When the diocese’s Executive Council meets on October 22, it will consider three mission strategy goals that grew from the 2023 mission leadership review initiated by Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown.
The goals are strengthening congregations, building relationships and developing leaders and structures.
“It feels really good to be making official some of the things we know we need to be doing and putting it in front of people so we can all find ways to contribute to the strengthening of our whole diocesan household,” Bishop Shannon said. “Structure and administration aren’t the most exciting things, but they are necessary for us to spend our energy well. If we don’t have structure, we can’t do all the things we are all called to do.”
Almost 50 members of the diocese participated in the mission leadership review, and scores of others attended town hall and Zoom meetings to ask questions and offer feedback on the review.
“The feedback we got on the mission review is, I believe, the most meaningful and important to the people in our diocesan household,” said the Rev. Canon Susan Ohlidal, canon to the ordinary for mission vitality. “It wasn’t just a handful of people but a number of clergy and people in the congregations and those in leadership offering their opinions and experiences.
To strengthen its congregations, the diocese proposes to focus the work of its staff “on strategic work impacting congregations — especially constellations, new congregational models, and congregational sustainability — so that congregations are better equipped to worship, form disciples, and serve their communities.”
Steps toward these goals include undertaking a “strategy audit,” which would assess the capacity of the diocese’s leaders, staff and consultants to achieve its current goals; and finding ways to “determine gaps” and unmet needs in pursuing its strategies.
“I think embedded in this goal is also strengthening the cohesiveness of the diocese, which is one of my primary goals for being involved in the diocese,” said Jennifer Knowles of St. James, Essex Junction, a member of Executive Council and the Standing Committee. “It’s about seeing ourselves as the Diocese of Vermont rather than as individual parishes. We are all part of this one thing, from Bennington to Newport.”
The second goal — building relationships — is broadly construed in the mission strategy document and includes building and strengthening relationships among clergy; among congregations; between the bishop’s office and clergy; and among the bishop and her staff.
“Each congregation has its own personality, but there are some common needs,” Bishop Shannon said. “There are some common concerns, and being able to bring people together around those gives people some encouragement.”
The document recommends working with the Racial Equity Institute “to help members of the diocese better understand racism in its institutional and structural form and equip clergy, laypeople, and staff to begin to work for change.” It also encourages participation in Sacred Ground, the Episcopal Church’s video-based, historically oriented antiracism series “as a way to create space for difficult and transformative conversations on race and racism, develop cultural competency, and strengthen relationships through small groups.”
“I think there’s always work to be done in that area for sure,” Knowles said, “and calling it out as a goal makes sure that it won’t get lost.”
The third mission strategy goal focuses primarily on the work of diocesan leaders and staff, seeking to “develop sufficient role clarity for staff, structures, and leaders: foster appropriate authority, supervision, accountability, polity and governance roles, training and development, policies and procedures.”
“I am hoping that if we are clearer about what some of the roles are in leadership in the diocese, it might make serving on leadership bodies more attractive to some people who might be uncertain about trying something,” Bishop Shannon said.
The work toward this goal involves conducting performance reviews of staff, “supporting, mentoring, and coaching” staff to facilitate professional development, establishing onboarding procedures to leadership bodies such as the Standing Committee, Executive Council, Trustees, and Committee on Ministry, and developing annual orientation and information sessions for vestries, wardens, treasurers, and other congregational leaders.
“We hear our presiding bishop-elect talk about how we need to focus our resources on behalf of our congregations,” Ohlidal said. “I see that in this grouping of leadership goals.”
While the Mission Strategy Goals document includes a number of recommendations, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, who conducted the mission leadership review and contributed to the mission strategy document, said it is not intended to be a comprehensive plan of action. “Once there is agreement and investment and buy-in on this positioning, then you develop the action plan to achieve it,” she said.
If the diocese agrees on the proposed goals, she said, the process would move toward developing a plan that would include an assessment of the resources available to achieve each goal, as well as timelines, milestones and ways to monitor progress and measure success. “It’s not news that we are living in a time where a lot of our structures need to be looked at and changed,” Bishop Shannon said. “Being a leader in the midst of that change can be unsettling. We have to be discerning and mindful and prayerful about how we lead. In that way, the goals are just us trying to figure out who the church is called to be today.”
