Southern Province Intersynodal Conference
Congregations
Moving in Mission
When the Rt. Rev. Wayne Burkette mentioned that “every child needs personal cheerleaders and that Moravians underestimate their own giftedness,” one could sense the listening intensity rise in the sanctuary. He was preaching a sermon during the opening worship service of the recent Southern Province event “Congregations Moving in Mission.” Over three hundred representatives from 49 churches and 17 agencies/groups gathered for this Intersynodal Conference, held at New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 10-12, 2008.
Bishop Burkette based his sermon on a booklet, printed in 1957 by Bishop Clarence Shawe of the British Province for the 500th anniversary of the Moravian Church. In it Shawe identified five characteristics of the Moravians of which Burkette believes we need to be reminded: simplicity, joy/happiness, unintrusiveness (or respect for differences), fellowship, and mission. These characteristics define us as people and as a denomination and are worth remembering.
This sermon was a perfect segue into the tactical workings of the conference, led by the professional facilitator, Luther K. Snow, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. Snow’s success with a program known as Asset Mapping, was continued and profoundly demonstrated in all of the group exercises that he led at New Philadelphia. Our Moravian characteristics, described by Bishop Shawe, can be viewed as assets.
Remember the old adage about wondering if the glass is half-full or half empty? Snow’s thinking about asset-mapping begins with a positive approach: think of the resources/assets that we have as congregations, not those that we do not have. For example, instead of a small congregation bemoaning about all the things they cannot do because of their size, think of their small size as an asset. Because they are small, they know and trust each other well; they have nimbleness and ability to act quickly; and, they have history and connections in the community.
Through a number of different group exercises (groups were organized by congregations) we were able to visualize “assets,” make connections between assets and needs, and focus on an “open-sum game” as opposed to a “closed-sum game.” When the Rev. Steve Craver, in a later worship meditation, reminded us that the loaves and fishes that fed the 5,000 were assets (Matthew 14:13-21), and that Jesus was focusing on an open-sum game in meeting the needs of those assembled, light bulbs in our brains began to beam and excitement grew.
Asset mapping can be described as a dynamic sharing of community. “Our faith is not a fixed-sum game. My gain is your gain is our gain. The way we think leads to the way we act and the way we act leads to the way we think” — these words were only some of the exciting concepts Snow shared with us.
By the end of our time together, the large room at New Philadelphia was plastered with large sheets of paper outlining new mission projects resulting from our asset mapping. What will happen with pipe organs and steel drums, or after school programs and senior friends, or chicken pies and Sunnyside missions? Time will tell.
The Rev. Betsy Miller, in the April issue of The Moravian, wrote: “When, by faith, we are able to relinquish our focus on maintaining the institution of the church, then we are free to be the people of God, the Body of Christ in the world.” By mapping the assets of our churches and sharing, blending, and re-purposing them, God can use them through us to amazing missions!
There seems to be a fresh wind blowing through the churches, a desire to return to the emphasis of our early history — reaching the world with the messages of Christ — congregations moving in mission.
Lillian Shelton is a member of Friedberg Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Another Perspective — Asset Mapping: More Than Just Chicken Pies
New Philadelphia Moravian Church graciously hosted the intersynodal conference fueling their guests with over 75 gallons of coffee, and preparing enough food to feed a small army. The facilities were perfect for this type of gathering. We met together in their huge fellowship hall, and we worshipped together in the beautiful sanctuary.
Besides the food, fun, and fellowship, a lot of learning took place over 3 days. Luther Snow, author of several books, including, The Power of Asset Mapping, demonstrated over several sessions the process he developed while working as a city planner in southeast Chicago. His ideal for the conference attendees was for us to leave “seeing the glass half-full.” Snow’s intent was to show us that when we look at the positive things our congregations have to offer, we can create and develop projects in which our members will take ownership.
Snow demonstrated how to perform Asset Mapping for the purpose of developing new projects in our congregations. First, we must recognize our assets. By looking at the cup half-full, we see how great our churches have been blessed. Even little things can be a blessing (or an asset), such as having a playground, a large group of older members, or making chicken pies. When we look at these assets, we look beyond the facilities of our church, we also look at the very nature of our church, and include everything and anything that is an asset. For example, being within walking distance of an elementary school could open up all kinds of possibilities if our church is interested in reaching the youth in our community.
Snow was also very cautious to remind us not to look at our needs. Oftentimes, we find ourselves saying “if we only had a ______” or, “what we really need is a ______.” Rather than looking at the negative, the whole idea behind asset mapping is to look at what we do have, not what we need. This enlightened many of the participants in a different way. It may mean instead of looking at the ministry needs of our community, perhaps we should look at our gifts, and in the end, that will allow us to provide the best programs to meet the needs within our community.
Recognizing our assets is just the first step. Once we’ve listed our abundances, then it’s time to “connect the dots.” By this, Snow was referring to connecting our blessings and gifts with the blessings and gifts of others to come up with something new. This is where it gets exciting, because you can come up with ideas and thoughts you never would have otherwise imagined. Did anyone ever think that having land and members who love to garden, might become a community garden? Would anyone have guessed that having a playground with a picnic shelter and being within walking distance to an elementary school, might lead to sharing your church yard with classrooms for their end-of-year parties?
During this part of the training, we allowed our minds to race and came up with what seemed a hundred projects that our congregations could actually do, without a whole lot of thought or extra planning involved. Each congregation posted their idea on the wall, and we shared the excitement with others about the possibilities.
After all of that excitement, Snow showed us how to really get people involved and motivated to take action. We “voted with our feet,” and no, we didn’t have to take our shoes off! We were each given the opportunity to go and stand in front of the project/idea in which we would be willing to participate. We then signed our names, thus taking on some ownership of the project and seeing it to the end.
Now, granted, this was just a training exercise, but several of those congregations present will probably go back to their church and get others involved, and who knows what great things might come out of this?
In the end, Snow didn’t leave the participants wishing for more. Before the program had ended, he challenged each of us to come up with three things we would do when we got back to our church. He encouraged us to do this first as a group, and then individually. This gave each of us something to walk away with, a job to complete once we returned home. Are our feet moving with the enthusiasm of our hearts to make the challenge happen?
Editor’s Note: The Intersynodal Planning committee met in early May to collate ideas generated from the asset mapping exercises and to determine how to help make connections between people who shared interests in the specific ideas by voting with their feet. By the time this issue appears in print, there will be information provided from the planning committee to various individuals with the hope that the connections will have further, positive ripple effects throughout the Province and continue the movement and enthusiasm that was displayed during the exercises. The Rt. Rev. Dr. D. Wayne Burkette’s opening worship sermon is available.
