Where is the door to God? In the sound of a barking dog.
In the ring of a hammer, in a drop of rain, in the face of everyone, everyone I see.
Where is the door to the divine tavern? Yes, in all we can behold.
“Where is the Door to the Tavern,” Hafiz, trans. by Daniel Ladinsky
“So who then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” — I Corinthians 3:5-6 (NRSV)
Hello church, and welcome to one of my final letters to you all, set here in the aftermath of my announcement to accept a call to ministry at Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC, in Southborough. It came at an opportune time, as it did, on the eve of our Annual Meeting, and I must admit I took a lot of the focus away from other things that needed attention. Now we are in the swirl of this team and that committee, as we navigate our way together toward an interim ministry at Franklin Federated Church and a settled pastorate beyond that.
Through all of this, I have been reminded at different times that I have been able to lead you in certain ways when the seas are calm. But when the winds start blowing again, as they always do in times of transition, it’s important for me to note the ways of leading that are best for times like these. Enter Peter L. Steinke, with his excellent book, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times.
This book is a Godsend. It is rooted in the concepts of Bowen Family Systems, and it acknowledges the ways that individuals in a church are in relationship with one another, and the ways they sometimes support and sometimes smash up against each other. When the system is at rest, individuals are still in motion. Their hearts, their minds, their energies and programs and desires are all churning beneath the surface. But it all flows along fine when anxiety is in check.
With transition comes uncertainty. We don’t know what God will do next at Franklin Federated Church. We just don’t! And with uncertainty, comes anxiety. The premise of Steinke’s book, as I understand it, is that helpful leaders meet times of anxiety with a core of compassionate calm. For the good of the church, they “take thoughtful actions, risk goodwill for the sake of truth, stay the course (hold steady) and manage self.” (Steinke, 149) They hold to the principles that got them where they are in the first place, and they aren’t afraid of conflict or creative differences. By differentiating themselves, they recognize that though they are in the system, they can stand outside it and view it dispassionately. I hope you’ve felt my calm through the process as we move to our time of transition, and I urge you to consider this book.
Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times is written for church leaders (ministers, officers, etc.) but you lead in your own way in the ministries you’re a part of. As Mark Sanborn says in his great short book, You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader, “We don’t need a title, or an organization, to lead. What we need is nothing more nor less than a burning desire to make a positive difference and an awareness of the opportunities to lead that present themselves each day—at work, at home, with our friends and relatives, within our communities.” (Sanborn, 103) So I hope you’ll consider Steinke’s work in light of any possible anxiety you may be feeling.
Finally, one of the most important things we can do at the beginning or the end of a ministry (and this is truly both) is communicate what’s happening, as we go along. Paul was one of our greatest communicators in the faith: he states and overstates what should have been obvious to all, but he does it with clarity and patience. The first letter to the Corinthians is a great example: Paul planted the church at Corinth, a fellow evangelist Apollos watered (encouraged and supported) it, and God grew it! They would have known this at Corinth, but their anxiety got in the way. Paul takes time to remind them in this timeless epistle.
Life in 2020 doesn’t move at the speed of epistles. It goes just a tiny bit faster. Considering that, it’s important for me and others in the leadership of Franklin Federated Church to practice “over” communication…if there is such a thing! To that end, we’re going to have Information Sessions from now until I leave on the odd Sundays, beginning March 1st, and continuing March 15th, March 29th and April 5th. Think of these as little All-Church Open Meetings, to bring everyone up to speed on what’s happening with our ministry transition. You’ll hear from me and other church leaders, you can ask any questions you want, and just generally share in the process. The Transition Team and the Interim Minister Search Team can let us know how their progress is going. We’ll share everything that’s happening and bring everyone up to speed. We don’t want anyone to feel left out or uninformed.
That’s it for now. I began this letter with a poem by Hafiz, the beloved mystic poet celebrated by Ralph Waldo Emerson, among many others. This poem speaks to me today, because I want to remember that God is still speaking: when the ship is at rest, when it’s rocking on heavy seas, and at every time in between. We will find God together at work in this transition as well. And with God on our side, we’re going to continue to share the Good News of Jesus with Franklin and the world beyond.
In Christ,
Pastor Charley Eastman