The Power of Narrative The Exile and Role of the EP

1. The Power of Narrative The Exile and Role of the EP

2. “The principal vehicle of leadership is the story: the leader affects individual behavior, thought, and feelings through the stories that he and she tells.” Howard Gardner, Harvard Professor and author of Changing Minds

3. Congregational Stories • The spoiled child into the responsible adult • The abused victim into the empowered person • The forgotten younger sibling into the self-defined adult

4. The more articulated the current story, the more choice and empowerment there is for starting a new story

5. “The stories that people tell are the container that holds their world together and gives meaning to their lives.” --Andrew Ramer

6. “A life becomes more meaningful when one sees himself or herself as an actor within the context of a story.” --George Howard “All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.” --Isak Dinesen

7. The vital element of our work as leaders of Presbytery and consultants to congregations is: To help people and congregations hear, remember and believe where the Church is headed, and then inspire people to act in line with that belief.

8. Meta-narratives of the Church • Christendom Narrative • Crusader Narrative • “Make Disciples” Narrative

9. The Exile as an Emerging Meta-narrative

10. Why the Exile Narrative describes us well • We are at a time of loss and grief – lamentation • We are a suffering servant • The old structures and practices no longer work • We don’t feel at home anywhere • We are being forced into a new reality

11. Why the Exile Narrative describes us well • We are being scattered and not united • Some go, some stay, some seek safety, some assimilate • We have to engage a culture that is not our own • Our pathways to God have evaporated • We are having trouble singing our songs

12. Why the Exile Narrative describes us well • Our actions are characterized by anger, desperation, and anxiety • We sequester ourselves with others of same beliefs • We tend to go overboard in purifying the community practices and beliefs • We experiment with the new in scattered places and leave the exile in dribs and drabs

13. How the Exile Narrative is helpful • It brings us to look at what no longer works – and to confession • It brings us to see how God is forming us anew- the Potter’s hands • It puts us in a larger context – and a possible future • It forces us to engage the culture around us – “seek the welfare”

14. How the Exile Narrative is helpful • It calls us to be attentive, to be watchful – the “new thing” • It calls us to live distinctly in a changing world – “show us the way” • It frees us to experiment as a method of discernment • It acknowledges that the church/presbytery is only provisional • Our home is in God whom we carry with us

15. How our Presbytery has engaged the Exile Narrative • Storytelling by the EP • Devotions of Committees • Table conversation • Exile language in policies and procedures and processes • Used the Potter’s Hands as our image

16. The Exile in Southern New England • Has put dismissal of congregation in context • Has justified our involvement in immigrant ministries • Has opened us to explore new ways of doing our work • Has prepared us to be more free with our bylaws

17. The Exile in Southern New England • Has created environments for sharing our experiences • Has united us in the search for how God is forming us • Has given meaning and hope to our losses • Has connected our smaller stories to a larger narrative • It legitimizes discernment over parliamentary procedure

18. “For exiles trying to live faithfully within the host empire of post-Christendom, the Gospel stories are our most dangerous memories. They continue to fire our imaginations and remind us that it’s possible to thrive on foreign soil while serving Yahweh.” --Michael Frost

19. How can the church/presbytery adapt to this new exile experience? • Reduce demands • Raise adaption capacity

20. Reducing DemandsLeadership regulates: Volume – Number of changes Momentum – Swiftness of implementing change Complexity – How much information is needed to describe change

21. Raising Adaption Capacity Increase change management literacy Project specific knowledge System change knowledge Generic change knowledge

22. Raising Adaption Capacity Focus on process rather than outcomes Delineate difference between trips and journeys Trips are inevitable Journeys are discretionary Leaders put trips in context of journeys

23. Raising Adaption Capacity Trips Trip mentality: “this will save us!” Trips produce fear Fear addressed by answering questions about events Journeys Journey mentality: “this will change us” Journeys produce anxiety Anxiety addressed by describing possibilities and probabilities

24. Role of the EP Teller of exile stories “This is what we are experiencing in exile...” Prophetic voice “This is what God may be trying to do with us...” Regulator of the change demands Selecting and pacing the leverage points Architect of the change capacity

25. “Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.” --Salman Rushdie