To Network or to Node?

There's a lot of talk about networking these days. In fresh expressions and emerging church circles it's pretty much an assumption that it's what we do. Networking can be contrasted to hierarchies or old fashioned parochialism and clearly reflects a postmodern, information age way of doing things, but...

Like many phrases it can be used but not really understood - or people mean different things when they say it. "Collaborative Ministry" is the one I often find myself worrying about. It's become such a common phrase and no minister would dream of saying that they didn't believe in it - particularly when applying for a job. On the other hand, they may actually mean, "I use other people to get jobs done" or "I sometimes ask people what they think". I suspect we have a long way to go before "working together" is truly embedded in the working practices of the UK church...

The same goes for networking. Most people use the term but in their heads they see their node (or immediate group of nodes) as being the centre of the network. Without realising it they create a form of flattened hierarchy - a pre-Copernican map of the universe in which they are back at the centre. They end up with a form of parochialism which focusses on a network within a network with boundaries between those who are in and those who are out...

I do it myself - we all do to some extent. In many ways it's the only way to cope with the complexities of our life as part of an ever shifting network of relationships. We all need our "privacy settings" or our approved group of "friends".

While this is all true, the call of Christ is to keep making links - to be open to what we can discover in the other. It's risky but ultimately life enriching...

We also need the humility to admit that we are not the centre of the universe - hard though it may be to admit it. There may be some form of divine centre (if you want to think of it that way) but if we assume that we live in a network - there is no centre - each node is equally valid and important.

We often say that we are networking when what we are really doing is "noding" - making links around us to build up the significance, status or power of ourself or our group. It's a form of hierarchical parochialism hidden in some trendy language. The real challenge in "networking" is to allow and encourage the life and links of the network to develop without our control, influence or even knowledge... but still give this value.

The skills required for modern networking are therefore passive as well as active and require restraint as well as extroversion. In practical terms I find myself pondering the question, how do we create and encourage networks of which we are not at the centre? This is a real question to consider in the MK church as we move from a structural to a relational model of ecumenism - and as we contemplate projects in areas like fresh expressions and local shared ministry... A new skill set and tool kit may be required...