1. Betty Pries L3 Consulting Group www.L3group.ca betty@L3group.ca
MC Saskatchewan
Betty Pries
L3 Consulting Group

2. Being the Church in the 21st Century MC Saskatchewan
Betty Pries
L3 Consulting Group

3. Opening Welcoming & Opening Prayer Hymns Introduction
Jesus calls us here to meet him, STJ 3
Praise, I will praise you Lord, Hymnal 76
Introduction

4. Purpose
Friday focus: To think together re: what it means to be the church in the 21st Century
Friday evening focus: Prayer
Saturday focus: Congregational Life Cycle & Renewal

5. Friday Agenda Opening Remarks
Opportunity for dialogue re: 21st C dynamics
Consideration of key themes associated with 21st C
Being the church in the 21st C
Note: Re: Survey results

6. Reading
Loggerhead Turtles by Barbara Brown Taylor

7. Opening Discussion (Small Groups)
When you think about the 21st Century environment in which we are living, what stands out to you regarding the characteristics of this time?
What effect are these characteristics having on the church?
What challenges/possibilities do you see for the church during this time?

8. Opening Discussion (Large Group)
When you think about the 21st Century environment in which we are living, what stands out to you regarding the characteristics of this time?
What effect are these characteristics having on the church?
What challenges/possibilities do you see for the church during this time?

9. 21st C Realities Age of Anxiety
Secularism & Multi-Faith
Questions re: Resilience
Consumerism
Age of Anxiety
Uncertainty
Social Media
Post-Modernity
Changing Social Norms
Globalism
*Uncertainty: Political, Economic, Environmental, Personal

10. 21st C Realities Time of significant social upheaval.
A change in magnitude unseen for 500 years, some say 1000s of years.

11. Social Media Ted Talk: Sherry Turkle
What insights, questions, perspectives arise for you during this Ted Talk?
What are the implications for the church?

12. Social Media Ted Talk: Sherry Turkle
“If we ever reach the stage of making ourselves understood only be means of the dictating machine, that is, without contact with one another, the chance of human growth will be lost indefinitely.” Martin Buber, 1950

13. Social Media Gifts of Social Media Connection, connection, connection
Social awareness
Political mobilization
Safe space for introverts

14. Social Media Challenges associated with Social Media Narcissism
Social comparisons
Distraction
Immediacy
Inability to turn off
Loss of face to face contact
Echo chamber

15. Break 

16. Modernity & Post-Modernity
How do you define these two terms?

17. Modernity & Post-Modernity
Something bigger than me
My experience matters
Too little value of self
Too much value of self
Modernity
Post-Modernity
Meeting Structure
NY Times article on teams = compassion and equal speaking time. NICE BUT comparing flexibility and rigidity not clarity and flexibility
Opposite of Clarity is Flexibility not ambiguity etc.
Conceptualization borrowed from Barry Johnson, Polarity Management, HRD Press, 1996.

18. Modernity & Post-Modernity
The only way to seek the good of modernity is to seek the good of post-modernity at the same time.
If you want to pursue X by being only X you will lose X and descend into the negative of X…
You will fall into the down of X if you are only at X.
HUGE !!

19. Modernity & Post-Modernity
Centered
Open
Closed
Center-less
Modernity
Post-Modernity
Meeting Structure
NY Times article on teams = compassion and equal speaking time. NICE BUT comparing flexibility and rigidity not clarity and flexibility
Opposite of Clarity is Flexibility not ambiguity etc.
Conceptualization borrowed from Barry Johnson, Polarity Management, HRD Press, 1996.

20. Some Hard Realities Since 2000 rates of empathy have plummeted.
Since 2000 rates of mental health distress have skyrocketed to epidemic levels.

21. Some Hard Realities Since 2000 rates of empathy have plummeted.
Since 2000 rates of mental health distress have skyrocketed to epidemic levels.
It is hard to live without a center, with the self as the arbiter of all truth, with endless chatter...

22. Roller Coaster of Change
Energy
Level
Time
excitement for change
Why do people resist change…Reprinted from (Holy Conversations)
“People resist change only if they are asked to make difficult changes and sacrifices without being able to see the bigger picture and understanding the context that makes change necessary.” Theory U, p. 135
Anxiety, exhaustion, frustration, polarization...

23. 21st C Implications Age of Anxiety > Post-post-modernity
Search for something bigger, for rest, for meaning, purpose & belonging, for a “safe container” in which to thrive.
Victor Frankl on meaning, Brené Brown on MPB, James Finley on love, Doug K on rest

24. 21st C Implications Age of Anxiety > Post-post-modernity
Search for something bigger, for rest, for meaning, purpose & belonging, for a “safe container” in which to thrive.
What are the implications for the church? For MC Saskatchewan?
Victor Frankl on meaning, Brené Brown on MPB, James Finley on love, Doug K on rest

25. 21st C Implications
What are the implications for the church? For MC Saskatchewan?
How does the church speak into the world’s profound spiritual, emotional, mental health needs?
Victor Frankl on meaning, Brené Brown on MPB, James Finley on love, Doug K on rest

27. 21st C & 16th C 21st C 16th C New Media (Social Technology)
New Media (Printing Press)
Globalization
Discovery of New World
Changing Social Norms
People leaving the church
Polarized public discourse
Victor Frankl on meaning, Brené Brown on MPB, James Finley on love, Doug K on rest
We are in the same position today as the RC Church was 500 years ago. What can we learn from their experience?

28. 21st C & 5th BCE 21st C 5th C BCE New Media (Social Technology)
Globalization
Loss of “Old World”
Changing Social Norms
Loss of Old Norms
People leaving the church
Loss of Temple
Polarized public discourse
Victor Frankl on meaning, Brené Brown on MPB, James Finley on love, Doug K on rest
The Israelites in exile lost much of what they knew to be “true.” What can we learn from their experience?

29. Lectio Divina
How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange and foreign land?

30. Lunch

31. Lord of Mercy
Lord of mercy breathe o’er us Your warm breath of life Remind us who we are again Prince of Peace call your people To rise up as one The Kingdom of God is at hand

32. Spirit blow through us the fire-winds of hope ‘Till our hearts burn for justice in love Blow soon on this dry, frozen land Have mercy upon us once more

33. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
A leader people want to follow

34. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
Worship that speaks deeply and creates a sense of meaning & speaks to questions of purpose

35. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
Passionate spirituality A sense of aliveness A center in faith

36. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
Authentic relationships A sense of belonging Ability to be real with one another Healthy interpersonal practices

37. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
A safe “container” A place of rest Clear convictions yet with openness to conversation

38. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
We talk to ourselves about who we are, what we are doing, how God is present (a kind of marketing ourselves to ourselves) We develop appropriate, healthy self-stories

39. Thriving Churches in an Age of Anxiety
Engagement with the world Making sense of the world Missional activities

40. Thriving Churches - Additional Qualities
Healthy, nimble & effective structures, policies and procedures

41. Thriving Churches - Additional Qualities
If the church is larger than 40 - ways to connect in smaller groups

42. Thriving Churches - Additional Qualities
Meaningful avenues for participation

43. Thriving Churches
Stand at the flipchart that represents your church’s greatest strength.

44. Thriving Churches
Stand at the flipchart that represents your church’s greatest area for growth.

45. Thriving Churches
Stand at the flipchart that represents your church’s greatest area for growth.
Discussion

46. The 11th Ingredient
Self-compassion

47. Break

48. Imagining the Future by Looking Back
How wolves change rivers...
What is your congregation’s wolf?
What is MC Saskatchewan’s wolf?

49. Strategic Planning
Who
Why
How & When
What

50. Strategic Planning
“The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor.” (William O’Brien)

51. Holy Strategic Planning
“The success of the congregation depends on the interior condition of the congregation.”

52. Holy Strategic Planning
Who
Why
How & When
What

53. Holy Strategic Planning
How does MC Saskatchewan become the people it needs to be in order to do what it is called to do?
How do you become the people you need to be in order to answer the call of being the church in the 21st C?

54. Closing Prayer