For years, I have been seeing a meme that reads something like: "I survived another meeting that should have been an email."After a year and a half of some degree of social distancing, I would say the biggest learning for me is that meme needs to go into the dustbin.
About twenty years ago, when I first went before the COM (Commission on Ministry - the diocesan body that helps ordinands discern ministry), someone asked me, "What do you think priests do most of the week?" I answered, "From what I can tell, it's meeting after meeting after meeting." I got a nod of approval for that answer, and after a decade and a half of ordained ministry, oh how correct I was!
Clergy attend a lot of meetings. In fact, prior to the pandemic, I was already quite familiar with Zoom, as the Church had been using the platform for years. What better way to meet than to not have to drive for two hours to sit in a room for an hour.
I do sometimes wonder how necessary all of these meetings are. More accurately, I wonder how necessary all the tasks behind all the meetings are. If there is a task, the need for meeting itself may not be the issue. The issue really may be the general busy-ness of ministry. Many years ago, I attended the institution of a new rector of a 1928 Prayer Book parish. I have no idea where this line came from, as it is is not in the 28 BCP, nor any other resource I have looked through, but one of the vows that the priest affirmed was: "Wilt thou busy thyself with holy things?" That line has stuck with me over the years, as I have often busied myself with things whose holiness I have questioned.
The matter of occupation is a bit of an aside, except that I believe when people often complain about meetings, it is actually a complaint about tasks that may not be efficacious. When something is of value, putting time into it is worth the while. It is even more worth our while, I believe, and more effective, when the task is shared among colleagues.
"How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!"
-Psalm 133:1 (Coverdale)
For Christians, our faith is not one of lone wolves. Our faith is communal. This of course does not mean that personal devotions, private prayer, or working alone on things is out of the question. These are also a part of our faith, but only in that they feed our lives in the wider community. Why meeting, and preferably in person, are so important to the business of the Church is because it is a communal action. The word for "church" in Greek is ekklesía, literally the "gathering".
The challenge of the past year and a half is that gathering has been limited to impossible. On the positive, the switch to digital platforms has opened doors for meetings and worship with a wider range of area and time. And obviously, the social distancing is protecting us from the spread of disease. However, no matter how much we try and make these work, they are substitutes for in person.
Some of the advantages of regular in person meetings are:
- A routine or ritual of discernment.
Christians, particularly those in liturgical traditions, find the Divine through ritual. Even when it is something as mundane as a staff meeting, there is opportunity for finding holy moments in those meetings. This is particularly true if meetings are prayerful. The regularity of meetings also allows people to prepare and plan.
We may balk at the idea of meetings as community building, but they can produce an environment of trust and vulnerability. Ideas can be shared and feedback can be given. These are vital to proper discernment, even if it's deciding whether or not to install a new toilet in the bathroom.
- Being physically in the same space allows fuller communication
This is particularly important in an age when we have so many options for communication. Particularly in times of stress or conflict, I am always shocked (but maybe not so shocked) at how people try and manage difficult conversations through text or email. I have read that somewhere around 65% of human communication is nonverbal. In writing, you simply cannot convey tone, body language, facial expression, touch or any of the other ways we communicate aside from our mere words.
When Jesus teaches us how to manage conflict, he says: "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone." (Matthew 18:15 NRSV) Two things to note here: First, Jesus tells us to "go", and secondly Jesus says "when the two of you are alone". Both of these are built on the assumption that the people in conflict are in each other's physical presence. Letter writing certainly existed, so that was an option, but not one that Jesus gave. Even in the age of video conferencing, physical presence has an advantage. It has been well studied that video platforms exhaust us at a double rate of in person interactions, which means we are not at our best. Part of the reason for this is a slight delay, which also detracts from our full ability to communicate. Additionally, we are looking at a person through a small rectangular window, which limits reading body language. On top of all of that, people have backgrounds which are distracting. While video platforms are useful, they are not a replacement for how our brains understand the full spectrum of communication.
We are likely never going to fully go back to all in-person meetings or even worship, even once the pandemic has fully passed. However, we have to use these platforms with the understanding of the importance of in-person interactions. Meetings are not an obstacle, but a tool for ministry.
Getting back to an earlier point, though, they should be done with some intention. Meetings require an agenda, that is known prior to gathering. Even if it is the same agenda, time after time, it should be known and understood. If a meeting feels like drudgery, we should probably question the purpose or task for the meeting, not the act of meeting itself. Church meetings, particularly, should be prayerful - the more prayer the better. Every person should be given time to speak, and no one person should dominate the conversation and take time away from others.
When done properly, meetings are a form of spiritual discernment. They allow us to communicate in the fullest way possible. They allow us to share ideas and accomplish tasks. Meetings should be done properly, but they certainly cannot be replaced - even by a well-written email.
Comments
Post a Comment