leadership conf

This can be a very effective way of helping your parish be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in is life and maintaining an improvement process.

Purposes of Leadership Conferences/Retreats

Developing strategies and plans for the improvement of parish life & ministry. This would be based on a process of reflecting on and learning about, the whole, or some area of parish life
Community building among parish leaders
Spiritual development
Increasing the common competencies of parish leaders for the above. Part of our purpose is for the vestry and other leaders to increase their skills and knowledge for congregational development and leadership.

These four elements of the leadership conference are interrelated. The assumption is that they support and build on one another.

Conference Assumptions

1. The conference would take place around the same time each year

2. Participants would always include at least the rector and vestry. -- Participation could be expanded to other parish leaders (e.g., leaders of ministries and committees, past vestry members, etc.). -- It could also be an open-invitation event. All vestry members would be expected to participate but any member would be welcome. Those attending would fully participate in the conference work and in the initial follow-up efforts that flow out of the conference.

3. The conference would include work, worship, meals and social time.

--The optimal conditions for a conference include a location away from the parish for two nights/three days, in a setting that is renewing while allowing for group work. The rector can have other clergy cover the Eucharist in the parish, celebrate with the vestry; this format allows more time for building community among people, and allows the time to not make the conference too "driven" and rushed. --A leadership conference is no less than a Friday night, Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. which could be on site at the parish or at a conference center.

4. Phone and e-mail work with a small working group, including the rector (usually two conference calls to discuss where the parish is, the needs the team sees, etc.; I write up a set of objectives and a broad design for the event and send it to the group for suggestions, based on the suggestions I produce a "final" draft for use). The group would be selected be the rector/vestry a few months before the conference. The group may be asked to gather information from the vestry and/or others to help establish the goals. The group would also mange conference logistical issues.

5. Each year’s conference would include all four of the purposes in some fashion while being designed around the current needs of the parish.

6. The conference design is understood as being adaptable. It is normal for issues to surface during the conference or for the group’s attention and interest to be drawn to some aspects of the work over others. The group’s energy needs to be taken into account as the conference progresses.

7. One aspect of the consultant’s role is to ask the group to try new ways of exploring decision making, community building and spiritual development and for the group to generally be willing to enter into the exploration of those new ways.

Possible Effects of Having a Conference

There are a variety of ways in which the pattern of having leadership conferences may impact a parish:

Leadership formation as people gain confidence in being parish leaders
Greater sense of what it is to be a leader in the church. An ability to relate leadership to the unique purposes and dynamics of a parish.
Setting parish issues in a broader and deeper context. Relating issues to the parish’s spiritual life and dynamics, to the trends and forces in the parish’s environment, to the primary task of a parish church, etc.
Becoming more strategic
The identification of potential leaders (if the conference if an open-invitation event).
Increased follow-through on parish issues, e.g., membership growth, ministry development, etc.
Having an additional way to hear and engage the "rubs" that naturally and usefully emerge in a parish as people have concerns and/or ideas for change. A Conference can be part of how parish leaders stay aware of external social and wider organizational forces and shifts from within the organization. This approach to managing organizational change can keep the system in touch with itself and its environment, create a "demand system" for continuous improvement, help negotiate differences, and prevent the development of high conflict levels.

Agreement

Our agreement would be for Bob Gallagher to lead the conference for at least the next three years. We want to begin with the assumption of working together for a long enough period to allow a building effect in both the work and the relationships. The agreement can be ended if either Bob or the parish believe that there is an inadequate "fit" after the first or second year. If we agree to do the third year we will begin to operate on a rollover agreement in which we assume a pattern of working together a year-out (e.g., if we plan to have the conference in 2006, 2007 is also assumed, and so on into the future). This understanding provides the parish with reliable service and the consultant with a somewhat stable work arrangement. Illness, weather and other events may necessitate rescheduling (e.g., if the rector were unable to attend because he is sick in bed we would reschedule)

The current fee level fee (2003- 04) is $3,500.00/year plus expenses (includes travel, private room with bath, conference materials, etc.). This covers the conference itself (whether one or two nights), a couple of advance phone meetings for planning, conference design, and conference follow-up phone and/or e-mail consultation during the year. If additional work is required or planning meetings are held on-site there would be additional charges.

Next Steps if you want to arrange for a leadership conference

Contact me to discuss and clarify the agreement. This is usually done by phone and e-mail. If the parish wants this done on-site there would be a charge for the time and expenses.
Develop an agreement that includes this document and anything specific to this situation. Indicate agreement by e-mail or signing the document and retuning it.
Set dates for conferences in the next two years. Parish arranges for a location.
Set a date for the consultant to talk with the working group that will help establish conference goals and deal with logistics.