We have just completed year number one of the bi-district experiment. I have frequently been greeted in recent days by people wanting to know how it is going. Most often the questions begin with "are you surviving it?" While the supportive nature of the question is valuable, I think it heads us off in the wrong direction. It is, after all, not about me.
I suspect the better question is "are the congregations and pastors surviving it?" Better yet, we might ask whether it is leading to stronger relationships among congregations and pastors as they seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
To get some feedback about that, we handed out a survey during the just-ended session of annual conference. We asked whether people felt a stronger relationship with other congregations than one year ago, whether they felt more connected to their superintendent than one year ago, and whether they were more confident that these two districts could be served by one superintendent than they were a year ago. Sixty-three clergy, 70 lay persons, and 2 who didn't report which they were, responded to the survey (57 respondents were from Pony Express and 78 were from Heartland North).
When asked whether they felt more connected with other congregations, the majority (77) of the 135 respondents said they felt about the same as a year ago. However, 51 felt more connected while only 4 felt less connected. All four who felt less connected were clergy.
When asked whether they felt more connected to their superintendent, 66 were neutral, 53 felt more connected and 15 felt less connected. Most of those who felt less connected to their superintendent (12 of the 15) were in the Pony Express District. Still, even in the Pony Express District there were more (19) who felt a stronger connection with their superintendent than there were those who felt less.
When asked whether they had more confidence that the experiment would be successful, the majority (72) said they had gained confidence. Forty-one were neutral, and only 17 were less confident. The most positive change occurred in the Heartland North District where 49 were more confident as compared to 7 who were less confident.
What does all this mean? It suggests that the experiment was generally positive in its first year. We have reason to believe that we can continue to make progress, and there are signs that we still have progress to make.
You may remember that our primary goal was to begin experimenting with models that increase the sense of connection between and among congregations and pastors, and that we wanted to enhance the sense of collaboration across district congregations. Our hope is to make the superintendent less of the focal point in our sense of connectedness while focusing on how folks relate across congregations. There is at least one indicator in the survey of the significance of this goal. The greatest predictor among clergy who feel less connected and less confident in the process was that they are less likely to have participated in groups such as Pastoral Leadership Development (PLD), Preaching Peers, etc. It almost seems obvious, but those who take advantage of collaborating with other pastors also feel more connected to them and to the United Methodist connection. Similarly, lay persons who participated in Lay Leadership Development (LLD), Lay Speaker training, or served as congregational visitors in our Fresh Eyes Ministry, were also more likely to have a positive/neutral sense of being connected and confident in the process.
It may take a few years, but we may well prove what many have said: the strength of our connection is among us rather than in a hierarchical system. While we need an organization that includes superintendents to help us stay focused, the real fruit of our connection will occur when we recognize the need to strengthen and learn from our brothers and sisters just a few miles down the road from us. When we try to work in isolation, we eventually falter.
In the year to come, we will continue to seek ways to bring congregations and pastors into relationship with each other. However, the connection will not become real until it becomes part of the DNA of every pastor and every congregation. We will truly see success when it is no longer the superintendent who strategizes to find ways to get folks together. In that day, working together will be the norm rather than the exception. Collaboration will not be an option, but an expectation.
The survey may have taught us that people feel more connected to the system when they find ways to be connected with others in the system. Those who do not take advantage of connecting events are more likely to feel isolated, whether or not those events include the presence of the superintendent. Perhaps this is what Paul was describing when he talked about the Church as the Body of Christ. We were designed to require the gifts of one another.
So, I invite you to begin the process of continuously asking the following questions: What is our congregation trying to do alone that it might better accomplish with other congregations? Who could we be teaching, and from whom could we be learning? How would I/we be more effective if a peer from outside the congregation was observing, evaluating, and/or holding me/us accountable? What are the unique connections available that could help my/our ministry blossom?
In the long run, it will not matter whether we do the work as one district, two districts, or six districts. What will matter is whether we have pastors and congregations who sustain one another in the process of being healthy, vital, and fruitful. But, just for the record, the answer to the question as to whether I am surviving is: Yes, I am more than surviving because I am surrounded by a group of pastors and congregations who love God, love one another, and who are invested in transforming the world in which they live. What more could I ask?
