Value Leadership

Last weekend, our vestry went to Camp Mitchell for its annual retreat. Every year, we spend some time away to build a foundation for the work we hope to pursue. There are certain elements of the retreat that we revisit every year, like getting-to-know-you exercises, an opportunity to dream about the future of our parish, a review of the vestry-rector relationship, and plenty of chances for prayer, laughter, and fun.

In the past, I have structured the retreat so that the vestry will return to St. Paul’s with a list of goals we hope to accomplish in the coming year. Because most of the vestry’s work is undertaken by committees, each committee leaves with an ambitious list of tasks for their area of ministry, which they hope to pursue as we steer our parish toward the vision for the future that we have articulated at the retreat. “If we accomplish all of these things this year,” we say to ourselves, “we will be well on our way to achieving our five-year dreams.”

That goal-focused approach has helped give structure and direction to the vestry’s work, but it has also led to a disconnect between the vestry and the staff and other volunteers on whom we largely rely to carry out that work. Although the rector is supposed to be the link between the vestry and the staff, because of the size of our parish, I do not have the capacity to serve as a wide-enough conduit for the back-and-forth communication necessary for the idea-producing vestry and the idea-refining staff and all of the idea-executing parishioners to work together effectively. As a result, the list of goals that the vestry has generated in the past has created considerable frustration among everyone involved.

I think that goal-focused approach makes sense in a smaller parish, in which the staff plays a minimal role and the vestry is effectively naming the work it plans to do in the year ahead, but, in a church as large and complex as ours, which depends upon the professional leadership of a talented staff, we need a vestry to lead from a different perspective—not as program or ministry leaders but, as one member described it during our retreat, as bearers of our parish’s culture and identity.

What if, instead of leading our congregation as goal-setters, our vestry held up to us a reminder of who we are and who God is calling us to be? What if the vestry focused on values, priorities, and culture while trusting the staff and volunteers to come up with the best ways to pursue that vision for our parish? Those are the questions I asked the vestry at this year’s retreat, and I am delighted at the result.

After some collaborative conversations with other rectors and diocesan leaders, I invited our vestry into six value reflections, one for each area of our church’s budget: worship, formation, parish life, outreach, administration, and properties. We began each discussion with a passage of scripture, reflecting on what God might be telling us about that area of ministry. Then, we expanded our discussion to other passages of scripture and then to religious and cultural icons outside the Bible. Then, we named particular words or phrases that are important to our parish’s vision for that area of ministry. Finally, we produced a value statement that we think reflects what we believe about that area of our parish’s work.

None of these value statements is intended to be the final authority on St. Paul’s work in a particular area, but they provide us with a vision of what we hope to accomplish in each program, ministry, and endeavor that we undertake. They may require some tweaking in the months and years ahead, but, for now, they provide an important foundation for the work ahead of us. They are intentionally broad statements, but they are also intended to reflect the unique culture of our parish. If you have comments or suggestions about these value statements, I hope you will share them with a member of the vestry so that we can incorporate your reflections into our work.

Worship
At St. Paul’s, we believe that worship is an inclusive opportunity for everyone to gather and encounter the beauty of God’s presence in soul-nourishing ways that inspire faithfulness.

Formation
At St. Paul’s, we believe that formation is a lifelong opportunity for discovering, exploring, and sharing God’s love as we become disciples and grow into children of God.

Parish Life
At St. Paul’s, we believe that all people are welcome and that we are called to nurture the connections between us through hospitality, social gatherings, pastoral care, and spiritual friendship.

Outreach
At St. Paul’s, we value the dignity of every human being, seek the repair of broken relationships, pursue the dismantling of unjust systems, and strive to care for the vulnerable as a reflection of our faithfulness to God.

Administration
At St. Paul’s, we believe that faithful administration enables us to fulfill the mission of the church and that it demands integrity, requires good stewardship of our resources, and depends upon the collective contribution and work of all.

Properties
At St. Paul’s, we believe that our buildings and grounds are a gift to be used to honor God by providing a space for all who seek to experience the love, care, beauty, peace, and nurture of God through our community.

Yours faithfully,

Evan D. Garner