Vision and Vestry

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IN MY LAST VOICE ARTICLE, I STARTED A SERIES ON VISION. I wrote about how it has been one of my goals to "develop a vision statement for St. John's." Yes, it's about worship, discipleship, and mission; but what are the specifics? What are the particular things I believe God is calling us to pursue and accomplish for the Kingdom? To put it less positively, it is like Yogi Berra once said: "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there!"

So, I wrote last time about surveying the parish, asking "What needs attention?" and "What are we doing well?" Since the last issue, I have been able to get away for some retreat time—some space away where I could pray and think and read, just God and I. Now, I am thinking about the Vestry's place in this Vision Project, as I call it.

Fr. Corley has been a great help in this. His goal over the past year has been to head up a task force to improve the way in which we identify and raise up leaders at St. John's. Along the way he has pointed me to a book about leadership by Canon Neal Michell, which lists five models of how Vestries tend to function in differing parishes. As you read the list, think about which is the present model in place at St. John's.

1. The Vestry functions as a rubber stamp for the rector.
2. The Vestry is primarily concerned with the budget, like a large finance committee.
3. The Vestry is a group of elected representatives for the congregation, representing the concerns of their particular constituencies.
4. The Vestry is the parish's unpaid staff, carrying out programs and ministries of the church.
5. The Vestry is a board of directors, overseeing the activities and interests of the parish.

Each of these models has something to offer. (I especially like the rubber stamp idea!) But they all lack something essential: a Vestry is essentially a community of leaders, leaders who are called to share in the headship of the parish with the Rector. As such, the Vestry is fundamentally a spiritual community, a discipleship community, where people and priests are together growing in their knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, learning to hear his voice, and then together leading the parish where they themselves believe we are being led.

In many ways, we have been working according to the fourth model that Canon Michell describes. The Vestry has functioned as the "unpaid staff" of the parish, and helpful as this has been, it has sometimes forced Vestry members to oversee ministries, not because they were gifted in specific areas, but because it was their Vestry duty to oversee a ministry. At times, it has felt like forcing square pegs into round holes, and when this happens, people burn out and the ministry suffers.

Of course, it will always be the Vestry's job to establish policies, approve budgets, solve problems, and assist ministries. But as I head to our annual Vestry Overnight, I am planning to spend some time with the Vestry re-visioning and re-organizing our life together so that more and more we can be a community that worships and prays together, studies Scripture and strategizes—all for the sake of getting clear on where the Lord is leading this parish in mission and ministry.

Specifically, I look forward to telling the Vestry about some of things that came to mind as I spent time with the Lord during my last retreat, making sure that I am "in focus" and that the Spirit is showing them what I think he is showing me.

Stay tuned for more,