Profiles: an end or a means?

Are profiles an end in themselves, or a tool and a step in a wider process?

Today I've been reading some more around profiles (parish and minister - details at the end of the blog). I was interrupted (helpfully) by a phone call from a parish wanting some help around profile development. What follows is some 'thinking out loud' which began in the reading and phone calls. I've tried to apply this thinking to Presbyter profiles and Parish profiles.

Profiles can be seen as a necessary evil or a valuable tool for 'realignment'. Following the decision to enter the stationing process, there is a huge build-up towards developing a profile (an outline picture of ourselves). Some of this is naturally a PR exercise – we want the world to see our 'best side'. But can it be more than just an exercise in getting matched with a presbyter / parish ('We are working on a profile so we can get a minister'! Then we get it posted / emailed and breathe a sigh of relief when it has gone - only to hold our breath again until we have someone stationed / we are stationed).

I wonder if we could think about it differently.

First it is an opportunity (not a burden). It is a chance to have a really good look at ourselves and discover some things we didn't already know (in some places a profile is called a 'self-study'). It is an opportunity to think about changes in the way we do ministry as a parish or a presbyter. It is a chance to think carefully about what we have achieved in the past (6 or 10) years. What has changed, grown, shrunk, vanished, appeared (no, I'm not talking about waistline!)? This means we have to take a good amount of time, wide-ranging conversation and prayer to do this.

Second it is part of a wider process; the profile is a high point on a journey, not the end of a sidetrack. As one writer says "It is not some weird, life-threatening crisis that has descended up one's church. It is part of an organization's life." As such it requires special effort, more prayer, increased care and maybe a different group of people looking at us. In the process we may find things that we hadn't expected, and have to re-evaluate our expectations. The process can change us - or at least our self-understanding. A good question to ask may be 'what do we (do I) know about ourselves now that we didn't know 6 months ago'.

What might change if I saw my / our profile as part of this longer process of self-study?

Understanding the Interregnum. Tony Bradley. Grove books #67 In spite of the title (It's C of E), a great read for Synod Superintendents and those working along side a parish doing a profile.

So you're on the Search Committee. Bunty Ketcham. Alban Institute. A good book for parishes doing a profile. It asks searching questions and puts the profile in a wider process of self understanding.

The Curate's Guide. John Witcombe (ed) Church House publishing. (C of E)Valuable for understanding a spread of ministry issues, especially for those in College and going into first appointments. However it also contains some gold mines for everyone in ministry in chapters on ministry around Professional development, Self care and moving parishes.

Nigel