Connected: Episode 2 - What We're Hearing

Over the last seven weeks I've been doing something that, in a fast-moving programme, can feel almost counter-cultural: I've been listening.

Long conversations — an hour or more, most of them — with District Chairs, superintendents, circuit administrators, youth and children's workers, lay employees, and people in local churches. Not surveys or consultations. Proper conversations, where people describe what their week actually looks like, what's getting in the way, and what would make ministry and mission easier.

Nine of the 23 districts have been part of this so far, with more conversations booked in. The listening exercise will formally wrap up in mid-May, but the listening itself won't stop there.

In this episode I share the picture that's emerging. Some of it is hard to hear. Some of it is genuinely exciting. Most of it is more consistent across the Connexion than I'd have predicted.

A few of the threads I pick up on:

The real energy and creativity across the Connexion — people building their own solutions because nobody else has
Connexional resources that are valued far more than the centre realises
The administrative weight that has outgrown the tools meant to manage it
Systems that don't join up, and the people quietly acting as "human glue" between them
The voices from circuit administrators, youth workers and lay employees that have already reshaped what the programme thinks its job is

Nobody is named in this episode. I wanted listeners across the Connexion to be able to recognise themselves in the picture without anyone being identifiable. Several of the moments I describe come from specific conversations — but every theme I raise is one I've heard in more than one place, from people who don't know each other, in completely different parts of the country. That consistency is part of the story.

Get involved

If you recognise your own experience in what I describe — or if you've got a perspective that isn't represented — I'd really like to hear from you.

Register interest in the Stakeholder Reference Group: a small group that meets every few weeks to shape the programme as it builds.
Join the Champions Network: people with digital skills who help things happen locally.
Email me directly: Send me your thoughts, feedback or arrange a conversation.

Listen to the rest of the series

Episode 1 — More Time for What Matters: an introduction to the programme, why digital transformation matters for the Methodist Church, and what "digital transformation" actually means in practice. Listen here.