Intersections

It is nearly 40 years since I began pastoral ministry. I have experienced oversight from Bishops, Overseers and Conference Ministers. I have served as an Overseer and a Conference Minister. So what is different about these patterns of oversight? And why these changes?

As I read the articles in this issue of Intersections, I was struck by the shifting role and authority of oversight and the shifting nature of church community and fellowship. I believe the two are related. The late churchman and historian Harold S. Bender identified community as one of the key values of the Anabaptist movement. Our past experience with Bishops was in large measure, a way of maintaining a particular kind of community. With their authority they were able to keep some sense of uniformity in belief and lifestyle that marked a distinct community in the midst of the larger community. Forrest Moyer, in his article, reflects on John E Lapp’s memories of those days. There was an orderly understanding of leadership and authority that was shared by most church members.

In the 60s and 70s when Franconia members and churches reflected greater acculturation with the larger community, leadership and authority patterns were questioned. Diversity called for greater flexibility. Congregations and members were given greater freedom to express their lifestyles. As congregations rather than conference became the center of church life and mission, Overseers replaced Bishops to help facilitate healthy processes of change, and to support pastors in their leadership of congregations. Authority shifted to a Conference Council, church councils and Elders. The church fellowship was shifting from a closed set of relationships, to broader interactions with the larger community, other faith traditions and the larger Mennonite Church. But we did not learn well how to handle our diversities and differences or how to connect missionally with those in our larger communities. We were very unsure of authority, perhaps fearful of it, and uncertain about leadership structure.

In the late 90s we came face to face with our lack of clarity around authority and community and were unprepared to work through our relationship with congregations at variance with Conference. It was a very painful time for those in leadership. Conference leadership and the Conference Assembly were able to re-group and identify a clearer vision and mission and began to set a new direction. A Conference Ministry Team was called to oversight work. New relational resources were provided for pastors and congregations in transition. The intense effort was helpful in many situations, but certain kinds of conflict and old patterns of behavior persisted. The diversity of Franconia Conference congregations was far greater than we thought. What would hold these communities of faith together and give us a mission into the 21st century?

As the leadership of Conference struggled with what oversight looks like in a 21st century mission-focused church and conference several key understandings were emerging. We needed a clear, relevant mission that is focused on what God is doing in the world. We needed leaner and more responsive structures for changing communities. We needed pastors and lay leaders who as a team were clear about their calling and authority. Oversight teams were needed to equip leadership and hold congregations accountable for their mission. These are core values around which the new LEAD (Leading, Equipping And Discipling) oversight direction and platform is built. These will take shape in differently in each congregation and ministry. LEAD will provide the empowerment and authority to move the church and its ministries into God’s mission.

Many different understandings of and experiences with community, across four or more generations, will call for leadership that is clear about its role and authority and who can work together to accomplish God’s mission of peace and love begun in Jesus and his followers. Sandra Drescher-Lehman’s article on “Community at our fingertips” illustrates how community is shifting and changing. Many, except the younger generation, will struggle with this. The articles on meeting needs in Norristown and Philadelphia further demonstrate how new forms of community take shape to meet the needs of the larger community. These are followers of Jesus and members of our congregations and ministries at work doing God’s mission. To keep healthy and growing congregations, members and ministries, we will need leadership and oversight that is focused on “Equipping leaders, to empower others, to embrace God’s mission.” May LEAD lead us in this mission.

Anabaptist Vision series: Community at our fingertips

May 12, 2009 by

Sandy Drescher-Lehman, Souderton

Precisely 12:01 pm is the time that’s been set for our local ministerium to convene in the back room of China Wok each month, sometimes it’s 12:06. Our tradition is that the last pastor to arrive gets to pray – we appear to be vying for that privilege! It’s always hard to get there, hard to leave the office or hospital and all the work that never gets done, to meet with people who don’t really need me. But as soon as I arrive, I remember why I need them. These Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, Greek Orthodox and other pastors, chaplains and leaders of the Souderton, Telford, Harleysville and Franconia social service agencies, help me laugh at how seriously I take myself. They also inspire me to know when and how to take my role in the community and world more seriously. They expand my otherwise fairly Mennonite world with stories from the larger community of faith.

Afterward back in my office, I find ten emails that have arrived in the 78 minutes I was gone – some from people in my church, one from a friend in Germany who is thrilled to have “Googled” my name and found me again, my weekly correspondence from my soul-mate in Virginia and the one I’ve been eagerly awaiting from my daughter, visiting a friend in Australia. I’m aware of the debate about the pros and cons of doing pastoral care by email, but the alternatives for me often boil down to email them or they don’t know I even thought of them. I try to prioritize reply to the several needing an immediate response. While I do that, I listen to voicemail with messages as varied as the hats I wear.

Then there’s Facebook. My teenager tells me to stay off; it belongs to “them.” I’m feeling equal pressure from my 50-something colleagues, inviting me to be their friends. My addictive personality knows that every time I’d be on-line, I’d feel guilty if someone knew I was “on,” tried to connect and I didn’t respond. I already caved to unlimited texting, and have this undiscerning thumb reaction to every one I get, even it’s just “K” – after all, how else would I be able to communicate with my kids?!

Did I say guilty? Now there’s a word that’s fading from the categories where it’s been used so effectively in the past. I thank God that grace has replaced much of the “shoulds,” but at what cost to community?

A few years ago if someone missed Sunday morning church for a week or more, I’d have to be careful how I asked where they’d been. There was a fine line between showing an interest in their lives and keeping the list of who can safely come to the next communion. No more line! Many people seem quite content to be members of a place they frequent once a month or less.

With community at our fingertips, many are using weekends to disconnect from the world rather than celebrate together. Or they’re choosing to compliment the larger church gathering with fewer friends at a retreat house, coffee shop or living room. What was once an eager response to being apart all week and a model for not only spiritual enrichment, but also for emotional and social balance, is no longer evoked in the same way. After being a pastor for over eight years, I sometimes find myself welcoming a “guest” and realizing their name is vaguely familiar – only to remember seeing it on the membership list, I hadn’t had a chance to meet them before. I’m still learning to know who all thinks of “my church” as their community.

The truth of community remains – humans are created with a need to be in relationship; to serve and be served. The whole world has become my community, accessible in bold colors; as close as the keyboard on my lap, the headset in my ears or the Skype call on my computer. The challenge is to not become overwhelmed and numb to the needs, but to allow myself to be enticed by the invitation to join God’s activity!

More than ever, the church needs the many faces of God to be a welcoming community. With God’s grace the church is invited to be a place of acceptance. In Jesus’ mercy, the church is compelled to forgive and seek forgiveness. Copping the love of the Holy Spirit, the church draws people into its dynamic faith. Mennonites in community have been scrambled, but not disassembled.

Intersections

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