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What is the
Transitional Steering Team (TST)?
The Transitional Steering Team is a special leadership group convened to guide an intervention into the life of the congregation for the purpose of renewal and transformation. It works closely with the interim pastor to plan and guide a process that will bring about needed change and prepare the congregation for a new future. The purpose of the TST is:
“Insofar as it is possible, the members of the team should represent a cross section of the congregations’ membership. It is important that the people selected for the transitional steering team have a vision of what can happen during the interim journey of the congregation, because the congregation is in what might be called ‘open space.’ – a time between what was and what will come – and the team is responsible for charting a course that will move the people of the faith community into the future.
Transitional steering team members will need to practice what I call ‘appropriate behavior’ during this critical phase of the beginning of the transformation process. They must value each member’s contributions and take suggestions and ideas seriously. They must be willing to listen. They must be willing to become acquainted with resources for gathering and evaluating information. They must honor confidentiality. The trust of the church membership is essential for the team members if they are to be successful in leading a process of change.”
(The above summary is abstracted from an article written by Robert W. Johnson in the Alban institute publication entitled "Temporary Shepherds." The developmental tasks to which Johnson refers are those taught by the Interim Ministry Network, namely:
1. Coming to terms with the congregation’s history
2. Discerning the congregation’s purpose and identity
3. Supporting leadership change and development
4. Reaffirming and strengthening denominational links
5. Committing to new leadership and new ministry
Who are the TST and what have they done?
The TST was selected by the congregation, via secret ballot, to ensure that viewpoints sometimes at odds with each other be given fair hearings, and that reconciliations be encouraged, based upon active listening and respectful dialog. The members of the TST are (pictured from L-R at the top of this page): Tom Clark, Art Jewett, Polly Lile, Marilyn Michelon, LaVonne Blucher-Nameny, Bob Timm and Richard Werner (Bill Lambert resigned from the group January 2012).
The TST first met in March and has met monthly for meetings of at least 3 hours each. Through these “healthy conversations,” the TST members have covered a broad range of subjects while developing trust and appreciation for each other, in spite of occasional disagreements. They have been uniquely prepared to take on the challenge of bringing a similar process to the one in which they have been immersed this last half-year out to the wider church, through the cottage groups they are leading. These groups have been formed through a random-selection process, which provided a much sought-after diversity of makeup in each of them. The TST leaders for these particular eight cottage groups were also randomly selected as hosts for each of them. In short, we have trusted in and relied upon the synchronistic outcomes of this random-selection process to optimize opportunities for everyone to hear and be heard, not only by those who think/feel alike, but by those who may well have differing perceptions out of which may come greater understandings for all who participate, as is true for the TST itself.
The cottage groups have begun their work, and will meet approximately 4 times a year. One of the main reasons that the cottage groups will not be meeting monthly, like the TST has been doing, is so that the TST leaders can share with each other the insights from their individual groups, at the intervening TST meetings. After this sharing takes place, it should be possible for the TST leaders to decide on which of the developmental tasks to next address (since they are not necessarily sequential), and how best to go about this, so that all the groups are more or less “on the same page”.
A final note: The TST realizes that they have no formal “governing” power within the church polity, which remains as described in the Church by-laws. They do, however, have considerable influence and insights to share with the elected church leadership and the congregation itself, and will hopefully be able to provide significant consultation to the council, boards, and committees as time moves on. (Indeed, most all of the TST members already have elected leadership roles unrelated to the TST, at the current time.)
The Transitional Steering Team is a special leadership group convened to guide an intervention into the life of the congregation for the purpose of renewal and transformation. It works closely with the interim pastor to plan and guide a process that will bring about needed change and prepare the congregation for a new future. The purpose of the TST is:
- To help congregational members heal after the loss of their pastor and to gain perspective on the chapter in their lives that has ended.
- To gather the feelings and ideas of both members and non-members of the congregation about their church in a time of change.
- To provide a forum for the sharing and focusing of hopes and aspirations for the future.
- To help the congregation move from preoccupation with the past to a state of readiness for a new chapter in the life under the leadership of a new pastor.
- To involve the congregation in accomplishing the developmental tasks of the interim period.
“Insofar as it is possible, the members of the team should represent a cross section of the congregations’ membership. It is important that the people selected for the transitional steering team have a vision of what can happen during the interim journey of the congregation, because the congregation is in what might be called ‘open space.’ – a time between what was and what will come – and the team is responsible for charting a course that will move the people of the faith community into the future.
Transitional steering team members will need to practice what I call ‘appropriate behavior’ during this critical phase of the beginning of the transformation process. They must value each member’s contributions and take suggestions and ideas seriously. They must be willing to listen. They must be willing to become acquainted with resources for gathering and evaluating information. They must honor confidentiality. The trust of the church membership is essential for the team members if they are to be successful in leading a process of change.”
(The above summary is abstracted from an article written by Robert W. Johnson in the Alban institute publication entitled "Temporary Shepherds." The developmental tasks to which Johnson refers are those taught by the Interim Ministry Network, namely:
1. Coming to terms with the congregation’s history
2. Discerning the congregation’s purpose and identity
3. Supporting leadership change and development
4. Reaffirming and strengthening denominational links
5. Committing to new leadership and new ministry
Who are the TST and what have they done?
The TST was selected by the congregation, via secret ballot, to ensure that viewpoints sometimes at odds with each other be given fair hearings, and that reconciliations be encouraged, based upon active listening and respectful dialog. The members of the TST are (pictured from L-R at the top of this page): Tom Clark, Art Jewett, Polly Lile, Marilyn Michelon, LaVonne Blucher-Nameny, Bob Timm and Richard Werner (Bill Lambert resigned from the group January 2012).
The TST first met in March and has met monthly for meetings of at least 3 hours each. Through these “healthy conversations,” the TST members have covered a broad range of subjects while developing trust and appreciation for each other, in spite of occasional disagreements. They have been uniquely prepared to take on the challenge of bringing a similar process to the one in which they have been immersed this last half-year out to the wider church, through the cottage groups they are leading. These groups have been formed through a random-selection process, which provided a much sought-after diversity of makeup in each of them. The TST leaders for these particular eight cottage groups were also randomly selected as hosts for each of them. In short, we have trusted in and relied upon the synchronistic outcomes of this random-selection process to optimize opportunities for everyone to hear and be heard, not only by those who think/feel alike, but by those who may well have differing perceptions out of which may come greater understandings for all who participate, as is true for the TST itself.
The cottage groups have begun their work, and will meet approximately 4 times a year. One of the main reasons that the cottage groups will not be meeting monthly, like the TST has been doing, is so that the TST leaders can share with each other the insights from their individual groups, at the intervening TST meetings. After this sharing takes place, it should be possible for the TST leaders to decide on which of the developmental tasks to next address (since they are not necessarily sequential), and how best to go about this, so that all the groups are more or less “on the same page”.
A final note: The TST realizes that they have no formal “governing” power within the church polity, which remains as described in the Church by-laws. They do, however, have considerable influence and insights to share with the elected church leadership and the congregation itself, and will hopefully be able to provide significant consultation to the council, boards, and committees as time moves on. (Indeed, most all of the TST members already have elected leadership roles unrelated to the TST, at the current time.)
