Vision-driven, not Anxiety-Ridden

I will speak plainly: in the next 60 days, New ACT must make some of the most difficult decisions it has faced. We've committed to begin sharing the essence of our "plan of union" with you for review and discussion by March. Over the next 60 days we will be finalizing recommendations on:

• a 2010 new conference budget (including program ministry funding levels)
  
• Health and Property/Liability Insurance
• Pension recommendations
  
• Clergy Minimum Salaries
• 2011 apportionment figures

Again, let me speak plainly: we have some challenging choices to make. With Troy's Vermont churches uniting with the New England Conference and Wyoming's Pennsylvania churches uniting with the new Susquehanna Conference, Upper New York will have fewer churches supporting ministries in the second half of 2010 (when we are a new conference). Health care costs would have risen for Upper New York churches regardless of whether we were uniting or not, but that still means we will all see increased costs. Differences in way we have packaged clergy benefits across the region have made balancing fairness for clergy with financial manageability for local churches a significant dilemma.

The situation is complex and (at times!) anxiety producing.

One thing about anxiety I've learned through the years is that it thrives in a "vision vacuum." If you lack a sense of direction and destination, anxiety will move right in and gum up the works quicker than you can say "worry and fret."

That's why in the face of these significant challenges New ACT spent a good chunk of its last meeting getting clear again about the principles and values that guide our work. We did so because we have committed ourselves to be vision-driven, not anxiety-ridden.

I'm going to lay these out for you below, hoping you'll ponder them and offer some feedback (you can do that by clicking the link below. Please...!)

So here they are:

• The Upper New York State Annual conference exists primarily to help persons “live the gospel of Jesus Christ and be God’s love to [their] neighbors."

• The local church is the primary setting where the purpose and vision of the annual conference is enacted; therefore, the first priority of the annual conference is to engage, equip, and empower local churches to be in ministry with and to our Global Neighborhood.
• Vital and principled leadership is essential for effective local church ministry; therefore, encouraging and developing leadership within the laity and clergy that is diverse and engaged with the vision of Christ is the primary work of the annual conference.
• “To be church” means “to be in mission;” therefore, the quality and quantity of relationships established with our neighbors, particularly those who have been disenfranchised by mainstream society is the primary measure of success for the annual conference, its congregations and its members.
• The people of the Upper New York Area are linked by covenant with United Methodists around the world in shared ministry and mission; therefore, the Four Areas of Focus of The United Methodist Church are a primary resource to guide congregations and conferences in doing the work of ministry today.

These five principles (based on our "Vision and Purpose Statement" and the mission statement of The United Methodist Church) provide the framework by which New ACT will seek to make the challenging decisions we face.

Let me know what you think.

An Obvious but Important Observation

Let me start with a confession: I sometimes secretly imagine myself working as a sportscaster. Not because I'm a huge sports nut (average, not huge) or because I think I've missed my calling (most days I feel I'm where I should be). It's because sportscasters can say the obvious and get away with it.

"Baseball games are won by teams who can get points on the board. If this team can't do that, its over for them." (Wow!)

"A quarterback who can run and throw has got a pretty good future in this game." (No way!)

"She's an excellent runner because she's fast - faster than anyone else on the track." (That makes sense.)

Which all leads me to hope you'll let me get away with stating the obvious: effective communication requires clear communicators and active listeners.

Pretty obvious and yet incredibly important.

Let me focus for a minute on the first part: clear communicators. At New A.C.T's October meeting we hired a media consultant to look at our message and our audience to help us more clearly communicate what is happening with the new conference development. United Methodist Communications has enthusiastically offered to pay half the consultant fee. The turn around time is pretty quick: we'll have in hand a plan by January for immediate action. This will be helpful.

But already New A.C.T. has acted to more effectively get the word out:

• A weekly email "blast" containing the most recent information on the new conference has been going out for over a month. Feedback on this resource has been extremely positive. If you're not receiving this, send an email to uppernewyorkarea@gmail.com and you'll be added to the list.

• North Central New York and Western New York have also combined their conference papers into one publication called Transitions which features all sorts of new conference articles as well as happenings in all four annual conference. Wyoming and Troy also have their conference papers online and feature all sorts of new conference information. Checking out these publications is a great way to get to know one another now.
  

• A series of five Advent bulletin inserts containing a complete overview of where we are in the development of the new conference will be available to all congregations in the area this Advent season.

• A new Facebook group called "Upper New York Annual Conference" has also been created. As of today it has over 400 fans who are involved in a lively discussion about the proposed name for our new conference ("Upper New York AC). Why not join in?
  

• UpperNewYork.org continues to feature articles, team minutes, and blog links. Its our "one stop" information kiosk for new conference development.

And there's more to come. New A.C.T. understands we have an obligation to get clear and helpful information out to everyone.

But you will also have to do your part to complete the communication loop. Again, its obvious but needs to be said: you will have to actively seek information and provide feedback. Please click on every hyperlink in this blog post. Read, digest and respond. Good communication is a partnership of communicator and listener. Let's help each other make this work.

Staffing for a Good Start

This week New A.C.T.'s Interim Personnel Planning Team posted job descriptions and a request for applications for four senior executive staff positions: Director of Connectional Ministries, Treasurer/Director of Administrative Services, Director of Communications, and Conference Benefits Officer.

Why these four and only these four to start off? New A.C.T. applied the same principle to decisions about conference staffing its been applying to other aspects of new conference development: we want to start off as a new conference with enough but not too much.

New A.C.T. believes these four senior executive staff positions are enough to get us off to an excellent start. Wherever we discern Christ leading us as a new conference and area in the future, we'll want these four persons to be walking along side us. They will provide vital and necessary support to all sorts of conference and local church leadership.

But New A.C.T. also believes to develop more senior level staffing at this time would be to do too much. Why? Well, not because these first four will be all the staff we need, but because we haven't discerned what our future staffing needs are.

You know the saying, "get three United Methodists together, and you'll hear at least four opinions." Just imagine the number of opinions you'd hear if you get 180, 000 United Methodists together! Well, sisters and brothers, that's what we're about to do in the Upper New York Area.

Since I joined New A.C.T. last November I've been sitting with just a small fraction of that 180,000. Around the table at New A.C.T. meetings the twenty-five of us have all sorts of ideas about what this new conference could offer God and the people of Upper New York. And many other folks who don't sit around that table but who've been interested in the process have shared their hopes, dreams and desires.

It's pretty exciting and I know its just the beginning. As this conversation is deepened, broadened, focused and blessed, our conference's programs and ministries will emerge. And we'll be looking for some new staff to help us turn our dreams into accomplishments.

But we're not there yet. We don't know what outcomes (i.e., the fruit of our mission and ministry) God seeks from us yet. Discerning those outcomes is the work of the new conference, not New A.C.T.

And because the outcomes we seek determine the sort of staffing we need to put in place, we need to wait on identifying other staff. To do the staffing before we're clear about outcomes would be to put "the cart before the horse." Once our new conference and its leadership are in place (i.e., after July 1, 2010), we can begin this work.

Does that make sense? Let me know.

Trains a Comin'

Last Saturday New ACT met in Baldwinsville, NY for its monthly meeting. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say we made more decisions that day then we've made in months, not because we've been indecisive, but because now is the time.

Up until now New ACT's work has been focused on tasking various Planning Teams and task forces with developing the structures, policies and programs we need to get going as a new annual conference. These teams and task forces have gotten right on this work and now they're ready for New ACT to evaluate and approve their proposals. Last Saturday New ACT received, examined and approved several of these proposals.

In subsequent posts I'll talk about the details involved in these specific proposals. Right now, let me share the general process of evaluation and approval we started using this past Saturday. As we began to look at various proposals I asked New ACT to imagine our process as kind of like inspecting a train as it pulls into a station as part of a long journey. New ACT is charged with seeing that this "train" (i.e., proposal) is on track with our stated vision and purpose. Its not our job to redo or rethink the proposal, but to make sure it's solid and moving us in the right direction.

Several outcomes of this "inspection" are possible. 1) New ACT might like the proposal in its entirety and send "that train" on its way to the June 19, 2010 Uniting Conference for final approval; or 2) we might affirm some parts of the proposal to be sent forward, but refer some pieces (cars?) back to the planning team or task force for reconsideration. In a few cases where decisions need to be implemented now rather than later, New ACT might act in a third way and enact the proposal immediately.

Check back here soon for specifics about some of the proposals we've "sent down the tracks."

Lightbulbs and other Leadership Challenges

Questions: "How many United Methodists does it take to change a light bulb?"

Answer: "Change?!!! United Methodist don't do Change!"

Sorry. I know you've probably heard that joke a million times and don't like the punchline any better than I do. We United Methodists aren't as "change-averse" as it suggests. At least not United Methodists in the Upper New York Area! Right?

One thing is for sure - we United Methodists in Upper New York are about to experience a lot of change: New Conference, New Area, New Era. God is about to do a new thing among us.

And its going to take a whole bunch of United Methodists to help make this change. That's why the Interim Leadership (i.e, Nominations) Planning Team just issued a call for leaders from across the region to submit their names for possible leadership positions. This team has been asked to recruit hundreds of United Methodists from across Upper New York to work on the various new conference teams, committees and boards.

They are looking for you.

Now, before you click on to another site, stay with me for just a few more lines. I promise not to lay on the guilt about how much the new conference needs people like you to volunteer your time and talent. That's a true statement, but I'm not going to go there.

Instead, I want to invite you to consider what leadership in our new conference might bring into your life. I want you to wonder and ponder if God is seeking to bless you by calling you to serve in this way.

As I page through the Bible and consider the stories of people like Abraham and Sarah, David and Jeremiah, and Mary and Peter, the pattern becomes pretty clear: God blesses us by making us a blessing to others. A double blessing, in other words.

Would you prayerfully consider if one of the ways God is seeking to achieve this double blessing in your life is through following this link?

Lots of Work (But Not Too Much)

I'm in the process of building the agenda for our next New A.C.T. meeting (September 19, 2009 at Cicero UMC). It will be a packed day. Frankly, it looks like every meeting this fall and into early next year will be packed. Our sub-committees or Planning Teams have been busy all spring and summer developing proposals. This "fruit" is about ready to be picked and laid out on the table for New A.C.T. to discuss and decide how to fit the pieces into an overall plan.

There's going to be lots of work. But hopefully not too much work. There will be pieces of our new conference structure, staffing, programs and policies intentionally left out.

Yes, intentionally left out! You see, our goal isn't to have everything about our new conference worked out and in place by July 1, 2010 (the official start of the New Conference). We're striving to have just enough, but not too much. We're leaving much to be worked out by the New Conference. Why?

In a video clip shown at several of our annual conference sessions last spring I shared some thoughts on this approach. To summarize, we're going "minimal" with new conference design because:

1. practically we believe we have only so much time to develop plans, so we're prioritizing and doing the basics.

2. ethically we believe the members of the new conference ought to have a say in how they are organized and they can't have that say until after we come together July 1.

3. theologically we believe God is doing a new thing among us and we're only beginning to perceive it. We don't want to get ahead of God!

Having said all that, please don't think our new conference will lack the ability to provide essential services and engage in meaningful ministry. We have over 200 people engaged in this process right now across the Upper New York region working hard to ensure we have what we need to get off to a great start.

More on the pieces in the weeks ahead.

Technology and Trust

At our last New A.C.T. meeting I heard two crucial resources named as absolutely essential for building a vibrant new conference: distance-shrinking technology and community-building trust.

Technology: our new conference and area will stretch across Upper New York from east to west and north to south. We’ve learned from the New A.C.T. process that even when we agree to meet somewhere in the middle of the state, some of us have to drive three or more hours to get there. The cost in time and money is significant. There will be times when this sort of expenditure will be worth it. The range of benefits provided by a face-to-face meeting is significant. No single “technological solution” can reproduce this. But technology can help us bridge the distance when the need for face-to-face isn’t as crucial as need to keep costs down. Conference calls, video conferencing, online meeting software and a host of other strategies can (and must) help us gather together virtually and make real-world decisions.

But in order to take full advantage of such technology, we’ll need an abundance of a second resource: trust.

Trust: our new conference brings together thousands of people who’ve had little opportunity to get to know each other. Yet come July 1, 2010 we’ll need to count on one another to care for our soul and the soul of this new conference. The combination of unfamiliar relationships and intimate need will make trust a challenge. Can I put my soul in your hands? Will you put yours in mine? Can we accomplish anything if we don’t take this risk?

Here’s where technology and trust impact one another. Connecting “virtually” with one another via technology will require a certain level of trust. An example: conference calls work best if you have no more than eight people on the line. More than eight voices turn speech in to babble. Which means you and I may need to bow out of a particular decision so we don’t overload the line. Can we trust the eight folks on the line will get it right without us? Even if several of them are people almost unknown to us?

Here’s another thing about technology and trust: unlike technology, trust can’t be purchased and installed. It’s organic, growing like a garden or a stand of trees. It needs the proper environment and requires the right nutrients. It takes time. It demands we take risks.

One of the blessings I’ve had during the 4 ½ years I’ve been involved in developing our new conference is the opportunity to work with a variety of people across the region. My trust has grown as I’ve experienced the commitment and the giftedness of my sisters and brothers outside my normal circle of trust. Indeed, it’s been the desire to “draw this circle wider” that’s been the main reason I’ve been so excited about our new conference. I’m looking forward to sharing ministry with some awesome people from the four corners of this new conference, most of whom I’ve never met, but who’s souls have that same “God-shaped” hole as mine and who share that same high calling to “live the gospel of Jesus Christ and be God’s love to our neighbors in all places.”

Fresh?

I just got a voice mail from a friend (who shall remain nameless...for now!) reminding me a blog needs to be fresh to be helpful.

Point taken! I can't promise daily updates, but I will make sure this space is filled with something fresh and new every week. Look on Wednesdays.

There's certainly no lack of things going on as our new conference comes together. New A.C.T. met last Saturday and much was accomplished. Gil Rendle, New A.C.T.'s outside consultant, guided team members through a very helpful exercise where we reviewed our work in terms of 1)what had been accomplished; 2)what was in process; and 3) what remained to be started. Using a wall of Casowasco Retreat and Conference Center's new dining hall, we stuck labeled post-it notes in one of these three columns.

Scanning the wall, Gil noted how we'd seemed to have forgotten some of the work we'd accomplished under column #1(what had been accomplished) and how many items we'd loaded under column #3 (what remained to be started)! Gil's counsel, especially with regard to remaining work, was to understand not everything we'd like to see in place by July 1, 2010 can happen or should.

One key learning reinforced for New A.C.T. was the need to think in terms of "interim plans" for many areas of New Conference life. In other words, some of the programs, ministries and structures we approve at the start of our new conference will be temporary. As needs and insight change, these areas of our life together will change as well.

Our conference will need to be kept fresh and open to changing circumstance.

Kinda like a good blog...

More next Wednesday.

A Year From Tomorrow

On June 19, 2010 - one year from tomorrow - we become a new conference and area. Twelve months, 365 days, 8760 hours...okay, you get the point. On June 19 we will "gather together to ask the Lord's blessing" on a new conference and a new area.

So here's what's ahead from New ACT's perspective. The good news is we've organized most (but not all) of our Planning Teams and given them authority to develop the structures needed for the first couple years of our life together. These teams are working diligently and purposefully and will begin to funnel proposal to New ACT as early as this summer.

New ACT is also about ready to authorize six Critical Question Teams to begin working. (There's still time to join one of these teams. Please think and pray about doing so!). These teams will begin to tackle the "big picture" issues our new conference will face over the next several years:

• Spiritual Formation: How shall we grow in our relationship with God?
• Ministry: How shall we be the body of Christ within the world?
• Discipleship: How shall we live in accordance with the example of Jesus Christ?
• Local Church: How shall we engage, equip and empower?
• Leadership: How shall we encourage and develop leadership?
• Outreach: How shall we build and sustain relationships with our neighbors?

In the months ahead I see New ACT focusing on two crucial strategic tasks:

1. helping Planning Teams align their work with the New Conference's Vision and Purpose.
2. developing some principles to guide the creation of the "Plan of Union" legislation New ACT is charged to submit to the June 19, 2010 organizing session of our new conference. This document will contain enabling resolutions creating initial conference structures, staffing and policies.

One more area New ACT will be looking at is how to help us both grieve the loss of our current annual conferences and begin building new relationships. More about these issues in a future posting.

As always, your comments are welcome and helpful.

The Path (part 2)

Saturday New ACT met in regular session on site with nearly six hundred youth at 4 Word 09. The 4 Word steering committee graciously invited New ACT to join the youth in worship. It was powerful. The music was awesome but what really moved me were the personal testimonies offered by worship leaders. As I shared with New ACT later in the day, these testimonies helped remind me how we must all look for God in the stuff of our real, everyday living. The energy, spirit and vision of our youth inspired New ACT's work.

And I really appreciated the enthusiastic cheer that went up when a worship leader reminded us we'd soon become one conference. 4 Word was the first experiment in bringing North Central, Troy, Western and Wyoming together. The youth cut a path and showed us how it could be done. They continue to lead the way. Go youth!

Let me focus in on one of the things these youth demonstrated Saturday: our new path is also an ancient path. Sociologists have this theory regarding change called "path dependence." Simple put, it states innovation is not always about doing something completely new, but about doing old (even ancient!) things in new ways. Innovation is as much about reclaiming as it is about re-inventing.

I think of Jeremiah 6:16: "Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."

I saw this lived out by our youth in their worship Saturday. We sang new songs with new tunes and old hymns to new settings. Youth read ancient scriptures in contemporary translations. They engaged in the time-honored New Testament practice of "giving testimony" by sharing personal stories of the challenges of following Jesus in the classroom, at basketball practice and online.

It all spoke to me and drew me to God. I'm so glad to share the path with these youth as we journey down new and old roads together.

The Path (part 1)

As I've reflected on the work of building a new conference, the old adage, "if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there" has often popped up in my head. That's why I've understood our "vision and purpose statement" (and especially the process leading up to it) as so important. We need to know where we're going; any road won't do.

A parable of sorts from Michael Frost's Exiles: Living Missionally in Post-Christian Culture captures this. Frost invites readers to imagine they are Roman road builders working on constructing a highway through what we now call Wales in the year 410 C.E. The road system of ancient Rome is definitely one of the wonders of the world. It allowed Rome to move armies, goods and ideas across its vast empire. Rome was Rome because of its roads.

In the parable, Frost invites us to consider how we'd feel when a messenger arrives from Rome with shocking news: the Vandals and Visigoths have sacked Rome. Rome is no more. "You and your team of construction workers are cut off from home, having created a now obsolete Roman highway."

Frost argues this is where we 21st Christians find ourselves: building roads to nowhere, roads whose purpose is now past. "We have been building churches for an era that has slipped out from under us (page 7)."

My big, driving dream for the New ACT process is we'll help United Methodists in Upper New York begin to develop the "roads" we need into the future.

I could run with that metaphor for a couple more pages, but I bet your imagination is charged enough now that you can finish this blog post yourself. Maybe just mull over these questions:
1. What paths have we been on as Upper New York churches/conferences that are now obsolete?
2. What does the road to the future look like? What new directions, practices and communities do we need to build?

Next Steps

Saturday (March 7th) is our next New ACT meeting. We'll meet at the Liverpool UMC from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you're in the neighborhood, you'd be welcome to join us. Meetings are always open.

The agenda is packed as always, but we'll begin with worship. No other place to begin. Holly Nye (Conference Minister from Troy AC) and Bishop Hassinger (Episcopal leader of the Albany Area) will shape and lead this time. Usually we spend a good hour (and it's always good) worshiping together. When we are connected with our God, we are able to do God's work.

As I said, the agenda is packed, but in my mind the most important item after worship will be developing guidelines to organize the work of planning teams. These teams will be responsible for developing various pieces of our new conference. I imagine we're going to need a couple of dozen teams made up of persons from across the Upper New York region. I hope you might be open to joining a team. Check uppernewyork.org in a week or so for details.

In the meantime, please pray for New ACT as we work together this Saturday. And (if I may be so bold) please pray for me as the convener. Pray God will grant me good listening ears, a kind and careful tongue, a belly capable of laughter, a heart able to beat in sync with God's and eyes able to see beyond my own hopes, dreams and fears.

Grace and Peace,
Bill

Sap to Syrup

Last Saturday (2/21/09) about two o'clock New ACT adopted a Working Vision and Purpose Statement. This statement will serve as both compass and yardstick for United Methodists in Upper New York as we plan for our new conference. It's intended to guide us into the future we seek and ensure the work we do to build our new conference measures up to our hopes and dreams.


I told New ACT members the work we did to draft this statement was a lot like making good maple syrup. To make syrup you take sap from many different trees, gather it in a big cauldron, and boil it down into something sweet and healthy. Our Working Vision and Purpose Statement is New ACT's attempt to boil down the contributions gathered this past year from various sources around the Upper New York region. This information was prayerfully and carefully reviewed using an intentional process of discernment grounded in prayer, Scripture and holy conversation. Despite the urgency of the "ticking clock," New ACT waited until this statement looked and felt right for our new conference.


Of course, the old adage "if you get four United Methodists in a room, you'll wind up with five opinions" is still true. No one expects every aspect of this statement to ring true for everyone. It's intended to be a first word, not the last. We expect this statement will change as United Methodists in the Upper New York region gain further insight and understanding.


We've also written this statement primarily to help "missionary planners" do their work, not appeal to"potential converts." All good communication is audience-specific and this statement is addressed to lay and clergy leadership at all levels. To reach a broader audience, leaders will need to do some translation. But that's not new for us. Just as our denominational mission statement to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world has been translated into Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors and Rethink Church, so you and I will find new and innovative ways to reach persons in the neighborhoods around our churches.


The final and perhaps most important thing I'd say about this statement is it's intended to help us prepare for the future, not define it. Our statement is a transitional tool to help move forward during this in-between time. As our life together emerges, we'll need a new and better statement. In other words, this syrup has a shelf life of about fifteen months! But in these days, my hope and prayer is it will sweeten and nourish our work together.

Please be in touch as you are led. - Bill Gottschalk-Fielding