{"id":21774,"date":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1997\/07\/01\/outbreak\/"},"modified":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","slug":"outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Outbreak!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> Systems thinking is a little like immunology: If the T-cell count plummets, that jeopardizes the body&#8217;s resistance to disease. One thing affects another. Everything is connected.<\/p>\n<p> To understand the parts, you must look at the whole&mdash;that&#8217;s systems thinking.<\/p>\n<p> In his book <em>Generation to Generation<\/em>, Edwin Friedman, who died in 1996, applied the way family members related to one another to the way churches and synagogues operate as a whole. A disciple of Friedman, Peter Steinke, a Lutheran (ELCA) minister and counselor, has written <em>Healthy Congregations<\/em> (Alban Institute), which evaluates the health of a congregation using family-systems theory. Steinke views churches as living, breathing organisms.<\/p>\n<p> <em>Leadership<\/em> senior associate editor Dave Goetz asked Steinke how systems thinking might help pastors bring health to their congregations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"is-style-article-question\">In <em>Healthy Congregations<\/em>, you say that disease in a church can\nbe good. How so?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\n<strong>Peter Steinke<\/strong>: For any system to be healthy, it has to be challenged;\nsometimes that challenge comes in the form of conflict. A healthy congregation\nis one that actively and responsibly addresses or heals its disturbances.\nIt is not one with an absence of trouble.\n\nI work with many churches that deal with their problems in secrecy&mdash;talking\nbehind people&#8217;s back, for example. That sort of behavior doesn&#8217;t lend itself\nto healing. Healing comes with exposure to the light.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How should a pastor resist secrecy?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nOne way is simply to announce it: &#8220;We&#8217;ve had secret meetings. We need to\ndeal with things openly here.&#8221;\n\nThe biblical injunctions in Matthew 18 are so clear. By going to the offending\nbrother or sister, taking along a leader, bringing the issue to the whole\ncommunity, you are creating exposure.\n\nOn the other hand, sometimes criticism or complaining may be legitimate,\nand if the pastor attacks, he prevents people from speaking their mind and\ntheir values.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How does a church build a strong immune system?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nBy having a strong sense of vision and mission. Then a church can judge its\nbehavior and activities. Otherwise, the basis for decision-making becomes\npersonal whims.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">Can a pastor evaluate a church&#8217;s health before accepting the call to\nit?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nIf the congregation hasn&#8217;t had much vision or a sense of mission, you should\nask yourself, &#8220;Are they ready for it? Do they see the value of it?&#8221; So often\na church says, &#8220;We want you to help us change,&#8221; but the change is never\nspecified. The more specific and concrete the discussion about change becomes,\nthe more likely that change can take place.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How long does it take for an unhealthy church to become healthy?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nFrom two to five years. Edwin Friedman once said, &#8220;For any chronically anxious\nsystem to get better it has to go through an acute phase.&#8221; The biggest enemy\nof the healing process is to short-circuit the change or conflict or whatever\nis creating the acute phase. I think it was Kierkegaard who said, &#8220;In order\nfor the wound to be healed, the wound must be kept open.&#8221;\n\nWhen the system has conflict, the system opens up. It&#8217;s a wonderful time\nfor the church family to learn. But the first thing it wants to do is close\nup again. For example, when a church loses a pastor, the first thing it wants\nto do is get another, quickly. Instead, the church should use that period\nfor learning.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How does a pastor survive the acute phase?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nFirst, remember that it&#8217;s not going to stay acute forever. You have to have\nfevers. You have to vomit before the system gets back into balance. That\nmeans you need stamina and a long-range view of things. This is where a\nconsultant, a coach, or someone on the outside can be helpful.\n\nSecond, you need to find a release outside the church so the conflict isn&#8217;t\non your mind all the time.\n\nThird, you need to remember that everything that goes on is not about you,\neven though it gets focused on you. In any emotional system, the people in\nthe most responsible or vulnerable position become the target of the anxiety.\nIf you&#8217;re the senior pastor, the anxiety in a church will be focused on you.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How can a pastor evaluate whether the church is in an acute phase leading\nto health or is so unhealthy that it will never improve?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nIf you&#8217;re in a situation where people always blame or collect injustices\nand become victims, the situation may be chronic. If people continually imply\nthat if you were not there, they would be fine, you may be in a no-win situation.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How does a pastor not react when people respond negatively?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nTry to remember that it&#8217;s never anxiety that undoes the system; it&#8217;s the\noverreacting to it or trying to kill it that causes problems.\n\nI just returned from two days of interviewing people in a diocese in conflict\non the East Coast. I listened to a lot of anxiety and angst. Even as a\nconsultant, I was becoming anxious about the problems in this diocese. I\ncalled a friend last night and talked about it, and I feel better now. He\nkept saying, &#8220;Pete, it&#8217;s not your issue.&#8221; That&#8217;s how infectious anxiety can\nbe.\n\nBut we need to remember: Anxiety can&#8217;t continue if it doesn&#8217;t have a host\ncell.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">A host cell?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nA host cell provides viruses with shelter and nourishment. For example, often\na member of a church staff will become a host cell to a group of complainers\nin the church and begin to undermine the staff. I not only look to see who\ngenerates the anxiety but also who is amplifying it, who is contributing\nto it. Amplifiers are as much of a problem as the person who generates it.\n\nIf you as the pastor become the host cell to everybody&#8217;s anxiety&mdash;you try\nto appease everybody or you try to squash those who oppose you&mdash;you&#8217;re simply\nproviding shelter and nourishment for the virus.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">Are larger churches more immune to disease?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nThe larger the church becomes, the harder it is for everybody to stay focused\non you in a negative way. Politics are less personal.\n\nRegardless of church size, though, if viruses find a host cell, that will\ncontinue their capacity to replicate and to infect the body. But with an\nimmune system, a church can have community.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">How can a pastor encourage healthy behavior when anxiety is\ntriggered?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nBy normalizing the anxiety. Whenever there is change, loss, separation, we\nbecome anxious. For example, in grief counseling, therapists say to folks,\n&#8220;The way you&#8217;re functioning right now seems strange and odd to you, but this\nis what should happen. You&#8217;re going through the process of grieving.&#8221;\n\nA pastor could do this in sermons, conversations, and church newsletters.\nWe must allow people to articulate what&#8217;s going on. It&#8217;s also important for\npastors to bring the gospel to bear on the anxiety: that even in the midst\nof this, we have not been abandoned. Nothing shall separate us from the love\nof Christ.\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">This puts a lot of pressure on the pastor to be a healthy person<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nThat&#8217;s what Ed Friedman was really after. He said, &#8220;Leadership is not technique,\nexpertise, skill. It&#8217;s who you are.&#8221;\n<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-question\">Is it possible for a pastor to become healthy in a unhealthy\nsystem?<\/p><p class=\"is-style-article-answer\">\nI think you can become healthier. Be aware of how you function and make choices\nabout what you are ready to do. That&#8217;s maturity. It&#8217;s good stewardship. The\nfirst thing God asks us to be is a steward of ourselves.\n\nA healthy person is comfortable with himself or herself in the presence of\nothers. A healthy person is not a John Wayne, who says, &#8220;I don&#8217;t give a rip\nabout you; I&#8217;m just going to be me.&#8221; He or she is always in relationship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"is-style-article-copyright\">1997 by the author or Christianity Today\/<em>Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or <a href=\"\/pastors\/help\/contactus.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"copyright\" rel=\"noopener\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Systems thinking is a little like immunology: If the T-cell count plummets, that jeopardizes the body&#8217;s resistance to disease. One thing affects another. Everything is connected. To understand the parts, you must look at the whole&mdash;that&#8217;s systems thinking. In his book Generation to Generation, Edwin Friedman, who died in 1996, applied the way family members <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/outbreak\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[2683],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[653,156,656],"tax_ctp_tags":[3557,3609,3610,3666],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-21774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-peter-steinke","tax_publications-1997-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-summer_1997-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-change","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-church-health","tax_ctp_tags-conflict"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Outbreak! - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Systems thinking is a little like immunology: If the T-cell count plummets, that jeopardizes the body&#039;s resistance to disease. 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