The opportunity of numerical decline
Management guru and
bestselling author Jim Collins has spent years studying “How Great Companies
Turn Crisis into Opportunity” (Fortune, February 2, 2009, pp. 48-52). In doing
so, he unwittingly identified three critically important factors for helping
the Episcopal Church to reverse its current decline.
First, Collins notes
that great companies remain firmly attached to their moorings. For example,
great manufacturers do not pinch pennies by substituting inferior raw
materials. The ecclesial version of this comment is that the basics – great
worship, powerful music, reliable childcare, inclusive pastoral care, safe and
clean facilities – are non-negotiable essentials. Looking to reverse numerical
declines with “quick fixes” borrowed from other liturgical traditions will
confuse communicants and ultimately fail. Instead, the Episcopal Church should
concentrate on being who it is and doing what it does as well as possible. Skeptics
should recall Robert Webber’s book, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail,
which recounts the journey of many who want to share our tradition.
Second, Collins
emphasizes that in times of crisis great companies focus on their employees. The
Episcopal Church must focus equally on its clergy and laity. Concern about a
clergy shortage should never prompt the Church to lower its education or
ordination standards. Studies repeatedly show that inferior or ill-prepared
clergy leadership bodes ill for a parish and that thriving congregations invariably
have superb clergy leadership.
The Church, however,
should avoid confusing ends and means. The end is superb clergy. The means –
how the Church identifies and educates those clergy – can benefit from
continual improvements. Debates, for example, about whether seminaries
over-emphasize academic preparation to the detriment of spiritual formation or
acquiring practical skills are especially necessary with diminished financial
resources. New models of ministry to maximize the value of each clergyperson’s service
(team ministry, yoked parishes, etc.) similarly need exploration, refinement,
and implementation.
The Episcopal Church
tends to overemphasize clergy at the expense of its laity. Clergy too often
reserve for themselves what they regard as highly rewarding tasks, relegating
the rest to the laity. A few tasks (e.g., celebrating Holy Communion) require
ordination. However, laity and clergy alike can perform most ministerial tasks:
visiting the sick, offering pastoral counsel, teaching the faith, organizing
programs, etc. With scarce resources, volunteers are more important than ever. They,
like clergy, need effective recruiting and screening as well as excellent
training and education. Expanding the ministry of a well-equipped, well-supported
laity minimizes costs while maximizing the Church’s impact. Focusing on
enlarging and enhancing lay ministry multiplies clergy efforts – and the
results of shared ministries – far more than any other alternative.
Third, Collins opines
that the way to differentiate great talent from the rest is that great talent
does not need managing. Applying this concept to the Church requires two
behaviors that most clergy find seriously uncomfortable: delegating and
functioning as part of a team. Our ordination pipeline for priests tends to
produce “lone rangers,” clergy prepared for and focused on serving
organizations with only one clergyperson on staff. Initial experiences as a
curate in a multi-staff setting more often than not reinforce the pre-existing
bias toward being a “lone ranger.”
Bishops and priests
desirous of using the current crisis to move their organization toward
greatness must develop the leadership skills to delegate effectively and to
build teams of talented players where no teams now function. Building trust
among staff and volunteers gives everyone the comfort and security needed for
effective delegation. In the process of trust building, people mutually
discover skills, competencies, and passions, and naturally form teams. Building
trust takes time and effort, but the techniques are readily learned and the
investment will repeatedly pay outsize dividends.
Jim Collins has observed,
“One of the lessons we’ve learned is that turbulence is your friend” – but only
if one is ready to face tough times. The Episcopal Church can no longer afford
to cherish the illusion that its life and ministry are still and peaceful
turmoil. If so, the Episcopal Church will slowly wither and die on the vine. Alternatively,
drawing life from the vine, the Church can take these lessons about how to
thrive amidst crises to heart and embrace its present turbulence, confident
that its best days lie ahead.
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