Hi All, I have been watching this conversation from afar... (galavanting around the countryside without access to a landline - so downloading occasionally by CDMA Mobile...)
1) Bandy was quoting Carver's People Systems and Managament Theory stuff about the 20-80-20. I read an interesting proposition about Carver a while back suggesting that most leaders alternate between the two 20% sectors, depending on the issue and their current frame of mind! The people who often act as controllers are also often to be found amongst the restless - just choose your day! 2)"Consensus" should help to empower those who are not necessarily controllers. Sometimes this is the case. Often it allows people in the Messy Middle to query or question without being "for" or "against". Maybe Controllers try to determine what will or won't be on the Agenda...? I am always surprised at how many things in a Standing Committee or Council Executive manage to be deferred to the next Standing committee or Executive - even when there is a full Council meeting on in-between. Surely if Consensus is a method of Spiritual Discernment, we should not be afraid of the business coming to full Councils of the Church? 3) Niall & Terry - I must admit that I find Consensus to be the moment when I truly believe that the Church is trying to be Spiritually driven rather than shaped by the Secular Management structures of the world. For me, Consensus comes out of my understanding of the resurrected Body of Christ being found in the Gathered Followers of Christ. It is an effort at Spiritual Discernment - an act of faith - totally dependent on whether or not God chooses to reveal Godself in the situation. Yes - it is a miracle when a decision is made. I love miracles! 4) This is why Bandy is so focussed on the need for Spiritual Formation to preceed Vision for Mission (Heartbursts) or changes from Declining to Thriving. In the activity of Spiritual Formation, Controllers are encouraged to develop restlessness and middle-of-the-roaders are encouraged to consider restlessness and the Restless are encouraged to articulate their faith with one another (Biblical Conversancy) and band together to move forward. 5) Unfortunately, much of Bandy's solutions are based on the idea that God works through small-cellular DNA rather than species DNA. The "Thriving" Church seems to be conventional middle-class, adult, homogenous, anglo-celtic, self-focussed, ... Hmmm - maybe a declining church might be more fun for a while? Bye for now, Amelia ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
