February 26, 2009
By Erin Dunigan

Yellowstone Presbytery is the perfect place for experimenting with new ways of doing, or, more accurately, new ways of being.

"The old ways aren't working here," said Kathy Goodrich, co-executive presbyter. "We don't live in a place where people just show up to church because it's the thing to do."

Goodrich, along with her husband and co-executive presbyter, the Rev. George Goodrich, has been experimenting with some exciting new ways to look at church leadership. The first step is to invest in the presbytery's pastors and lay leaders.

It is with this intent that the first Vital Pastors event was kicked off in January, offering pastors and lay leaders more than just another workshop or seminar, but an intentional process of spiritual formation that is hoped to grow over two years.

At its widest, the presbytery of Yellowstone, based in Bozeman, MT, spans 600 miles. Even though it is far more rural than urban, it faces many of the questions facing urban or suburban presbyteries: How can we engage young people? How do we help people struggling in our current economic situation? What does it mean to be the church in today's world?

Yellowstone also experiences the challenges that confront rural America – the flight of professionals to the cities, a globalized economy with serious consequences for a local farming economy and a lack of easy access to adequate resources.

"In many of the small towns in our presbytery, the pastor is often the last professional left in a community," Goodrich said.

Lawyers, doctors and other professionals have left many of those towns for the cities. This means that it is not unusual to drive three hours for anything other than the most basic medical appointment or legal consultation. This distance, combined with the recent rise in gas prices, makes even simple aspects of life financially challenging.

"People are often land rich but cash poor," Goodrich said, adding that the local paper reported that the cost of producing milk is twice what a regional dairy farmer can earn from selling it, leaving farmers to wonder how much longer they can continue operating at a deficit.

"When you look at the values that end up being a part of living a rural life – trust, flexibility, community, reliance on your neighbors – these are the healthy things that we are actually craving in America, and yet we are killing off places that actually have what we need," Goodrich said.

It is within this context that the Goodriches have begun to address the challenge of equipping and supporting the pastoral presence in these small towns.

"We see this as a pivotal time because we still have some pastors remaining in these small places, living on not much, sharing two churches or pastoring a combined congregation," Goodrich said. "But if we can find ways to provide what in most places is a small amount of money to allow that person's time, energy and presence to be a missional impulse, then the possibilities for these churches is very exciting."

The Vital Pastors program is a partnership between Yellowstone and the presbyteries of Central Washington, Glacier and Inland Northwest. It's a two-year commitment to nurture and prepare leaders. Participants will meet four times to experience times of laughter and silence as well as seminars and workshops.

January's workshop focused on becoming a healthier, more vital person, pastor and leader. Participants were encouraged to work on spiritual formation and disciplines, including times of lectio divina, prayer, solitude, silence and self-examination.

In between face-to-face meetings during those two years, participants are also gathering in smaller groups, mainly via e-mail and phone because of the large distances between them.

"We realized that you can't just be pushing pastors and leaders beyond what you are equipping and preparing them for," Goodrich said. "We also realized that so many people who are in leadership in the church today have not personally experienced what it means to be a disciple, so how can you teach what you have never experienced?"

Goodrich explained that this is why they've started with ‘going deep,' hoping that like a ripple in the water, the experience will carry its impact from the pastors and lay leaders out into the churches and then into wider communities.

Most important, Goodrich said, is the way in which the sessions will be conducted – holistically.

Goodrich, who reads about neurobiology and brain science for fun, believes that we learn, grow and are able to change when the whole person – not just the intellect – is involved in the process.

"Nothing will imprint as learning unless it has an affective component," she said. "I can be 100 percent in agreement with something and act in opposition to it."

Jesus and his use of storytelling, irony and humor in the formation of the disciples is an example of this ‘whole person' approach Goodrich seeks.

So far, the response from participants has been positive.

"Every speaker gets me fired up and tells me it is important, but when I learn this way, it shows me how to actually live it," one of the pastors responded on a course evaluation.

Presbyterian News Service