Lessons from Gordon Ramsay

Chef Gordon Ramsay

Most of my friends know how much I love watching shows about food. Last week a friend told me about a show called Kitchen Nightmares where chef Gordon Ramsay goes into failing restaurants and tries to save the business. So I went to Netflix and found the UK version of the show (which is documentary-like and has a lot less screaming than the US version). Many restaurants have the same problems:

1. Things are too complicated and take too long
2. There is little or no organization
3. There is little or no healthy communication
4. People are too stubborn to change even though the doors are ready to close forever
5. The owners and/or chefs won't listen to the expert who has been brought in to help them

This sounds incredibly familiar, doesn't it? I hear the same kind of complaints about churches all around the country.  The parallel is actually a huge part of the Christian faith. (Communion, anyone?) So it's not surprising that restaurants sometimes have the same problems as churches. Food feeds the body, and spirituality feeds the soul. So what lessons can church leaders learn from Mr. Ramsay and the struggling restaurants he tries to help?

1. Use what's local. Good restaurants use fresh, local ingredients. Churches can use resources including congregants, buildings, denominational resources, and local non-profits. Not every church can be a part of every ministry; so it's crucial to connect with others across denominational, religious, and political differences.
2. Churches are not businesses, but organization is just as key to a church's health as to a businesses'. Roles need to be defined for paid and volunteer staff with everyone knowing who their supervisor is. Training and education is thought out and, when necessary, people are sent out or brought in.
3. Communication needs to be clear and active. Everyone (hopefully) is in the loop of what everyone else is doing. Goals short-term and long-term are clear. The building and grounds committee chair has been talking to the finance committee chair and is aware of where the budget is going and preparing accordingly.
4. Congregants and staff are honest when things aren't working and are open to change. It's not about blame or disrespecting the past. It's about effectiveness of ministry.
5. Listen. Listen to the Spirit. Listen to the people who are trained. Listen to people who are there every week. Listen to the people on the edges. Listen to people of different ages. Listen to people who have stopped coming. Listen to outsiders. And, listen to the Spirit. With listening we can start building a vision of what we can be.

I've been working on personal organization in the past week, and it hasn't been easy. So I know it's not easy for a church. The biggest problem, I think, is how difficult all of this is. Each idea by itself (using local resources, organization, communication, openness, and listening) is difficult, but when attempted together is downright daunting. Plus, it's easy for a person sitting alone in her apartment thinking lofty ideas about how to build an effective church while watching a reality show from the UK. But if I don't think these lofty ideas on my off time, I may not think about them when I'm part of a particular church.


There is one thing Chef Ramsay wants to pump into people: passion. When people who don't seem to care about the restaurant find passion for their job the restaurant is far more likely to succeed. Passion. If that doesn't have spiritual overtones, nothing else in the show does. Without passion, businesses fail. Without the Passion, churches fail.
And that's all I have to say about that.

Second-hand Faith

A few days ago my friend David and I went to a local thrift store to look for lightweight business casual clothes for David's summer job. I found this beautiful wooden frame with a photograph of an Orthodox church interior. I guess someone was redecorating. It's a funny thing to buy something I feel is really personal, but I'm happy to have a visual reminder of my time in Greece. I spent quite of bit of time looking at artwork in churches. We modern Christians possess a second-hand faith. While our faith is our own, we wouldn't have our faith traditions without the Cloud of Witnesses who came before us. I am aware of how incredibly influenced I have been by the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions without even knowing it! The larger Christian tradition influences us every day. One of my favorite things about my denomination is the ecumenical focus. Even knowing that differences exist in theology and history and liturgical practices, we also know that we are one Body. Or, as Henry Nouwen said, "We need each other more than we need to agree."

Ordination

Me and Rev. Brenna!

I hear about ordination a lot. We discuss theologies of ordination and how things are going with our different care committees. We compare different denominations ordination requirements and worry about paperwork. Today I had the great blessing to attend a good friend's ordination worship service. Not only is my my friend Brenna a fantastic liturgy crafter, she has a wonderful aura around her that shines God's love. (She's also really, really tall.) Brenna is my first friend to be ordained, and I'm looking forward to many more. To see the Spirit moving in a friend's life, to see her complete requirements, graduate, get a call to a church job, and get ordained gives me so much joy I can't even explain it. Sometimes seminarians who are on the ordination track get really focused on the details and we may forget occasionally that ordination is not an ending. It's a calling to a type of ministry and the recognition by the community of that calling. More than anything, ordination is a blessing. The PC (USA) is blessed to have Brenna as a minister, and every community she's a part of for the rest of her life will be blessed. Tomorrow Brenna is getting into her car and beginning the relocation process.
I have taken some time off recently to give my brain a break and rest. This service has refocused me. I have a call to ministry. One day I hope my friend Rev. Brenna will be my colleague.

Musing

There are many things to be learned when school is out for the summer. I will figure out what those are later...

We are Presbyterians

Woman Priests

Courtesy of Gene Renner, on NPR's website.

"When you have an unjust law, sometimes it needs to be broken before it can be changed." Rev. Patti LaRosa, Catholic Womanpriest

Today NPR's All Things Considered reported on the latest ordination of Catholic Womanpriests. I have so much respect for the Catholic Womanpriest movement, and I am very glad the movement is getting some press. Back in 2002 a few women were secretly ordained in Germany by a Roman Catholic bishop, and the NPR article is reporting on the most recent ordination of Catholic Womanpriests (which happened in Maryland). Several books have been written by Womenpriests including Eucharistic Prayers for Inclusive Communities by Bridget Mary Meehan and Sheila Durkin Dierks. What saddens me most in this article is that the Womanpriests have lost relationships because people are afraid to openly support the women's ordination movement within the Roman Catholic Church. While I recognize the difficulties of the movement within Catholic doctrine, things will not change unless people are willing to work for the change. I do not know any Womenpriests personally, but as a Christian woman on the path to ordination I support them and hope one day to work with Womenpriest colleagues in my future ministries. 


For more information, check out their website www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
or buy the book Women Find A Way: The Movement and Stories of Roman Catholic Womenpriests

We are Presbyterians

So the awesome Bruce Reyes-Chow has broadcasted on his website that the We are Presbyterians project is calling for videos. 8 minute videos addressing a few questions, and they want as many as possible. I'll be making a video, and I encourage everyone else who's a Presbyterian to consider making one as well.