Sydney Anglican Synod Day 3 Connect ‘10?

Two things have shaped our life together as Sydney Anglicans in 2009:

1. Connect 09; and
2. the massive financial losses.

What will shape us in 2010? That was the issue Synod reps faced tonight.  Synod endorsed the radical reshaping of Diocesan operations set out in the Mission Board report The Diocesan Mission: strategic directions 2010-2012. (For FAQ on the Report see here).

The budget was cut from $11.5m to $7.2m. Many great ministries have been cut or cut back. It was a difficult night as people saw the death of dearly loved ministries. But the sheer scale of the losses has forced us to make tough decisions. Peter Kell and the Mission Board have obviously worked very very hard to produce the Report we had before us. Behind every line item there must have been many conversations with stakeholders wanting good ministry to continue. The mantra has been repeated: ‘We can’t waste a good crisis’. I think tonight showed the wisdom of that mantra. We’re left with a much leaner budget but one that is more sharply focused on the Diocesan Mission and connecting with unreached Sydney.

So what happens on 1 Jan 2010? Do we shelve the undistributed Essential Jesus Gospels alongside the Bicentennial Bibles in the overstuffed junk cupboard in the Choir Vestry? NO! Instead:

1. Fight the urge to think Connect 09 finishes in 09. This is just the start. If you’ve worked hard at connecting, don’t lose that momentum. I’ve spoken to a few people over Synod who’ve said they’re only now hitting their strides. For some its because they’ve had to work hard to get their house in order. For others its because of the decision to time big things around the Jesus all about Life campaign.
2. Andrew Nixon urged people in his report to Synod that we should maintain the active Connect 09 campaign through to Easter 2010. The materials are designed not to date. If your parish plan for Connect 09 ends in December then re-write the plan.
3. 2010 should be the year to follow up the people you connect with in 2009. As God brings people to himself we’ve got to work hard to get alongside them and see them grow in the love and knowledge of Jesus. For others who have been challenged to read the gospel for the first time – what will you do in 2010 to help them come to know Jesus? We’ve got to keep praying for the people in our parishes.
4. We must keep reforming the way we do church in light of the mistakes and lessons we learned from Connect 09.

How will the momentum of Connect 09 across the Diocese be sustained in 2010? Mission Areas. The Archbishop explained them like this:

We begin not with Mission Directors, but with Mission Areas. That is, we begin not with the workers but with the work; not with who will do things, but what needs to be done. In my vision, we look at our mission field, together. We capitalize on our research in locating deserts and tribes. We commit to each other in partnership. We collaborate in our work. We pray together. Each local area has its own peculiarities, its own special quality known only to those who live there. In my vision, I see that a mission area will acknowledge that even within its boundaries there are sub-areas which require attention. Local churches are often too weak to do new work alone; regions are too large for effective action.

Will Mission Areas do for us in 2010 what Connect 09 did in 2009? I hope so.  Its local. Its outwardly focused. Its simple.

Best of all, many people don’t seem to be waiting for the Diocese to draw up boundaries or for Mission Area directors to be appointed! I’ve overheard the dinner time conversations in the Pitt St Mall Food Court this week:

• people sharing insights and lessons from Connect O9
• rectors and lay reps of neighbouring parishes praying together for the lost in their mission field.
• people kicking around ideas for collaboration on cross cultural ministry and for better ministry in Anglican schools.

No line item on the budget to show for it – but all the more powerful for that.

What will 2010 bring? God knows. We’ve got to commit it to him as we pray, connect, expect.

 

Synod Day 2

I think they turned the air conditioning off at 9.30. We kept going till 10.30.
The Diocesan financial losses were the subject of debate tonight. The spirit was gracious. The issues are complex and I don’t intend to replay it all here.
I will say though that the issue of corporate governance of diocesan funds is one that needs attention. It is hard for the parliamentary styled synod to be across the complex financial risk management issues. If that role is delegated then it needs to have the best possible trust in delegates and reporting mechanisms. The losses of the alst year have shown that isn’t the case.
I think there is a tension too between the Glebe’s objectives of preserving the real value of the estate and providing income for ministry. So should they act to fund the programs we debate tomorrow night or to preserve the value of the endowment even if that means income will not be available to fund them? Would we be looking at even tighter budgets than that suggested.

 

Synod Presidential Address

The Presidential Address is always the big ticket item that starts Synod. It’s reminiscent of the State of the Union address – what condition is the Diocese in? what are the big issues that face us?  what is the proposed legislative agenda?

The long stream of questions immediately before the Address made it clear that the Diocesan Losses are a significant concern. Question after question asked about gearing, investment strategies, risk management. The Secretariat Staff have a long night in front of them as they prepare answers!

The Archbishop address deserves to be read in full and the text, audio and video will be on the site here soon. Let me just reflect though on just a couple of points:

1. The Archbishop spoke frankly and movingly about his response to the Diocesan losses -  disbelief, responsibility, doubt, grief, uncertainty.  I think we all saw something of the curtain being pulled back on what must have been a terribly trying year.  He gave a helpful analogy of the death of a great leader – even while you respond with grief you also need to plan for a future you are not ready for. I think the challenge this Synod faces is to do those two things: acknowledge grief & make strategic plans for the future. Are we ready for that? Clearly the effort put into strategic planning is enormous and the changes are radical – a reshaping of regionalism, the introduction of ministry areas, significant financial restructuring, changes to episcopal responsibilities. These will be important debates.
2. The Archbishop also made it clear that the stress and strain of the financial crisis was not how he hoped 2009 would be remembered. Instead there was the joy of Connect 09 and the wonder of seeing God at work. While there were Connect 09 stories given from across the diocese, the most powerful one was the one closest to Bishopscourt. In the last 8 years not one neighbour had been into the Archbishop’s residence. For Connect 09 the street was invited to a High Tea. 60 neighbours came and St Marks Darling Point gave out copies of Essential Jesus to each.

The conclusion of the Address points to how 2009 was the worst of times and the best of times:

For me, it has been a year of great but mixed emotions, of hard, hard work, of frustration and sadness at the loss of ministries, of admiration at the way so many people have simply got on with being servants of Jesus even when hard decisions have affected them deeply. It has also been a year in which I have seen God at work through his servants in sharing the gospel and so a year of rejoicing. I am so proud to be associated with a Diocese which has poured all this energy and time and money into evangelism and into transforming churches. I am so thankful to God for his immeasurable blessings.
Paul writes to the Philippians as one who knows the great apocalyptic truth: ‘the Lord is at hand.’ He knows that whatever happens there is only one thing which matters, that the Lord will appear and transform all things. He speaks of his joy, his contentment, of his pleasure in the partnership he has experienced with the church. And then in God’s name he makes this promise: ‘And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.’  That is our testimony in good times and in bad: our God will provide. With Paul we also say: ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’. And so he adds, in words which we can make our own, ‘To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’

 

Sydney Anglican Synod Day 1

Real things people said to me before this Synod:

There will be blood on the floor!

Is it true they are going to ask the Archbishop to resign?

This will be the most interesting Synod in years.

After Day 1 I think I can safetly say: ‘Probably not’, ‘No’ (where do these rumors start?) and ‘Yes.’

Day 1 was the usual mad shuffling of papers, trying to keep up with procedure, and seeing old friends. A wonderful ACL Dinner at Chapter House hearing from an inspiring Ugandan Anglican Church leader (name -  someone?). Great prayer together. Waitara Anglican was inspiring talking about Connect 09 doorknocking. Andrew Nixon talked about connecting with Inspiring People. If Earlwood doesn’t work out for Marshall BJ then he can get a gig with us as a piano player anytime.

But the big ticket item was the Presidential Address. This state of the nation style address sets the vibe for Synod. Peter spoke movingly about his disbelief, anger, but mostly grief in response to the Diocesan losses. I think we all saw something of the curtain being pulled back on what must have been a terribly trying year. He acknowledged responsibility for losses that had happened under his watch. He gave a helpful analogy of the death of a great leader – even while you respond with grief you also need to plan for a future you are not ready for. It was clear the response to the crisis has been difficult but principled. The case was put strongly for Mission Areas and a transition away from regional councils. (The detail of that will be debated in comign days so I’ll keep the powder dry on that for now). Training needs to be a priority. Again we were reminded that we cannot have confidence in our wealth but our God. We need to continue the missional movement of Connect 09, lookign for ways to connect with the communities around oru churches and not just service those within the walls.

Its hard to explain Synod to those that haven’t seen it. I feel like I worked hard but I did just sit and watch things for 6 hours. I’m not alone. There will probably be only 40 or so people who do the bulk of the speaking – the usual suspects. Some speak cause they can’t help it. Others are quick on their feet and serve us really well. Its always fun watching Glenn Davies & Rob Forsyth banter with the Archbishop. And amongst the serious stuff there are genuninely light moments like that.

Stay tuned for more.

And excuse me while I go and write something up for sydneyanglicans.net

 

Book burning for Halloween

This church (with only 14 members) has made international news by organising a book burning of Satanic books.

Seems like only the King James Version will survive. Other bible versions will be burnt along with books by Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Mark Driskol (sic)

BBQ Chickens will also be served.

 

Debate on New Mission Areas

The Archbishop wants to create about 20 mission areas and appoint a mission leader in each. This proposal comes before Synod next week and is described in an Appendix of the Diocesan Mission Strategic Directions 2010-12 Paper.

The proposal is a significant one for several reasons:

1. It is being pitched as ‘the next stage of Connect 09′ and will lead to a ‘re-drawing of the diocesan map’ to promote local mission
2. It is being put forward at the same time that regional episcopal responsibilities are being reformed, and funding is being cut to regional councils.
3. the cost of $300,000 over three years to equip local leaders is not insignificant at a time of tight budgets
4. many of the details are yet to be worked out – how many mission areas? who will be the mission leaders? which Bishop will oversee this initiative? what will the relationship be with area deaneries?

I’m not sure what I think of this initiative.

There are things I love about it:

• I love the desire to see local leaders trained to think missionally. I think leadership does make a difference to the local church and money spent on equipping leaders is money well spent
• I can see how mission areas could help local mission partnerships form between parishes (that has been one of the greatest strengths of Connect 09).
• The current geographic regions are pretty meaningless for reaching tribal Sydney – they are just too big. It remains to be seen whether a redrawn map would help but in principle it sounds right.

But I’ve also got some reservations:

• the mission areas are still geographic – while this works for a suburban setting like Roseville it won’t work to reach all the tribes in Sydney. What about Chinese Sydney, City Worker Sydney etc?
• isn’t this happening already without diocesan bureaucracy attached to it? I’m certainly indebted to a few senior ministers who have generously given me time to help train me in thinking about mission to the local area. I’ve also had fruitful partnership with a number of local ministers as we’ve worked through Connect 09 mission plans together.  Will an institutional framework help grow this leadership or choke the life from it?
• Is it worth the cost? What will we not do by doing this? What kind of training will be delivered for $300,000? Are there better ways to develop local mission leaders than this?

We Anglicans are a pretty conservative and risk averse bunch so a major shake up like this will probably meet a deal of skepticism and resistance at Synod.

This post appears at sydneyanglicans.net and you can post comments there.

 

Preaching Romans?

Lin Pernille Flickr

One of my student ministers is trying to goad me into preaching through Romans in 2010. I had to confess that in the 10 years since I’ve left college I’ve not once preached it through – or even a major section.

Why not? I’m kinda scared. It is a big letter. The argument is long and at points complex. How can I preach it in a way that lets people hold onto the big picture of the book?

So I’m after your help. Has anyone seen this done well? How can you tackle Romans and survive?
Any good resources out there?

 

Trellis & the vine reading group?

Image from http://www.vinegrowers.com/

Anyone interested in reading The Trellis & the Vine?  Its the new book on ministry from Col Marshall & Tony Payne (Matthias Media 2009 – not on their website yet.) I’ve got my hands on a copy & it looks very good.

Weird title I know. The trellis represents the structures that support ministry. The vine is the growth in people as disciple making disciples of Christ. The book argues for a conscious shift away from trellis ministry to vine ministry.

If there is a bit of interest I might blog through the chapters here. Would be good to have a conversation though.

Any takers?

UPDATE: The book has sold out but they are re-stocking. You can download a free copy of chapter one & order your own from the vinegrowers website which also looks helpful.

 

Strategy or sovereignty?

wikipedia commons File:Senales Alicante.jpg

I’m preaching Romans 15 this weekend. In it, Paul describes his longing to see the Romans, his hope that the collection will be well received in Jerusalem, and that he’ll then take the gospel to Spain via Rome.

But as good as we can work out from Acts, these plans failed. Paul had asked the Romans to pray that he’d be rescued from Judean unbelievers. This didn’t happened. Instead Paul is arrested in Jerusalem, the collection doesn’t seem to deliver the results Paul might have hoped for, Paul languishes in prison in Caeserea, and doesn’t make it to Spain.

So did Paul fail? Was he wrong to make strategic plans? It must have felt crushing at the time to not see this plan come to fruition. But God used other means to get the gospel to Spain. Easy to see that after the event.

I think we need strategy and prayer but also a recognition of the sovereignty of God – Paul does speak in verse 32 how it is by God’s will he will come with joy. God’s will was instead that Paul would come as a prisoner.

 

The apostle Paul knew a thing of two about being missional!