Mission Strategy Goal III

[Rex McKee]

The MSN Goal 3 ( Recreate the Diocese as a Network) Task Team is asking for your help. While much work has been done in defining the organizational process, establishing a timeline for each component, and naming team members and leaders, the team is well aware that they cannot do this work alone. The first challenge is to define and map existing networks and identify existing membership. This is the part where you come in. Please take a few moments to let us know by answering the following questions: A) What is a network?; B) Name any existing networks within the diocese; and C) List names of people (including yourself) that you know belong to these networks.

For example, Anne Miner-Pearson has been contacting each congregation in the diocese to discuss MSN and asking that an individual be designated as their local MSN Contact Person (or CP if you want another acronym). In this case, we now have a “network” of people who are in place to communicate with and receive communication from the MSN Coordinators Group.

Once this list has been compiled, our next step will be to invite and convene conversations among existing and emerging networks; asking them how their ministries can be strengthened and enhanced.

Patricia Dibble [[e-mail]]

[Rob Leduc]

A. Strictly speaking, a network is just a collection of nodes with links between them. Like any other system, networks can be functional or dysfunctional. Obviously the key components in the networks we seek to identify are strength and quality of communication. The problem with distributed structures is the extra burden of communication; the strength is their flexibility. Our networks will need very strong regular communication that has a high 'signal-to-noise' factor. The internet aids communication, but if it becomes too infrequent or too specious, people tune it out and the network collapses.

B. I don't really know of any formally existing networks. I suppose I am tangentially plugged in to a network of church musicians. We share news about events and how things are going at various places, and provide mutual support. I suppose there are equivalent clergy-networks, but it seems little that involve the laity directly.