Mission Deanery Retreat Recap

The Mission District Deanery Retreat of the Diocese of the West began at Annunciation Church in Milwaukie, Oregon, on Tuesday, February 3, with a Molieben led by Diocesan Chancellor Fr. Ian MacKinnon, greetings from His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin and Mission District Dean Fr. Matthew Tate, giving us an overview of what we could expect over the course of the retreat.

Shortly after the greeting and introduction, mission priests were invited to the nave of the church to have a discussion in the round, about our various missions in the Diocese. Each priest in turn discussed his mission’s background, highlights and problematic situations. This was the first of three “Mission Update” gatherings during the retreat. These discussions very fruitful. After a break, Vespers was served by Fr. Barnabas Powell, and then we had dinner in the church dining hall, a spacious, well-lit room that would also serve us adequately for the upcoming education sessions.

Following dinner, the retreat master, Fr. John Reeves, gave his first lecture of the event, titled, “Vision, Where?” In this session, Fr. John stated that he would discuss missions in terms of “Incline, Plateau and Decline,” beginning with “Incline.” Incline is the period of mission life in which initial enthusiasm gives energy to the project, and where planning is highly important—as to the where and why of missionary actions, and avenues of success and failure are tried and analyzed. Fr. John presented it as a stage of development that is sometimes necessarily repeatable, as he elaborated in his later presentations.

Father John’s Texas drawl and sometimes wry commentary brought to mind the mannerisms of the actor Tommy Lee Jones, and helped to draw our attention to the subject matter, and his narrative was usually focused, sharply delineated, and spiced with mnemonic colloquialisms that served to highlight key concepts. The evening closed with time for socializing over wine and cheese.

Wednesday, February 4, began with Matins, served by Fr. Andrew Cuneo, followed by breakfast. Fr. John’s second lecture, “Mission (Who?),” focused on the second major stage of mission development, “Plateau.” This stage occurs when the main growth of the mission has already happened, and a full set of church programs are in place, and the liturgical schedule is fully in place, and everything seems complete. The session focused on human attitudes. Parishioners and priests can become complacent in this stage, as it can be comfortable. It is a dangerous comfort, for in terms of the longevity of the mission, the focus and intent of parish life becomes dulled, and parishioners drift away from the mission, perhaps to other parishes and churches–and as contribution funds dwindle, missions get into emergency mode, and seek to stave off “the end” by cutting programs, services, outreach and other activities that are actually needed to keep the mission alive.

At noon, we had a break, followed by Mission Updates in the nave of the church then lunch. The food served at our lunches and dinners by the parishioners of Annunciation Orthodox Church was uniformly excellent—a real aid to staying alert and energized to attend to the matters at hand in this retreat. It seemed that all in attendance were very grateful for the care and preparation done by the kitchen staff.

Then we continued with mission updates and other business, followed by Vespers, served by Fr. John Tomasi. Dinner was served, followed by Fr. John Reeves’ third and final session, “Ministry (How?),” which dealt with the “Decline” phase of mission development. As previously stated, it was again emphasized that “Plateau” leads to “Decline,” for the energy and striving to stay dynamic drains out of a mission in “Plateau.” The complacency inherent in the “Plateau” stage has many negative results—perhaps the worst being denial of situations that must be taken care of. This includes a wide range of difficulties that are sometimes purposely hidden, sometimes ignored, and sometimes simply not fully discussed. In any case, what begins as small problems balloon into large problems, and the situation degenerates into one that satisfies fewer and fewer parishioners. The majority of parishioners in such a mission lose faith in the mission, and the impetus for parishioners to contribute to the mission fades, and as a result, so does the mission.

“Decline” means mission death; be it long and slow, or sudden, it is a difficult (some say impossible) mode to get out of. Decline means that something has to be done. Unfortunately, by the time that decline is recognized, it is too late. Fr. John’s solution is, to use one of his colloquialisms, “Let’s put that skunk up on the table!” The “skunk” here, of course, is whatever problem or situation exists that is getting in the way dynamic interactions that support mission life and energy. In other words—“Don’t hide the problem, get it into the open and deal with it!” The impetus behind this must come from our ability to recognize when our mission is in the “Plateau” stage. If we see we are in plateau, then we must reassert the “Incline” (mission-building) phase. In this reassertion, we probably have to scrap the old, tired programs and way of doing things, and rebuild the mission, avoiding, as best we can, the mistakes that led to “Plateau” (and its result, “Decline”).

So it is that Fr. John declared that even though there are three main phases of mission development, sometimes we have to stop in mid-process and redo the mission if it has stalled. Fr. John’s presentations were highly enlightening and a bolster to those attendees pasturing missions in the Diocese of the West.

Thursday, February 5, began with Hours and Divine Liturgy. Brunch was served, followed by a clergy meeting with His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin, during which His Eminence went over text changes he instructed us to make in our service books. This was, as has become a tradition, a very worthwhile Mission Deanery Retreat.

—Priest Andrew Jacobs