News from the Companion Ministry Program

July 2010

Here is an annual wrap-up and a bit of what you will learn at Convention this Fall…

In the period from June 30, 2009—June 30, 2010, Companions worked with 13 congregations in our Diocese.   In April and May, Companions offered Wade in the Water at each of the diocesan Ministry Expos and are currently receiving requests to offer Wade… to individual congregations.  With additional training and formation this year, Companions began the work of facilitating exit interviews when clergy depart from a congregation and facilitating Mutual Ministry Reviews.  

Two Companions, Leslie Black (White River Junction) and Diane Nancekivell (Middlebury) are currently on leave; Steve Smith (Arlington) and Ann Cooper (Middlebury) joined the Ministry Program this year.   Other Companions are Jean Hancock (Chester), Laura Hunter (Wilmington); Rolfe Lawson (Gansevoort, NY); and Jean Smith (Brattleboro).

As part of the Diocesan Ministry Support Team re-configuration in late 2009 and early 2010, the Companions Ministry Program also underwent some changes.   Companions became part-time employees and are fully supported by the Diocese when doing transition work and conflict transformation.  They are appointed by the Bishop in their work, no longer interviewed by congregations. Current areas of ministry and work with congregations include the discernment and calling process for clergy leadership; walking with congregations through conflict transformation; facilitating Mutual Ministry Reviews and exit interviews; and working with congregations in formation and development of baptismal ministry (Wade in the Water, Covenant Groups, Local Ministry Support Teams, LifeCycles). 

New and developing work for some Companions—those feeling a specific call to these areas and having the training—are in stewardship ministry and congregational leadership.   These latter areas of work are being developed in collaboration with Angie Emerson, our Diocesan Minister for Stewardship Development.  All of these changes expand further our Bishop’s ministry to congregations.  

The Companions Ministry Program remains open to inquirers.  If you believe you 

• have an interest in congregational development
• are a team player and appreciate collaboration
• are excited by hearing others’ faith stories
• and have solid group skills, excellent listening skills, and are comfortable being with and in front of groups

then please contact Susan Ohlidal sohlidal@dioceseofvermont.org for a conversation and possible application to this vibrant and engaging ministry within our Diocese.

“With Fran’s experience in the diocese of Northern Michigan, and her leadership in the use of LifeCycles with congregations, it was a natural for her to work with our Companions as they further their understanding of LifeCycles,” according to Susan Ohlidal, Canon for Ministry Development and coordinator of the Companions Ministry Program. During an “instructed session” of LifeCycles, Companions participated as group members but also “stepped back” to learn more of the components they will need when working with congregations.
Companions received an introduction to the original creation of LifeCycles and the collaborative process of creation still unfolding between dioceses and seminary partners; learned how LifeCycles is used in a congregation; discovered the various shared leadership roles represented in each session; and discussed the cyclical process of formation.

Since the inception of the Companions Ministry in summer 2007, Companions—lay and ordained persons-- have worked with sixteen congregations, extending the bishop’s ministry, and offering guidance and resources to vestries, clergy, and ministry discernment committees. Companions will soon begin working with congregations exploring baptismal ministry and working with covenant groups. Appointed by the bishop, Companions offer an incarnation of baptismal ministry as they demonstrate their own ministry as baptized persons and celebrate the ministry of others. More information about Companions can be found here.

Storytelling event focuses on baptismal ministry
Mountain Echo, January 2009
(Download a PDF of the January issue to see the article with more pictures.)

by Anne Clarke Brown
In a day-long workshop—“Telling Our Story: Baptismal Ministry”—December 13, at St. Paul’s, White River Junction, members of Vermont congregations shared stories of their journeys into baptismal ministry. Members of the Diocese of Maryland also spoke about local ministry teams and the work of their Commission on Ministry.

Other Vermonters at the workshop included Bishop Thomas Ely, ministry developers, members of the Commission on Ministry, Companions, and members of congregations interested in exploring new configurations of leadership in the context of baptismal ministry.

Design team members were Joel Hill, Brattleboro, a trained storyteller; Thad Bennett, canon for ministry development and deployment; Susan Ohlidal, canon for ministry development; Canon Mark Gatza, trained storyteller, and Canon Rick Morley, both from the Diocese of Maryland.

Bennett described the genesis of the event in conversations at Living Stones, a coalition of American and Canadian dioceses working together under a covenant to renew and revitalize ministry at the local level. Vermont’s Living Stones colleagues encouraged the diocese to be more intentional in telling the stories of its ministry teams to the rest of the diocese. The Vermont planners decided to cross-fertilize by inviting another diocese to join in the storytelling. He hoped, he said, that “people will leave, not with answers, but with the sense of being better equipped by going back to their own communities with the stories of others.”

Gatza told the history of Maryland’s recognition of the importance of lay ministry and said the diocese’s process for welcoming people into ministry has a discernment process that is for both lay and ordained ministries.
Morley, the area missioner in Western Maryland, spoke about the Gospel of Mark’s story of Jesus healing a paralytic. Needing to find a creative way to get the man to Jesus, his friends dug a hole in the roof, or in the Greek, “unroofed the roof.” “I see baptismal ministry as unroofing the roof,” Morley said. “It upsets the status quo and turns the church into something Jesus would have envisioned for us.”

Morely said mutual baptized ministry helped the congregations in Western Maryland “to envision ministry in a new way.” Four congregations have ministry teams, and it has, he said, “raised the level of participation across the whole congregation.”

Jeanne Thrasher, a member of one of those teams, admitted that in the early days, the mutual ministry concept was accepted as a matter of survival. But they soon learned that it was what would work to build up their church. The congregation has developed an Hispanic community, and Thrasher said, “I have learned through mutual ministry and the LifeCycles study that there is no ‘them.’ We are all equal.”

Catherine McCauley and Melanie Combs told the story of the Slate Valley Regional Ministry. Combs noted that, “We are living into baptismal ministry. It’s not about the numbers but what the numbers are doing.” McCauley said, “I believe the financial circumstances are God pushing and forcing us to do something new. On Sunday we are re-infused with the energy for what we are to be doing the rest of the week.”

Diane Root, canon missioner for the Three Rivers Regional Ministry, spoke primarily on the story of Christ Church, Bethel, which had, before she arrived in 1998, two people in the process for what was then local ordination. While there have been ups and downs, they are now moving “into a process that is a way of life for the congregation”

Victor Horvath, a priest on the ministry support team at Immanuel, Bellows Falls, described their process of “drawing the map as we walked the journey.” The team, identified by members of the congregation, went through a process of study and discernment and then through the diocese’s process “as a pack.” They now recognize the need for a second generation, even if it looks different. While that may be difficult, he said, like the name of the church, “God will be with us.”

Laura Hunter and Thad Bennett shared the story of St. Mary’s in the Mountains, Wilmington, and their desire to be a cooperative ministry that was not clergy-centered. Hunter said that when Bennett came to them as “priest-in-charge,” he “quickly became the priest-not-in-charge.” The congregation has just begun a Wednesday evening service totally led by lay people that is intended for those in resort employment who cannot attend Sunday services.

Before a closing worship, the group took time to consider threads of commonality and threads of difference in the stories, as well as what they would “take home.”

Commonalities identified included: the fact that the process of moving into mutual/baptismal ministry, in whatever form, takes time and perseverance; the new reality of the ministry of all the baptized is bubbling up in many places; the financial challenges that serve as the impetus can actually be a blessing; an emphasis on a sense of team; and the need to be comfortable with uncertainty. Fran Gardner of New Hampshire saw the process as a baptismal dying in order for new life to emerge.

The only difference noted was that between those who began the journey in financial crisis and a congregation like Immanuel, which was driven by an interest in baptismal living rather than finances.

Several said they would leave with new energy and appreciation that the process is long but rewarding. They appreciated the opportunity to hear the stories of others, to find shared concerns, and to make connections. One found Combs’s statement that it is not about the numbers but what the numbers are doing to be very helpful.

Thrasher said she will go back to Maryland with “a sense of humility that God expects us to work through the Spirit, and the Spirit works through different vessels.” She concluded, “Baptismal ministry works.”

July 2008
Companions are field training with ministry developers
by Susan Ohlidal
            As part of their on-going training in congregational development and baptismal ministry, Companions will now be accompanying ministry developers in their daily work. Having completed initial training, Companions are ready to work in real situations in our parishes and diocesan organizations. (See related story in the April 08 Mountain Echo, available online at www.dioceseofvermont.org)
            As a transition step, and one that furthers their formation, Companions are matched up with the four canons for ministry development in the diocese. They may walk alongside a ministry developer in a parish doing transition work, attend a meeting with a vestry about baptismal ministry formation, be present at a mission planning session with congregational leaders, or be involved in some other ministry with a congregation. The ministry developer coordinates with the congregation or group in advance about a Companion’s presence.  
            This next phase of training is an important aspect of the Companions’ formation, offering them another perspective on work in the field. They will see the actual work in place at the local level, observe various styles and techniques of leadership and facilitation, and do so in a wide variety of situations. Following the meeting or group event, the Companions will work with the ministry developer and each other, sharing insights and asking questions about their experience and what they learned.
            Companions not only expand the ministry of the Diocese of Vermont to congregations but also offer an incarnation of baptismal ministry as they demonstrate their own ministries as baptized persons and celebrate the ministries of others. 
            The Companion Ministry Program is generously supported by the Roanridge Trust of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Vermont. Canon for Ministry Development Susan Ohlidal works with the Companions.

Below: Companions and Interim Pastors puzzle over
Christian community at a recent gathering.
[Thad Bennett photo]

Return to Companion Ministry Program page