the art of hosting & harvesting 2013 Stewardship Institute March 16, 2013 Lake Opechee Inn and Conference Center
the fourfold practice
Difference of kind, not degree! Though you may recognize some common-sense elements to the Art of, it s important to be clear that these processes lead us to a very different place than we know to inhabit. Our old structures relied on processes that lead to agreement. These processes are designed around generating commitment to wise and courageous action, in community. We need each other to bring our whole selves in order for that to happen! Bring what you have and take what you need. Malachi 3:10
AFTER: If you had the tools and some wise prac;ces, as well as a community that supports you, what do you think the results might be? solicit responses. If you choose to join this, here is what you can expect! You'll get comfortable with inversions - flipping our sacred assump;ons over onto their backs. Turning them upside down. In fact, Peter Block claims that rebuilding community starts with finding inversions for each of our pesky assump;ons. He lists a few crazy ones like, "What if the chicken is the egg's way of reproducing?" Or, instead of "God has a church and that church has a mission", the inversion we already know is, "God has a mission and osen that mission involves the church we love so dearly." Another inversion addresses what we think of as the Center of God s Presence and Ac;vity versus the margins. Where is the Center and where is the margin? I d love to believe that I am always at the Center of God s mission! The story of 2 Kings 7 is all about an inversion! Redemp;on came to this city under siege, not through restructuring the center of leadership. It didn't even come by the smartest people coming up with their best strategies. It actually came to them from the very perimeter - the ragged edges of their ordered world. The Center could only see the enemy and the scarcity and the power struggles between the Prophet and the Mayor. The lepers had nothing to lose. "If we stay here, we die of starva;on." That was a tough moment for them. You might say that they were opening up new possibili;es by hos;ng that short snippet of an exchange. So, when they les by the small gate, in the darkness of that night, they les order and entered chaos - the chaos of uncertainty. So, in reality, you might say that God's center was emerging from the edges of the city's ordered way of surviving a siege. God's center - the place from which hope emerged - that center was nowhere near the consciousness of the city's respected leaders. So here I am - almost finished with a church- wide survey of diocesan leadership teams. I called each office and asked for the stories of new ministries less than ten years old - tradi;onal as well as non- tradi;onal. It is a remarkable insight into what and who really sustains new expressions of ministry across our church. Who is keeping this whole thing going? These hos;ng prac;;oners at the margins are the ones who are birthing and sustaining new hope. So osen it happens with no money and with total neglect from the diocesan office. These prac;;oners are stewarding the church. While we are in here losing our minds over shrinking budgets and expanding need, hos;ng prac;;oners are stewarding out on the margins. Many ;mes, they feel like the lepers outcast at the city gate. Their ministries osen do not have parish status so they have no vote. They are midwifing the new ministries - hos;ng the local conversa;ons - out on the margins. That s a significant inversion that more and more of us are no;cing! Another significant inversion is embodied in our understanding of who is enemy and who is ally. That II Kings 7 story invites us to explore the possibility that the enemy we dread most is actually not there. The pain we hide from is only the pain of an;cipa;ng pain. That mol;ng out of our old shells is not our death - it is the gateway to new life. In a chaordic world, your worthy opponent is not an enemy - it is the resistance through which we must pass in order to find life. It's the narrow gate that strips us of the old baggage. Do you get that? Here is the invita;on - come join us and do this in good company. This good company no longer blushes when the new wine bursts our old systems. This good company of ragamuffin misfits is pre]y clear that the ;red old ques;ons we inherited will give us the same ;red old results dragging us down right now. This growing circle of folks is clear that those enemies outside the walls are imagined. The real enemies are actually inside our structures - I mean that in the most humble and playful way! Staying with these old approaches to problem- solving and system restructuring and supersmart expert consul;ng - these are all les overs of a worldview that says "I know be]er than you do." This is a problem that can be fixed. It's an old way of being that focuses so obsessively on crea;ng agreement when all along, what we really want is the courage to take on new behaviors, together. What we really want is the courage to lead, as well as the courage to follow. That's the invita;on of the Art of Hos;ng. Each of you is called to host this new conversa;on. Each of you is being called to go outside the city walls, peradventure the LORD has gone before us. That's what we are invi;ng you to explore for yourselves! I welcome your ques;ons and feedback! If you say "Yes!" to this invita;on, you'll be hos;ng four avenues of health for the communi;es of prac;ce that you serve. First, you'll be hos;ng a fresh awareness of Spirit's call. This is a new way of being fully present, but at a higher level than we can again on our own. By hos;ng conversa;ons that ma]er, conversa;onal leadership, par;cipa;ve leadership, stakeholder engagement," we actually elevate the core of our interac;ons to the next level - but we do it together. Together, we move from places of deep stuckness to places of fresh possibility.some;mes, that awareness will include breakthrough moments where we realize that the only enemy we have is our deep dread of enemies. Other ;mes, that awareness will include a fresh awareness of the companions we have in each other. Just gecng that will allow us to also host "wellness." Humberto Maturana was a South American biologist who studied ecological systems as well as social systems and he once observed that if you want a system to be healthy, connect it to more of itself. That is one of the primary giss of this work! Conversa;ons create connec;on. Stories create connec;on. Ques;ons create connec;on. And even more significantly, they all create wellness. Thirdly, the Art of Hos;ng is also about hos;ng a return to wholeness. Release the world view, paradigm, and unconscious habit of separateness. Reclaim, or remember, the fundamental iden;ty of together, of no- separa;on. In organiza;ons this is osen reintegra;ng from silo departments or func;ons to a holis;c view of shared informa;on and collabora;on. It is the daring shis from an imposed neat- and- ;dy world view of linear rela;ons, to a more messy, yet flourishing experience of collabora;on and collec;ve ac;on. Messy, yet real. Whole. Whole. Wholeness. Holy! I welcome your feedback and your ques;ons. I also invite you to come a]end our trainings across the church over the next year. I will be here for the whole of our ;me together and I d welcome further conversa;ons with you! Thank you kindly for this opportunity!
the fourfold practice Be Present Practice conversations Host Co create! There are Four Principles for Participatory Leadership Yourself To take care of oneself and amplify those practices that allows one to be and do it with more sincerity. Practising presence and mindfulness, in times of peace and times of fear too. What do I do to stay focused? Being Hosted Allow yourself to be hosted To allow to be taken care of and enable others to practice their hosting, affirming them. Practising humility and learning. What space are we in? Step Up to Host Others To awaken collaboration and co-creation by taking courage to call for what matters. Practicing with Purpose and skills. What do you care about? Co create To practice and balance and create together, believing that collective wisdom comes out of participatory practices and methodologies. Practising working in partnership. What are we learning and attending to? Yourself & Being Hosted Allow yourself to be hosted Step Up to Host Others Practicing with Purpose and skills. Co create! We are most committed to that which we co-create!
what are the conversations you are called to host at this moment in your life?
what is a life-giving question you are called to engage in this moment?