Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Freakonomics and Church
In a continuing and lame effort to co-op the brilliance of others and put forth content that is psudo-original, here is another installment of my take of Freakonomics and Church.
There is a wonderful little book titled 30-Second Economics (which can be found on goodreads.com here) Near the end of the book, there is a little economic theory written about known as "The Tragedy of the Commons". Here is the explanation given:
Several herders graze theirs cows on common pasture. From each herder's point of view, it's rational to add more cows to his herd, because his profits will increase. However, every additional cow depletes the pasture's resources. If every farmer acts "rationaly" by adding more cows to his herd, the common land will eventually be overgrazed, grass will stop growing and all the herders will suffer. In essence, actions that are rational for the individual may be irrational for the group.(emphasis added)"
While it is easy to see how this tragedy is common among environmental situations, but how does the tragedy of the commons play out in the church? A few thoughts:
- Ministers: The UMC is a church that has ministers who are appointed to the congregation. So in essence, the ministers of the conference (a large geographical region) are shared by all the churches. While it is rational, good and logical from one congregation's point of view to have "minister A" it may very well not be rational, good or logical for the conference for that congregation to have "minister A" because there are other congregations that would better benefit from the resource of "minister A". As a United Methodist, I have bought into a system that places a greater importance on what is rational, good and logical for ALL churches not just a few.
- God's Grace: On the flip side, many Christians hold to an idea that God's grace is limited. While not using those words, the idea is expressed in a number of ways such as "Only these type of people are real Christians" or "You 'get saved' only after you accept Jesus by way of a prayer." The idea that God's grace is limited to a select, or the 'elect', is arguing that God's grace is limited. And if we think there is limited Grace then we are going to act differently than if we believe Grace is limitless and boundless and endless. When we believe Grace is limited then of course we will live in a such a way as try to get as much grace as possible and, just like the herders above, that is very logical and rational. However if Grace is thought of in these ways, then we also will indirectly restrict other's access to Grace because there is only so much (grass/Grace) to go around. So the question for the Church becomes - Do we hold to an idea that Grace is limited and thus fall victim to the "Tragedy of the Commons" in which we act rationally in self interest but ultimately to the demise of others? Or is Grace unlimited and we believe no matter how many cows there are there is always enough grass?
There are other applications to this economic theory, but these are just a couple of jump starts to consider.
Cul-da-sacs
I grew up in a cul-da-sac in Keller Texas. It was great.
My friends and I could play street hockey without fear of cars driving through the game.
We had parties for the neighborhood and had tables of food right in the middle of the cul-da-sac.
We could have tons of basketball games at a full court with fathers and sons.
I learned to back up a vehicle in the broad space of the cul-da-sac without fear of hitting another vehicle.
Cul-da-sacs are amazing.
Sort of.
You can have an amazing lemonade stand, but there are only 3 people who are going to drive by it.
When you enter a cul-da-sac the only place you can go is home.
Cul-da-sacs can only sustain themselves for a short period of time before you have to leave it in order to go to the store.
Cul-da-sacs are insular and not open to new creations.
Is your life a cul-da-sac? Is your job a cul-da-sac? Is your church a cul-da-sac?
I am concerned that the UMC is fantastic at building cul-da-sacs and not avenues. I find we in the church love to build cul-da-sacs because of the safety and security they provide. But cul-da-sacs never go anywhere.
Cul-da-sac is really just a fancy name for a dead end.
My friends and I could play street hockey without fear of cars driving through the game.
We had parties for the neighborhood and had tables of food right in the middle of the cul-da-sac.
We could have tons of basketball games at a full court with fathers and sons.
I learned to back up a vehicle in the broad space of the cul-da-sac without fear of hitting another vehicle.
Cul-da-sacs are amazing.
Sort of.
You can have an amazing lemonade stand, but there are only 3 people who are going to drive by it.
When you enter a cul-da-sac the only place you can go is home.
Cul-da-sacs can only sustain themselves for a short period of time before you have to leave it in order to go to the store.
Cul-da-sacs are "finished" in that what is built is all that there will ever be.
Cul-da-sacs are insular and not open to new creations.
Is your life a cul-da-sac? Is your job a cul-da-sac? Is your church a cul-da-sac?
I am concerned that the UMC is fantastic at building cul-da-sacs and not avenues. I find we in the church love to build cul-da-sacs because of the safety and security they provide. But cul-da-sacs never go anywhere.
Cul-da-sac is really just a fancy name for a dead end.
Conversation with Andrew C. Thompson
December 12, 2008
The United Methodist Reporter, section B
"New Stats offer hope for young UM clergy"
by Andrew C. Thompson
In this article Andrew sites a new study which shows an increase of young clergy entering the church the past couple of years. The following is section of an email I sent to Andrew Thompson and then his subsequent response:
Jason:
"In light of these numbers coming in about the rise of younger clergy, your article makes it sound as though the church is doing a better job at addressing the issue of an aging clergy pool. I do not have reports to back this, but could it be the church is not doing a better job but the current generation is more inclined to seek out jobs and careers of service to others? The rise of volunteerism in the younger generation could give evidence that the church may not be doing much at all to buck the older clergy trend (the three year residency requirement after completion of seminary is not an effective way to streamline the ordination process). Do you know of specific things which the Church is doing to encourage younger people to seek ordination in the UMC?"
Andrew:
Lovett Weems reported to me that he is hearing about individual annual conferences taking this issue head-on, in the way they deal with their candidates in such arenas as the Board of Ordained Ministry. I can report one positive development in my own annual conference in Arkansas. The bishop there, Charles Crutchfield, is breaking with tradition and instructing his district superintendents to make appointments for returning seminary students first in the appointment process. That change is designed to place the new pastors in appointments that will be conducive to their growth and ministry as they move through the probationary period. In other words - keep them out of rural 3-point charges! In light of the old school idea that pastors had to start out in the least-desirable appointments and work their way up, I think that is a significant move for a bishop to make. For what it is worth, Lovett also mentioned to me that he sees a lot of younger clergy themselves doing things to help bring their brothers and sisters along. Again, in my own conference there is a new movement afoot to gather young clergy at different points in the year for fellowship and retreat, and it is (significantly) a movement that originated with the young clergy themselves.
The United Methodist Reporter, section B
"New Stats offer hope for young UM clergy"
by Andrew C. Thompson
In this article Andrew sites a new study which shows an increase of young clergy entering the church the past couple of years. The following is section of an email I sent to Andrew Thompson and then his subsequent response:
Jason:
"In light of these numbers coming in about the rise of younger clergy, your article makes it sound as though the church is doing a better job at addressing the issue of an aging clergy pool. I do not have reports to back this, but could it be the church is not doing a better job but the current generation is more inclined to seek out jobs and careers of service to others? The rise of volunteerism in the younger generation could give evidence that the church may not be doing much at all to buck the older clergy trend (the three year residency requirement after completion of seminary is not an effective way to streamline the ordination process). Do you know of specific things which the Church is doing to encourage younger people to seek ordination in the UMC?"
Andrew:
Lovett Weems reported to me that he is hearing about individual annual conferences taking this issue head-on, in the way they deal with their candidates in such arenas as the Board of Ordained Ministry. I can report one positive development in my own annual conference in Arkansas. The bishop there, Charles Crutchfield, is breaking with tradition and instructing his district superintendents to make appointments for returning seminary students first in the appointment process. That change is designed to place the new pastors in appointments that will be conducive to their growth and ministry as they move through the probationary period. In other words - keep them out of rural 3-point charges! In light of the old school idea that pastors had to start out in the least-desirable appointments and work their way up, I think that is a significant move for a bishop to make. For what it is worth, Lovett also mentioned to me that he sees a lot of younger clergy themselves doing things to help bring their brothers and sisters along. Again, in my own conference there is a new movement afoot to gather young clergy at different points in the year for fellowship and retreat, and it is (significantly) a movement that originated with the young clergy themselves.