Episcopal Press and News
Conference in Dallas Addresses Issues of the Church as Workplace
Episcopal News Service. May 23, 1996 [96-1475]
Herb Gunn, Editor of the Record, the newspaper of the Diocese of Michigan
(ENS) A butcher, a baker, a candle-stick maker or a deacon, an organist or a secretary: What constitutes work in the Episcopal Church and how is it valued?
These questions highlighted a three-day conference on "Strengthening Working Relationships in the Church," organized by the Professional Ministry Development Cluster of the Episcopal Church and held May 2-4 in Dallas, Texas.
Prompted by rising anxiety over job-related issues expressed by the National Network of Episcopal Clergy Associations (NNECA), the National Network of Lay Professionals (NNLP), and the North American Association for the Diaconate (NAAD), Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning issued a call for the meeting to assess how people who work for the church feel about their work.
Twenty-two persons in leadership roles from a variety of professional and vocational associations throughout the Episcopal Church gathered to compare notes from the work experience of their members. The groups' wide diversity and a floodtide of vocational insecurities had the potential to override any common purpose. The result, however, was a spirit of remarkable unity and focus.
"Although this is our first meeting," said the Rev. Wayne Wright, past president of NNECA, in remarks at the closing Eucharist, "we have met each other and served each other all along." He recalled how he often relies on his bishop's secretary, that he met his wife at an Episcopal camp and that his child attends an Episcopal school.
The New Orleans cleric's sense of connection among those who are employed by the church was shared by others at the conference. And among them all, the reticence to join yet another association was overcome by the sense that this gathering was something special. Out of the conference was born a new professional association called the Colloquium of Episcopal Professional and Vocational Associations (CEPVA) which will continue to address the issues that face those who work for the church.
"This is something new and exciting that will be of great benefit to the church in the years to come," said the Rev. James Wilson of the Professional Ministry Development Cluster.
Highlighting the discussion throughout the conference were questions of economics, justice and professional development.
"Not any of these issues should be separated from the baptismal covenant," said Howard Ross of the NNLP. The church, added Thom Robertson of the Anglican Association of Musicians, "needs to recognize what we do as a ministry."
"What we are talking about is honoring the ministry of the lay person," added Beth Matthews, secretary to the bishop of Arkansas.
The Very Rev. Durstan McDonald, dean of the Seminary of the Southwest, urged some caution in the way in which the language is used to describe church work.
"Clergy, doctors and lawyers are professions in the old-fashioned sense of the term, but the language has shifted," he explained. "The baptismal covenant talks about going out, not work within the church.
"We should reserve the term lay ministry for whatever you do wherever you are," he continued. "It is the way in which you represent Christ in the broken world. . . whereas, a lay profession is what you do within the church."
Some people do exercise their lay ministry within their church profession, he added, but the two are not necessarily the same.
Once a distinction is made, McDonald said, the church should seek to recognize the importance of lay professionals and work to insure structures of support that are "parallel to clergy professional support."
Several conference participants suggested that some sort of professional certification would be helpful in establishing credibility for Episcopal lay professionals.
Wearing his hat as the national staff person for the Church Deployment Office, Wilson urged professional groups to encourage their members to register with the national deployment office, whether or not they might be presently searching for new employment. He explained that his office does de facto certify lay professionals when it verifies their eligibility with their respective diocesan bishops and maintains their employment files.
"Being registered may or may not have to do with whether you are looking for a new job," Wilson explained. "But it has does have to do with the stewardship of God's ministry."
Ruth Schmidt, the executive director of the NNLP and a member of the Council for the Development of Ministry, added that each diocese might also consider its own certification process.
The Dallas conference also focused on several issues of involuntary termination, including pro forma resignations, as well as general issues of severance pay and out-placement training and assistance.
"Arbitrary dismissal without cause, without review and without evaluation is wreaking havoc on families and lives within the church," said the Rev. Jack Andersen, of the Camp and Conference Centers. "How do we set up some norms and standards [to protect] one's dignity?"
"I would hope that there could be a system set up to make departures more just and dignified," added Howard Ross, who along with his NNLP affiliation is the director of music and organist at Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas and a member of the Anglican Association of Musicians.
While NNECA had been previously petitioned by NNLP to support its strong position against pro forma resignations, the clergy association had not met in their annual meeting to consider the statement. Other groups present at the conference, however, characterized pro forma resignations as archaic and unfair to diocesan or parish staff in place at the time of leadership transition.
Conference participants prepared a brief statement called "Principles of Justice and Accountability in the Church Workplace," which outlined principles and practices of fair employment for lay and clergy in the Episcopal Church. The guidelines, which will reach the floor of General Convention next year, describe a covenant relationship between the person called and the calling community.
Several participants suggested that employment practices that lacked clarity and consistency, and the inherent insecurities felt by those who worked under them, often indicated a need to improve the relationships surrounding employment. Employment practices that attempted to supplant the diligent work of improving relationships -- such as pro forma terminations or infrequent mutual evaluations -- were at the core of employee dissatisfaction.
While participants agreed that new policies and procedures would not eliminate the reality and the pain of people losing their jobs, they suggested that the church could communicate more clearly, create a more equitable policy on termination issues, and codify ways in which lay professionals and those in church vocations will be recognized and supported in their professional development and for their contributions.
We are talking about "strengthening Christian relationships," said Deacon Susanne Watson of the North American Association for the Diaconate. The group's emphasis, she said, should be on "speaking the truth in love, empowerment and enabling people with different ideas around the table."
By the end of the three-day conference, the groups represented identified an arena of continuing work for themselves and created a new network of networks called Colloquium of Episcopal Professional and Vocational Associations (CEPVA). Several of the groups are planning to develop a unified exhibit booth at General Convention and will lend their support to General Convention resolutions that raise employee issues.
"The booth will be a symbol," said Ruth Schmidt of the Council for the Development of Ministry and the NNLP. "Whether [displays will be] unified or adjoined, that will be an important symbol and a big step forward for those working as professionals in the church."
"The unity of these disparate groups manifesting itself at General Convention," said Ann Gordon of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, "could speak to a church that needs that kind of symbolism."
"It gives me hope for the church," concurred Bishop Earl McArthur, suffragan bishop of West Texas, representing the House of Bishops. "It will send a message to the church and the General Convention that it really needs to hear."
CEPVA is planning to reconvene for a second conference on Strengthening Working Relationship in the Church next April.
Joining NNECA, NNLP, and NAAD in the creation of a new league of professional associations were representatives from: Bishop's Executive Secretaries Together (BEST), the Anglican Association of Musicians (AAM), the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES), Episcopal Camp and Conference Centers (ECCC), the Diocesan Deployment Officers (DDO), the Church Pension Group (CPG), the Assembly of Episcopal Hospitals and Chaplains (AEHC), the Conference on the Religious Life (CORL), the Council for the Development of Ministry (CDM), the Council of Seminary Deans, Episcopal Communicators and the House of Bishops.