2007
Scott P. Albergate
You Shall Receive Power: A Team Learning Strategy for Revitalizing a Parish Vestry for Mission
Members of the parish vestry hold great potential to become collaborative leaders with their clergy in redeveloping a declining church for mission. But that potential is often undercut by vestries who view their work as task-oriented only and not as faithful learners as well; and by clergy leaders who do not provide the vestry with adequate orientation to their essential work, nor ongoing training to cultivate them as vital leaders who can transmit new learning throughout the parish. This paper examines the strategic interventions undertaken by the author to orient and train the vestry of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Middletown, Ohio, to face into their adaptive challenges through the use of team learning theory. Three specific interventions are described and studied: a pre-service orientation for vestry members; ongoing in- service formation for developing leadership skills through the use of an innovative agenda for conducting vestry meetings; and utilizing Eric Law’s Process for Planned Change as a tool for cultivating collaborative learning, for strategic planning, and as a means to provide spiritual enrichment for vestry members. The author provides samples of the orientation and training materials developed for his vestry. The paper concludes with an appraisal of how well these interventions worked in re-forming this vestry into a team of collaborative leaders and with reflections for practitioners who may wish to employ team learning interventions in their parish setting.