Community Codes

Background Context

Following my involvement in the White Bear Media Project, and my subsequent identification of the problem there I started work in the two Churches next to that reserve. Upon arrival at Redvers-Manor pastoral Charge, I proceeded with the usual needs assessment and of the two towns in order to gain an understanding of how the towns worked, and their current needs. It became apparent that the two towns were very different and required two completely different approaches.

Approach Used

In my needs assessment process, I follow a standard approach:

• I use a "free fall" method of decoding. That is I enter a community , become it, and note the "drift"
• I do document analysis of their past records
• I talk to key informants
• I watch what is done and ask why
• I check census , map, and local history type data
• I observe what does and doesn't work in terms of work and general life activities.
• I record a lot both in photograph and note form.

In the case of Manor, I photographed a manikin by the road which encountered some vandalism and watched how the town reacted. I took a before and after set of photos to a person I knew who grew up there and asked some questions, which gave me the key insight into the first town by about Christmas of the first year.

I pushed on the second town until March when it broke open as well. In this case, it was far more difficult. The town and its church had shut down and were in denial about the fact while I was there. That reality was hampering operation of both that church and the joint functions of the larger Parish. I pushed the inquiry to the point of checking soil samples to note the location of geographic boundary between short and long-grass country (which ran down the middle of the parish) and noted the location of the social-economic boundary between the provinces (also right down the middle of the parish).

When a "Perceiver" friend turned up for a visit who had grown up there, I asked him about the phenomena and he filled in the missing piece.

Current Status

• The relationship terminated for a combination of internal and external reasons.
• I decoded the second town.
• The learnings were well worth the effort.
• The incident marked the beginning of a five year chase down of information to supplement my understanding of the agricultural crisis situation and the nature of any contribution the Church might bring to the table regarding it.

Findings To Date

Over the year, I came to refer to this process of gaining an initial understanding of a town as "decoding a community". The imagery was that of figuring out a code on an alarm system on a public building. You get 90 seconds to figure out the alarm code and enter it or the cops come and throw you out as an intruder. In the case of communities, you get a year of so to come into line with how people interact or get rejected as an intruder. Once a code for a community is gained, a person can do just about anything and get away with it.

Decoding is normally something which is picked up by osmosis, as the elements are often not at a conscious level, and are rarely spoken of by local residents.

Specifically, I found:

• Manor was composed of marginal farmers and businesses and had lost all hope of ever "making it' in the larger economy at a level much greater than subsistence. Approach to ministry to this group is well developed, back at least as far as "Calvin and the rise of capitalism", and was implemented.
• Redvers was more into the "Agri-business wanna-be" space and the insight I received from my visitor-friend informed one aspect of this reality.
• I realized I did not know how to address the larger economic dilemma of the agricultural crisis which was the dominant feature in the town's shutdown and denial.
• After leaving the parish, I spent the next five years chasing down the details of the situation on my own, with a key breakthrough happening at two points,:
  1. the first was an economics concept which enabled me to see out from under the capitalist-socialist blinders which had formerly impeded my view (Apr./00). At this point I entered into the Masters of Rural Development in order to follow up the insight.
  2. The second was an aside in an Appedail article which enabled me to see the key piece in the puzzle of the economic issue in agriculture, and the on-ramp of the gospel with its contribution to the discourse (Dec./01)
• Most important of all, I found a way to speed up the process of "decoding" a town or a group, which related to the gifts of the persons who I consulted in relation to the codes of each of these towns. This has proved to be most helpful

Lateral Connections

Required for Completion

Some sort of dissemination of the insights