The Purpose of a Synod (or Presbytery)

Curt Karns' Notes for The Council

Synod of Alaska-Northwest, PC(USA)
June 19, 2009

Last year the synod assembly approved A Working Vision as the document to guide the synod more effectively into mission. As I have worked with it over the past year, there are two key elements in A Working Vision that have given focus to all the rest, and one I would like to offer as a possible way of describing the whole.

First Element:
The Title of the Adopted Synod Vision—A Working Vision

The title indicates that the vision itself is still in motion. This seems most appropriate, given the literature indicating that we are living in a time requiring adaptive change. That is, we do not have solutions to today’s problems, and cannot simply improve the techniques of old solutions in addressing these problems. Instead, we must begin to adapt, trusting that God will provide the solution. Any vision we have, then, must be a working vision that will be in a state of change as we continue to develop new understandings of what God is doing now. As Robert Quinn put it, “we must build the bridge while walking on it (Deep Change, Josse-Bates, 1996, p. 83.).”
This corresponds well with the biblical passage about the first human, Adam, grappling with the need for adaptive change for the first time. God presents Adam to the world and then gives this first human the task naming God’s creatures. God, of course, created the universe by SPEAKING it into being in progressive stages. Now, the human is called to see what God has created and to give a name, or speak in creaturely terms of what is found.
This, it seems, has been the human task ever since. We describe everything we find. To the degree that our descriptions are better descriptions, we humans live better in the world. To the degree that our descriptions are worse, we live worse. For instance, if we describe illness well enough, we become able to find effective ways of treating the illness.
However, despite Adam’s best efforts, no adequate partner appears for him. When Adam finally has done all that was possible (and only after this long period of exploring and naming), God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep. When Adam awakes, he discovers there has been a huge change. Now, there is not just one type of human, but two—male and female. Indeed, it is only at this point that the text uses the terms male and female. God has caused the human to change, and Adam names the new way of being female and male.
It is important to note several elements in this foundational story.

1. Being human is about naming what we encounter. Historically, this has meant naming and renaming. Just as the cause of some diseases was once described as evil vapors, and later were as germs, so it is with much of our life. The ability to understand and describe better is key to being human. It is very appropriate that our synod is operating under A Working Vision. We can expect change to continue, both in how we describe our mission, and in the strategies we employ to fulfill that mission.
2. Just as Adam’s ability to name things did not solve his adaptive challenge (no creature could be named an adequate partner), we also do not currently have the ability to name final answers for our adaptive challenges. Yet, God tasked Adam with the job anyway. Evidently, the process of seeking and naming is important, even if it is not an adequate answer by itself.
3. Just when Adam finally came to the end of his efforts, and had to let go of the illusion that he would find his own fulfillment, we also must finally trust God to do what we cannot do on our own. There comes a point, perhaps at the very end of our abilities, when we must be willing to let God change us. Getting to that point is the adventure that stands before people facing adaptive change.
4. God is faithful, both in directing us to the point where adaptive change can happen, and in bringing about change that is only possible because of God’s gracious redemptive activity. We can trust God through all the discomfort of adaptive change.

Second Element:
|Understanding Synod as an Arena For Mission Partnerships

According to A Working Vision the mission of the synod is to “empower and support presbytery missions [recognizing that] More is accomplished for the Kingdom of God when two or more presbyteries are working together.” This vision can be helped by using Phil Butler’s vocabulary of the difference between networking and of partnerships (Well Connected; Authentic Publishing, 2006). Networking inspires ministry by the cross-fertilization of ideas and the more-than-the-sum-of-the parts inspiration of the Holy Spirit that comes when diverse parts of the Christian body connect. Partnerships form when different parts of the synod recognize both the opportunity and the call of God to form a commitment to form a covenant relationship in the pursuit of a goal that neither could accomplish alone. Both networking and partnerships are of great value.
A Working Vision goes further and identifies synod commissioners as key participants in this partnership work. Synod commissioners are to operate under and apostolic ministry model of leadership. Just as the apostles shared the gospel message first in Jerusalem, and then to the uttermost ends of the earth, so the commissioners are to be in touch with ministries across the presbytery, gathering the stories of God’s work in those places, and sharing those stories as they travel throughout the presbytery, and on to the synod assembly. Through the sharing of stories through mission fairs and other contacts, the commissioners become brokers of information (networking) and possible new relationships (partnering).
However, we are building the bridge as we walk on it. There might be other means for networking and partnering beyond the synod commissioners that would be worth exploring.
One of the questions worth pursuing is whether this approach to synod assemblies will be effective or not. I am suggesting that we should be asking whether the money spent on travel for synod assemblies would be better spent in gathering gather people with a specific area of interest from across the synod for networking and the formation of possible partnerships.
For instance, the current assembly has targeted five areas to explore for synod mission. Task forces of synod commissioners are being formed to pursue ministry in these five areas. I am wondering if synod commissioners are the right people to have on these task forces. What if, instead, the commissioners were to gather for assembly meetings electronically, rather than face-to-face, to vote on policy, budgets and to elect council members. If so the travel money would be available to gather Presbyterians engaged in at least one of these five areas from across the synod for some kind of synod convention. Then the people actually engaged in the ministry would have the opportunity to network and partner, eliminating the middle-man role required of the synod commissioners.
Of course this brief account leaves a lot of loose ends and questions unanswered. For instance, would it then be left to the staff and the council to determine which areas of concern God is lifting up from across the synod for future conventions? Even with so many questions, though, I believe this line of inquiry to be worth pursuing. I am not sure that synod commissioners are really the people the synod should gather together if the goal is networking and partnership building.
One thing is certain, though. With A Working Vision to guide us, we have begun building the new bridge needed for more effective synod ministry. We will be designing and redesigning as long as we continue on this adaptive journey.

Third Element:
On Dance as Metaphor Describing this Ministry

This metaphor lifts up the very interesting point that God chooses to work out the details of the history of salvation in partnership with human beings in general, and with God’s faithful in particular. It is like a dance, where God leads and we follow. This metaphor makes the most sense when we think of it from different cultural perspectives.

1. In some European dance, both the leader (God) and the follower (the disciple) give their best to the dance partnerships and produce something uniquely beautiful to those two in partnership in that place and time.
2. In Greek circle dances, all join together to produce the dance. It is not just between God and one partner, but it involves the whole community.
3. In Iñuit dance, the drummer and singer calls the dance setting both the theme and the tempo; and the individual dancers respond, coming forward to add body and interpretation to the tempo and theme set before them.