>Development

David Herbert1 Comment

>One hat I wear is supoporting “ministry review” – very different from “appraisal” which appraises past perfromance. Ministry review is so future orientated that they’ve decided to put a capital D between the words Ministry and Review to emphasise that it is a developmental tool. I came across this quote when reading the excitingly tilted “Ministry Development Review: Interim Guidance” from the United Church of America (as opposed I suppose to the other churches of America which aren’t united). Here’s the quote:

Evaluation is natural to the human experience.

Evaluation is one of God’s ways of bringing the history of the past into dialogue with the hope for the future.

Without confession of sin there is no reconciliation;

without the counting of blessings there is no thanksgiving;

without the acknowledgement of accomplishments there is no celebration;

without awareness of potential there is no hope; without hope there is no desire for growth;

without desire for growth the past will dwarf the future.

>Neighbours

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>What do you do if you want to change something? You ask permission.
What do you do if you live next door to somebody who wants to change their house, or if a builder proposes developing land opposite? You complain and you object. ‘Twas ever thus in Nimbyland.
And the way through? Thank goodness for our planning authorities so that when we want to make changes we have to ask for permission, and those who are our neighbours should realise that, make their objections and then leave it to those who are a lawful lot better than us at these things and accept the judgement – “permission granted” or otherwise.
I feel sorry for friends Jane and Bob asking for permission to change/demolish/rebuild. Suddenly they find themselves on page 2 of the local paper with friend Mark flying the preservation flag – no doubt supported by friends and neighbours around – Janet, Bob, Jo, Alice, Tom, Dick, Harry and Jemima. What a difficult situation – all have their legitimate concerns – to be weighed in the scales of justice. And through it all they continue to meet in the waiting room of the Friends’ Meeting House for Kingdom come and Peace on Earth. Meeting together, waiting together makes it so much better than avoiding one another and makes the church a Friends Meeting House – if not now, then – working/praying out how to come to terms with our differences.
That’s what we’ve been doing with our project for St Peter’s. We have been asking for permission and we will see how many people have objected, and how the Chancellor weighs the difference of opinion. Then we will be told whether we have a faculty – aka permission – or if we’ve lost. Whatever way it goes we have to then get on with our neighbours – loving them – which we have to sometimes do before we can ever like them.

>Leonard Cohen’s anthem

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>

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

There’s a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in. That’s a line from Leonard Cohen’s anthem – play the video while reading the rest of this. He advises “forget your perfect offering”.

That sounds pretty sound advice to me because there is no perfect offering. I have just returned from a a training event led by Bishop Stephen Platten who is Chairman of the Liturgical Commission. One of the exercises we chose to do together was to devise a liturgy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NHS. We decided that there had to be opportunity to confess how the NHS had not lived up to its ideals and that we needed to avoid triumphalism. It’s only when we admit there are problems that we can improve – institutionally and personally. Forget our perfect offering. There is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.

I wonder if God designed us as “seconds” – cracks included. Without the cracks what use would be the light of the world?

>Side by side by God

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>Yesterday we played with our text from John 14:15-21 -particularly “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth.”

At one stage “counsellor” was translated “advocate” or more obscurely “paraclete”. Both those words carry the meaning of “called to the side of” – so Jesus is promising another one to be “on/at our side” (the other one being Jesus himself). It’s quite something to have God “at/on our side”.

Preparing yesterday’s sermon I came across these words: “We observe some people who are seriously ill and marvel at their courage and doggedness. How do they do it?, we wonder. What enables them to go on and not become discouraged and bitter? Then we notice a worn bible and prayer books by their bedside; the regular visits of a eucharistic minister bringing them communion and words of support from parishioners; family and friends who assure the infirmed of regular prayers and visits.” – All these at her side – as advocate, counsellor, paraclete and all those other words we use to describe the effect of God’s work at our side and on our side – encourager, comforter and peace. I wonder how this understanding inspires a more effective ministry of advocacy – the nurse, solicitor, neighbour, friend and priest.

It reminds me of another reference to God being at our side in his creation of companionship and relationship when kneeling on man’s side removed one of his ribs to create a woman. (Genesis 2:21) There’s a good cartoon here with Eve saying “No Adam, I don’t want to see your scar.”

>Getting off my high horse

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> How do you climb down from a high horse? When you’ve decided to ride a high horse, how do you get down? That so much better than what might be a more modern phrasing: “how to get out of the car without showing your nickers” – but that video – see below – does explain the steps we need to take to climb down with dignity.

1. practice

2. gather your material – (not your skirt, but your thinking)

3. get someone to help you down

4. avoid heaving – it should look effortless. Let people support you

5. balance – make sure you have a firm footing – falling on a curb or banana skin isn’t going to help the dignified climbdown

6. make it swift – should be done with one flowing movement –

When you’ve committed to an issue, how do you withdraw? How do you withdraw from Iraq?

This image: http://rubyshooz.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/high-horse.jpg

Here’s how to get out of a car without showing your nickers – (I love the wink at the end):

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

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“How are we going to cope with this?” or “What on earth can we do about that?” is so often the starting point for a relevant and exciting piece of theological work, even though it begins on a negative and worrying note….. It is a fact that good theology is more likely to derive from a problem rather than a statement, more likely to arise in a prison than a palace.
Laurie Green

The whole team are leaders

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Leadership is not the personal responsibility of the team leader. It is to be exercised by all both collectively and individually. So the role of the team leader is to encourage growth in leadership in your colleagues. Just as a cricket captain seeks to bring out the best in bowler or batsman, so the team leader encourages, motivates.
Geoffrey Cornell – How to become a Creative Church Leader