May 21, 2013

August 16, 2012


Two Differentiation Ideas for Large Parishes

A friend of mine from a large parish in a revisionist diocese emailed me, chastising me for not offering many good differentiating ideas for large parishes.  Below’s a bit of what I emailed her, slightly edited.

RE: differentiation for large significant parishes like yours.

I’ll tell you what, I’ve held back—got a couple of cards “close to my vest.”  It seems to me that a parish like yours in a hostile revisionist diocese could do two big things that would both *strengthen* and *differentiate*.

The big one is . . . I think you could very well decide to become a sort of regional discipleship hub for that diocese and geography.  I could see your parish holding big discipleship events with great speakers [like Tim Keller, for instance] . . . in an effort to disciple and evangelize Episcopalians in the pews, from all over.  I’d ally myself with other denominations to become such a center as well—with invitations to everyone to come.  Such speakers on the one hand wouldn’t be political—but on the other hand, the revisionist activists would hate them because they teach the gospel.  ; > )

The more publicity and outreach and training and magnificent events you hold, the more *your parish* becomes the hub rather than the ineffective diocesan house.  And the more you become the hub, the more power you accrue. It’s mighty hard to go after a parish that has that kind of clout, and is also staying in TEC.

Ultimately . . . you’d snatch the *leadership vision* right out of the paws of the bishop and the diocesan house.  Your parish would be the de facto leader even if it did not have that title.

The other thing I’d do on a smaller level is . . . go through your laypeople and think through which ones are 1) informed, 2) thoughtful, 3) orthodox, 4) strategic, 5) trustworthy, and 6) active [all of those are tough ones to find, much less bring together]. There might be a score or more of people like that.

And I’d focus on them with strategic workshops and training on how to survive and perhaps even thrive in a hostile organization like your diocese.

. . . It’s in-depth stuff, and only for people who are completely trustworthy.

One person I’d bring in for this kind of workshop/training is [edited].

Anyway—those are two of my ideas for large parishes.

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3 comments

One key to becoming a resource center is to promote your programs within the diocese in spite of the up turned noses and bad mouthing they will get, the absence of mention in diocesan e-mails or publications, all those things that will be barriers to growth of discipleship from within the diocese. 

“...the revisionist activists would hate them because they teach the gospel.  ; > )”

Of course, out reach to the un-churched before the revisionist diocese gets their fingers into them is the key to discipleship.

[1] Posted by Undergroundpewster on 8-17-2012 at 08:23 AM · [top]

I would suggest consideration of creating an independent charitable entity to support orthodox Anglicanism in the area, if only because, as time passes, more and more parishioners will feel it poor stewardship to leave money sitting in even an orthodox TEC parish other than enough to pay the bills.  You want to make yourself an unattractive takeover target - and one that is capable of easily continuing outside TEC if they should come after you.

And you need to start planning for future rectors - in many cases, the parish and diocese know full well that the diocese is only waiting till the retirement of the current rector and will then take over the call process.

Unfortunately, these are very wearying things to be spending your time and money on.  That is why some conclude that starting over in the ACNA is better.  But every parish, every diocese and every parishioner is in a different situation, and must pray.

[2] Posted by pendennis88 on 8-17-2012 at 08:47 AM · [top]

My parish was a large parish in the diocese. Now it’s a large parish in an ACNA diocese (not the point and not suggesting current large TEC parishes leave).  Here is what they did while still in the TEC diocese:

- This is a big one: Keep the parish regularly informed either through letters to the parish or semi-regular meetings of what’s happening in TEC.  (The current diocese is more than happy to have parishes in the dark. One less parish they have to bother with.)

- Have a strong orthodox education program for adults and youth. 

- This sounds like a no-brainer but preach sermons that emphasize the Gospel—strongly.

- Pour yourselves out through foreign and local outreach.

- Have plenty of parish life opportunities that encourage involvement of the entire parish.  In this way, the parish is held together as a strong Gospel-oriented community.

The parish will stand out as firmly holding up the light of Christ in the midst of darkness surounding them. There are probably more but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

[3] Posted by flaanglican on 8-17-2012 at 09:20 AM · [top]

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