Management consultancy speak

As ever, the after-conference - that setting the church to rights and catching up with long lost and newly found colleagues - proved more stimulating than the conference.

Today, we are promised, involves designing a straw man, or an inclusive alternative. That straw man could become a wood man, then a tin man (Not from Oz apparently) and then an iron man. And then his fate most likely will be a melt down by the fickle church meeting in General Assembly in 2010. However by that time much effort and expense will be invested in this fragile creature. Is tinkering with the structure really going to make sufficient difference to how we take the good news into our communities? Surely there are much more fundamental changes to be made before we can start to be effective in our commission to "go into all the world". I suspect a straw man doesn't even begin to effect the kind of change needed for us to engage with the needs on our doorstep and hang out in the places and with the people in whom Jesus invested time. Or is that just my cynicism creeping in?