By Teresa Cutts
I recently had the luxury of spending almost two hours learning from the brain and spirit of Burr Sullivan, President and CEO of Lexington Chamber of Commerce. Since the first formal meeting in summer 2012, Burr has been a strong community supporter of the FaithHealthNC work in Lexington.
Why would the Chamber, the flagship of local business, be interested in FaithHealth? So far, 15 local congregations have signed a covenant to partner with Wake Forest and Lexington Medical Center to improve the health and well-being of local citizens. To them it seems to make “bottom line sense.” Under Burr’s leadership, Lexington businesses are keen to sign a covenant with FaithHealthNC—like the local churches—and commit to help in whatever way they can to enhance the health of the people of Lexington. As employers, local businesses have a lot to gain if citizens become healthier.
And the same thing happened in Wilkes County at a December covenant signing—as many businesses as congregations stepped forward to make a commitment to be a part of the bigger movement of FaithHealthNC. That’s both unexpected and happily surprising. It’s what we call “collateral benefits,” as opposed to the “collateral damage” you see in the military when one of your own is wounded unintentionally.
These unintended, but positive “collateral benefits” pop up in congregations and FaithHealth work in the most astonishing ways.
Relationships, assets and people have been connected to better align and leverage resources, donations and in-kind caring in ways that surprise and astound us and that we mere humans wouldn’t think of designing—what Gary Gunderson calls “God’s Imagination at work in the world.”
Multi-Identity Order
Exactly how do these refreshing collateral benefits occur? Many factors, including the most pivotal one of God’s imaginative design, are at work. But another key factor is that most FaithHealth leaders like Burr Sullivan in Lexington has what we call “multi-identity order.” (We coined this term as a positive flip of the clinical diagnosis of multiple identity disorder). They play numerous and highly connected roles in their organizations and congregations.
Burr is a 40-plus year resident of Lexington, a decades-long church leader at First Presbyterian Church, a Board member of Lexington Medical Center and a supporter of the early health clinic started by his church, First Presbyterian. Oh, and he came out of retirement from running his own packaging factory for years to help get the Lexington Chamber of Commerce back on track. And (not coincidentally), he liked the job so much he stayed after their affairs improved. Burr’s “many hats” or multi-identity orders, explain how he is able to cross so many organizations and boundaries and do so with trust and integrity. This cross-pollination of roles and identities reflects how congregations get so much done, with relatively limited resources and structural organization.
So, we applaud the Lexington Model of FaithHealthNC, Burr’s desire to bring the businesses into covenant to improve health, Burr’s multi-identity order probably looks at lot like your own life and work.
All of us involved are hopeful that more collateral benefits appear as FaithHealthNC comes to your congregation or area, and God’s imagination zooms to work in ways we wouldn’t have thought possible. Keep us posted if these benefits occur, so we can share your stories and inspire others. We love happy surprises, engineered by our Maker. Let your multi-identity order work as part of God’s imagination begin!
Teresa Cutts, Ph.D. is Asst. Research Professor, Wake Forest School of Medicine, PHS, Dept. of Social Science and Health Policy.
Painting, “Partnership” by Libba Davis.
