Church in the Time of Cholera

Proposition:

We live in a time of cascading disruptionsthat cause trauma to people and

systemsand calls for specialized

leadership

Today black swans are more common

• Natural Disasters• Human caused disasters• Economic gyrations• Secularization of culture• Schisms and dismissals• Decline in church participation• Loss and change of denominational

resources• Lack of civility• Cultural changes• Judicial cases

Black Swans/ Disruptions

Our Experience in PSNE• Five PDA disaster responses in 2 ½ years.• Four congregations in dismissal process.• Several congregations on edge of viability.• Two congregations closed• Two sexual misconduct cases• Judicial process on same sex marriage• Recession in Fairfield County

Some observations• Less and less responsiveness as disruptions

cascaded over one another.• Avoidance of potential new disruptions.• Disengagement from traumatized systems and

people.• Avoidance of grief talk; superficial “salvation

talk”• Return to familiar closed system behaviors• Denial that anything has really changed• Immediate hunger for experts• Highly emotional responses suppressed• My anxiety level went out the roof

A Question

Were these observations related to trauma response?

Traumas

Are the result of unanticipated events that overwhelm the ordinary system adaptations to life.

Resulting in feelings/reactions of intense fear, helplessness, loss of control, and threat of annihilation.

Cascading disruptions amplify these feelings.

General Symptoms of Trauma

• Hyperarousal• Intrusion• Constriction

Symptoms of Trauma

Hyperarousal Sense that the danger may reoccur at

any moment Easily startled Reacts irritably to small provocations Sleeps poorly

Symptoms of Hyperarousal in the Presbytery

Rushed to produce a disaster plan Higher resistance to initiating changes Over reacted to anything that brought

up old traumatic topics or events Hypervigilence on “different” behavior

and rule-breaking Rapid irritation over small issues A restlessness and inability to “be”

Symptoms of Trauma

Intrusion Reliving the event as though it were

continually reoccurring in the present.

Flashbacks, dreams, uncontrolled memories, vivid sensations and images.

Normal life cannot be resumed because of the intrusions.

Symptoms of Intrusions in the Presbytery

Previous disruptions and traumas jumped out of hiding

Old responses to traumas came out of the blue

Old language, processes, personality judgments suddenly resurfaced

Gut reactions to some people, or motions, or behaviors were more visible.

Flash energy for gun control, emergency generators, etc.

Symptoms of Trauma

Constriction Self-defense by altering state of

consciousness. Numbing from reality and the pain. Detachment, anesthesia, disassociation Addictive behaviors

Symptoms of Constriction in the Presbytery

Avoided anxiety by focusing on committee reports and “talking heads”

Kept busy at being busy. Obsessively stuck on policies, rules and

agendas Restricted leadership to the tried and true. Prevented space for deep engagement. Interacted only with known acquaintances Anxiety transference to EP

Question:

If our system was experiencing cascading traumas how should we be responding?

Leadership Response in the Time of Cholera

1. Knowing the history and trajectory of trauma response and recovery in our particular system

2. Enhancing the stages of recovery3. Building up system resiliency

1.

Knowing the history and trajectory of trauma

response and recovery in our particular system

History in PSNE• We have some significant past traumas

that are only talked about in whispers behind closed doors

• Anxiety is released in confrontations over amendments and judicial cases

• Strong codes of silence (“confidentiality”) and anonymity

• Outside experts are seen as threats to the equilibrium of the status quo

• People whose behaviors deviate from strict norms are ostracized or expelled

• We have a slew of policies and a huge COM manual

• Congregations and individuals disengage when anxiety rises

• EP is stressed, acts out, and numbs his or her pain

We have predictable reactions• We tend to leave traumas unresolved• Our past responses to trauma or

disruptions are triggered by new ones• Our system will close with rigid codes

of behavior and response parameters• We release anxiety in indirect and

opaque ways• Some disengage to avoid further

trauma• The EP will tend toward reactive and

numbing behaviors

We are system with addictive behaviors that numb anxiety, loss, and pain.

Can that be changed?

2.Enhancing the

Stages of Recovery

Steps of Recoveryto Disruptions

Healing Relationships Safety Remembrance and Mourning Reconnection Commonality

Healing Relationships

Sympathetic Validating Neutral Empowering not curing

Healing relationships in PSNE• PDA engaged for both immediate and

long term• Provided compassion workshops and

discussions• Created open space for relationship

building• Engaged with ecumenical partners• Encouraged self care experiences like

CREDO and Davidson Center• Expanded my therapy

Safety

To express feelings To not be judged To make own choices To share personal truths

Safety in PSNE• Leadership and staff commitment to

open space at all meetings• Providing options for self-selecting what

to talk about and with whom• Accepting non-judgmentally how

congregations and leaders are acting• My commitment to being transparent

with emotions and reactions• Re-invigorated openness to ask what we

are learning

Remembrance and Mourning

Confronting the memories Retelling the experience Mourning or lamentation Reconstructing the story Seeing the past with today’s eyes

Remembrance and mourning in PSNE

• Modeling lamentation• Giving voice to the grief of others and the

system• Taking past traumas and grief out of the

closet• Emphasizing our faith grief stories,

especially the Exile• Asking: “Who are we now?” and “How is our

story different from what it was before?”• Changing language from “falling apart” to

“learning to live the challenges”

Reconnection

Validating the new reality as if we are refugees living in a new country

Increasing power to control own destiny Accepting and managing fears,

vulnerabilities, failures of the past Reconnecting with others and a new

mission

Reconnecting in PSNE

• “It is okay to be different from what we were before”

• Drawing upon our immigrant history as a paradigm for what we are now

• Continuing to affirm that there are many ways of recovering from change and disruption

• Using third-eye view of our anxiety• Proposing multiple choice options and

validating any choice• Opening up coffers for new worshipping

communities• Finding new balance between order/control and

chaos/creativity

Commonality

Experiencing the compassion and generosity of others

Discovering that we are not alone Engaging in a group with others Feeling of belonging and transparency Finding sources of information

Commonality in PSNE• Continue to validate and offer services of PDA

and self-care events and places• Tell the stories of other disasters and the

responses of other presbyteries/congregations• Emphasize that “we survived” and “we

learned”• Promote risk taking in transparent

relationships• Widen our delivery of information about

recovery and self-care events• Hire a consultant for nurturing creativity and

innovation

The two greatest factors affecting trauma recovery are how the system and how the leader have handled trauma previously

Will our recovery efforts ever get ahead of the cascading disruptions?

Can we create a climate and culture that continually enhances recovery?

3.Building Resiliency in our congregations and

presbyteries

Resilience: the capacity of a system to maintain its core purpose and integrity in the face of dramatically changed circumstances or in response to disruptions

Building Resiliency in our congregations and presbyteries

Flexible Scaling Continual Sensing Clustering Resilient mind and spirit Permeable Membranes

• Decentralization• Replaceable leadership• EG: al-Qaeda

• De-coupling• EG: Electric Grid

• Swarming• EG: TB

Flexible Scaling

Flexible scaling in PSNE• Unblock the ways congregations are

dismissed• Validating congregation and individual de-

coupling from the Presbytery• Limit the role of Nominating and move

toward adhocracy• Creating virtual office• Decreasing the centrality and visibility of

EP role and empowering other leaders• Invite open door swarming for critical

issues and events

Continual Sensing

• Feedback loops• EG: Electrical Grid

• Distributed intelligence• Mission 4636 and twitter

Continual sensing in PSNE• Focusing on role of sentinel• What is going on inside and outside

• Open space sharing at meetings• Frequently asking: “how are we doing?”• Increasing data and story delivery in

weekly emails• Decentralizing information and opening

wiki paths• Validating wisdom of outliers and the

experienced

Clustering

• Mass gatherings that are• Dense• Diverse• Open

• Complex network connections• EG: Dynamic cities and

biodiversity

Clustering in PSNE• Open ended questioning of what is the

business and purpose of presbytery• Making Presbytery meetings creative,

relational, and empowering of commissioners

• Integrating the place of immigrants, specialized ministers, and creative ideas

• Moving staff roles from resource providers and managers to networkers and question askers

Resilient Mind and Spirit

• Meaning• Influence • Learning• Mindfulness

• EG: Spirituality and Neuro-plasticity

Resilient mind and spirit in PSNE

High quality creative worship first Worshipper led worship including message Story telling of how congregations and

individuals make a difference Highlighting innovative Christian

communities that offer new ways of spiritual meaning

Changing focus from our divisions to a common task of nurturing creativity

Permeable Membranes

• Inclusivity• Diversity• Tolerance for dissent

• EG: Red Team U (skeptics) and Molecular Biology Labs (group-think)

Permeable membranes in PSNE• Continually redefining who “we” are

• Trying to find ways to express differences and make decisions without Roberts Rules

• Approving and celebrating innovative ministries and communities

• Giving voice to those the rules give no voice to

• Allowing congregations and ministries to react differently and to engage differently

• Adhocracy from passion not only talent• Hiring a Jewish non-profit consultant from

Louisville

Is it possible to change a closed and rigid system into a resilient one?

Can we see the Christian Church as already a highly

resilient system? Flexible Scaling Continual Sensing Clustering Resilient mind and spirit Permeable Membranes