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Living Into It

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Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. During May, as we continue to process the 2015 National Gathering, Nate Phillips is curating a month of blog posts exploring models of shared ministry, inspired by his pitch for an IGNITE presentation at the 2015 National Gathering. Join the conversation here, on Facebook, or Twitter!

By Nate Philips (featuring a film by Joni James)

Spoiler Alert: If you have not watched the end of “Veep: Season 3,” I’m about to ruin it for you.

Credit Lacey Terrell/HBO

Credit Lacey Terrell/HBO

Perfectly set in an unkempt bathroom, Vice President Selina Meyer (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) breaks this news to Gary Walsh, her assistant and hopelessly devoted “bag man.”

“Gary, I’m going to be President.”

“Oh, of course you are.  I mean there’s always hope, ma’am.  We have plenty of hope in this world.”

“No, no, no.  I mean, POTUS is gonna resign and I’m about to become President of America.”

Then a small trickle of blood emerges from Gary’s nostril and he sets off on this really weird combination of convulsive laughter and lament.

“Why is the inside of my nose bleeding?” he moans through his hysteria.

Gary’s entire identity is so wrapped up in Selina’s dream that he nearly combusts at her good news.

He makes us laugh because we love Gary and we know him.  He is the endearingly loyal helper that would jump in front of a sneeze for the Big Cheese. He actually does that in the show.  In the Presbyterian Church we wouldn’t call Gary a “bag man,” of course.  We would call him an Associate Pastor.

Ok, I admit.  That’s too provocative.

But consider this scenario.

When I first began my ministry as an associate, l was handed a preaching schedule that honored the promise that I would preach once a month, but included only the lowest attended Sundays.  I was informed which day off would be mine depending on the (sometimes finicky) personal preferences of the Senior Pastor.  I was also told that if the Senior Pastor left the church for any reason, I was to uproot my family and go too.  But what really got me was when I was told that, ultimately, my work in the church was meant to enhance the reputation of the Senior Pastor.

It seemed to me that all of this was a far cry from message of that Isenheim Altarpiece that Karl Barth was so fond of – the one where John the Baptist takes a long finger and points to Jesus.

The Isenheim Altarpiece, c.1512-15 (oil on panel) Grunewald, Matthias (Mathis Nithart Gothart) (c.1480-1528) BRIDGEMAN (GIRAUDON)

The Isenheim Altarpiece, c.1512-15 (oil on panel) Grunewald, Matthias (Mathis Nithart Gothart) (c.1480-1528) BRIDGEMAN (GIRAUDON)

It goes without saying (but obviously needs to be said) that the role of the Associate Pastor should never be more Gary Walsh than it is John the Baptist.

Many times it isn’t.

But sometimes it is.

And, when it is, it has to stop, don’t you think?

There are any number of ways to retool our staffing patterns to better honor the gifts and abilities of all pastors.  There are no rules that state that we are stuck with rigidly hierarchical pastoral staffing patterns.  For us, change meant leveraging allowances in the New Form of Government that make way for Associate and Senior Pastors to shift into a Co-Pastorate.  Everyone told us it was doomed to fail, but it hasn’t yet.

Here is our story:

 

Nate PhillipsNate is co-pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware.  He is the author of the upcoming book for churches and leaders, “Do Something Else” and a devout Red Sox fan.

 

 

JoniJamesJoni James is a filmmaker and photographer from the mountains of western Maine. When she’s not behind the camera, you can find her homeschooling her crazy kids, or outside watching her adorable chickens. See what she does for churches and families at www.photojoni.com.

 

The Presbyterian Cage Match

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by Nate Phillips (featuring a video by Joni James)

Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. During May, as we continue to process the 2015 National Gathering, Nate Phillips is curating a month of blog posts exploring models of shared ministry, inspired by his pitch for an IGNITE presentation at the 2015 National Gathering. Join the conversation here, on Facebook, or Twitter!

There is a great conflict taking place in the church.

It is not a fight between the session or deacons, it is not between old folks and young upstarts, it is not between organists and drummers, it is not between local mission people and international advocates, and it is not between those that would put a screen in the sanctuary and those that view that as anathema.

Today’s real conflict is far bigger and important than any of that and most church drama serves as a distraction from the cage match about to take place.

Standing in the blue corner, hailing from the middle of the 16th century, is the champion of the Presbyterian church, “Structure”.  In the red corner, the challenger for the countless time since the creation of the world, “Movement”.

At first, everyone loves “Movement” and the crowd goes wild when her name is announced.

But, with the end of every round, the crowd shifts a bit closer to the other corner.

“Structure” makes us feel safe.

“Movement” is impatient.

“Structure” keeps the right people in control.

“Movement” asks us to risk something.

“Structure” helps us to be taken seriously.

“Movement” might get us laughed at.

Presbytery leaders cannot help but be enthused by movement, at least at first.  But, predictably, they are some of the first to shift allegiance, leaving the “Movement” crowd wondering if they were ever with them in the first place.

But what if Presbytery leaders shared ministry more loyally than they served process?

You might find more programs like F.I.R.S.T. (Freeing the Imagination of the Recently Seminary Trained) emerge.  F.I.R.S.T. is a Presbytery mechanism for movement that joins recently trained pastors with a wide-open charge to enter the mission field as evangelists in New Castle Presbytery.  It began as a ministry initiative shared by the Chairperson of COM, Presbytery Treasurer, Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Campus Chaplain with the hearty endorsement of the Presbytery Executive.

Through F.I.R.S.T., the Presbytery is standing, not necessarily with “Structure” or “Movement”, but with people – people left out of the embrace of most of our current churches, people that most of our local churches dare not stand with at all.

Rev. Holly Clark-Porter initiated a ministry she calls, “Big Gay Church” and describes it as “a queer community working on learning who the community is–that means, we are theologically helping one another and the Church look at gender, sexuality, transgender, cisgender and non-gender specific issues.”  Holly leads a monthly worship service and is starting a youth group in the fall.

Rev. Edwin Estevez just kicked off his ministry with F.I.R.S.T. last fall, a video on his dream after his first few months is below:

 

Nate PhillipsNate is co-pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware.  He is the author of the upcoming book for churches and leaders, “Do Something Else” and a devout Red Sox fan.

Changing the Vibe

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Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. During May, as we continue to process the 2015 National Gathering, Nate Phillips is curating a month of blog posts exploring models of shared ministry, inspired by his pitch for an IGNITE presentation at the 2015 National Gathering. Join the conversation here, on Facebook, or Twitter!

by Nate Phillips (featuring a film by Joni James)

“We’re going to lose him.”
“She’s going to find something better.”
That becomes the mantra of almost every church when they notice they have a good pastor – especially when it comes to an exceptional younger pastor. It doesn’t take long either. Younger pastors begin hearing that kind of language in the first months of their ministry and, as soon as they do, they begin wondering if their parishioners are right. Maybe they are exceptional. Maybe they could do better. Maybe they shouldn’t stay for long.
That was certainly a possibility for John Molina-Moore.  I can remember interviewing him for Director for Youth position (eventually it transitioned to an Associate Pastor position).  Our Director of Music was at the interview because, as everyone knows, the Director of Music is the real boss, and he said even then, “Hire him right now, before he gets away.”
John could “get away” at any time and someday he will.  Wherever he goes, the church will be fortunate to have him.  In the meantime, we’ve tried to be creative about helping John stay at our church, continue to grow in his ministry and, as a bonus, develop a partnership with a smaller church in a changing community that has never (ever!) had a pastor anything like him.
The video below by Joni James tells that story of shared ministry.
JoniJamesJoni James is a filmmaker and photographer from the mountains of western Maine. When she’s not behind the camera, you can find her homeschooling her crazy kids, or outside watching her adorable chickens. See what she does for churches and families at www.photojoni.com.

 

Struggling, Starting, Soaring, or Suffering

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Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. During May, as we continue to process the 2015 National Gathering, Nate Phillips is curating a month of blog posts exploring models of shared ministry, inspired by his pitch for an IGNITE presentation at the 2015 National Gathering. Join the conversation here, on Facebook, or Twitter!

By Nate Phillips
Why is seminary orientation so awkward?For a community of people drenched in the waters of youth and camping ministry, you would think that would be the least of our concerns.But, at least for me, it was a sort of gag-worthy mish-mash where would-be classmates could be found posturing on everything from undergraduate accolades (“I went to Whitworth.”) to biblical interpretation (“What about homosexuality?”) to ultimate frisbee (“Can you handle?”)I like to kid my best friend, Andrew, about our first interaction – we were seated near one another at an seminary orientation dinner.

“What do you like to do?”, I asked.

“I like to read.”

I waited to see if he was going to add to that and, finally, when he did not, I just said, “Well, I think you’re going to get plenty of opportunities to do that here.”

I. Like. To. Read. These were the first words he ever spoke to me.

Let me be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these words or anyone that would say them. I like to read too. And yet, if you knew this great man – and it took me a couple of years after this to get to know him, a great story for another day – you would never accept this as a complete or adequate introduction.

My best friend is a lovable oaf of a man. The kind of guy that you know gives the best hugs, just by looking at him.

He loves baseball and knows the game better than anyone I have ever met.

He can flick a frisbee on target from around his back, which almost makes up for how poorly he plays on defense.

He can synthesize biblical ideas in a way that makes everyone want to listen – not just because he can articulate them well, but because its easy to see that he genuinely loves the passage and the person so much.

One time I heard say, “I love people! I just want to be a pastor.”

As misleading as his first self-appraisal was, that one was spot on.

Which is why it is is so sad that he, a lifelong Presbyterian, is no longer a pastor in the PC(USA).

Andrew’s departure came before 10A or 14F and I have no idea where those decisions might have taken him. I like to think, perhaps naively and certainly selfishly, he would’ve stayed the course with us because his thoughtful and pastoral perspective challenges me as a conversation partner. I truly believe that I am less of a thinker when I’m without his perspective.

So, he didn’t leave for the reason (stated or unstated) that many have left the PC(USA) in the last few years. He left because he felt called to work in church planting and, evidently, we weren’t doing that. He approached his Presbytery with an honest appeal to join with them in starting something new, to share the gospel with those that weren’t hearing it otherwise, and the Presbytery declined him outright.

A few years have past since then and the good news for him is that another denomination was happy to bring him aboard. They are lucky to be sharing life with him as he embraces his calling.

But the question remains for our denomination: Is this really us? So many of our churches are in some degree of transition – they are struggling, starting, soaring, or suffering. When we are met with someone who brings a new response to churches in transition, is ours an adequate introduction?

Or do we just say, “I like to read”?

When a pastor or any initiator brings forward a new idea for starting a church, do we meet it with a litany of obstacles?

As community demographics change, do we resent the intentions of those feeling called to serve folks that don’t look (or talk, or think, or spend) like the people that go to our “regular” churches?

When good momentum insists that its time to try a new staffing pattern, do we knowingly shake our heads and mutter, “impulsive”, “tried that”, or, my personal favorite, “slippery slope”?

Do we withhold endorsements of radically new initiatives in underused old buildings because they don’t align perfectly with our personal theological perspective or liturgical preferences?

Most skimming this post will have experienced the church as lovable and meaningful. Most are committed to the notion that the church we serve is worth getting to know. Finally, most will agree that there is a new openness to innovation in the mainline church, an openness that wasn’t here even a few year’s ago when Andrew was met with a closed door.

Over the next few weeks, I want to share some of the experiments with churches in transition that we are trying from our little laboratory here in New Castle Presbytery. These projects are a work in progress and, by no means, without considerable mess. That aside, I am hopeful that sharing them with you will offer us good feedback, provide some food for thought for churches in varying types of transition, and invite others to share gems of their own. So, be on the lookout for video and brief blogposts on …

  • Struggling churches. Could the old idea of pastor sharing (between two churches) be the way of the future?
  • Starting churches. How can your church initiate a new community with no guarantee its going to become a “church”?
  • Soaring churches. Why consider moving from a Senior Pastor-Associate to Co-Pastor model when things are going so well?
  • Suffering churches. What if your clergy small group took on a church “pro-bono”?

Editor’s note: Is your congregation experimenting with a new leadership model? We want to hear from you! Tell us your story and let us know if we can feature you on the NEXT Blog!  

Nate PhillipsNate is co-pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware.  He is the author of the upcoming book for churches and leaders, “Do Something Else” and a devout Red Sox fan.