Parish Development is a Conversation
The onion is being peeled
Beginning a conversation
One way to think of parish development is that it is about having a conversation. You’re helping parishioners talk about ways to improve parish life and ministry. Get them chatting about ways to advance our worship and prayer life, our formation of adults and children, and serving as a sanctifying presence in our community.
Structuring the conversation
The conversation isn’t coffee hour chat. Because you’re going someplace with this conversation, you will give it some structure. You want to provide a process with steps to move through and methods that make talking easier. That structure is part of what produces psychological safety. An element of the structure is the use of methods that make it easier for people to engage the conversation.
Psychological safety
“Team psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that it’s OK to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes — all without fear of negative consequences. As Edmondson puts it, ‘it’s felt permission for candor. … A lot of what goes into creating a psychologically safe environment are good management practices — things like establishing clear norms and expectations so there is a sense of predictability and fairness; encouraging open communication and actively listening to employees; making sure team members feel supported; and showing appreciation and humility when people do speak up. “What Is Psychological Safety?” by Amy Gallo, February 15, 2023
"And for most people, structure brings an increase in psychological safety. Such safety is important when you’re seeking honest thinking and a willingness to disagree with others. It offers us an alternative to the destructive and illusionary safety of avoidance and suppression, or of assumptions of excessive fragility that deprive people of the opportunity to take responsibility for their own thoughts, feelings, and communities. Taken together, the competent use of such methods moves a group toward greater trust and clarity." From An Energy Not Its Own, Michelle Heyne, OA & Robert Gallagher, OA
Adequate psychological safety helps people manage their anxiety. It’s not an attempt to get people to feel comfortable but about them being willing to be responsible participants, saying what they want to say, even though they may feel uncomfortable doing it.
Methods
There are a variety of methods that can help people engage the conversation. Here are a few.
Breaking into small groups, even for just a few minutes, can allow people to try out their ideas with fewer people. If it’s said to two others, maybe the person will then share it when there are twenty.
Going around the circle, in which each person gets to briefly share one idea or opinion, helps the more talkative people focus and the quieter ones to have an easy entry. In that process it’s totally acceptable to say, “I pass.”
A “share only what you want to share” norm helps some people not feel forced to speak.
Writing down a few notes before being asked to speak helps many people feel more confident. OD practitioners often provide a worksheet with suggested categories of through or questions. Extroverts get to focus their thoughts while introverts are given a moment to gather their thoughts.
You can find other methods in the section “Define and Shape a Parish Culture with Benedictine Characteristics” in the chapter on the Benedictine Promise, Fill All Things, Robert Gallagher, Ascension Press, 2008. And in both of the In Your Holy Spirit books from Ascension Press. Also, in “Methods” in the Shaping the Parish Resources webpage.
Turning the conversation into a system intervention
Sometimes the conversation we generate is part of a training and coaching process. When we interview people about their spiritual life that often sets loose in the person a desire to go further – to make a change, experiment with a type of prayer, become more stable in their practice. All that is good in itself. An inner conversation has begun in which the Holy Spirit is already active. And such events may help some parishioners become more regular in their participation in the Eucharist or more reflective in daily life. Some may move from a tentative faith and practice to a stable sacramental practice or from a stable sacramental to an apostolic practice.
And other times, we turn the conversation into an intentional system intervention. A process of planned change. Often using a form of survey feedback.[1]
For example, you could use the assessment form for the Christian Life Model on a vestry retreat or in a parish community meeting. Everyone fills it out. Then they all go to the front of the room where the assessment is, in short form, on pads of newsprint. They transfer what they have said in their individual worksheets onto the newsprint.
They step back and look at the collated results. Half are very satisfied with ratings of “5.” And half have rated their overall satisfaction as “3.” The conversation is about to become interesting. Possibly more anxious. The facilitator knows that providing any sensible structure will help people manage the anxiety. She decides to go around the circle and invites them to share, “So, what do you make of the results?” One by one, briefly and slowly, members respond. Maybe she says, let’s do that again. This time let’s hear ‘what caused you to offer a rating of 5 or 3?’ ” One by one, briefly and slowly, members respond. No cross talk. No interruptions.
They explore the ratings under the categories of worship, doctrine, action and oversight. They begin to see that the lower overall ratings are largely about a sense that the parish’s administrative needs aren’t being addressed. Those with the higher overall satisfaction ratings have been so pleased with the Sunday Eucharist and coffee hour that they had give little thought to oversight matters.
The onion is being peeled. Layer by layer the conversation unfolds. The diagnostic work will need to move into planning and then implementation. And at each step they will find a need for more conversation.
Brother Robert, OA
[1] See Chapter Two “Process of Planned Change” in Finding God in All Things, Heyne & Gallagher, Ascension Press 2023.