We have stressed over the last few posts about the importance of culture in your organization (parish) and why that matters to your role as an effective leader. Now that we have a better understanding of why that matters, we will turn our attention to how to make that happen. We have referenced Pastor Carey Niewhof and his website in previous posts. https://careynieuwhof.com/start-here/ He has written an excellent article on this topic https://careynieuwhof.com/guide-on-how-to-create-an-amazing-church-culture/ and I will attempt to summarize it below.
No pastor likes to state this, but every church has toxins. While there may be different situations that result in this toxic atmosphere the cause is almost always people and interpersonal relationships. Where two or three are gathered, we know Jesus will be present, but we also can expect conflict, personal agendas and in some cases even a lack of passion or commitment. In Niewhof’s article he encourages us to identify and eliminate the toxins.
This may be easier said than done but it is critical. Look at some of our earlier posts on managing your team or handling conflict. Ignoring the toxins allows the problem to fester and spread. It is best to address it early so that others see you taking action and it allows them to understand your values and goals.
Niewhof states, “any conversation about church health starts with the face in the mirror” – you the leader. Your church culture starts with you. Therefore, you must model the change you wish to see. People will follow your lead, so if there is something happening that you do not want to see, be sure that you are not the cause. They may be imitating your behavior.
The article suggests a relatively easy exercise to help you identify the values you wish to embody in your parish. Have a meeting with 3-4 trusted staff members. It would be good to include some diversity in terms of ministries as well as roles and responsibilities. In other words, don’t include only clergy or just the members of the faith formation team.
Once you have your group, ask each person to identify 10 parishioners who they think you would like all your parishioners to be like. As the lists are compiled look for names that may be common to several lists. If there are some, ask the group why these people are on the list. If no commonalities, determine why each member chose people. In both cases you are looking for common themes. Examples would include; dedicated, hard worker, good people person, etc.
This exercise could be repeated for negative parishioners, but this should be done with caution, if at all. The attempt here is to identify those common traits which cause issues or problems. The caveat is that the list should never become public and all discussions around this must remain confidential. You need to be sure your group can respect this before trying this part of the exercise.
In summary, you are your culture. But culture depends on a healthy supportive environment and these exercises can help create that. We will focus next time on creating encouraging and optimistic behavior.