By Maureen Wright
At the Presbytery meeting last Saturday during my Transitional General Presbyter’s report, I shared my current thoughts on the transition through which the Presbytery is moving and what this transition is asking of us as a Presbytery and as leaders. A number of people asked for a copy. Below is the text of what I shared.
A number of years ago, I attended an event for mid council leaders led by Susan Beaumont, author of the book How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season. Many of you have read my newsletter articles focusing on this time of transition for the Presbytery. For those who have not, I have been reflecting on this time of moving from where we have been to an unknown place – a place yet to be determined, a time of discerning who God is calling us to be and where God is calling us to go. Beaumont’s book is a road map for a church or a Presbytery in transition. We do not yet know where we are going, but I can say with absolute assurance that God has a plan for the Presbytery of West Virginia. In this liminal time, ministers, ruling elders, and laity throughout the Presbytery are being asked to lead.
The picture that I have in my mind is of someone standing outside as the wind blows all around. While the wind blows, the person is seeking to reach out and hold a series of strings, not knowing exactly how to gather them together. The strings from this image include our churches, the missions of the Presbytery, the resources for doing the work to which God is calling, the needs of our communities, the leaders of our churches, and the Presbytery. This is an image of discernment, a seeking to hear God’s voice – it is leading when you don’t know where you are going.
One of the strings is the difficult conversations that this time of discernment requires. It is time for honest, Spirit-led, faithful conversations. This transition offers the Presbytery the invitation to let go of mission and ministry in order to follow God’s lead. Letting go is difficult; it causes us to grieve for that which we are leaving behind. This transition also offers the Presbytery the invitation to reengage on a deeper level some of our mission and ministry and to create new mission and ministry. This too is difficult; it can feel like stepping off a cliff into the unknown. Both letting go and stepping into the unknown challenge us to engage in difficult conversation.
This time of transition calls the Presbytery to also engage in difficult conversations with the churches of the Presbytery, conversations about what it means to faithfully walk with churches as they move from active ministry to creating legacies that impact their communities beyond their life as a church. This is difficult because it asks all of us to reflect on being good stewards of God’s resources even if that means selling buildings or dissolving churches.
It also means difficult conversations where the Presbytery may challenge churches to explore their vitality and to step off the cliff into the unknown of new or deepening mission and ministry. The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Vital Congregations initiative is one guide for these difficult conversations. It helps churches to think in new ways about their mission and ministry. The Presbytery is hosting a Zoom event on May 4 with Brian Coulter, “Being Vital Today,” which will explore seven marks of a vital congregation. Guess what, none of the seven focus on the number of members of a church! I encourage you to attend; the details are available on this flyer. To listen to Rev. Coulter’s invitation, click here.
What are we to do as we journey through this time of not knowing where we are going? As we are standing amongst the wind of the Holy Spirit asking God who are we to be and where are we to go, one answer is from Psalm 46: 10, “Be still, and know that I am God!” If we take the time to be still even as the Spirit blows around us, to know God, to trust God, God will show us the unknown, God will show us the mission and ministry for the Presbytery for today. May it be so.