At the past Presbytery Assembly I shared a new Mission Statement for the presbytery:

Pursuing worship, service, and communities of justice, we are the Presbytery of Chicago, flourishing together by relating people, neighbors, and churches to one another in Christ Jesus.

Our vision is simple. Pursuing, Flourishing, and Relating. It is through these activities we are the presbytery of Chicago.

I will take the next few blogs to unpack the mission statement. The goal is to have a statement that energizes our congregations and committees. The mission statement is connected to our commitment to be a Matthew 25 presbytery. The Presbyterian Mission Agency describes Matthew 25 as a bold vision. To have energizing and bold vision is important for leadership. But there is another aspect of leadership we must also consider as we exit the pandemic and live into a new church reality. This may also be a time for leaders to hold their congregations and institutions.

In the Harvard Business Review article, The Psychology Behind Effective Crisis Leadership, Gianpiero Petriglieri describes the leadership posture of holding. “It describes the way another person, often an authority figure, contains and interprets what’s happening in times of uncertainty. When a leader is holding, “They think clearly, offer reassurance, orient people, and help them stick together. That work is as important as inspiring others.”

The concept of holding is taken from studies that show that children who are held grow up to become healthy adults who can respond in positive ways to difficult circumstance. There are times parents must hold a child and create a holding environment to provide comfort and confidence in times of crises. Petriglieri takes this concept of interpersonal holding and expands it to institutional holding, which includes policies that promote equality and fairness, promotes inclusive dialogue and communication that brings people together instead of polarizing them.

Holding is what I experienced when a session crafted communication to the congregation informing them that although the congregation experienced crisis, the session is responding, healing is taking place, and the church is learning from the experience. Holding is having a staff meeting after a staff member has been dismissed to remind the remaining staff that their positions are secure, the released staff is being supported, and the finance committee is working hard to make the church or institution is financially stable. This work of holding is very important. Without it, “Anxiety, anger, and fragmentation ensue.”

As we move into the vision God is calling Chicago presbytery to become, let us move forward in unison; supporting and encouraging one another, while holding each other as become presbytery together.

Rev. Craig Howard

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28th at 4:00 pm, will be our first Presbytery Assembly of 2023. In my sermon to the presbytery, I look forward to discussing a new mission and vision statement. I also look forward to challenging the presbytery to live up to its commitment to be a Matthew 25 presbytery. Matthew 25 is a vision put forward by the Presbyterian Mission Agency. It challenges each presbytery and congregation to focus on three aspirations:

Building congregational vitality

Dismantling structural racism

Eradicating systemic poverty

When it comes to the aspirations of our presbytery and life together, we agree that we want to be a relevant, vital church of Jesus Christ in our community and world. But once we move from aspirations to strategy, from the “what” to the “how” we discover areas of tension and disagreement.

For example, some believe that for their church to grow, they need a young pastor with children. Others may feel the church just needs to have yoga classes or other events open to the community. Still others think the church needs to advertise and market to attract more people. All of these are different ideas and strategies for the same aspiration of growing the church.

The real challenge for our presbytery and congregations is to have honest conversations with one another. Even when we can’t agree, it is important that we listen to one another and try to grasp the other’s point of view.

In coaching, there are three levels of listening.

Level 1: Internal Listening, where we focus on ourselves, our experiences, our opinions as they are related to what’s being said.

Level 2: Focused Listening, where we listen to the other person. Our thoughts do not enter into the conversation, but curiosity can.

Level 3: Global Listening, where we listen to what isn’t being said such as body language, the inflections and tone of their voice, their pauses, and hesitations.

So often we are stuck at level 1 of listening. But we are challenged to move from level 1 to level 3. In his effort to connect us to level 3 listening, Ron Heifetz, one of the authors of The Practice of Adaptive Challenge put it this way: “A leader needs to cultivate ways of listening to people both musically and analytically, so you can hear the songs beneath the words and detect the underlying values, loyalties and interests that are at stake and being protected.”

As we move forward and get out to see one another in this post-COVID world, let’s talk and really listen to one another. Let’s try and hear the song beneath the words and the music of the heart. May we value one another and realize that it is alright when we disagree about our aspirations and what we value. Being a Matthew 25 presbytery means learning through risk and experimentation. Through listening and hearing, we will find our way forward, together.

 

One of the many learnings from the pandemic is that there is a necessary toughness needed to be a pastor or church leader. And it may come with a price. If we are not careful, over time this toughness creates a thick skin, and we become a hardened and frozen botox smile. We fear sharing true feelings, lack trust in members and colleagues, and even lose touch with the God-center-seed in our hearts. Lent is the opportunity to crack the layers of thick calcium that develops while doing the work of ministry. Lent provides an opportunity to strip away folds ofhurt, pain, and grief. Lent forces us to deflate our egos as we ponder ashes. Lent brings us back to the basics of prayer and word, solitude, and service.

Thanks to the wisdom of Rev. Deborah Block at Emanuel presbyterian church in Milwaukee, for the past 10 years I’ve read a book a week during Lent. In addition to my Lenten reading this year, I’m revisiting God Hunger: Discovering the Mystic in All of Us by John Kirvan. This book grounds me. It reminds me that although I’m just an ordinary person, I have fallen in love with a God who seeks me as much as I seek God. Kirvan reminds us that, “We are seeking to replace ‘success’ as the standard of our lives with a spirit centeredness. . . It’s a reversal that requires us to turn our lives upside down, inside out.”

I am looking forward to this Lenten journey. I’m inviting the Presbytery of Chicago to journey with me. Each of our congregations have special worship services. Some have Lenten devotionals and Lenten programs that encourage the congregation to walk together. There are resources available in the Presbyterian Outlook and on the PCUSA website as well.

As we walk with God and with one another during this Lenten journey, may we be guided by these words of Kirvan: “The God we pursue is also our pursuer. What keeps us apart is not God’s distance but our flight. We need perhaps more than anything else, to stop running and let ourselves be caught.” May it be so with each of us.

My books for Lent 2023

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas

Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss

Rev. Craig M. Howard