It is good to be with you today. For those of you who don’t know me my name is Langley. I am the superintendent minister here in the Peterborough Circuit of Methodist Churches. My role as a minister is to have oversight of what is happening. Oversight is everything that we do to ensure that the people of God can live out the calling that God has placed upon them. It is not something we ever do alone. God looks over us in love, we look over each other in love. I have been a minister for coming up to fifteen years now, and for most of that time, I have worked alongside people who have been hungry to do new things. For the last ten years, much of my role has been to pastor and nurture new leaders. We will dispense with the conversation about whether this might be termed, coaching, mentoring, spiritual direction, or supervision. I have been asked to comment on where, in my experience, people have struggled, and the lessons that we can learn from this about how we sustain ourselves.
One: Understand the nature of pioneering
Pioneering is understood differently by different denominations. Some people see it as a deliberate intention to reach out to those who are not yet members of any church and form a new Christian community. Others just see it as the task of creating some new form of mission. Whatever, the image that we often have in our heads is that the pioneer is the trailblazer, out on the edge, doing something new. And in one sense we are right. However, you might be surprised to see me display this image – of ploughing and sowing and link this to pioneering. (The original presentation included a modern image of ploughing and seed scattering). However, I use this image to stress that our calling has not changed. It is simply that pioneers often see potential in ploughing a different field, or spreading the seed in a different way.
I think that there is also a strong argument that we need to view pioneering or entrepreneurship (or whatever you want to call it) as an attitude of mind, where our vision is to encourage the church to reflect on how its mission is appropriate to context. I also suspect that for too long we have celebrated pioneering people who work on the edge of the church, whilst overlooking people who are pioneering and work at the centre. To illustrate, one of my observations about pioneering is how so many groups of people want a part of the ‘pioneer pie’; presbyters who feel called into ministry to initiate new work, and who, given the opportunity, would have opted to focus on pioneering from the outset; Methodist deacons, who refer to themselves as ‘a mission focused, pioneering religious community’; VentureFX pioneers who have led a small but impactful number of projects intended to grow new Christian communities; those who are now part of the Methodist Pioneering Pathway – and this is simply what comes to mind before we begin to think about how pioneering is viewed and enabled within other denominations. Thus, I think that the very notion of pioneering, much like Fresh Expressions has the potential to bring about renewal in the life of the Church. I also suspect that some pioneers are also present at the heart of the Church. They may not be entirely satisfied that God has led them to work at the heart of the institution, but they have a crucial role in highlighting where the processes and disciplines of the Church are fit for purpose.
But why do I think that this is important to looking sustaining yourself? The answer is that I think our current focus on pioneering risks disenfranchising some people who feel that they are not the genuine article and therefore feel undervalued.
Two understanding the nature of conflict
Sometimes conflict can be an uncomfortable business! Frequently, when we are pushing to do something new, the result can be hostile because what people hear (rather than what we are, in fact, saying), is that what they are doing already is not good enough. In some cases, this may well be true, and facing that reality can be painful. Also, to suggest that we should try something new is, by implication, to suggest change – and many people struggle with change. The mix of thought processes and raw emotion that govern this are deep. Some people will resist admitting that something is not working or needs improvement, and in their minds to expose themselves as a failure. Edgar Schein, author of Organisational Culture and Leadership refers to a kind of Survival Anxiety that can surface. For those who accept the need for change, there follows a Learning Anxiety. This is akin to living in a twilight zone between having accepted the need to do something new, and yet not being fully confident that it will produce better results. Often what people fear most is being exposed as a failure. Whilst I don’t think that these insights make life any easier, many of those with whom I have journeyed have found it helpful to understand why they are encountering resistance.
Perhaps part of looking after yourself is to think about how you manage the kind of conflict that comes from culture change – can culture can be defined as ‘the way we do things round here’. One significant question is how we manage conversation and conflict in such a way that they are held corporately, and that we do not end up being in the firing line, because we have been the one who has suggested a change. Herein, we would be wise to draw inspiration from de Bobo’s thinking hats. We have used this in one of our churches where we were discussing the challenging issue of whether we should move premises, or remain. (At the time the Church was facing considerable costs for the upkeep of the building and either had to invest heavily – at some risk – or downsize. DeBono allowed us to avoid the spiritual equivalent of a Wild West cowboy (and cowgirl) bar brawl, where everyone interjects with their own passionate opinion, and the fog of war descends. Debono encourages everyone to work through a series of questions; what are the facts; what are the positives; what are the cons; what does our intuition and emotion say (with and emphasis that this need not be logical); what are the possibilities? I thoroughly recommend it. Alternatively, even simple things such as paying attention to how you arrange the seating in your meetings can be helpful. Are you setting yourself up to be at the end of a shooting gallery, or is the room laid out in a more inclusive way? Sometimes I have arranged for people to sit in a circle for a meeting, granting the secretary a small table for note writing. The change in dynamics – and in particular, a sense of mutuality – can be dramatic. Granted, these pieces of wisdom might not appear scriptural but they are tried and tested ways of managing difficult conversations, drawn from professional expertise in other fields. Not everything that might be labelled ‘secular’ deserves suspicion. For example, the last time I had a headache, I was quite happy to take a painkiller.
Finally, understand that just because something is difficult does not mean that it is bad.
Three: Remember that you are part of the Church
Jesus says that he is the true vine and His father is the gardener. He says to the disciples that they are the branches, and that we are charged with bearing fruit. He commands us to remain in him. I put it to you that as we go about fulfilling our calling, we need to remember that to be connected to Jesus, is to be part of the Church, his body at work. I say this because often we can create an unhelpful divide. We look at the Church, and its failings, and we struggle to understand why no one sees things as we do. We then think that we are the only sane ones and that everyone else is a loon. At times, we can spend more energy focused on what is not right, than we do on doing something about it. We get so disheartened in fact that we are tempted to go it alone. But beware of becoming a lone-ranger!
The real problem comes when something goes wrong; when you have a pastoral crisis, what happens, who looks after you? What is someone who you are reaching out has a crisis that you don’t feel you are qualified to deal with – for example, someone dies? What if you suddenly find you have a disagreement with someone in the church – and there is no one to hear your side of the story?….If something goes wrong, and you are not properly embedded in the Church, you will find yourself in difficulty.
Perhaps one of the hardest things to accept as a pioneer or an entrepreneur is that whilst you might have an innovative idea, that idea will require a team of people, with giftings that are very different from your own, to bring you idea to life. To make matters even more challenging, some of these people may well wind you up. But you need them. And they need you. Just like the clownfish needs the anemone and vice-versa. As one of my colleages put it, ‘Love your anemone!’
Four: Think about what success might look like
It might seem odd that I am suggesting that prayerful planning is key to your well-being as a pioneer. In my experience, one key question that we do not think enough about is what success looks like. Now, on the one hand, this can be a very difficult question to answer. On the other, unless we have some idea of what we are aiming to achieve, even in the broadest terms, we will be unable to judge whether we are making any progress. And if we cannot judge this, we can become disheartened very quickly.
A recurring theme for me is that pioneering is more like turning the soil and planting seed, with the hope that the seed will germinate and grow into something great. Pioneering is a process. Success and failure are part of pioneering. Very often, some of the people that I have mentored have come unstuck because they have focused too much on the end goal, which may not have worked out. However, what they miss is the deep impact that they have made by simply being there in the first place. How their work has given rise to informal and more formal conversations in the church. How whilst they might not have seen one thing happen, other things have happened that are equally good.
An example from personal experience is that recently I have had it on my heart to offer a faith course, written my myself in at least one of my churches. The idea is that we would target issues that really concern people, such as anger management, pornography on the internet, finding a life partner, thinking about spirits and life after death, and that we would use music and video to introduce a theme, have a time of testimony, give a presentation of the gospel, have a quiet time, offer a prayer of commitment, and end with tea and cake. Sounds simple. I scattered this idea. I am seeing what germinates where. One church said, that is not for us, we feel called to set up a Foodbank. Another went, we like the idea but what about doing it across two churches. They are still talking. Another said, ‘We like the idea, but why not use Alpha? And then the room got excited. Someone said, ‘I came in through Alpha, it’s what introduced me to Jesus and how I first came to Church’, and another said, ‘So did I’. And someone else said, ‘And last time, another church did the catering for us so that we could all focus on learning together.’ And then I chipped in with, ‘And we would always invite other local preachers to help us with the small groups’. And we all said, ‘Let’s think about doing it properly. Let’s give ourselves the time we need. Let’s start by gathering people who are outside of this room first – not just us’. I don’t know where it will end. But the conversation – the bringing people together, is just as important as the end.
But then I am left with my little idea – and my three sessions that I have organised. Now I could think that because my idea had not been accepted, this was a waste. But on the other hand, it turned the soil for a whole set of questions. And my little idea was squashed. But not wasted. No doubt some elements of what I have put together will appear elsewhere – or another church may want to run with my material. But my point is that pioneering is sometimes about being that protagonist – that protagonist who knows the system and turns the ground. I am not sure that we can always be precious about our ideas.
Know what you want to do, have a plan, and don’t overlook the successes that you are having, even if you do not reach the end-goal.
Five: Prayerful planning is key
This might seem a little obvious but what I am offering you here is a much more nuanced look at the importance of prayer and planning. If we want to stay healthy in ministry, we need to pray and plan. If we do not we will end up feeling disheartened, stressed, tired, burnt-out, anxious, depressed, and lying on a sofa surrounded by chocolate wrappers – aka the Vicar of Dibley – when a binge followed a bad night.
I have mentioned the prayer word. At this point I must admit that I feel a little bit disingenuous because depending how you measure it, I am the world’s worst pray-er. I thank God that I was not called to be a monk. I have been on silent retreat. I reckon I could be silent for a day but I would burst. Some forms of prayer just aren’t for me. Instead, I need activity to occupy I suppose one side of my brain, whilst I pray with another.I say this because I think that so often we can be discouraged because we have only experienced one type of prayer and within minutes it puts us to sleep. I would suggest that this is not only to do with tiredness, but also, differences in learning styles. So, I would suggest that in order to keep yourself safe you need to develop a rule of life, a way of living that keeps you anchored to the best of Christian Tradition. Praying to God the Father. Being attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit – this is particularly important since the Holy Spirit will direct, block, allow you to respond to opportunities as they arise, and of course give you all you need for the task ahead.
At the same time, I want to alert you to the importance of planning. There is a danger that when we read our gospels, and our epistles – especially Acts Chapter 2, that ministry just – well – happens. There is an argument to say that if we are living holy lives, preaching the gospel, meeting the needs of the poor, and offering a place of Christian community, the Church will grow. I mean Acts 2 is holy chaos! On the other hand, it is clear right from the offset, that there is also an element of planning in Christian mission. If you read the Epistles, in particular, you will see that early church has a sense of process, of understanding how we work together, and of discipline, in the sense of agreeing on expectations so that Jesus’ name is honoured, and no one is overlooked. What we cannot do is merely believe that pioneering can happen on the fly. The last time I looked, the Methodists had a plan of preachers, showing who goes where. Night Shelter has a rota. We planned this event, Helen being sure that I know what I am supposed to be doing! At the same time, we need space to allow God time to show us his plans, rather than us – with our limited fields of view – almost predicting exactly how the end product will look. In Methodist circles, I call this, ‘the Methodist bootprint’ effect, where our previous understanding of what ‘church’ is – how we measure ‘church’, and how churches ‘usually’ operate, ends up quenching the spirit and stifling what is new. There needs to be a balance. Pray. Plan. But do not be tempted to behave like Mystic Meg.
Six: Know yourself.
The second thing that I want to say, is that to look after yourself you need to know who you are – in God. You need to know something of your calling and be secure in that. You need to know how you operate – what your gifts and personality amount to. You need to know what the warning signs are when you are approaching burnout. You need to practice not just reflection on what is happening around you, but reflexivity. Reflexivity questions how our upbringing, our physical condition, our state of mind, affects how we are reading and interpreting a situation – because we can do often misread the signals of those around us. And we need to account for the fact that we are changing and hopefully maturing all the time.
There are some helpful tools out there – and there is no need to spend any money unless you are really interested. You just only need to know enough to be able to reflect on your own identity. One of the tools out there is Myers-Briggs, which is a way of measuring personality type, which is in itself a measure of how we perceive the world around us, and how we make judgements. Another one which I have found especially helpfully is Belbin’s team roles. Are you the Co-ordinator, the Resource investigator, the Specialist, the Evaluator or the Implementer? Are you the Shaper of the Completer Finisher? One of the attractive aspects of Belbin’s roles is that they can change over time – and I have certainly found this as I have reflected on my own ministry.
One of the key things that I would recommend if you do not have it, is to find a mentor – someone who can sit with you, perhaps once a month, and help you make sense of the world that is around you. Because if you don’t, you are going to feel like a contestant on Big Brother, or I am a Christian Get me Out of Here. Which brings me back to my very first point; you cannot pioneer on your own, you need to need to be accountable to someone, pastorally cared for by someone, listened to by someone. Don’t think you can go it alone.
Don’t end up like Nemo in a Dentist’s fish tank.