Getting THERE from HERE, DioCal Youth Consultation

Adaptation and Sustainability in Ministry with Young People

Saturday, December 4, 2010
Time: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Diocesan ordinations follow at 3 p.m.)
Place: Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St., San Francisco, CA 94108
Cost: $15, which includes lunch (scholarships available)

Click here to register!

If you are committed to ministry with young people within the Diocese of California, and if you would like to make your hopes and dreams for these ministries known in conversation with others who share your passion, then plan to attend this Ember Day conversation on the morning of Ordination Day. Learn from practitioners in ministry with young people, hear from young Episcopalians themselves, and connect with other stakeholders — youth leaders, parents, and camp and college chaplains — as we chart a contemporary course for getting from childhood to young adulthood with a robust faith in God.

A popular speaker, retreat leader and workshop presenter on the topics of spirituality, prayer, and teen faith formation, Jenifer Gamber has been involved in Christian formation since she began teaching Sunday school as a teenager. She is the author of two widely-read books about the Episcopal Church: My Faith, My Life for teenagers and Your Faith, Your Life for adults. Her Web site, www.myfaithmylife.org, offers a wealth of resources for adults who work with youth. She is the Vice-President of the National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors, has an active ministry leading confirmation and baptism preparation at her home church, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, PA, and is a Companion of the Holy Cross.

Gather your whole ministry team for inspiration and celebration. Plan to stay for the ordination service, which will begin at 3 p.m.

Click here to register!

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Contra Costa Deanery Presentation on Action Networks

If anyone reading this blog attended the Episcopal Charities workshop in Orinda on the new ACTION NETWORKS ministry strategy by Episcopal Charities will you please take a moment and write a comment to this post describing what happened at the meeting and what this means for St. Timothy‘s.

As a parish we must discern how best to participate in this new DioCal initiative and we need feedback from those who heard the presentation about:

1. How can St. Timothy’s participate in the EC Action Networks?
2. Can we use Action Networks to leverage our existing outreach efforts by working with others?
3. Are our outreach priorities different than Episcopal Charities?
4. Could we use Action Networks to expand youth ministry through shared programs among congregations?
5. Will we lose too much control over our priorities and resources by participating in Action Networks?
6. Can we use Action Networks to fill the missing gaps in our mission and ministry efforts through collaboration

Thanks for your feedback

 

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Epicopal Charities Action Networks: What is it?

Title:		Episcopal Charities Contra Costa Action Network
Date:		Monday November 15, 2010
Time:		7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location:		St Stephens, Orinda – Library
Street:		66 St. Stephens Dr.,
City		Orinda  All Are Welcome to Attend

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Bishop Marc’s Pastoral Letter Follow-up Response to Steven Strane

This is Bishop Marc’s response to Steven Strane’s message about the Bishop’s pastoral letteer concerning the assessment issue:

 

 

 

 

 

September 21, 2010

 

Dear Steven+,

Thank you for your letter. I’m sorry you drew the conclusions you reached concerning my Pastoral Letter. I urge you to read the letter again, and note that I carefully did not refer to any particular person involved in the various conversations around the diocese mentioned. Nor did I say that everyone shared the same perceptions. I was careful in both those regards because it was and is important to me not to single out any person or congregation, nor to imply that the feelings referred to are universal. I believe you can see from Richard Helmer’s and Sylvia Vasquez’s responses that there are some at least who strongly agree with my perceptions.

Steven, I encourage you to share this letter with your Vestry. I value your views and your ministry greatly, and send you the assurance of my prayers,

Sincerely,

Marc+

 

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161st DIOCESEAN CONVENTION ACTIONS AT A GLANCE

The 161st meeting of the convention of the Diocese of California was held Saturday October 16th at Grace Cathedral.  Here is summary of the actions taken:

Changes to the Canons

Official Youth Presence at Convention (Canon III, Section 3.06)

ADOPTED: Establishes Official Youth Presence at diocesan convention consisting of one youth elected or appointed from each deanery. Members will have seat and voice, but not vote.

Committee on Nominations (Canon VI, Section 6.09)
ADOPTED. Provides that Committee on Nominations shall consist of one cleric and one lay person elected by each deanery. In addition, Executive Council and Standing Committee shall each appoint one nonvoting member. Conforms the Committee on Nominations more closely to model in Robert’s Rules of Order. Repeals existing canon on committee.

Minutes Kept by Executive Council and Standing Committee (Canon VIII, Section 8.02(d), and Canon XVI, Section 16.01(d))
ADOPTED. Codifies existing requirements of civil and canon law that Executive Council and Standing Committee keep minutes of their proceedings. Implements agreement between Executive Council and Standing Committee to share their minutes. Provides right of inspection to all members of convention except for actions taken in executive session.

Deaneries (Canon IX, Sections 9.01–9.05)
ADOPTED. Keeps existing deanery boundaries. Requires convocation of each deanery at least 4 times a year. Allows each deanery to provide method for filling vacancies in a congregation’s lay delegation. To existing objective that deaneries develop and implement policies and plans of convention and Executive Council, adds: education and participation in governance, leadership training and development, communication between diocese and the congregations and institutions located in the deanery, and support of ministries located in the deanery. Requires deaneries to adopt bylaws and provide for president, treasurer, and secretary, and any other necessary officers. Provides for deanery bylaws to be filed with Secretary of Convention and reviewed by Executive Council and Committee on Canons.

Clergy Attendance at Deanery Convocations (Canon XIII, Section 13.08)
REJECTED. Declares expectation that clerics attend deanery convocations, and that at least one cleric from each congregation and diocesan institution attend each convocation. Does not compel attendance or penalize non-attendance.

Implementation of Revised Title IV (Canon XV, Sections 15.01–15.21)
ADOPTED.  Establishes Disciplinary Board effective July 1, 2011 as required to implement revised Title IV. Authorizes partnership with Dioceses of El Camino Real, Northern California, and San Joaquin. Disciplinary Board will consist of one cleric and one lay person from each diocese, appointed by the Bishop with the consent of the Standing Committee, plus one additional member (a cleric) appointed by the remaining eight members with the consent of all four bishops. Repeals canons providing for existing Ecclesiastical Trial Court effective June 30, 2011 except for any pending proceedings required to be completed under the existing Title IV.

Corporation Sole (Canon XVI, Section 16.03)
ADOPTED. Removes sunset clause on Corporation Sole because the Bishop and Executive Council have determined that it cannot feasibly be merged into the Diocesan Corporation. Requires Corporation Sole to transfer assets to the extent feasible to the Diocesan Corporation. Requires Corporation Sole to amend its articles of incorporation to require consent of Executive Council for any transaction by the Corporation Sole affecting real property.  NOTE:  It turns out that transferring title to church properties in the city and county of San Francisco subjects the church to a substantial sum of transfer tax liabilities.  This action avoids that.

Amendment of the Canons (Canon XXI, Sections 21.01–21.02)
ADOPTED.  Advances deadline for submission of proposed amendments to the canons from 60 to 90 days before convention. Authorizes submission in electronic form. Eliminates requirement for proposed amendments to be printed.

Resolutions of the Convention (click on link to see the resolution copy)

The following resolutions were adopted by the convention:

1.       Addressing the needs of the poor

2.       Reducing gun violence

3.       Strategies for peace in Israel/Palestine

Elections

Executive Council-Gary Hunt, three year term-Lay Order. Gary had been nominated for Executive Council by Kathy Trapani and was elected for a three year term on the first ballot. For Gary this was his third attempt at election to a Diocesan office. He will fill a lay seat on the Executive Council.

Executive Council-The Rev. Dana Corselo, new Rector of St. Luke’s / San Francisco-Clergy Order, was elected to a three year term.  Both terms begin in January 2011.  (In contrast, Shelton Ensley’s term as representative of the Contra Costa Deanery expires at the end of 2010; his replacement will be elected at the December Contra Costa deanery meeting.)

You can find other information about the Diocesan Convention and each of the items mentioned here on the DioCal website.

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Diocesan Governance Change Slowly Matures

Over the past five years, the Diocese of California has been in the midst of transformational changes in governance.  Along with Bishop Swing’s retirement and the call of Bishop Marc we also upset the old order by changing the constitution and canons of the church to modernize its governance.  The two principal governing bodies of the Diocese are the Standing Committee and the Executive Council.

• The Standing Committee, as we were reminded at convention by Paul Evans, the retiring president of the standing committee in his convention report, dates back to the beginning of the church in America when the first presiding bishop instituted the standing committee in a deliberate attempt to distinguish the new church in America as more democratic than the mother Church of England.  No doubt bishops, ever since, have sworn under their breaths many times at this rowdy colonist invention. The Standing Committee’s role is to be both a council of advice to the bishop and approves his compensation and confirms his decisions related to the ordained of the parish and other actions to live into the Constitution design to be more collaborative and democratic.  So as in all organizations there is sometimes tension.
• The Executive Council is the result of a very deliberate decision to eliminate the absolute powers of the bishop by winding down the corporation sole.  Under the old rules, the bishop served as president and board of directors thus the name corporation sole and under it the Bishop could, literally, do much as he pleased with Diocesan assets, funds and business interests.  The new structure combined the Diocesan Board of Directors and the Diocesan Council into one new Executive Council to be the fiduciaries for the temporal or business sides of the work of the Diocese while the Standing Committee deals with the personnel-laden and spiritual business of supervising the bishop and clerics.  The Corporation Sole is being phased out.

Shelton Ensley was also present as a delegate from the contra Costa Deanery and in his role as Chair of the Executive Council making his final report as his term is ending. He told the convention that in the two years since its inception, the Executive Council has focused on creating greater transparency and accountability. This has met with unexpected challenges and opportunities to do the diocese’s business more efficiently and productively.  The necessary questions associated with this process have naturally met with some resistance, and put our heritage of “agreeing to disagree” to the test.

In this time of continued economic uncertainty, the Executive Council’s fiduciary responsibility is as important, and ministerial, as ever.  As Bishop Marc’s intentions regarding a “post-parish” diocese becomes clearer, the need for Executive Council’s oversight regarding budgeting and revenue sources will expand even further.

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Episcopal Charities rolls out expanded Action Networks

Episcopal Charities (EC) has created Action Networks in each of six different regions including Alameda, S. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco. These Networks address the root causes of poverty through a focus on healthcare, education, and environment.  Closely tied to the Millennium Development Goals, EC rolled out this new approach at the Diocesan convention.

• What is an Action Network? An Action Network is a group of volunteers in a given region who come together to address the root causes of poverty through EC’s focus areas. Each Action Network will focus on the most critical issues in their region. Each Action Network gives hands-on support to projects that it identifies, and EC awards grants to the qualified agencies and initiatives that run those projects.
• Will EC provide more than just volunteers? EC awards grants to help agencies create successful programs that are self-sustaining.
• Who can participate in the new vision? We encourage EVERYONE – individuals from faith congregations, social service agencies, local and national government, and local communities – to become a part of this effort, by joining our Action Networks and by identifying projects where EC’s support can make a critical difference.

To find out more about Episcopal Charities check out their website.

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Imagining a Post-Parish Diocesan Future

At the Diocesan convention in San Francisco we heard Bishop Marc Andrus open the 161^st meeting of the body politic of the Diocese of California talking about the evolution of the church across the country into a post parish form of governance.  Like much of Dio-speak I had to listen carefully to try to figure out what those words meant.

Bishop Marc described the differences between congregations in the East and West.  He said that in the East congregations raised financial endowments through bequests from the faithful over generations to provide ongoing support for the mission and ministry work of the church.   Bishop Marc said the tradition of the church in the West is that the endowment of the church is best embodied in its buildings because lacking a history of many bequests, the congregations had to reach deeply into their own pockets to finance the building of the church and filling those spaces with programs, prayer and community.

The Bishop said his view was that there were global problems we faced that could only be addressed globally and that a congregational focus on the mission of the church was not always best.

What?

I wrote that down because I found myself struck by the profoundness of that statement.

Think about it, the Bishop of California is telling us the future of the church is imagining a life beyond our parish, and that we should expect the church future to be decided more globally primarily b y the Diocese to live into that life beyond our parish.  He’s not talking about rolling up your sleeves and doing the mission work of the church off your parish campus.  Taking this post parish concept to its logical conclusion, he’s talking about whether there is a higher and better use of the endowment of the church as embodied today in the building and grounds of parishes by turning that property into cash to support the mission and ministry work of the parish as determined by the Diocese.

Area ministry, we are told, is the way to give life to that post-parish strategy by bringing congregations together around shared programs designed, managed, financed and directed by the Diocese. The benefits of area ministry we are told is an end to the feeling of being isolated—of going it alone—to one that parishes are collaborators not competitors. So if the “endowment” of the Church in the West in places like the Diocese of California is the buildings of the parishes then it is the role of the Diocese to decide if that endowment is being deployed for the highest and best use of the church.

Huh?

I really have to think about this because it flies in the face of what we have known in the history of the church as a collection of congregations serving the faithful and providing a foundation for corporate worship.

If area ministry and a post parish future means encouraging congregations to work together on shared goals, common mission ad ministry programs and partnership to grow the mission of the church that is a strategy most will embrace.  I love the idea of encouraging parishes to work together on shared programs, but I have a sense what the Bishop is talking about goes well beyond encouraging collaboration.

But if it means a policy of slowly, eroding the viability of congregations and substituting ‘global’ Diocesan programs for parish programs until over time the parishes atrophy and wither away and their buildings are sold and that ‘endowment’ is used to support more Diocesan programs—that strategy is going to be a hard sell in the front pews of congregations both small and large.

Maybe I’ve got it all wrong and if so someone will surely correct me.

Holy Friction!

This view of a post-parish future for the church seems to fly in the face of one of the transformational features of the American church at its founding after the American Revolution in the formation of a Standing Committee of the clergy and laity to share the leadership role of the church bringing a sense of democratic ownership of the church to replace the divine right of kings and bishops to decide what is best for the body politic.

Imagining a post-parish church, area ministry and the top down strategy of mission and ministry run by the Diocese instead of a congregation-up commitment to mission and ministry by the People of God creates a ‘holy friction’ that should be named, debated and finally decided in a healthy, collaborative, prayerful, but deliberate way by  congregations and the convention of the Diocese of California. It isn’t something we want to find pressed upon us as a fiat accompli.

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Steven Strane’s Response To Bishop Marc’s Pastoral Letter

September 20, 2010

The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus

The Episcopal Diocese of California

1055 Taylor Street

San Francisco, CA 94108

 

Dear Bp. Marc,

I am writing in response to your Pastoral Letter of September 14.

The difficult and prolonged discussions at St. Timothy’s regarding the diocesan assessment were motivated only by concerns about the strength and health of the parish and its ability to do mission.  At no time was there an expression of resistance to support small and/or ethnic congregations.  To insinuate that the decision that was reached by the vestry was racially motivated is to impugn the integrity of people who deserve better.

As for the “central assumption” to which you refer, there was none, and for you to state categorically that there was is misleading and inflammatory.  When a small group of clergy and wardens gathered to discuss the assessment formula and the possibility of a revison, our sole intent was to explore ways of achieving a more balanced allocation of resources that would benefit all diocesan congregations and institutions.

Furthermore, far from building the Beloved Community about which you often speak, your Letter seems to intentionally divide the Diocese and to pit congregations against one another.  I do not understand this.

I am disappointed that you have used the authority of your office to communicate things to our diocesan community in a Pastoral Letter that are simply not true.

At the same time, I am grateful that you are committed to extending the conversation that has begun, and to seeking input from across our diocese.  It is my fervent prayer that this work will lead to revitalized ministries and strengthened relationships throughout The Diocese of California.

Faithfully,

(The Rev.)Steven R. Strane

 

 

cc:  Shelton T. Ensley, Chair, Executive Council

Paul D. Evans, President, Standing Committee

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Re-imagining Church Idea #1: The DioCal Youth Ministry Network

Canon Barlowe called area ministry an exercise in re-imagining church.  I love that idea. This is an exercise in re-imagining an MMB strategy for youth ministry that could spring up from the collaborative work of the congregations using the strawman concept of stepping up to mission and ministry.

My Strawman for Mission and Ministry argues for a bottom-up strategy of parish collaboration to improve the mission and ministry work of the Diocese.  The strawman argues that the parishes are in the better position than the Diocese to know and define their ministry needs and allocate their resources to develop and deliver programs to meet those needs.  It urges parishes to work together collaboratively to develop shared programs to improve the quality and reach of ministry and leverage their resources to support the mission of the church.

The alternative to the strawman is the Department of Finance Working Group proposal under which a portion of the Diocesan Assessment would be made voluntary for the mission and ministry budget.  The Diocese still proposes that congregations pay into the MMB assessment up to 8% over time as it scales up.  The diocese would then allocate the MMB in consultation with the parishes to mission and ministry programs.

The question before the congregations is which approach better serves the needs of the church.

This is a case study example of a real mission and ministry problem we currently face at St. Timothy’s and how the strawman might be used to solve this problem.

THE PROBLEM

St. Timothy’s, as is true of many parishes, has long had a strong commitment to youth ministry.  The problem we face is we only have enough resources for one staff position to support that youth ministry need.  We have, over the years, experimented with both ordained and lay staff in our efforts to fill that need.  But one person is not sufficient to do a good job of developing and delivering youth ministry across all the age groups we need to serve:

• Preschool
• Elementary
• Tweens
• Young Adults

The result is we end up making a choice of which age group to serve and the other age groups are underserved or must depend upon volunteer resources. This is a Hobson ’s choice.

Does this sound like your parish congregation’s dilemma too?

IMAGINE A NEW WAY TO DO YOUTH MINISTRY

What if a group of congregations agreed to work together to develop a shared youth ministry program? This might logically be done on a Deanery level to facilitate interaction, but once the programs were developed they could be used across the Diocese if other congregations want to participate in supporting them over time.

How could this work?

Imagine a youth ministry curriculum that is modular where the basic program structure is developed to make it easy for congregations to use.  Programs could be developed for each age cohort designed to invest our kids in our faith values and offer faith lessons.

Examples:

• Kid’s Core: life lessons for preschool through elementary that include school year programs including modules for art, music, structured play, Bible study for kids, crafts and projects.
• Tweens: growing with peers in structured programs with adult supervision, social programs as well as confirmation journey, service projects and life lessons in serving others.
• Young Adults: Teens with adult and college age mentors focused on reinforcing faith values, maturing into adult choices, music and performing groups, service projects, internships and missionary work and the witness experience of telling those stories upon return.
• Celebrating Our Diversity. With our richly textured pallet of cultures, languages, ethnicity and experience we celebrate the diversity in our lives through programs that encourage learning about our differences so we see that we are one body of Christ through music, language, play, service and prayer.
• DioCal Music Network.  A network of music fans and groups from across the parishes working together to create a network of music ministry opportunities to write, perform and record new music; produce music and other performing events and travel from congregation to congregation to share the Good News through music.
• Help Now! A directory of crisis resources available across the congregations to connect kids in need with the help they need now to face pressing needs.  Linked to social service and other agencies this resources network could be available online 24/7 for clergy and lay leaders across the Diocese
• Step-Up. A community service program for young adults designed to provide structured, mentored, service projects across the Diocese, Step up enables other ministry programs to call on the youth of the Diocese to step up to meet the needs of the aged, sick, homeless, hungry and others in need.  Step-up is a calling tree network of contacts across parishes who mobilize hands when they are needed and allow ministry programs to get critical mass support for service projects.

These structured modules and probably more I have not imagined here can supplement basic program at each parish enriching the youth ministry with fresh ideas, plenty of opportunity for involvement, fun, learning and becoming invested in their own unbroken chain of faith.  No single parish could produce such a comprehensive program but several parishes working together with DioCal support can scale the quality of program and the level of participation on a shared cost basis.

Such a re-imagined collaborative youth ministry program also opens the door for parents, young adults, and people with special talents in music, arts, education, social services and other needs to identify themselves and become part of a program wide resource base available across participating parishes.

By sharing ideas, staff, development and program costs, sharing facilities and giving kids and parents opportunities to participate in a wide range of programs, events, celebrations and life lessons the work of the church is made full of new energy, the parishes are practicing collaboration in its fullest area ministry intent, and we are shaping and defining the beloved community in the lives of every kid.

And the best part of this example—the congregations and their members are doing it themselves— involved, committed and supporting mission and ministry program up to their eyeballs to make it work because they feel ownership of the program, a commitment to their kids, and they see the face of Christ on every child they serve.

A successful youth ministry network would not be an ‘assessment’ it would be a labor of love—and where their hearts are so will be their treasure.

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