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Board proposes shift to more collaboration

by Tiffany Vail, Associate for Communication and Communication Technologies

August/September 2007

The Massachusetts Conference Board of Directors has unveiled a proposal entitled “A Still More Excellent Way: Transforming our use of Massachusetts Conference Resources” that calls for a shift in thinking that would lead to churches and leaders sharing their gifts with one another in a more collaborative way.

The proposal was posted online and sent electronically to Conference churches and clergy, Association moderators and Annual Meeting delegates on June 8, and then presented at the first part of the Annual Meeting on June 22nd. Participants at the meeting were given time to talk to one another in table conversations about the proposal, and to either give their feedback in writing at the end of the meeting or via an online survey that was available through mid-July.

The Board of Directors plans to review that feedback, make any necessary changes to the plan, and then ask delegates at the second half of the Annual Meeting on September 29 to approve it.

In the proposal’s Executive Summary, the Board explains that it was drafted following a Listening Process that the Board engaged in over several months, and also after several years of work on discerning the Conference mission. It was also a result of the need to realign resources, due to a declining number of churches and members making financial contributions to the wider church which resulted in staff reductions last year.

The proposal calls for doing ministry and mission in a much more collaborative way.

“The Conference will seek new ways to foster connection and communication among our churches,” the proposal states. “Our staff will identify the gifts that clergy, lay leaders and churches can offer one another. Here we can build upon our experience with our Pastoral Excellence Program, Stewardship Associates, Vitality Coaches and Mission and Justice Coaches.”

It goes on to say: “The Conference will concentrate on three core functions: adult faith formation; leadership development; and prophetic witness. In each function, we expect new patterns of support among churches and church leaders to emerge with encouragement from Conference staff.”

In the proposal, the Board calls Adult Faith Formation the “engine of evangelism” and the “engine of Christian education and youth engagements.” It calls Leadership Development the “engine of faithful and vital churches” and names prophetic witness as “the engine of a transformed world.”

To carry out its ministry and mission in these core functions, the Board says: “One-time workshops, such as those offered at Conference Annual Meetings, will meet some needs; ongoing relationships, such as those nurtured in the Pastoral Excellence Program, are more appropriate to address other needs.”

The Board praises the success of clergy Communities of Practice that have been a part of the Pastoral Excellence Project as “potent, ongoing vehicles for change.”

“We propose that the Community of Practice model become a primary vehicle for the nurture of vitality and covenant throughout the Conference. Small groups of clergy and / or lay members, gathered around issues of shared interest and common challenges, led by well-equipped peer leaders, will provide a context for learning, nurture, support and adaptive change,” the Board states.

The Board goes on to state that under the proposal, the primary role of Associate Conference Ministers will be in identifying, recruiting, training and supporting leaders who can share their gifts with other leaders and churches through these Communi-ties of Practice, workshops and other methods.

While the 3 full-time and 2 half-time regionally deployed Associate Conference Ministers will continue to preach in their areas and serve as the initial contact person for those in their regions, their primary responsibility will be to identify potential leaders and link them with appropriate resources.

In the proposal, the Board says that even if this proposal is approved by Annual Meeting in September, they will continue to review how the Conference operates, and will: “continue to examine the commission and committee structure and our property stewardship; we will encourage our Associates to incorporate the spirit and content of this report; we will look for ways to collaborate with other New England UCC conferences; and we will conduct regular and rigorous evaluation of our evolving structure.”

For a copy of “A Still More Excellent Way,” contact the Conference office or visit: