pastors for a long while tell me that they feel completely out of their league dealing with the changes they face now than ever before. So maybe rather than trying to program the church back into life, we are called to help surf the change and make sure people relate to one another in the process.
I'm in the second part of the book, what the authors call the putting their theory into practice... they are talking about the need to move back to an understanding of the Church as alternative community....nothing new, no doubt...but provocative nonetheless....
So, what do you think about the two kinds of change mentioned above?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Problem with the System
I'm frustrated for a good friend of mine who applied last year to serve the UMC as a missionary and has really been through the ringer. She all but said she'd go serve anywhere (I think she'd even be a missionary on the moon, if that's what it took to get a placement!). She heard from the bureaucracy in June that they were going to interview her for one of two positions. She packed her stuff, waited for the phone call...nothing. An email this week proved what we feared-- the system is broken. While one person was under the impression she had a missionary post lined up, the person in charge of making those decisions had no intention of putting her there. So now, having trusted the system to help her do what she feels God calling her to do--she's disillusioned, uncertain about what she ought to do now.
This makes me sad on so many levels. First of all, she's a talented, ordained gal-- and yet, the Church has not offered her the kind of job that utilizes her abilities and connects with her passions for ministry. Second, when she tried to go through the system to get a job more to her calling, the system sat on its hands and has moved slower than molasses in January...hardly helpful when you are in a church, and need to know if you would be with the church another year or not. Finally, on a human-friendship level, it is difficult to see someone I care about get messed over by the system I want so much to trust. I want her to be happy, serving in a way that connects with her calling and passion, making a difference in Jesus' name. Guess I ask for too much....
This makes me sad on so many levels. First of all, she's a talented, ordained gal-- and yet, the Church has not offered her the kind of job that utilizes her abilities and connects with her passions for ministry. Second, when she tried to go through the system to get a job more to her calling, the system sat on its hands and has moved slower than molasses in January...hardly helpful when you are in a church, and need to know if you would be with the church another year or not. Finally, on a human-friendship level, it is difficult to see someone I care about get messed over by the system I want so much to trust. I want her to be happy, serving in a way that connects with her calling and passion, making a difference in Jesus' name. Guess I ask for too much....
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Book: Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps
About six months ago I received a free copy of Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps in the mail. The catch? Write about it on my blog when I completed it. It's taken me awhile to finish...but here's what I'd tell you about it:
Creps is really happy to have friends who are in their twenties. (He's older than that.) Most of what he relates in regards to the topics has to do with what his groovy young friends have taught him.
The best chapter is about reverse mentoring. (see reference to groovy young friends above). The gist of the book relates to the fact that young people have taught him a lot about what it means to be the church and how to lead it.
Best question he asks (from page 88): "Are we participating in expanding the Kingdom of God or just rearranging it? Are we doing God's will well?"
Bottom line: who you develop relationships with has an impact on the way one leads.
It is the second Leadership Network Publication I've been taxed to read this year. Anyone else read it?
Creps is really happy to have friends who are in their twenties. (He's older than that.) Most of what he relates in regards to the topics has to do with what his groovy young friends have taught him.
The best chapter is about reverse mentoring. (see reference to groovy young friends above). The gist of the book relates to the fact that young people have taught him a lot about what it means to be the church and how to lead it.
Best question he asks (from page 88): "Are we participating in expanding the Kingdom of God or just rearranging it? Are we doing God's will well?"
Bottom line: who you develop relationships with has an impact on the way one leads.
It is the second Leadership Network Publication I've been taxed to read this year. Anyone else read it?
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