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Dear MBCC friends and family,
I hope this letter finds you doing well and enjoying the odd weather we have been having as of late. As I sit here at the church amidst the sunshine after the storms, I am reminded of the wonderfully chaotic world and city in which we live.
And yes, "wonderfully chaotic" is how I would describe our life together at MBCC. During my nine years here in pastoral leadership, I have come to embrace the ways in which we shift and adapt to life around us while maintaining a commitment to being constantly recreated by God, sustained by the movement of the Holy Spirit and compelled by the calling of Christ. For this gift and for the privilege of being part of the pastoral staff over the years I thank you.
With that buttering up . . . we move on to a new time in our life that will require all of us to again be open to the possibilities that God may have for our community. God is not done with us yet, and like I said, what would MBCC be without some new adventure to navigate?
Over the past few months, The Session (Our governing body), the Personnel Committee (Yes, we have one) and I have been in discussion about my future here at MBCC after my Moderatorial term is complete in July of 2010. This is been a good time of discovery and discernment for all involved as we reflect upon our nine-year history, the past few years and where/how we would like to into the future.
Here are a few of the general things we have discerned and discovered over the past few months of discussion:
- You: The past 15 months of this Moderator adventure, has been difficult in regards to some of the ways MBCC has been able to fully settle into our current ministry location. I am grateful that MBCC and my family have shared me with the denomination, but I also know that my energies have been spread thin. At the same time the term has provided us, thanks to so many who have stepped into leadership, with some opportunities to explore and discover creative ways to express pastoral leadership.
- Me: As a person who has now been in ministry for 14 years, has been on pastoral staff here for nine years and is coming off of a larger-church leadership experience, I am yearning and hoping for some new challenges in ministry so that I may continue to growing personally and professionally into who God intends for me to become. I also greatly embrace being a local pastor, especially serving in a community such as MBCC, one that feeds and nourishes my soul.
- Us: Neither I or MBCC is ready to let go of one another. So barring any dramatic discovery, membership revolution or other unforeseen development, I am not going anywhere. While there will certainly be a time some day that I and you will will need something different, we have discerned that that time is not now and we still, together, have much ministry yet to live out. In short, if you will still have me, I will still be the Pastor here.
So here is what we are going to explore together . . .
What I am hoping that we do together is explore the idea of "tentmaking" as a model for our pastoral staffing. While you can read more about the concept HERE*, basically this means that I would be bi-vocation, part time pastoring here at MBCC and part time pursuing other endeavors. This tentmaking model would then create a situation where I would be the Pastor and we would call an additional part-time ordained Associate Pastor to complement my skill set and complete a full time pastoral presence.
The Apostle Paul, for example, made tents for a living so that he would not have to burden the small, struggling fellowships of believers during the first century A.D. From Saint Paul's example we have adopted the term "tentmaking" to describe a situation in which a minister of the Word and Sacrament works in a usually secular occupation and works for a particular church on a less than full time basis. - PCUSA
In my case, I will pursue some other interests primarily some freelance blogging, co-hosting God Complex Radio and completing a book project, all of which will have have me physically present at MBCC far more than I have been over the past 15 months.
Why this is good for MBCC:
Clearly, if I did not ask that we explore this possibility I/we would probably simply shift into a full-time pastoral role here at MBCC. We would be having a very different conversation, one based on the question, "What will Bruce do as the only paid staff?" Quite honestly, the idea of this route scares me a bit because, one, we have never had only ONE paid staff person and, two, the idea that one person can provide the kind of pastoral presence that we need to keep us creatively moving forward seems daunting.
If this model works well, with MBCC discerning what gifts are needed to move us into the future AND we find the right second person, we - along with Leslie - will have a pretty awesome pastoral staff team. You would in essence have more complete and energized pastoral staff that will continue to be challenged and informed by one another as well as their vocational contexts outside of MBCC.
Next steps . . .
I do understand that for many of you this is pretty unexpected and probably a different staffing model that you may be used to. And while some of us have been talking about this for a few months, this is not something that the Session, I nor you all should ruch into without a great deal of care.
We have roughly nine months until my terms ends and the hope is that ever the next six months or so we will build a job description and structure that will allow us to bring someone on by the Fall of 2010.
Here is what you should know about the process . . .
- Current Staffing: Session and personnel acknowledge that there have been some ministries that have not been kept up over the past 15 months so with Abby and Nick shifting into new chapters in their lives, we need to not only survive the next 9 months, but begin to be forward thinking and creative. For this reason we hired Erin and Miriam to help provide support and help us think about the future. I will also shift a small portion of my time to begin preparing for what I am entering into, mostly taking some concentrated hours to finish my book.
- Session's charge: The Session has asked the Personnel Committee to begin a process of discovery and planning with the outcome to shift to this model. Most of the conversations will be about the expectations, needs and wants of the congregation for it's pastoral leadership and what that then looks like in a two-person structure.
- Seeking input: Personnel over the next few months will be approaching the congregation individually and collectively to seek out the hopes and expectations that are had of the pastoral position as well as what roles you think that position plays in the life of the congregation. Past and present staff folks as well as myself and Leslie will also offer information in terms of how some of the internal structures play into future positions.
- Developing a staffing structure: After information is gathered, the Personnel Committee will begin to develop appropriate post-moderator job descriptions for myself as well as any other position/s that they deem are needed.
- Calling of a new Tent Making Associate: While this can be a complicated process and will require us to navigate the exciting waters of Presbytery and other denominational systems, it is our hope to begin searching for someone some time in the spring of 2010 in order to start in the Fall.
- Keeping you in the loop: Throughout all of this, the Personnel Committee will be reporting back to both the session and the congregation with updates, requests for information and anything else they might need to help us best discern the Spirit in the midst of these changes. Personnel meets this weekend and will come up with some best ideas for feedback from you as well.
So . . . that's it for now. You know now everything that some of us have been talking about. As we do, I would expect nothing other than complete transparency as we engage in this process and I hope that you will take every opportunity to provide feedback, engage in discussion and help us define God's future for MBCC.
While the Personnel Committee will be communicated with you all soon, if you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to drop me a note or lets schedule coffee.
And my the peace of Christ be with you!
Sounds like an interesting transition. I've been constantly reflecting on my current position as 3/4 time pastor over the past six weeks (I'm new). But what I wrote in this post, even before I took the position, stands truer than ever. Do consider: http://adamjcopeland.com/2009/03/23/why-bi-vocational-is-a-dirty-word/
Posted by: Adam Copeland | October 22, 2009 at 09:06 AM