Category: General Learning

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Changing the Way We Approach Meetings

Erin Gilmore is former pastor at Holladay United Church of Christ. She is now with a congregation in Colorado. Over the last four years (it feels like longer given the quality of friendship) we have done a lot together. Hosted Art of Hosting trainings. Explored strategy and future with her UCC Council. Met with another UCC friend for curry dinners.

Recently Erin wrote these words below, her reflections on what the Art of Hosting has done for her from a perspective as a faith community leader. Erin has a quiet stillness in her. A depth that becomes is very clear in her words. I post Erin’s words here, with her permission, because what she has spoken applies well beyond the context of working with faith communities. I know many people in many organizations that yearn for this clarity.

Thank you Erin.

Art of Hosting has changed the way I approach meetings – whether its a large, all-church, annual meeting, a small group meeting, or a board meeting. Even the invitation to the meeting is different. It’s common to hear in church, “we have too many meetings!” or “people don’t want to go to more meetings!” That’s true – if the meetings are disconnected, not engaging, and don’t seem to accomplish much. But if we are honest – “”meetings” that is, people coming together for a common purpose, is central to church. We aren’t going to get rid of meetings. But we can change how we meet. And that is a big part of what Art of Hosting has given me. We don’t meet to just get through an agenda, to check off the list of items as quickly as possible. We meet to connect to one another, to the Spirit. We meet to listen for the wisdom that is present in each of us. We meet to learn from one another. We meet to discover what is at the heart of our ministry. We meet to empower one another. We meet to build energy, to gain momentum, to pay attention to what truly matters in what we are doing together. Art of Hosting has given me not only specific tools and practices to change the way we meet, it has given me greater awareness and ability to speak of the gigantic shifts taking place in our world today and language that helps us move in this time of awakening and emergence. Art of Hosting has given me new hope for the church and for the role we can play and are called to play in the midst of this great turning. 

Art of Hosting has changed the way we do our annual meeting as a conference. The first year we built our conference annual meeting using Art of Hosting practices people left saying it was the best annual meeting they had been to in a long time. When asked why they said that the loved having the opportunity to connect on a deeper level and to be in meaningful conversation about issues and concerns that they were passionate about. They felt their voices were heard and they felt empowered to continue working on the things that mattered to them. They didn’t come and just listen to other people talk, they were invited to share their voice. There was more on the table than just budgets and nominations. There were questions about the future of the church, and our purpose as the Body of Christ.  In the two years since that initial meeting, we have had more churches and more members from churches want to attend the annual meeting because they know its something that is worth their time and that will feed their soul. It gives “church meeting” a whole new face. 

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Resourceful Elders in Service for the Common Good

I like this.

From the Art of Hosting list serve, posted by Oddne Dahle Lægreid in Oslo, Norway.

A good question for many places.

“How do we invite a generation of fit and resourceful elders to still be in service of the common good, and get a richer life while doing it?”

80 people across organisations and generations met in Open Space in Oslo today to explore this question, finally. Funded by the minstry of health.The oldest participant was 92 years old.

The feedback from one of the participants was clear: “Its the best conference I´ve been to”.

We know, of course, there is a lot more to experience, but a seed has been planted.

Oddne

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Where What Matters is What is Happening

My friend Toke Moeller was recorded in an interview last fall. The focus was on the question, “What is the link between the Art of Hosting and the Commons?” This 8-minute video speaks to some of that.

“Where what matters is what is happening” is one of Toke’s points that stood out to me. It is the question, the invitation, that many of us are asking. Earlier this week, for me it was facilitating a half day meeting and retreat for some county program leaders and administrators that wanted to build team trust and feel more of the same page together. I asked them, “What do you do around here that matters? In what way does your program (Green and Healthy Homes) make a difference?” I asked it of them differently, later in the retreat. “What are you really doing around here? What do you really care about?” It is a core question worth coming back to so as to get to the layers or response.

Toke is more than a friend. He is a mentor. He is a fellow human that I learn from and with often. He is a teacher. Three additional points from this video stood out to me, reminding me of the important questions I want to offer in workshops.

  • The purpose of meeting is to be more conscious together in our learning, and, more conscious of the learning pile that is available to us when we are together. This is different than when we are alone.
  • How we meet and what comes out of it is a key acupuncture point. The homerun of that is when the operating system shifts.
  • What we practice is what the future becomes.

Thank you Toke. 

 

 

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Discernment Weekend for Nominated Leaders

Every four years, FSPA, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, elect a new leadership team to guide their community. A President, a Vice President, and three Mission Councilors. This team takes on issues including corporate relations, canonical relations, community vision and direction, and individual and collective spiritual well-being. They make tough decisions about right-sizing, where to allocate resources, and in some cases, declining membership. 

This past weekend Teresa Posakony and I continued our work with FSPA, hosting a Discernment Weekend for the twenty sisters that remain nominated for the new team. Discernment is an ongoing process. Sisters were nominated last fall. They are required to meet in discernment circles with their local communities. They can opt out an any point. Formally, after this weekend, they will need to declare their intent for the upcoming Election Assembly. 

So, how to you help a group of people get clarity on this? To taste some of the excitement? To be honest about the sacrifice required? Teresa and I led them through processes that focused on six questions.

1. What is the yes that brings you here now? — It is not enough to be assigned to these leadership positions, though most of them would be willing to do so. What we wanted to encourage in them was clarity. A clear yes. Or a clear no. Not just a response from obligation. This question began to tease this out, the respect and appreciation that they have for each other and their community.

2. What needs to move now in the FSPA community?  — This question helped to animate the momentum experienced from their General Assembly last summer. The theme then was Risk Boldly the Future. This is the leadership climate that they are potentially signing on for. 

3. How do you match up with this leadership landscape, gifts and challenges? — I loved this circle. It was a time to be honest about what each person brings, what energizes them. And, what context each of them feels challenged in, or feels depleted in. Really important to witness in front of each other.

4. What are your interests in relation to the jobs? — We used simple dots. What do you feel excited about being a part of. It gave a visual indication of who likes to do what so that they would have a better chance of organizing around strengths.

5. What are your interests in relation to the leadership qualities? — Similar to the above, this one also gives them a view of what qualities they have, and an honest assessment of what they don’t have.

6. Is there anything that needs to be cleared? — It is not uncommon for groups to have unspoken elephants that need to be given some attention. To keep the process real, they spent some time on this. 

With these questions, held primarily in circles and small knee to knee huddles, we left them in their discernment. Within two weeks, they will declare if they are in or not. And then, we will engage their larger group of delegates into a voting process in March. I’m happy to be a part of it with them.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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