News
The 2008 Bishop’s Committee met for the first time on February 19. They wanted to share with you some of the things that will guide our service to the congregation. Rev. Heidi presented us with “A Top Ten List for Vestries” from Rev. Scott Evenbeck. The BC found the list to be helpful and clarifying. We hope you will find it to be so as well.
Top 10 List for Vestries
(Bishop's Committees, too!)
1. Those of us on the bishop's committee should explicitly seek God's guidance in our work. While the BC has legal and fiscal responsibilities (and must take them seriously), a vestry is not a board of directors for a business or a not-for-profit. The work of the BC can be done only as it is grounded in the Spirit. Too often we are not intentional and reflective about our work. How then do we remind ourselves that the work of the BC is God's work?
2. The bishop's committee must seek means to form community. A bishop's committee is a group of individuals, called to work in the church, together. We come from different backgrounds, we participate in different aspects of the life of St. Benedict's, and we have different agendas as to what we hope to see happen here. Finding common ground, centered on our spiritual life as individuals and as the BC as a group, is fundamental to successful work together.
3. A bishop's committee should act in concert with the vicar. The vicar is a member of the BC. The vicar chairs the BC. The vicar is not a CEO hired by a board of directors to direct a staff carrying out the mandates of the board. Rather, the vicar is a partner with the BC in the mutual discernment of mission.
4. The bishop's committee is not a representative body. Thinking of BC membership as one from Christian education, one from the choir, one from finance committee, where we vote our interests, isn't accurate. The BC is a group of individuals seeking to discern, with the vicar, what the parish is called to do and to have oversight of that work.
5. A bishop's committee must define its own mission, vision, values, and goals. There are many organizing principles for outlining the work of the BC. But what is more important is that the BC moves away from automatic pilot to define its own direction. BCs will be well served by being intentional about their agenda and work.
6. Bishop's committees must set strict time limits on buildings and grounds discussions. Bishop's committees, in my experience, often move their attention to the concrete. It is a lot easier to spend a year's worth of meetings hashing out problems with the old carpet than it is to decide to fix the carpet and move on to what the parish is called to do. Set strict time limits on buildings and grounds discussions, form a committee -and get on with attending to the rest of the life of the church.
7. Hold yourself, and one another, accountable. Do BC members talk about pledging or tithing? The BC should be the first members to pledge to the stewardship campaign each year. Then, share the total pledge of BC members with the congregation. The BC should not keep stewardship in the closet. They should lead by its example, considering a "modern tithe" of 5% or the biblical tithe of 10%.
8. Bishop's committees should celebrate. Dinners, picnics, toasts, parties, and outings should be part of BC life!
9. Have formal rituals. We're a liturgical church. We like this stuff. It's meaningfulto us. Begin (and maybe end) service on the vestry with a formal ritual in a worship service. It's what we do well. And it matters.
10. Seek continuity and embrace change. In many parishes, there is so much turnover that the continuity that allows for living out a mission is lost, with the parish reinventing itself every year. In others, the "old guard" controls the BC. It's a delicate balance-to provide continuity and to bring in "new blood" and new ideas. But it's a balance we need to constantly work on. And being about balance… it's even an Anglican tradition!
And a few additions from Rev. Heidi. . .
11. Pray for one another. As the leadership of the church, it is important that we keep one another in prayer - for our well-being, our ministries in the workplace and out in the world, and our ministries at the church.
12. Seek out visitors and help them feel at home. It means a lot to visitors when other lay people seek them out. It can seem like the priest's job to welcome new people, but when a visiting individual or family feels like this might be a community they could feel a part of, and not just a priest they like, they are much more likely to keep coming and to make a commitment to our church.
13. Communicate with the vicar when something is wrong. Please do not sit on a misunderstanding, a conflict, or a pastoral concern. I learn so much more when I can hear about something that's a concern to you, and I always hope to share prayer and/or conversation with you when something difficult that is happening in your life. The more we communicate, the deeper our community will be, and the better we can do God's work together.
