just as I have been saying
The other day I received a copy of a talk where a minister here, who was extremely prominent in the church growth movement here congratulated our denominational body for adopting the sorts of things he has been talking about for years in the future directions process (see here, here and here). Made me giggle.
It reminds me of the competitiveness which creeps into our church ministries sometimes. The other night, I chaired a meeting with some of the people that represent our denomination (for CofCers, you will probably cringe at me using that, so you can just replace it with “movement” in your minds) on different ecumenical bodies and committees, such as the Victorian Council of Churches, the Christian Television Association, Council for Christian Education in Schools, The Bible Society etc. Anyway we are trying to look at processes to make the support, accountability and communication for these groups… well… existent.
Anyway, there was a bit of an undercurrent during the meeting (at times not so under) which related to which committee was the most important and most central to our overall purpose. A number of people justified why this or that body or committee was more vital than someone elses.
There is a genuine question to be considered in terms of what our priorities are as a body and where to prioritise the use of our limited resources. But there is also an element of elevating ones own ministry in importance at the expense of others. Which is a bit icky.