Area News

Alice Mann and Growing the Church

Reported by A.V. Terry Bennett

Alice Mann speaking at Grace Church, Markham. Photo courtesy of Grace Church Markham, IMG_3217

Several diocesan parishes began studying and sharing their concerns on moving from ‘pastoral’ to ‘program’ churches. In York-Simcoe the parishes of Grace, Markham and St. James, Orillia began with the written works of Alice Mann. Alice is an Episcopal priest and an author that works out of The Alban Institute. John Read had attended one of her workshops in the U.S. and recommended her highly. The people of St. James were using her current book, “Raising the Roof” when a lay member of that group suggested we bring her to a second annual seminar on ‘church growth’ at St. James. The Alban Institute signalled their willingness to help us and bring Alice to Canada.

Once her services were contracted for a day session in Orillia, Alice proposed her willingness to do an evening beforehand. Grace Church, Markham jumped to have her for the Friday evening. So the two churches set out to raise the consciousness of the Diocese of Toronto and our nearest neighbours in Algoma. Both John Read and Terry Bennett were anxious about the initial lack of response, yet as the day grew closer we nearly sold out! Unfortunately the weather was problematic that week and weekend. Many had to cancel their tickets. We still had 70+ attend at Grace on Friday evening and 150+ at St. James on Saturday.

Alice Mann was dynamic. She spoke about transitional areas for churches and barriers to growth. She used Arlin Rothauges’ chart for gauging a church as Family, Pastoral, Program and Corporate. It allowed her to develop her theories on an N curve that shows how the size of a church and congregation suffers tremendous challenges in moving between categories. The audience was encouraged to ask questions and yet were mesmerized for hours as the energy of this woman carried us along in amazing areas we needed to hear. There was something in her presentations for all size churches. It was a worthwhile experience for all who attended and not easily forgotten!

If you have any news items that you would like to share with the wider community, please email us at ysimcoe@toronto.anglican.ca

ARCHIVES

Bishop Elliott's Easter Message 2007

Greetings in the Name of the Crucified, Risen and Ascended Lord Jesus!

Dear Friends in Christ,

The week ahead is probably one of the busiest weeks in the life of a parish. It is also, in my experience, the one week of the year that focuses my full attention on the unfolding of God's gift of salvation to me and to all humankind. From Palm Sunday to Easter morn, I bump up agaist events in Jesus' lift that touch me to the deepest core. Incredibly, I find myself in these same events, wondering time and again how Jesus endured, following faithfully the path unfolding before him. It is a week that reminds me that there is no life without death, no gain without pain, no possibility for new hope without despair and loss.

I don't know about you, but this week that we call Holy is a microcosm of the challenges I face week in and week out. Whether it is world issues, issues within the church or the society around me, or those things with which I wrestle in my heart of hearts, it can at times seem totally overwhelming. Yet, my journey through Holy Week will not only remind me of this reality, it will push open wide the doors which allow God's grace and mercy and healing to break in. This week will help me, as I hope it helps you, to re-focus my life in order to take up again God's call of service to God and to my neighbour in the ministry I share with you as a bishop in the Church Of God.

May God bless you, your families, and those with whom you share ministry here in York-Simcoe.

Yours faithfully,

+George Elliott

Area Conference energizes volunteers

By Stuart Mann

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Suzanne Lawson, left, and Marilyn MacKenzie lead the Energizing Volunteers conference at All Saints, King City. Photo by Michael Hudson

Volunteering at her church has not only deepened Angela Reid’s faith, it has enriched her life.

Ms. Reid sings in the choir at St. James, Sharon, and is a member of the church’s advisory board. She also helps out at the yard sale.

“I do it to feel part of it,” she says. “It makes me feel like I’m giving something to my community and my church.”

As a single mother, she values the church’s warm and supportive environment. “I enjoy the time I spend with my son at the church, and he has special friends there. I’ve got very good friends who can help me whenever I need them, and I help them when I can.”

Ms. Reid was a participant at Energizing Volunteers, a conference held at All Saints, King City, on Sept. 28-29. The purpose of the event was to help clergy and laity create exciting opportunities for volunteers in their parishes. A similar workshop will be held at St. Peter’s, Cobourg, on Nov. 2-3.

Marilyn MacKenzie, one of the conference leaders, says Ms. Reid’s experiences are one of the reasons that churches should nurture their volunteers. “It’s important for the church to do that because it engages the heart, head, hand and spirit of individuals in the parish. It will get people excited and committed and invested in what’s going on.”

Ms. MacKenzie, an expert in volunteer administration, says there are three key ways to energize volunteers. The first is to make sure that there is a good fit between the skills that the person brings and the tasks that are assigned. She knows first-hand what it is like to be asked to do something that she has neither the passion nor aptitude for.

“One of the reasons why I got interested in this subject was because in my church they always wanted me to be in the kitchen washing dishes,” she says. “I don’t want to wash dishes even at home, let alone in church. I’m a trainer and a consultant. I’m interested in ideas and how they effect people, so putting me in the kitchen was a very poor fit. I’d always come home saying, ‘I’m never going again,’ instead of feeling that I was doing something that I love and meeting all sorts of people.”

She says the second key thing is to make sure that volunteers are supported. Too often churches make the mistake of asking someone to take on a task, then leaving them alone, without assistance or encouragement, until the job is done. Or conversely, they micro-manage the person and the work.

“You need to help people choose a couple of priorities that they want to work on,” she says. “You also want to encourage them not to take on too much, because too often we leave volunteers with the sense that they didn’t do enough, and they come away with a negative feeling instead of thinking, ‘Wow, I achieved two great things and I feel really good about that.”

She says people need clear guidelines and expectations about the task they’re being asked to do. “They want to know, ‘What do you want me to do? What does success look like?’ Often we don’t really make it clear what they have to do to be successful.”

She says it’s important to have someone in the background supporting the volunteers. Ideally, it should be a layperson who has held senior positions in the church and would now like to mentor, support and coach new people. They can pass on their wisdom to a new group of leaders. “People are thrilled to be asked to do this and it’s a nice acknowledgment of their work,” she says.

The third key component of energizing volunteers is to listen to their opinions and attitudes. “We need to listen and take seriously their fears and criticisms, not in a defensive way, but to explore how we can do things differently.”

A trend that is changing the way people volunteer – and how organizations work with volunteers – is the ever-shrinking amount of free time in a person’s life. For parents with children who are involved in sports and other activities, it is often a struggle just to get to church, let alone volunteer there.

Ms. MacKenzie says one of the solutions is to break down volunteer jobs into manageable chunks. Someone might not take on the role of a churchwarden, but they will do some of the tasks that a churchwarden does. She also suggests that churches should think seriously about stopping or changing the way they do some things. “Do we have to meet? Can we do it by email? Can we do it by phone in a conference call?”

One of the things she is seeing is that fewer people are volunteering for long-term tasks such as sitting on a committee or board. Rather, they prefer to apply their skills to short-term jobs on an as-needed basis. She recommends that churches form work groups to tackle particular projects. The group should include people with the right skill set, and the job should be of a three- or six-month duration.

“The more we ask how we can break our work into three-month segments, and how we can support people so that they don’t feel they are doing it all alone, the better we’ll be,” she says.

A church that has energized volunteers will be a busy place that is engaged in a diverse range of activities, she says. “You will have people doing non-traditional kinds of activities as their contribution to the church – things that maybe we haven’t even thought about. The surrounding community will see the church as a real asset. The church will be looking at not just what they are doing inside the walls but also outside. It will take its place as a service agency that represents Anglicans in that community.”

For more information and to register for the conference in Cobourg on Nov. 2-3, visit the Energizing Volunteers webpage at www.toronto.anglican.ca.

Conference leaders Marilyn MacKenzie and Suzanne Lawson, standing, look on as the Rev. Heather McCance, right, makes a point at the Energizing Volunteers conference. Photo by Michael Hudson