Congregational Resource
Team
Advocates for Healthy
Mission
A ministry of the ELCA
in
Northeastern Ohio
to its congregations
and leaders.
The Congregational
Resource Team (CRTeam) was formed in the Fall of 2005 to facilitate
congregational health and wholeness with a related focus on mission and vision.
The team is being utilized in a variety of ways in congregational settings. It
has been an aid in enhancing congregational communication, it has mediated
discussion between congregation and pastor, it has served as an impetus for
renewed mission, and it has fostered healthy discussion and planning in the
congregational call process.
The team has developed,
and continues to develop, formats by which all of these conversations may occur
with careful listening and focused response. That said, it is necessary to
boldly underline that, while the team remains in relationship with the
congregations to which it is called, the work of renewal and health belongs
to the congregation, not the team. Walking alongside a congregation and its
leaders is part of the team’s ministry, not living in its midst.
Change, motivation and
renewal are the outcome of some degree of pain, but the current thinking in
society is, “Let’s just get it over with.” This quick fix mentality is
addressed by Rabbi Ed Friedman in A Failure of Nerve. “The desire for a
quick fix throughout the Greater American Family evidences a search for
certainty, a penchant for easy answers, an avoidance of the struggles that go
into growth, and an unwillingness to accept the short-term acute pain that one
must experience in order to reduce chronic anxiety.”
Call
process
The call process is an
exciting time as congregations look forward to receiving a new pastor, associate
in ministry, deaconess or diaconal minister. It is a time of renewal,
anticipation and new energy – a time when minds and ears are open to hearing
fresh ideas and new perspectives. It is during these pivotal interims that the
work of the Congregational Resource Team is especially meaningful and
productive. The team challenges the congregational leadership to take a look at
patterns and behaviors that might impact upon a new partnership in ministry.
Normally, the team works with the congregation’s council and call committee for
a period of three to four months prior to the call and will remain throughout
the initial phases of the new call so that the rostered person and congregation
may work together for a short period with the team’s guidance. This process is
strongly encouraged for every congregation seeking a pastor, associate in
ministry, deaconess or diaconal minister.
Workshops
One way for healthy and
mission-focused congregations to become even more so is to invite the CRTeam to
lead a single workshop or series of workshops based upon the
Healthy Congregations and Family Systems material. These workshops have proven to be the
impetus for furthering the vision and mission of congregational ministry. The
corporate thinking and conversation that is a result of
working together with the
CRTeam is the seed for the growth of new “vines” and can
facilitate
the pruning that is necessary to produce new fruit. Though it is most
beneficial to schedule a series of workshops, an initial introduction may be
presented as a one-time event and often piques the interest to learn more.
Congregational
Struggle
In the midst of
struggle, relationships strain and it becomes difficult to listen to one another
constructively without extreme reaction. Often these situations can be handled
with grace by pastor and parish, but sometimes the situation seems to take on a
life of its own. At these times, it is beneficial to seek outside help in order
to create an environment that can foster better communication and seek change.
The Congregational Resource Team, since its inception, has been working to
develop a process by which the team and the congregation partner in the effort
to achieve wholeness. This partnership can be dramatically helpful, but the
congregation must see itself and not the team as the vinedresser. Just as these
situations take time to develop, they also take time to resolve. Living with
some discomfort is always the key to lasting change. The vinedresser’s hard
work takes time and energy to produce good fruit.
A congregation calling
upon the team is expected to pay for the mileage and expenses incurred by the
team members. Normally, two team members are deployed to work in each
congregation with the process being as simple as a one-time workshop to a six
month to a year engagement in situations that require long-term work and
attention. In this lengthier time commitment, the congregation is asked to sign
a contract which helps to ensure that the work with the team will be carried to
completion and assures that the team will remain in relationship with that
congregation.
It is the team’s goal to
work widely throughout the synod in order to nurture healthy mission and
ministry. We invite you and your congregation to contact the Congregational
Resource Team to explore ways in which this valuable information may be best
utilized in your setting.
For more information
about the work of the CRTeam, contact
Mary Ann
Schwabe, Assistant to the Bishop, by calling the synod office at
330-929-9022.
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