Friday, June 17, 2011

Nominating Committee?

June 17, 2011

            Last weekend the Black Caucus of Evergreen went on a road trip! About a dozen folk squeezed into a van at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist Church’s parking lot and made their way to Calvary Baptist Church in Spokane. They were greeted by several members of Calvary Church who treated us (yes, I joined them, only I flew because I had an unexpected appointment earlier in the day J) to a scrumptious barbeque dinner!  On Saturday morning (after more food), we shared…a history of Evergreen, what churches were doing in outreach to the community. We “toured” the house where every Saturday Calvary Church feeds lunch to 75-100 honored guests. The Seattle folks got back into the van after lunch (more wonderful food, enough to take some home with us) and made our way back to MLK parking lot and home. An Evergreen “moment”! Part of the Evergreen story!
            The Black caucus plans more such adventures!
            On Saturday morning when sharing was happening concerning Evergreen, I was reminded of one of the “unintended” consequences of our Evergreen structure. We have no “nominating committee.” In many/most organizations like Evergreen the real power resides with the nominating committee, it is who the nominating committee knows which makes a difference about who gets the leadership nod in many groups. Our caucus system has dispersed the work of the nominating committee, so that each caucus works out how members of the Executive Committee will be selected. With each caucus naming two people to the Executive Committee and naming officers when it is a caucus’s turn to name an officer, it means the work of nominating leaders is the work of all the caucuses rather than one small “representative” group. It is shared power at its best.
            Further reflection on this brings me to the Executive Committee. Although we have had some folks with a great number of years on the Executive Committee we have always had extraordinary service from all who have served. And the relationships built and maintained by that service is astounding.
            We have made it a practice at Executive Committee meetings to always ask a question at the end, either “what have you learned in today’s meeting” or “how do you see God at work?” Many times in response has been the group working together and the meaning the meetings have for the participants. Since at least one of our participants is almost always on the phone, I think this makes another “Evergreen” moment/story. There is a commitment and “sum greater than its parts” about our work. The Spirit is there and we are blessed. Thank you to the current Executive Committee and to all who have served over our eight years!
                        Marcia

Nominating Committee?

June 17, 2011

            Last weekend the Black Caucus of Evergreen went on a road trip! About a dozen folk squeezed into a van at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist Church’s parking lot and made their way to Calvary Baptist Church in Spokane. They were greeted by several members of Calvary Church who treated us (yes, I joined them, only I flew because I had an unexpected appointment earlier in the day J) to a scrumptious barbeque dinner!  On Saturday morning (after more food), we shared…a history of Evergreen, what churches were doing in outreach to the community. We “toured” the house where every Saturday Calvary Church feeds lunch to 75-100 honored guests. The Seattle folks got back into the van after lunch (more wonderful food, enough to take some home with us) and made our way back to MLK parking lot and home. An Evergreen “moment”! Part of the Evergreen story!
            The Black caucus plans more such adventures!
            On Saturday morning when sharing was happening concerning Evergreen, I was reminded of one of the “unintended” consequences of our Evergreen structure. We have no “nominating committee.” In many/most organizations like Evergreen the real power resides with the nominating committee, it is who the nominating committee knows which makes a difference about who gets the leadership nod in many groups. Our caucus system has dispersed the work of the nominating committee, so that each caucus works out how members of the Executive Committee will be selected. With each caucus naming two people to the Executive Committee and naming officers when it is a caucus’s turn to name an officer, it means the work of nominating leaders is the work of all the caucuses rather than one small “representative” group. It is shared power at its best.
            Further reflection on this brings me to the Executive Committee. Although we have had some folks with a great number of years on the Executive Committee we have always had extraordinary service from all who have served. And the relationships built and maintained by that service is astounding.
            We have made it a practice at Executive Committee meetings to always ask a question at the end, either “what have you learned in today’s meeting” or “how do you see God at work?” Many times in response has been the group working together and the meaning the meetings have for the participants. Since at least one of our participants is almost always on the phone, I think this makes another “Evergreen” moment/story. There is a commitment and “sum greater than its parts” about our work. The Spirit is there and we are blessed. Thank you to the current Executive Committee and to all who have served over our eight years!
                        Marcia

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Caucuses

June 2, 2011
            Where does the time go! June already, even though it is cool outside! But then we have been blessed not to have the scorching temps that the east coast has had or the tornados and terrible winds, now hitting even Massachusetts.
            The last post was about consensus. I want to write a bit further about our caucus model. The benefits of the caucus system were not known early on. One of the best unintended consequences is that we don’t have a nomination committee for Evergreen. Each caucus acts as it needs to put forth nominations. Talk about sharing of power! Most often in organizations the nominating committee is the real place of power. Without one in Evergreen, power is more dispersed and shared. The caucus system allows this and each caucus handles nominations in its own way. In fact, each caucus is organized in its own way!
            The quorum, across Evergreen is that at least one person from each caucus must be present in order for us to do business. For all people groups, this says, if we don’t show up, it means that the organization cannot go forward. The rules say we can only get along with everyone present! That is a real shift for people of color, it means ownership in a way that is not usual in American Baptist circles anyway.
In addition our caucuses help us reach consensus. Early on in our life, we learned that consensus building as a whole group beyond the Executive Committee (total 7 people) was almost impossible. The caucuses allowed us immediate smaller groups! And that meant that at Association Board meetings caucuses could have some real conversations. I’m convinced that at times conversations happen that just would not happen if the group were ethnically mixed. This is especially true as it relates to conversations about money or anything of importance. Within the relative safety of the caucuses some concerns can be voiced where otherwise they would be silenced or rationales would be put forward. Does it mean that sometimes decisions must be slowed down? Yes! So far that hasn’t been a bad thing. It has helped us all come to more reasoned decisions and decision making.
Exactly how this all works does need to be experienced. It is rather difficult to put down on paper (or out on the web in words) the complete experience. The Euro caucus in particular has had difficulty in understanding why “separating” helps us come together. In my opinion, that has to do, in large part, because the Euro caucus has not dealt deeply enough with our white privilege. While we think we might allow all others in a larger group to participate, we are usually unaware of how we dominate the conversation and the agenda. Our “giving people time” to respond, does not translate for the other caucus groups. It is indeed by our meeting separately that the Black and Asian (and prayerfully one day other caucuses) have their voice.
We are learning, we have not yet arrived.
Marcia

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Evergreen Retreat

The Evergreen Leaders Retreat ended yesterday afternoon. The group worked hard and we were pleased with what was accomplished. The Rev. Dr. Jeff Woods, Associate General Secretary of ABC/USA was our facilitator. One of the many tools he shared with us was to look at our organization as though it was a jigsaw puzzle. Have you done a jigsaw puzzle recently? Usually, assuming it is a traditional puzzle, you begin by finding the corner pieces. They are foundational to the puzzle. Jeff said, that our core values are foundational to our work. Our core values permeate all we do, each time we meet you can “see” our core values. We started our time agreeing that two of our values are “unity” and “cultural diversity”.  After a series of exercises we agreed that the other two corners are “acceptance” and “shifting perspective”. I’m going to be more regular about posting on this site and do some reflection on these four foundational core values over the next 2-4 weeks. I’ll then share with you our thinking about the Evergreen Storyline and the edges of our puzzle, which are our mission priorities, and then share with you the thinking that came out of our retreat about our vision for Evergreen in the future.
            
I hope I’ve piqued your interest in knowing more. Look for further information here and in the Evergreen Newsletter.
           
Marcia

By-law Development

May 19, 2011
            Once again, I find that regularly posting a blog has escaped me! I am surprised that it is already May 19! Time flies when you’re busy, I guess.
            The last blog spoke of our mission statement. I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a little bit about our option to make decisions by consensus. When the by-laws of Evergreen had been written (by a lawyer) and we were reviewing the document (to take as much “lawyer-ese” out of it as we could J, we came across the article that read: “all decisions will be made by majority rule unless otherwise noted in these by-laws.” We had called a meeting that was held at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. I can picture us, scattered about the pews in the sanctuary, everyone with a copy of the by-laws, paying attention, noses in the copy. There was a “dumb-filled silence” after reading that article. I interpreted the silence for myself as a “do we really want to make decisions that way?” Several eventually voiced their wondering. And a quiet conversation ensued about what else can we do? What are our options? Folks took the assignment to figure out what else/how else we might move ahead. On February 22, 2003, we adopted our by-laws, calling for us to do our work by consensus. Let me make it clear, the by-laws were affirmed by consensus! That part of the experiment had begun.
            We had also adopted by-laws that called for caucus groups to be our structure. This is instead of some kind of geographical representative structure. But it guaranteed voice and understanding to people who otherwise did not feel that they had voice and understanding. We started by making sure that we began a rotation of the chair by the African-American caucus group, not the Euro-American caucus group.
            Real genius was experienced when we put our consensus decision making and our caucus structure together. When we are even in mid-size groups (our Association Board, for instance), consensus is gained in caucus groups and brought back to the group as whole. This makes great sense and also lets those less familiar with consensus work, figure it out in the “comfort” of their caucus rather than in the unwieldy larger group. This works particularly well for the caucuses of color. In the relative safety of their caucus groups they can say and figure out things in ways better for them than ever could working in the group as a whole.
            Evergreen acknowledges that it is something a lot easier to experience than it is to describe. If you have the opportunity, there is a standing invitation to come and see!
            Our Annual Meeting is October 14-15, 2011 at Seattle First Baptist Church!
Marcia

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Vision Committee

April 26, 2011
Wow! Time gets away from me in doing these blogs. I was busy early last week then took more personal time at the end of the week because a friend was visiting, and the blog was not done!
I promised to talk about mission statement and structure. What I really want to talk about though, was the good work of that New Region Task Force assigned by American Baptist Churches of the Northwest. They were an unbalanced group, with one locally church ordained African-American, two Asian-American laymen, and the rest Euro—American. We became aware that the group was out of balance with Seattle Baptist Union (SBU) which at the time had about half African-American congregations, the other half, Euro-American congregations, with a few Asian churches thrown in! So, after the first year, the Task Force decided to call together a “Vision Committee” to do three things:
  • ·          Develop a Mission Statement
  • ·          Decide on a name
  • ·           Propose a structure

They proposed, since SBU’s make-up was what it was, that the Vision Committee should have 4 representatives from the African-American churches, 4 from the Euro-American and at least 2 from the Asian Churches. Only the Euro churches met to choose their representatives and they specifically chose representatives who were predominately lay people (Chrystal Cooper, Larry Sims, Heidi Cleveland and Rev. Curtis Price). The one clergy was an associate pastor at the time they chose him. The African-American representatives came from interested groups and parties and 2 of the 4 were very faithful in their attendance, being as I recall at every meeting (Rev. Dana McClendon and Rev. George Noble). The Asian representatives were one layman and one clergy (Dr. Akira Ishimaru and Rev. Romero Macalinao). They met at least 2 six hour Saturdays and several other evenings. The first task was to come up with the Mission Statement. Although it was edited up until and even at the Covenanting Convention in May of 2002. They did the work well.  It continues to serve us today.
Being a culturally diverse people who are one in Christ and who value the liberties of our American Baptist heritage, the Evergreen Baptist Association will build bridges between communities; provide resources to equip member churches to share Christ and teach God’s word; and translate our unity to the world.
They also proposed the structure that gives us what we call our “caucus” system. The structure includes an Executive Committee that has two representatives from every caucus and a quorum at every level that includes at least one representative from every caucus be present in order to do business! When people of color hear this about our structure, they say “Wow, you are really serious about wanting us to help make decisions!”
One of our gifts was having the time for this unique group of people to do their work and they did it prayerfully and well. Many times I’ve been grateful for how God worked with this group and continues to work with us each step of the way.

Marcia

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Evergreen Story: Beginnings

April 14, 2011
            Last week I was at General Executive Council (GEC) meetings followed by a special Design Team meeting for the launch of a new missional initiative by American Baptist Churches—watch for the launch at the Biennial. My intention is to add to this blog about weekly, but it has been much longer than that, since my last post. Thanks to those who are reading this, I hope you find it helpful to learn more about Evergreen Association.
            There is on the Evergreen web site a history of Evergreen, but I think it important to tell some of the poignant stories of Evergreen, which is what I hope to do in these next few blogs. Evergreen is blessed as an organization, especially blessed as an American Baptist Region because of our beginnings. We were born out of the controversy surrounding acceptance of gay/lesbian/transgendered/bisexual peoples in American Baptist life. The American Baptist Churches of the Northwest in an effort to keep people at the American Baptist table made a decision at their 2000 Biennial Convention to restructure the region. The subsequent meeting held in December of 2000 was to ask Seattle Baptist Union (SBU) (an already existing organization of American Baptist Churches in Seattle) to form a new region. There was a caveat that any church in SBU could opt out of the new region and any church in the greater ABC Northwest could opt into the new region. That started the Evergreen journey. It was blessed at the beginning to be given this gift of invitation to churches, very few of which were actively engaged in the controversy, to form a new region. This was a gift of a clean slate, an empty place, in which to build something new. This gift allowed us to begin with renewing relationships and work slowly toward organization. The gift of time and a blank slate on which to create something new is a rare thing and one that helped Evergreen become what it is today. The task force asked to begin the new Region worked slowly. Although they began meeting in January of 2001, it was not until May of 2002 that the name Evergreen was proposed as a name—all that came before then just did not fit or were too close to names already in use. Although the name is geographically based because Washington is the Evergreen State, it calls forth a wealth of other possibilities for us.
            In the next blog I’ll reflect on how we came to our mission statement and caucus structure.
Marcia

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Sometimes we understand God’s hand at work just because of the confluence of events. I started this blog to get out the “message” of Evergreen Association’s Leader Retreat. As I neared the “end” of the report, I realized I had started something that was just too good to abandon. I was scared about what that would mean, but continued to plow ahead and have easily found things to lift up.
            Last night, one of my colleagues from Tuesday’s cultural competency training event reminded me that we had agreed to go to Pacific Lutheran University to hear Tim Wise, an author and activist. What a treat! There were many lessons to take away from that 2 hour event, but the primary one that I shared with Stacy on our ride north was that I must “tell the story.” The story of Evergreen needs to be told, and perhaps the best way to begin telling it will be in these blogs.
            As it happened, when I came into the office this morning (yes, I’m finally getting myself into the office, rather than working out of my condo—thank goodness for healing bodies, especially feet!), I picked up an old Christian Century that hadn’t made it to my condo. In it was an article on preaching by William H. Willamon, in which he said, “Preaching is so difficult that no one can do it without being summoned. Few of us preachers mount a pulpit on Sunday morning because we are naturally good at it and enjoy mouthing off before a crowd. We got put there.” (Christian Century, February 8, 2011, page 11).  I want to say amen to that and that I feel the same way about telling the Evergreen Story, mostly because in my opinion it is a story with many voices and I am only one. However, one thing I learned last night, is that (whether I like it or not) I have been called to tell the story. I can more easily name some of the past wrongs by my culture (white, middle class, American Baptist), although I’m also bound to miss some (the culture is my lens), and I can invite other voices in and will on occasion even quote others. I am summoned to this task.
            So the Evergreen Story, by Marcia Patton starts with this apology, not a good way to start, but where I must start. I am surprised more often than not that I am in this position, doing the work I’m doing. I was raised in Temperance, Michigan - a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant community. Really, no kidding!  A Catholic Church did not come to Temperance until I was in high school!  And, if there were non-Christians in Temperance, they kept such a low profile I was totally unaware of them. There certainly were not people of color. I saw people of color every now and then when we drove the 5 miles or so to Toledo Ohio to shop.  But usually we shopped at the nearest shopping center; we rarely went downtown shopping where we’d be more likely to meet people of color. So, I am not one that can say my childhood friend led me to this place. My best friend as a child was a Catholic!  And she had a small hand in leading me where I am by her own faith and actions, but I can’t claim any childhood proclivity to the work today. I did not have to overcome, I was raised in privilege. It has taken too long for me to acknowledge that. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters; my Dad worked swing shifts at the coal-burning power plant, he held a job with that company until he retired at age 62; and my Mom stayed home. She eventually went to work around the time I went to college. Mind you, my family didn’t have a lot of money, but my parents were buying our home and I never remember being hungry. I do remember eating a lot of homemade bread and hating the powdered milk of the days my Dad was on strike one year, but hunger, no. We had land for a garden and froze vegetables that I still yearn for occasionally today. I am privileged. I am a straight woman, never married. I sometimes say that the single life is more confusing to folks than even homosexual marriage.  But I know that while the single life is misunderstood by some, it has not caused me the hurt and pain that many gay, lesbian, transgendered, and bisexual people experience. I am privileged.
            I will in subsequent blogs tell the Evergreen story, through my understanding and my lens. I am determined to do it justice and will with God’s grace and yours.  This is the longest blog so far, I’m sure there will be more to come. Please respond as you are led and able.

Marcia

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Sometimes we understand God’s hand at work just because of the confluence of events. I started this blog to get out the “message” of Evergreen Association’s Leader Retreat. As I neared the “end” of the report, I realized I had started something that was just too good to abandon. I was scared about what that would mean, but continued to plow ahead and have easily found things to lift up.
            Last night, one of my colleagues from Tuesday’s cultural competency training event reminded me that we had agreed to go to Pacific Lutheran University to hear Tim Wise, an author and activist. What a treat! There were many lessons to take away from that 2 hour event, but the primary one that I shared with Stacy on our ride north was that I must “tell the story.” The story of Evergreen needs to be told, and perhaps the best way to begin telling it will be in these blogs.
            As it happened, when I came into the office this morning (yes, I’m finally getting myself into the office, rather than working out of my condo—thank goodness for healing bodies, especially feet!), I picked up an old Christian Century that hadn’t made it to my condo. In it was an article on preaching by William H. Willamon, in which he said, “Preaching is so difficult that no one can do it without being summoned. Few of us preachers mount a pulpit on Sunday morning because we are naturally good at it and enjoy mouthing off before a crowd. We got put there.” (Christian Century, February 8, 2011, page 11).  I want to say amen to that and that I feel the same way about telling the Evergreen Story, mostly because in my opinion it is a story with many voices and I am only one. However, one thing I learned last night, is that (whether I like it or not) I have been called to tell the story. I can more easily name some of the past wrongs by my culture (white, middle class, American Baptist), although I’m also bound to miss some (the culture is my lens), and I can invite other voices in and will on occasion even quote others. I am summoned to this task.
            So the Evergreen Story, by Marcia Patton starts with this apology, not a good way to start, but where I must start. I am surprised more often than not that I am in this position, doing the work I’m doing. I was raised in Temperance, Michigan - a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant community. Really, no kidding!  A Catholic Church did not come to Temperance until I was in high school!  And, if there were non-Christians in Temperance, they kept such a low profile I was totally unaware of them. There certainly were not people of color. I saw people of color every now and then when we drove the 5 miles or so to Toledo Ohio to shop.  But usually we shopped at the nearest shopping center; we rarely went downtown shopping where we’d be more likely to meet people of color. So, I am not one that can say my childhood friend led me to this place. My best friend as a child was a Catholic!  And she had a small hand in leading me where I am by her own faith and actions, but I can’t claim any childhood proclivity to the work today. I did not have to overcome, I was raised in privilege. It has taken too long for me to acknowledge that. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters; my Dad worked swing shifts at the coal-burning power plant, he held a job with that company until he retired at age 62; and my Mom stayed home. She eventually went to work around the time I went to college. Mind you, my family didn’t have a lot of money, but my parents were buying our home and I never remember being hungry. I do remember eating a lot of homemade bread and hating the powdered milk of the days my Dad was on strike one year, but hunger, no. We had land for a garden and froze vegetables that I still yearn for occasionally today. I am privileged. I am a straight woman, never married. I sometimes say that the single life is more confusing to folks than even homosexual marriage.  But I know that while the single life is misunderstood by some, it has not caused me the hurt and pain that many gay, lesbian, transgendered, and bisexual people experience. I am privileged.
            I will in subsequent blogs tell the Evergreen story, through my understanding and my lens. I am determined to do it justice and will with God’s grace and yours.  This is the longest blog so far, I’m sure there will be more to come. Please respond as you are led and able.

Marcia

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Sunday was the memorial service for our colleague and friend, Marcus Walker. The tributes were touching, meaning filled and funny! Thanks to Lauren (Marcus’ wife), his sons and family and friends for putting together such a wonderful tribute for someone too soon gone from our midst. The Burton Church Choir sang marvelously, to so many! Yet, somehow, I want to expect Marcus to still be around…
Yesterday, I spent the day with ecumenical colleagues over in Spokane doing a training event. The majority of the audience (well, all but one) were United Methodist pastors. We were presenting a seven-hour workshop called “Difference Makes a Difference.” It is a second level (after an introductory seven-hour workshop) on cultural competency. In this workshop, we review skills introduced at the first, then go deeper into the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. I worked with a United Methodist and two Lutheran colleagues.
I was reminded of how Evergreen must engage in this work, and how we seek to do so regularly in our meetings. I was also led to reflect how we can still minimize our differences. We must continually seek to be sure that we take the time to know ourselves and gain insight on how others do work, so we can creatively use the gifts and skills of everyone in Evergreen. This is an ongoing task. It is a part of jigsaw puzzle.
Marcus Walker is a good example of being/doing the unexpected. Many at his Memorial commented on the seeming inconsistency of being a Baptist Minister and a playhouse director. But truth be told, I see no inconsistency in that, I want to say, yes and why not?! Marcus was gifted in such a way that he clearly made an impact in both those worlds, toward God. One of the skills noticed was how Marcus could call out the best in others and support others in what they were doing. God knows how to use our gifts. We, too, must learn to do so.
As we learn to do this within Evergreen, it is will be a gift to share with the world. The world generally knows and affirms a “conformed” way of doing things, one that rarely sees the “different” gift as acceptable. We will be challenged to learn this acceptance in Evergreen and more challenged to share how to share it with the world. First we must work to make sure within Evergreen that we both listen to all the voices and affirm the various gifts and talents among us. It means that things will not always been done in ways we expect. We may all be surprised at times. But we serve the God of surprises! Let us prepare to serve our God well.
Marcia