Public narrative offers Episcopalians leadership training, call to mission

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, July 17, 2009 [Episcopal News Service -- Anaheim, California] "Mission" was a word Episcopalians used repeatedly during the 76th General Convention.

It was spoken in worship, in committee and floor debates and in a series of structured conversations about how Episcopalians translate their personal faith and their membership in the church into a call to do God's work in the world.

During three 90-minute conversations, convention participants and guests learned the skill of public narrative. The first session focused on the "Story of Self," an exercise in which participants shared the origins of their personal ministries. The story content was broadened in the second session to "Story of Us." The final session sought ways of "Linking Self and Us to Now."

The Rev. Devon Anderson (Minnesota), the volunteer chair of the public narrative project, said in an interview that public narrative "is not a spectator sport.

"It's telling a really compelling story about a defining moment that reveals to other people what our values are," she said. "Hopefully those values connect to the people's values that are listening to you and there's some sense of common purpose."

The Rev. Gail Bennett (New Jersey), who coached one of the table discussions, said after the final session July 13 that "some people really got into the process."

"For some, the telling of their story was new to them, and they were a little timid about that at first," she added. "But then as we went on they were more open and could see how their story related to a story of us as a community, and then they finally realized there was an urgent 'now' -- how do we meet the challenges of now."

The project stems from Resolution D043, passed by General Convention in 2006, calling for a dialogue on mission in the church, and is part of a Harvard University research project, according the Rev. Gregory Straub, executive officer and secretary of General Convention. Marshall Ganz, who teaches the process at Harvard, helped design and facilitate the project.

The public narrative skills were taught at each of the nine provincial synods held in the run-up to General Convention. Some participants in those sessions, such as Bennett, were recruited to help at convention. Another 215 coaches were recruited during the convention, Anderson said.

"The idea was, we don't want this to end when the gavel goes down at General Convention," Anderson said. "The idea is, we've built all this leadership capacity and we've got all these people that have been trained … and then how are we going to take all of that and channel it into something really compelling."

After the final session, some participants praised the experience and some were pondering how they would use their new-found skills back home.

"I think it's a very valuable process," said Bob McCan, a visitor from the Diocese of Virginia. "I've seen in congregations the power of having members tell their story as a way for people to get to know each other in a deeper and more profound way."

Irving Cutter (Oklahoma) said that, while "there's a lot of potential in the process," he was "still kind of puzzled about how it can help overall … I don't understand quite yet how the process can help us come to an understanding of shared or common mission."

Katrina Hamilton (Olympia) said the process gave her "a template to follow" to tell the story of her experience in Anaheim.

"I don't necessarily feel prepared or compelled to teach it to others, but certainly to use it myself," she said.

Patty Tew (Central Florida) said her diocese already puts a priority on mission, so she was glad her diocese got to continue its conversation while at convention.

However, she said, she'd "much rather us spend less time at General Convention talking this game of mission and just knowing that that's what Christ calls us to."

"We just need to live as Christ calls us and to do our daily mission," said Tew. "Our mission field is in front of us day in and day out, and I think that's something I've been frustrated about at this particular General Convention."

Anderson said that several things happened in Anaheim that put Episcopalians on the brink of exciting work. She called "prophetic" the convention's decision to dedicate 0.7 percent of income to U.N. Millennium Development Goals and a like amount to domestic-poverty initiatives.

"Despite every reason that they had not to do it, they did it, and then they built the budget around the commitment to eradicating domestic and global poverty," Anderson said. "I thought they showed extraordinary leadership, so we have the model now of what we're called to do."

Resolution D018 calls for Episcopalians to spend Lent 2010 in "penitential reflection" on global economic issues, using resources to be developed by a number of organizations, including Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, of which Anderson is the executive director.

She called the convention's resolution to "encourage dioceses, congregations and individuals to remember and support the lifesaving work of Episcopal Relief and Development during Lent through prayer and a special offering" a critical part of the foundation for mission built in Anaheim.

Anderson predicted that Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation would be part of a post-convention effort to unite various advocacy groups for mission and ministry.

"We can't rely on our big structures to do our work for us," she said. "We really need to mobilize the grassroots. We have every reason to think we that we're going to be successful. All of the conditions are right for that to happen."

More information on the public narrative project is available here.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent of Episcopal News Service.

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