May 20, 2020
Sixth Wednesday in Easter
“Inspiring.”
“Empowering.”
“A process of deep listening, building on the reflections of others.”
On Saturday, May 16, your Vestry, the Ministry Council leaders, and I spent just over four hours together on Zoom, participating in a Mutual Ministry Review (MMR) facilitated by the Rev. Betsey Monnot. While this may sound like a dreary way to spend a beautiful weekend morning, the comments generated at the end of our time together tell a different tale.
As far as we know, we’re the first congregation to conduct a digital MMR. Our process and some initial outcomes are sketched out below.
Late in 2019 the Vestry committed to conducting an MMR, something that had not happened at St. Martin’s for several years. The 2020 Vestry appointed Elise Keddie, Ann Liu, Jessie Ann Owens, and Bob Polkinghorn to be the Mutual Ministry Review Design Team.
After Betsey Monnot facilitated our Vestry Retreat in February, it was clear that she would be the ideal person to lead us through this structured time of evaluation and reflection. Early on we all agreed that the Ministry Council should be involved in the process in order to ensure an even broader representation of parish interests, demographics, and ministry areas.
So far, so good. Then came the shelter-in-place orders. And a new plan had to evolve.
The MMR Design Team and I began meeting with Betsey weekly via Zoom. A couple of things became clear to me early on. First, this was an ambitious group with great vision; in true St. Martin’s fashion they were going to be reaching for the stars. Betsey called our plans an “MMR on steroids”! Second, the team was and is genuinely led by a deep devotion to the parish. They exhibit a sense of collaboration and pastoral concern for all of our members that has moved and motivated me.
The pandemic slowed us down but did not stop us. By the time May 16 rolled around we had a grounded, structured, thoughtful plan in place that generated deep discussions and insights. The dynamic was energizing and hope-filled as we broke into small groups and considered eight goals that had been identified as guiding the work of the parish over the last three years. We tried to decide whether and to what degree the goals had been met, but also grapple with the more elusive issue of how things were being accomplished: Have we been doing God’s work in a loving and life-giving way, or are there ways in which our processes had (unintentionally, of course) created hurt, confusion, or conflict?
Your Vestry and Ministry Council leaders will be communicating more details about the insights generated and how we will use those insights to continue to improve our congregational life and mission. Speaking for myself, I noticed that as we worked to synthesize all we had learned themes emerged and coalesced around a desire for meaning, connection, and deeper relationships. This is very good news. It shows that we are following the commandment of Jesus to love one another and that we want to do even better. And, to be sure, while how we do these things will look different in this time of pandemic, these are things that we can do regardless of how long our physical distancing and phased reopening prevails.
As your rector, I share that sense of empowerment and inspiration we heard in our closing comments. It was, in short, a milestone day for me. My confidence in the lay leadership of St. Martin’s has been buoyed to new heights. I cannot thank everyone involved enough for their hard work, their faithfulness, and their unwavering dedication to this parish. There is no question in my mind that we are a healthy, engaged, and vital congregation, and that this Mutual Ministry Review process will lead to even greater health and vitality in our parish over the long term.
And we’re not done yet. We’re still working on an articulating and prioritizing the goals we identified and figuring out next steps in terms of communicating with the whole parish and receiving feedback and input from all of you. Stay tuned!
Blessings,
Pamela+
