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 Reflections from Clergy Conference 2022

The 2022 Clergy Conference was held in Chemainus May 16-18.

Our theme speaker was Rev. Dr. Bill Kondrath.

From Bill’s Website: I enjoy helping colleges, universities, and congregations build multicultural capacity, and working with transitions. I have offered workshops and retreats in the US, Canada, Scotland, New Zealand, and Mauritius, to dozens of colleges and universities, and over 100 Christian and Jewish congregations. I offer leadership-coaching by phone and video media, and I am currently the editor of the Journal of Religious Leadership.

Bill has extensive experience in leading congregations through periods of change.

Of particular note is his leadership ability when parishes find themselves in ‘liminal time’.

What Is Liminal Space?
The word liminal comes from the Latin word ‘limen’, meaning threshold – any point or place of entering or beginning. A liminal space is the time between the ‘what was’ and the ‘next.’ It is a place of transition, a season of waiting, and not knowing.

Liminal space is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait and let it form us.

Richard Rohr would say that time when we find ourselves betwixt and between.

At this time, Bishop Anna would describe our diocese, and many of our parishes, are in a liminal space.

“When we are facing major change, most of us, if we’re honest, don’t know who to become, or how to navigate ahead. We often miss the real potential of ‘in-between’ places – we either stand paralyzed, or we flee quickly: anything to avoid the discomfort.”

-from Liminal Space Website

Bill Kondrath shared, with the clergy of the diocese, his 7 stages of feelings that we all experience when we are in a time of change - with not knowing, or having a direct path outlined for us.

I will attempt to summarize for us those 7 stages from 3 two-hour presentations.

  • FEAR: Our first experience is fear as we see this as a time of danger. The messages we perceive are danger, threat and we find new ideas scary. At the same time, we look for places of safety. We need support systems around us. We feel like we have been startled as in a loud noise.

  • ANGER: This can be either real or perceived. It is like our present system has been violated, our expectations have been threatened. We want boundaries while at the same time we need be open to renegotiation.

  • SADNESS: We experience sadness as we sense loss of the familiar. Simply put, we liked things just as they were/are. We want to retreat into a familiar cocoon of comfort and support. At the same time, we know we must let go. It is like the grief in death.

  • PEACE: In the midst of the above, we discover among the community, there is a connectedness. From here, we know and understand we have connectedness with God and others. We are called to re-form community.

  • POWER & AGENCY: We begin to believe we are able. We begin to experience competence. We are like the infant who discovers they can let go and walk on their own.

  • JOY: Now our fears have turned into joy. We become excited about new possibilities. We begin to discover the joy of interaction with others. We begin to feel energy within our selves and within community. We become hopeful and optimistic about the future. 

 

FROM SOME OF MY NOTES: 

We all are familiar with the patterns of the ECG monitor: 'Normal'

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or this: 'Flatline'

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The 2nd is the church that wants no change.

We were reminded with this quote from Charles Darwin.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive,
nor the most intelligent,
but the one more responsive to change.”

– Charles Darwin

This quote from Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, is a particularly helpful reminder for anyone who lacks the confidence to go out and pursue their dreams.

Remember: for the artist, every block of stone contains a beautiful statue. All they must do is chip away the rubble.

We are each encouraged to do a time-line exercise.
We have all seen and participated in these.
What is interesting we should repeat them on a regular basis.

You know the routine:

Draw a line on your paper:
then at the left place the year you were born;
and on the extreme right the present year (2022).
Then insert the specific events of your life.
Place the positive events above the line, and the negative below.

  • Then ask your self, "what is the one feeling you have in looking at your time-line?"

  • Now do the same for your parish, St. John the Baptist Duncan,

    beginning with the year you came to the parish.   (BE HONEST!)

The conference provided  the clergy with the opportuniy to understand 'how our faith community is facing feelings', at this time in the life of our congregations.

For myself, I was affirmed in knowing the real road to healthy parishes is to be open to sharing.

To accomplish this, we need to understand how feelings are central to our systems, and experiences. We need to acknowledge our differences, and similarities, by exploring, understanding, and celebrating those differences and similarities.

Then, our relationships will deepen with joy.