Recent decisions made at church offices, including five staff positions cut and the merger of Canada Ministries and the Vine, left many feeling angry, frustrated, and concerned about the church’s future. According to Rick Fee, general secretary of the Life and Mission Agency — the department most affected by the restructuring — the decisions are a response to calls for change from across the church and from within the Life and Mission Agency Committee. Fee sat down with the Record‘s senior writer, Amy MacLachlan to discuss the new vision, and to hopefully allay fears that congregations and presbyteries will suffer as a result.
On the process of decision-making:
Rick Fee: “The LMA, as part of its ongoing mandate, continually assesses how money is spent. We talk about it whenever we meet. When the Vine was created, it was done so with the desire to be flexible and to adapt to the changing needs of the denomination. But when we looked at the way things were going, over the years and down the road, it would become contrary to our original vision of 1992. So, the LMA Committee challenged everyone to listen to congregations and what the church was saying. Ultimately, it was borne out of the Emmaus conference, where we heard over and over, ‘Help us, help us, help us. Congregations are in pain, and in change. What you provide nationally should help us with what we address everyday. Give us the tools we need.’
So, when the finances were brought to the forefront, it coalesced our thinking. We wondered, what can we do practically, and how best can we implement all the suggestions in order to provide the best service to congregations?
I know there’s great concern about the two departments merging [Canada Ministries and the Vine]. People are wondering, what’s being dropped? The core issues of our church will remain, but the LMA will be doing things differently, so people will change and the configuration of the office will change. We’re trying to use the gifts and talents that are here in the best way possible. But the work will continue. For example, Youth in Mission. It’s not closing down. It’s as strong as always, but it’s being done by a new person, Lindsey Hepburn in Education for Mission. And she’s given up other work that will now fall to someone else.
That is the reason why the financial work will be centralized. We’re taking the tasks that some people have been doing who really have no expertise in that area, and giving it to people who have training to handle it. That in turn frees up staff for other tasks. So, the work continues. Working for congregations will continue. Everything is there. People will answer the phones, and their emails; it just might be someone different than you’re used to.
The LMA has the mandate to organize and do its own work. This has all gone through the LMA Committee at every stage. They were part of the initial planning, thinking, and previous drafts. And it was confirmed by them.”
On further consultation:
RF: “We’ve already been doing this. We want to draw upon all the gifts and talents we have here [at church offices], and make sure they’re given assignments that they’re interested in, are capable of doing, and are gifted in. We can then shift responsibilities accordingly. We recognize that the church wants the work done, and it’s being done through this means.
For example, we meet in groups, and we met with the Stewardship team and Planned Giving. We asked them to collaborate more when possible, as some of their work fits together. We recognize there’s a fine line between some groups, so working together would be on an ad-hoc basis, so per project. But this is ensuring that staff is working together and to the maximum benefit of everyone.
It encourages a flow of talent and gifts, and being project-oriented. Congregations and presbyteries have expressed a need; our job is to respond. We want to re-emphasize the vital importance of congregations; we want to recapture the pivotal role of presbyteries; and we want to reorder the program arm of the church so that we effectively serve both congregations and presbyteries.”
On other options:
RF: “Everything was thought about. Over the last few years, every possible scenario was considered. We thought about whether there should be various collaborations. PWS&D was kept separate, since they need a separate audit, and have a separate income. With CIDA, it’s just too complicated. They’re actually being audited this November by CIDA.”
On centralizing finances:
RF: “Finances will be handled by Mathew Goslinski [formerly in Canada Ministries] and Mary Beth McLean [formerly in International Ministries]. They will move into one office and will be answerable to Anne Phillips, [the LMA’s senior administrator]. The three of them will make up the finance team. Mathew and Mary Beth will cease doing their previous responsibilities. Since people were handling the finances of individual departments who did not have any training in finances, we thought, ok, let’s use people who have training in this area so others can be freed up to do other work. And with a decrease in staff, other duties have to be shared, so this enables them more time to take on new things.”
On what will change, and what won’t:
RF: “Every established procedure will continue; they just might be done by different people. Policies and procedures continue, but the process might change. Everything else will stay in place. The current work will be enforced, reinforced and built upon.”
PR: The first set of changes announced at an all staff meeting back in November 2009 included other money-saving changes such as a temporary suspension of the cost of living allowance, and a week of unpaid holiday. Are these measures still necessary, now that these other changes will take effect?
RF: “Those changes were part of the whole package that was given to us by Assembly Council [in Nov. 2009], which was the reason for all of this. But we will look at Presbyterians Sharing revenue and see if it’s necessary for 2011 — especially the week off. Presently, Presbyterians Sharing income looks fine; we’re pleased with it. So hopefully there will be some respite from that. We’re waiting for the third quarter numbers to come in before making a decision.”
PR: I’ve heard some complaints about the recent decisions. Have you received any response?
RF: “Yes. People are asking for clarification, and are expressing concerns about what’s missing. Many are asking, what about youth? So I’ve explained that. These things are always a concern — evangelism, growth, and church extension. And those things aren’t being downplayed. It’s actually the exact opposite. This whole reordering and restructuring is to put a greater emphasis on the needs of congregations. Renewal, evangelism, outreach, and church growth are priorities we think will be better served by a department that can answer a congregation’s concerns in one request.
Maybe it’s human nature to set up something that then becomes more and more concrete. It’s not human nature to build in flexibility and adaptability. So something like this, where there is reordering and reorganizing, are more traumatic than anyone wants.
We’re a unique organization — one that can look to the future and recognize that needs do change, and the needs of the church have to be met. We need to adapt. The electronic age has revolutionized the way we function. Even 10 years ago, who would have guessed that every church would have a computer and be online? So our structure here must be part of that change along with our constituency.”
PR: Do you have anything else to add?
RF: “I would hope that people will respond to the challenge, and we remain totally open. There are LMA members across the country, so I hope people will talk to them. It’s a cliché — reformed and always reforming — but it’s the truth. We must be reforming in our outreach and in being a relevant church in our society. I pray that it will be recognized that this is a service to congregations. That’s the bottom line.”
