Family Sytems Theory and pecusa

The post immediately below this one examines how family systems theory, particularly Bowen theory as reworked for congregations by Rabbi Edwin Friedman is used in pecusa in healthy and unhealthy ways. The author teaches at Trinity School for Ministry and has an extensive background in family systems as he cites.

My first exposure to family systems theory was in Clinical Pastoral Education during seminary and subsequent to that training I continued to study Bowen theory. Over the years I have attended both a two-day seminar and a lecture by Friedman and done some work in Family Systems at the Center for Family Counseling in Evanston, IL. Friedman's work was especially helpful for me in my first parish as a rector. Having served for six years as an assistant, three years each in two parishes, learning the dynamics of being a sole clergyperson in a small parish was a challenge. I found (and find) Friedman's work to be highly insightful.

The two pieces of Friedman's work that are generally most difficult are becoming and staying well-differentiated and at the same time staying connected to the system. Harding explains these two concepts below. As he points out, pecusa has misused family systems by pushing an agenda without staying connected to those parts of the system (in this case the Anglican Communion and dissidents within pecusa) that stand in 0pposition to the new direction. Harding does a good job of explaining family systems and identifying pecusa's failures in properly applying it.