A thought for the day

This is reflecting on the Einstein quote shown in the picture and here "No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that produced it". It seems to have a ring of truth; it is in line with the best insights about paradigm shifts, and while overstated, nevertheless values the fact that important progress comes from a change of consciousness. Now that may sound a bit NewAgey, but all Truth is God's truth and there is, I think, Truth in this. Perhaps the real Christian issue in this is the construal of the relationship between consciousness and human ontology but that's a big matter and best left for now to a book like The Joy of being wrong

Anyway, it seems to me that what I have started to describe in 'The ironic outcomes of the bureaucratic mind'> is probably an illustration: I was hoping for a change of consciousness to bring about a solution but had not reckoned with the force of the old paradigm heavily endowed with bureaucratic proceedure and fear of innovation. SO all my gentle and not-so gentle hinting and drawing attention to the contradictions was perhaps doomed.

And now, as an ordained Anglican standing on the brink of unemployment, I am finding that the Church of England 'solutions' to current retrenchment seem to fall under Einstein's dictum. I would be qualified to be a team leader in the new ideas for developing ministry, but do I want to be? I suspect not: mananging churches is not my thing; training people, releasing potential, creativity in ministry and worship and outreach, yes. But these things sit uneasily with the mindset necessary to run what parish ministry seems to be becoming. And in any case I now recognize that the insecurity of being in a samll church or a non-parochial ministry is hard to bear if you aren't prepared for it. At least if I were to 'go portfolio' [thanks to Charles Handy for the phrase -in 'The Elephant and the Flea'] means that you know that there is insecurity and are able to choose somewhat.

But I wonder whether we shouldn't be looking at things like portfolio careers for priests. Notionally we are office holders and so free agents, in a way. In practice, though, we are becoming more and more 'employed'. This is a reverse dynamic to what is happening in much of the rest of western professional work and culture where outsourcing, downsizing and the drive to self-employment means many more people are 'on their own'.

What if dioceses bought in the services of small social responsibility teams? -Possibly sharing them with neighbouring dioceses? What if we did away with the diocesan office entirely and bought in the services on a deanery or parochial basis as and when they were needed? And could Bishops be casualized? -They would get paid for confirmations etc on a pro rata basis and paid fees for other epsicopal functions? I'm not saying this is right, just thinking that asking some outof the box questions is a healthy exercise.