The Power of Narrative

The Exileand

Role of the EP

“The principal vehicle of leadership is the story: the leader affects

individual behavior, thought, and feelings through the stories that he

and she tells.”

Howard Gardner, Harvard Professor and

author of Changing Minds

Congregational Stories

The spoiled child into the responsible adult

The abused victim into the empowered person

The forgotten younger sibling into the self-defined adult

The more articulated

the current story,

the more choice and empowerment

there is for starting

a new story

“The stories that people tell are the container that holds their world together and gives meaning to

their lives.” --Andrew Ramer

“A life becomes more meaningful when

one sees himself or herself as an actor

within the context of a story.”

--George Howard

“All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.”

--Isak Dinesen

The vital element of our work

as leaders of Presbytery

and consultants to congregations is:

To help people and congregations hear, remember and believe where the Church is headed, and then inspire people

to act in line with that belief.

Meta-narratives of the Church

• Christendom Narrative• Crusader Narrative• “Make Disciples” Narrative

The Exile as an

Emerging Meta-narrative

Why the Exile Narrative describes us well

• We are at a time of loss and grief –

lamentationoWe are a suffering servant

• The old structures and practices no longer

workoWe don’t feel at home anywhere

• We are being forced into a new reality

 

Why the Exile Narrative describes us well

• We are being scattered and not unitedoSome go, some stay, some seek safety, some

assimilate

• We have to engage a culture that is not our own• Our pathways to God have evaporated• We are having trouble singing our songs

Why the Exile Narrative describes us well 

• Our actions are characterized by anger,

desperation, and anxiety• We sequester ourselves with others of same beliefs• We tend to go overboard in purifying the community practices and beliefs• We experiment with the new in scattered places and leave the exile in dribs and drabs

How the Exile Narrative is helpful

• It brings us to look at what no longer works – and to confession• It brings us to see how God is forming us anew- the Potter’s hands• It puts us in a larger context – and a possible future• It forces us to engage the culture around us – “seek the welfare”

How the Exile Narrative is helpful

• It calls us to be attentive, to be watchful – the “new thing”• It calls us to live distinctly in a changing world – “show us the way”• It frees us to experiment as a method of discernment• It acknowledges that the church/presbytery is only provisional• Our home is in God whom we carry with us

How our Presbytery has engaged the Exile Narrative

• Storytelling by the EP• Devotions of Committees• Table conversation• Exile language in policies and procedures and processes• Used the Potter’s Hands as our image

The Exile in Southern New England

• Has put dismissal of congregation in context• Has justified our involvement in immigrant ministries• Has opened us to explore new ways of doing our work• Has prepared us to be more free with our bylaws

The Exile in Southern New England

• Has created environments for sharing our experiences• Has united us in the search for how God is forming us• Has given meaning and hope to our

losses• Has connected our smaller stories to a larger narrative• It legitimizes discernment over parliamentary procedure

“For exiles trying to live faithfully within the host empire of post-Christendom, the Gospel stories are our most dangerous memories. They continue to fire our imaginations and remind us that it’s possible to thrive on foreign soil while serving Yahweh.”

--Michael Frost

How can the church/presbytery adapt to this new exile experience?

• Reduce demands• Raise adaption capacity

Reducing DemandsLeadership regulates:

Volume – Number of changes Momentum – Swiftness of implementing

change Complexity – How much information is

needed to describe change

Raising Adaption Capacity

Increase change management literacyProject specific knowledgeSystem change knowledgeGeneric change knowledge

Raising Adaption Capacity

Focus on process rather than outcomes

Delineate difference between trips and journeysTrips are inevitableJourneys are discretionaryLeaders put trips in context of

journeys

Raising Adaption Capacity

Trips Trip mentality: “this will save us!” Trips produce fear

Fear addressed by answering questions about events

Journeys Journey mentality: “this will change us” Journeys produce anxiety

Anxiety addressed by describing possibilities and probabilities

Role of the EP

Teller of exile stories “This is what we are experiencing in exile...”

Prophetic voice “This is what God may be trying to do with

us...” Regulator of the change demands

Selecting and pacing the leverage points Architect of the change capacity

“Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.”

--Salman Rushdie