The importance of accountability and commitment

The importance of accountability and commitment

In the last edition of The Living Parish I spoke about the principle that all large-scale transformation occurs when enough small groups shift in harmony towards the larger change.  This is why we should focus on listening to and supporting people at the grass roots in small groups in our Parishes.
 
I suggested that the degree to which parish small group conversations could be focused on what we know are the key elements to becoming an evangelising parish, is the degree to which the parish, and the Archdiocese, could be transformed.

However, I also mentioned briefly one major caveat: to be effective, our small group conversations need to be founded upon accountability and commitment.

When we take on a perspective that is genuinely inspired by our Christian faith the experience is often dislocating, troubling and more often than not involves an inversion from what we have come to expect.  If it is the parish small group that is going to be the basic unit of transformation in our Archdiocese, what does this say about the role of our leaders and the role of baptised Catholics?

Fundamentally it turns things on its head, there is an inversion of cause and effect as compared to what is often accepted as the norm in terms of "corporate change management" in secular society. 

If we believe in the dignity of our baptismal calling and the small group as the raw material that the Holy Spirit uses to bring about large-scale transformation, then it is the everyday Catholics sitting in the pews that can be understood as the "creators of our leaders". 

While such thinking is somewhat counter-intuitive for the Catholic psyche it is nevertheless a very biblical and empowering stance for Catholics who wish to contribute to an alternative future.

It puts choice in our own hands instead of waiting for the transformation of others to give us the future we desire.  The outcome this provides is the means to create parish communities that live into an alternative future.

Parishes that can create an alternative future will occur when the conversations that we are having are based on communal accountability and commitment.  This is the essence of what restores community.  I would suggest that a big challenge for us Catholics is to move beyond an obsession with our "church leaders" as the cause of change.  Instead we need to find ways of supporting accountability and commitment in our communities, which are unfortunately sometimes restrained by history and the past. 

The power to create a future that is different requires us to choose to be accountable.  This means that, as everyday Catholics, we need to act as an owner and part creator of the current situation in our own parish and in the Archdiocese.  In the absence of this ownership, we find ourselves in the position of effect, not cause...a powerless stance. 

To be accountable is to care for the wellbeing of the whole and act as if this well-being is in our hands and hearts to create.  This type of accountability is practiced through the conversations we have with each other at the small group level in our parishes, schools and faith communities.

Further to this, our small group conversations need to be characterised by a Christ-like commitment.  To be committed means we are willing to make a promise with no expectation of return, to be washers each other's feet.  Without this type of commitment we will find ourselves constantly in the position of reacting to the choices of others.  This in turn leads to cynicism and helplessness. 

Some questions to consider on this theme of accountability and commitment:
·    What declaration of possibility can you make that has the power to transform the
     parish and inspire you?
·   What have I done to contribute to the very thing I complain about or want to
     change?
·    What is the story about this parish/Church that you hear yourself most often
     telling? The one you are wedded to and maybe even take your identity from?
·   What are the payoffs you receive from holding on to this story?
·    What is your attachment to this story costing you?
·    What is the cost to others for me to keep my commitments, or to fail in my
     commitments?

Yours in Christ,

Shawn van der Linden
Archdiocesan Director of Pastoral Support Services