Page 44 - The Church of Ireland Apologetic for Mission?

We will use Molloy’s image of an iceberg, representing visible and invisible obstacles. He suggests that the visible part of the iceberg is easier to address.
1. The Visible Iceberg
a. Process becomes the thing: Any large organisation, including the Church
of Ireland, will always have to balance maintaining coherence of values and practice as against organisational anarchy / anything goes. In the convoluted process of developing or approving something the Church of Ireland tends
to be more structure and process orientated. The danger is that having the correct process becomes the measure of success rather than achieving actual outcomes.
b. Execution: In business terms execution is the capacity to complete assigned tasks and responsibilities to customary or specified standards within a certain timeframe. It is one thing to decide that something ought to be a priority.
It is another to ensure that appropriate resources, financially, structurally and in terms of personnel, are invested so as to ensure a reasonable prospect of success.
Deciding on a priority is one thing. Having the structures and resources in place
to execute it is another. One of the advantages of a prolonged process of developing a new priority is that it will tend to be well thought out and theologically appropriate. In the Church of Ireland,
the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of whatever priority is under discussion will likely have been thoroughly considered.
Yet, having decided on a priority requires provision of the means to deliver it. This requires appropriate structures, finance, personnel and whatever else is required. If these mechanisms are absent any priority set will remain as no more than a good intention or wishful thinking. A board or committee without appropriate resources is being given a nigh on undoable job.
67 https://www.oxfam.org/en/our-purpose-and-beliefs 44 68 http://www.habitat.org/how/mission_statement.aspx
One interviewee highlighted the fact that it was not just a matter of resourcing
for its own sake. They observed
“When the Church of Ireland puts in support structures they are (usually)
for administrative support ... just talking and recording the talk” rather than being mechanisms for the delivery of vision. They continued “The Church of Ireland does not have the machinery for driving a mission agenda forward”.
A good intention without the means to deliver it will usually remain just that – a good intention.
c. Beyond a Mission Statement: It is always helpful for an organisation to remind itself of why it exists. The corporate style of either a Vision or Mission Statement does not always sit easily with the Church. Yet there is value in an organisation having a simple form of words that reminds it of why it exists or that describes the sort of world it is working to produce.
These sorts of statements work better when they are succinct and free of
jargon. Oxfam says its purpose is “to help create lasting solutions to the injustice of poverty. We are part of a global movement for change, empowering people to
create a future that is secure, just, and free from poverty”.67 The vision that inspires Habitat for Humanity is “A world where everyone has a decent place to live”. On this basis “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope”.68 The power of these statements lies in the fact they are concise, readily understandable and make sense. There is also congruence between what they say and what we already know of the work of those organisations.
It would be an interesting exercise to ask how many members of the Church of Ireland are aware of the Mission Statement produced by the House of Bishops? Perhaps more specifically to ask how many clergy and key diocesan