Adieu. Farewell. So long and thanks for all the ...

Following is the text of my Farewell Speech from Conference 2012, held in Wellington, NZ.

Last week I ran in the Auckland Half Marathon.  The event is not as iconic as the New York Marathon, which was to run on Sunday.  The crowds in Auckland were not as big as New York – only 45,000 in Auckland, compared to the estimated 2 million who line the streets of the 5 Boroughs’ of New York.  But however big or small the crowds are, one can still feel the power of the crowd support.  In Devonport, we ran past 5 kids who had had a sleep over and were sitting on the front lawn at 7am - cheering us on.  At the finish line there were hundreds, 7 or 8 rows deep.  And they clapped and cheered for all of us, though they didn’t know who we were, and we didn't know most of them.  That support gave each of us a palpable surge of energy and a strong sense that we could finish – no matter how much we were hurting. 

Today I want to celebrate the support that I have received from many people in the church as I finish this race, and to acknowledge that without you our ministries would be nearly impossible.

•       Rebecca, my wife and best friend, who has put up with all the nights and weekends away, and all the stuff that the church has asked of me, and thrown at us.

•       Letitia and Jacinta, our amazing daughters – your welcome home is always worth coming home to.

•       The Mission Resourcing Team – Nehu, Esme, Andrew.

•       Aso, who was president when I was ordained, is far more than a colleague and director.  He has become a very close friend – wise, prayerful, deeply caring.

•       The Mission Resourcing Board, and especially Marilyn Welch and Hamish Ott as Chairs

•       All of the Synod Superintendents, Presidents and Vice Presidents, both General Secretaries, and many many other colleagues and friends – lay and ordained (I don’t distinguish)

•       Diana Tana and members of Hui Poari, who welcomed me warmly on my visits

•       Our Korean Ministry colleagues, and all our conversations and meals.

These seven years have been a roller coaster ride.

Aso and I started in the Board of Ministry days, seven years ago.

We have experienced 3 different forms of Governance, including the Commissioner John Hinchcliff.

For very different reasons, we have had 6 Board chairs – 8 if you count the various reincarnations of Michael Greer

We have lived through the illness and death of our dearest friend, colleague and pastor, Andre Le Roux.

I’ve been privileged to go to South Korea and South Africa – and to be part of the writing and signing of the statement of intent with the Seoul South Annual Conference this year.

I’ve visited every synod at least twice, have been Tauiwi EO twice, have served and led 21 Tauiwi Strategy meetings, and have been privileged to serve on various national ecumenical Boards and committees on behalf of the church (hospital chaplaincy, uniting congregations, fresh Expressions, church life survey, NZ Christian Network, and others).

I am not the same as I was when I have started. This job - and you - have grown me as a person.  I have grown in faith and understanding of God and of my fellow travellers.  I've tried to lead with compassion and serve with hope.

But at the heart of all I’ve done has been the delightful work with congregations and my colleagues. 

I’ve used the words delight and privilege because I mean it.

It has not always easy (understatement), but it has been an honour to lead and serve the church as Director and Tauiwi Executive Officer.

If I leave something with the church, I hope it is this.

The Church doesn’t grow – People grow: 

So grow the people – not buildings or committees or …

• Live in Faith, Hope and Love.
• Work harder at being colleagues who live the mandate of Jesus to “love one another”
• Build deeper faith in Jesus Christ, with each other and your communities.
• Don’t be scared to confront the bullies - whoever they are.
• Take time to share your stories and doubts with each other, and pray with and for each other.
• At the heart of your ministry, cling to the grace of growing people as disciples.

To my Christchurch friends -stay strong in the face of tiredness and change or no change. I know it is hard, but stay strong.

At the end of every race we make a choice – will I run again, or is it time to hang up my shoes? There is another race for me, and I am grateful to my friends who have encouraged me to stay in ministry.  The next race for me will be in Australia.

Next year we will be living in Melbourne, where I have accepted a congregational ministry with the Uniting Church of Australia.  Australia is Rebecca’s home, and this is an exciting move for all 4 of us – with delightful new possibilities.

The Methodist Church of New Zealand has been a spiritual home and has provided a fantastic ministry journey.  The thing I will miss most about all this are the friends I have made – from Riverton and Bluff to the Bay of Islands;  Familiar voices and friendly faces.  You will forever be friends, Whanau.

Finally ...

May our faith be greater than our fears,

our courage greater than our cowardice,

and our hope greater than our cynicism.

In all things remember this; God is with us.

Where do our Ministry Candidates come from? Part 3

(Click here for the Introduction; Part 1; Part 2)

Part 3. What can Synods, Congregations and Mission Resourcing do for leadership identification and recruitment.

In part 1 of this paper we noted the following:

“Several factors influence decisions to engage in intentional leadership training for ministry. The following are particularly true for Palangi candidates.

·       Understanding of Church, God, ministry and ones self

·       Personal skills in ministry and leadership

·       (Personal) Discernment of the call of God to particular ministries

In addition, some cultures emphasise more strongly the call of the community, the wishes of family members, the social status of the family, and the influence of parents or grandparents who have also been ordained. For Palangi candidates, these factors are far less influential.”

As far as I know, we have never done any intentional recruitment for Presbyteral ministry. For many years Rev Dave Mullan promoted Diaconal ministry, and the fruits of that were seen in a dozen or so deacons coming into ministry within a space of several years.

Some Congregations provide very good leadership development – The Youth group are groomed as leaders of the holiday program; Pastoral visitors are trained monthly; Parish Councillors have a 4 year non-renewable term; etc.

Some Synods have provided ministry exploration events where those wanting to know more about ministry (lay or ordained; Diaconal or Presbyteral; Administration or Parish leadership; leadership in missional or new ventures) can come and explore together what a call to ministry might involve.

We believe that in order to encourage people to consider ministry, the whole church (congregations, regions, synods, Trinity College and Mission Resourcing) will need to provide practical and theoretical training for lay and ordained in order to provide a “discernment journey”. This could take place in 4 settings:

1.     The parish / congregation / community

2.     Trinity College (formal training)

3.     Ministry experience which is reflected upon

4.     Ongoing spiritual and ministry development

These four areas can be provided for both lay and ordained leaders. Each step provides opportunity and challenge for discernment, assessment and experience / qualification.  In this way the 3 areas of Understanding, Skill and Discernment become ongoing features of this lifelong process. The process also provides any candidates / leaders with proven and provable development.

Other areas for further exploration:

·       Synod discernment days

·       Early encouragement of people into Lead Worship, Lay preachers qualifications or (if these are completed) other ongoing study, reading and reflection.

·       Congregations encouraging people to experience their Committees – if only for a couple of meetings

·       Church leaders (lay and ordained) encouraging leaders and potential leaders to attend and participate in Synod meetings and events.

·       Church leadership encouraging their members to try new ventures in mission in their communities.

In discussion I have suggested that we can improve our candidating / recruiting by 3 steps. (Note: these connect with the material in the first section of this report)

·       Advertise: Every year we could advertise in Touchstone and Emessenger for those considering candidating to make themselves known to their presbyters and Synod Candidates Conveners (SCC’s).  Part of this advertising could be to issue a challenge to consider ministry, and part could be to kick off the coming year’s candidates processes.

·       Challenge: The call to ordained Presbyteral and Diaconal ministry is a sensitive one, but involves a challenge to ‘leave your comfort and take a new journey’. The call is to a fulfilling and challenging ministry, while at the same time becoming part of the re-shaping of the church. *Missional intentions and ‘fresh expressions’ of church are going to need people who have a sense of ministry that may be different to ‘orthodox’ or traditional forms of ministry. This is a challenge that should be given through congregations and ministry leaders.

·       Inform: In a new processes, the minister and local parish become the major first port of call for candidates (NOT the synods, Mission Resourcing or "someone else"). In order to accomplish this well, ministers and congregations will need to gather material to engage the conversations, reflections and ministry praxis necessary to facilitate the discernment processes.

For Reflection:

o   What ways have I used to encourage people to think about / discern their ministries in our church?

o   What spiritual disciplines are necessary for good leadership in a church?

Link to Introduction

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 2

Where do our Ministry Candidates come from? Part 2

(Click here for the Introduction; Click here for part 1)

Part 2. The race challenge: What does a New Zealander look and sound like?

New Zealand Journalist and commentator Paul Henry’s public and racist questions about the Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand’s not ‘looking and sounding like a New Zealander’ have been (mostly) publicly refuted and condemned in the media and in many café and pub conversations around the country – though interestingly not so much on talkback radio.  Critical reflection has been engaged in whether we ‘all think in this way’ – and clearly many of us don’t. 

But critical reflection is necessary in many other parts of our society – not just the media.  The church is no exception as these are also questions we hear from our congregations.  We need to look critically at ourselves.

In the stationing process we have seen some parish councils or members dismiss ministers on the stationing sheet out of hand because they have ‘foreign names’ (often Pacific or Asian). This dismissal is built on the assumption that these people probably can’t speak English well, and are not ‘like us’. 

We also hear comments following the announcement of successful candidates in our candidating process like, ‘Where are the New Zealanders?’ (note: Often linked to this is the question *‘where are the younger ministers?’)

Interestingly this comment is almost never the case in churches that have intentionally embraced multiculturalism as part of their lives – they have multi-cultural leadership (representative of the parish and wider community, not just in ones or twos), have worship lead in different languages, have mixed-culture youth groups and (maybe most importantly) have a pastoral care structure that is based on ability, not history or ethnicity. These groups accept the lay ministry of all, no matter what the culture of the people involved.

It may be hard for us to hear, but I would tentatively suggest that the number and quality of Palangi candidates might reflect the strength and age range of palangi in our churches.

The comments I’ve noted above appear to be based on several assumptions. Here are some that I have heard and would want to see challenged:

Racial / Ethnic

That these people are not New Zealanders (they don’t look and sound like us).

That a minister who does not ‘look and sound like us’ can’t provide caring & competent ministry to us.

That we cannot relate to a minister who does not ‘look and sound like us’.

Discipleship

That someone else (some other parish) is providing the ‘breeding ground’ for candidates / presbyters and deacons (see above).

That ‘somewhere out there’ is a group of (often) younger people who want to come into ministry

… and that that ministry will be done the same way as we like it at the moment.

Missional

That our church is, and will always be, as it currently is; and we want a minister who will minister to us in this way.

That there we (the church) are one part of society that is not changing in demographics, culture or ministry opportunities.

That migrants are a group to be ministered to, and that they cannot provide leadership or ministry to or with us.

Can a “New Zealander” be Fiji-Indian, Tongan, Samoan or Korean? Of course. We cannot ignore *the changing face of the church which includes people of many cultures and races – and that these people bring graces and gifts to our church and communities that we should embrace in our leadership.

Paul Henry’s attitude has provided us with ‘food for thought’.

For Reflection:

o   What are the factors which determine the depth of pastoral relationship which allow others to minister to me?

o   Is race or ethnicity a determining factor?

o   Could God be challenging me to be open to ministry by someone of a different ethnicity or age group to what I am used to?

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 3

Where do our Ministry Candidates come from? Part 1

(Note: The Introduction to this paper can be found here)

Part 1. Where do they come from? Some vital but general comments regarding candidates.

Our candidates come to us from a variety of different backgrounds.

Several factors influence decisions to engage in intentional leadership training for ministry. The following are particularly true for Palangi candidates.

·       Understanding of Church, God, ministry and ones self

·       Personal skills in ministry and leadership

·       (Personal) Discernment of the call of God to particular ministries

In addition, some cultures emphasize more strongly the call of the community, the wishes of family members, the social status of the family, and the influence of parents or grandparents who have also been ordained. For Palangi candidates, these factors are far less influential.

All candidates come first from our congregations.  Parishes and congregations are the primary ‘breeding ground’ for leadership development – lay and ordained – and it is necessary to recognise the vital importance of the atmosphere of encouragement, discipleship, and leadership (and leadership development) opportunities provided by congregations.

Youth groups, bible classes, cell groups, and fellowship groups (and even committees) all provide an opportunity for a person to grow in their faith, their understanding of God, the church, ministry (in a general sense), themselves and therefore their individual and specific role and place in the church. 

*An important side issue to this is that most people in the church make decisions to become Christians at a young age, often through intentional or regular Children’s ministries and / or through the relationships that they have with other Christians (Parents, family members, other church members, ordained ministers). Other ‘doors’ to Christian discipleship include evangelism, missional projects, Music and Movement groups, and friendships.

In this atmosphere of leadership development - of the possibility of risk and failure, of the graciousness of opportunity, and of the deepening sense of one’s relationship with Jesus Christ – a person is able to develop a confidence in leadership, and a skill and experience base on which to grow their sense of call to ministry. This leadership development is real (worship leading, parish council participation, chairing committees) and cannot be seen as simply a training ground with ‘real ministry’ being done by older or better trained people.

A sense of the call of God to ministry is also part of the discernment process, and can come in a variety of ways – the shoulder tap from a church leader, a course through Trinity College, Laidlaw, Otago University, or EIDTS, the example of a presbyter, a sermon, etc. 

As with faith, the call is personal, but never private.  The call is affirmed by the community of faith in many different ways – parish council, ministry experience, candidates discernment and assessment, etc.

Candidates come from Parishes and congregations, and are most often encouraged by existing lay and ordained church leaders.  Opportunities for ministry development and exercise are one aspect of strong and vibrant churches. 

For Reflection:

o   Is my parish / congregation a place that encourages people to engage in, take risks in and learn about leadership?  If so, how? If not, how can we change?

o   Do we challenge people to ‘go deeper’ in their faith? How can we do this better?

Link to Part 2 (Coming 21 September)

Link to Part 3 (Coming 28 September)

Where do our Ministry Candidates come from? Introduction

Thoughts and Questions on Candidates for Ordained English Speaking Ministry

Introduction

This is the introduction to a 3 part paper, exploring questions around where our candidates come from and how we might better understand the ways in which candidates are given opportunities to explore their call, gifts and skills.

The Methodist Church's Mission Resourcing continues to develop leadership and resources for Children’s Ministries, Youth Ministries, Stationing, Candidating, and workshops on a variety of topics. In this context we recognise the need for intentional identification of leadership resources and development of leaders in all these ministries, both lay and ordained.

This topic is one ‘corner’ of a project being undertaken by Mission Resourcing in leadership development.  In part it has arisen as we look to be more intentional in our leadership development. It has also been raised because of comments made (in regards to both candidating and stationing) that there are “no palangi candidates available”.

NOTES:

·       * indicates areas which may be further explored

·       Where this paper may be lacking or unclear, where other areas may need to be explored, or where the paper can be strengthened, please feel free to get in touch with me (nigel@missionresourcing.org.nz).

Introduction

People wanting to consider and be considered for Ordained ministry (“Candidates”) in the Methodist Church of New Zealand come from within our congregations. They experience a calling from God, from those around them and from their parishes or congregations.  These are exceptional people who reconsider their life’s direction, their career and their future in the light of an identifiable (or sometimes vague) sense of being drawn to or pushed to consider something new.

Over the past few years, our candidates ‘pool’ has been increasingly filled with Tongan and Samoan candidates, many of whom are making themselves available for English Speaking ministry. These have been accepted, trained and stationed and in most cases have worked well.  *Further mentoring and ‘cultural adaptation’ that are required (a separate topic) - but these intentional interventions are often required in adapting to any new ministry situations (urban to rural, Methodist to Cooperative Venture, big city to provincial).

However questions have arisen about why we are not recruiting more Palangi candidates for ministry.  This paper seeks to raise some of the issues associated with this question, answer some questions and raise others.  This paper is intended to guide the thinking, discussion and planning of the Mission Resourcing Board, Synods and anyone who wants to participate, towards new decisions and intentional actions, and is offered to the wider church.

In this paper, the term “Palangi” is a Tongan word which describes those of ‘European’ descent or ethnicity as against those of (e.g.) Indian, Samoan, Tongan, or Asian background.  Factors related to English language ability or cultural background are not implied in the use of these terms.

Link to Part 1 

Link to Part 2 (Coming a bit later)

Link to Part 3 (Will arrive after the last one)