It might have been the NCAA Final Four Tournament or the Oscars, considering how much anticipation and preparation there was for our February 25th combined assembly/workshop format held at First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso and live-streamed to three additional locations. We postponed the workshop from September to February, determined that this was the right time for us to try to combine a small amount of business with a heaping helping of learning. We negotiated, we practiced, we rehearsed, we assembled four casts of leaders and volunteers, we troubleshot, we prayed, we worried a little bit, and we practiced and rehearsed some more. Some churches purchased additional equipment to help our live-stream event happen. We set up, we rearranged, we cooked and baked, and ordered and assembled and the day finally arrived. It was Saturday, February 25, the big day for our big experiment!
We were so pleased to have close to 100 registered for our four sites, live at First Valpo, and, we had hoped, streamed to Bethany Presbyterian in Lafayette, First Elkhart and
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| Assembly/Workshop Participants at Peru First |
First Peru. We had some initial audio problems that ate up some time, and made some decisions quickly to regroup and postponed our assembly business so that we would still have a great big chunk of learning time. We learned fairly quickly that we had some problems with the live stream feed in Peru and Lafayette. Nevertheless, we got down to our learning with Dr. Richard Blackburn, Executive Director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, and a previous PWV workshop leader.
Dr. Blackburn set the stage by offering the reality of the anxiety throughout the system of church and culture, for pastors and congregations alike. With deep information and just the right amount of humor to offset the gravitas of the material, we named that pastors, presbytery and congregations all share responsibility in navigating expectations around our relationships as leaders and congregations.
We spent much of the day exploring or becoming acquainted or reacquainted with family systems theory as a place to find grounding and how we as individuals and groups function in times of unrest and conflict. We took a few breaks and a short lunch and then worked hard in the afternoon on our healthy responses to the challenges of transition and conflict in the Church. We were encouraged to form a presbytery mediation skills team, and received twelve volunteers! We went about thirty minutes longer than anyone anticipated, but were told many times during the day that Dr. Blackburn was squeezing a day and a half long workshop into less than a day. All who were able to fully participate in the workshop felt that it was time well spent. Some commented that "their brains hurt" and what a happy problem that is, to have such rich material offered to us!
We are so grateful to all who helped us with our day of learning and distance learning. Even as we grappled with the unforeseen and unwelcome tech challenges, we are able to apply some learning from our day with Dr. Blackburn. Conflict provides us with an opportunity to greet it with this question:
What is God trying to say to us at this time?
Already, we have some notions, particularly around the tech issues:
* Carrying a live event in two time zones is tricky. Next time the docket will clearly indicate time zone parallels throughout, and we will schedule lunch for 12:30 EST/11:30 CST for instance.
* Check for updates and final technology test as close to meeting time as possible, but allowing more time to resolve any glitches. Lesson learned...TEST, TEST, TEST and Test some more.
* Use hardwired internet connections whenever possible, to get the fastest internet speed possible, to avoid disrupted and duplicated video streams when the signal gets weak. This was a lesson learned at a couple of sites.
* Use webinar technology that allows switching between live presenter and integrated presentation slides for best viewing. Using technology for this presentation was as new to our presenter as it was to the planners for the event.
* Trying to put together one workshop in four sites with equipment that is different in each site with volunteers who have different levels of experience and expertise and time available, and with internet speeds that vary from community to community was a challenge we did not quite meet - but the good news is that a team of people has self-identified who will work to resolve these issues and provide a more successful experience the next time.
Already, we are thinking God is calling us to...
* Keep learning! Saving hours of driving time for everyone is worth the extra effort to use technology better. In spite of the frustrations and glitches of Saturday's first-time attempt to bridge across the presbytery with live technology, lots of folks are urging us to work together to find better ways, test more robustly, and plan more programs like last weekend's Lombard program to support our shared ministry as congregations.
* Give thanks for the patience and forgiveness for what didn't go so well. Many people are expressing their thanks for the richness of the presenter's workshop as a benefit to congregations and their pastors and their appreciation for stewardship of time. Even those most frustrated by the technical glitches are encouraging us as presbytery to continue to work together to provide more and better opportunities for regional interactive gatherings for education and meetings.
Grateful to be serving with you in this time,
Jennifer Burns Lewis Linda Long
Visioning and Connecting Leader Stated Clerk
