“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.” –Laurence J. Peter
Quote seen on a website: Tackling the Wicked Which's of the West.
Love the title already !
It's a forum to be held in the Western District of Victoria (Australia) in the town where I was 'brought up' spiritually speaking. It's where my supporting church is. A town five times the size of where I live and minister in France, but which is obviously (by the fact of this event to be held 18, 19 March) confronted by similar problems in the community.
But I just love the way Aussies tackle things with a positive and consultative attitude ... culturally, they face up to problems differently to the French.
However, the French are masters in the art of specializing ... and the above quote is also very fitting to their approach to problem-solving. Unfortunately, the French public often gets left out of the process and made to feel unqualified to discuss things which concern them daily, while creative solutions are knocked on the head because too complicated to implement or a challenge to the administrative hierarchy.
And, of course, this mentality permeates our churches.
Which is why I'm so excited about the Vitality Pathway which a dozen of our churches have started to follow.
It's all about facing up to the reality of our situation, understanding our internal culture, analyzing that church culture in order to see what is healthy and missional (and so to keep) and what is not (and so to change). My biggest work load is now going to be in the team which is accompanying churches along this pathway. And I'm alternately excited and pessimistic about the fact that our own church is on that pathway now. Excited because I know God wants us to be fully alive spiritually and gives us His Spirit as a living source ; pessimistic because I know this town and its attitudes and am not sure the people will allow change to happen.
But our God is the God of the POSSIBLE, so keep praying with us please!
