in my own spaces
on systems and structures
I wrote an email to our church board last week.
I am so disturbed lately by the various North American Christian institutions I see that are falling apart or some version thereof, seemingly because self-preservation became the most important thing. So, toxicity … or lack of integrity … or whatever … happened, and weren’t addressed. People were hurt, lives damaged.1
Our church board is amazing. I love them. I thank God for them. They are wise, calm, humble. They held my own fears in check in some of the tougher moments in the pandemic. I believe the processes that we have are good ones, ensuring diverse representation, as well as term limits.
Trust among us is very high. And that is a wonderful thing.
It’s also a thing that can go wrong, albeit with the best of intentions.
And so I wrote an email to our church board last week, thanking them for who they are, expressing my distress over what I see out there, and asking them to never be afraid to ask questions that should be asked, to add considerations that should be considered, to push back when pushback is needed.
Our fellowship (denomination) is in the process of working on abuse of power policies and pathways. Not easy work. In one conversation, over a year ago now, a friend made a joke that abuse of power could happen anywhere - “but not Patti’s church, right?” It was a joke, and he meant nothing by it.
But wow, did it hit. I love the team I work with, so much.
Trust among us is very high. And that is a wonderful thing.
It’s also a thing that can go wrong, albeit with the best of intentions.
I went home and talked with our team about this. We reviewed “A Church Called TOV” together. Tweaked some of our policies.
I decided to bring other leaders in, whenever possible, to spend time with our team. I want them to know and trust leaders outside of their workplace. I want them to have someone they can go to - outside of me - if they ever need to.
I can’t fix everything out there. But at least I can try to do things well in my own spaces.
It seems to me that even the best system or structure needs to be pushed back from time to time. Tweaked. Somehow, systems and structures take on lives of their own, if we’re not paying attention, and then things go wrong. Often for those with less power. People get hurt, lives damaged.
May we never stop paying attention, asking hard questions, listening to outside voices, tweaking systems and structures. May we have the courage to push back when we need to. May our trust with one another be authentic, built on honesty and accountability. Amen.
I know it’s not all of them. Not even the majority. But it seems like more than it used to be. (Or maybe that’s just my age!)