Change Depends on Nurturing Laity

Laity outnumber clergy in everything but attention. Here are some ways that churches dedicated to transformational change can change that.

1. Assess the Career Path of the Laity

Clergy have an established career path. They have to jump a maze of hurdles to verify their call. They spend three or four years under the watchful eye of mentors in seminary. Then they seek that call. Or is it seeking them? That’s the question.

Once a candidate has heard the call and there is agreement that he or she has heard the correct call—the career path is set. Some pastors will grow and mature with their congregations. Some will bide time as their congregations fail. Some will hop from call to call. Some may discover and hone new skills. Many will stick with their seminary initial training forever.

Here’s a  cartoon describing the Methodist tradition. Every denomination has some form of “process.”

But what about the laity—the field of laborers, the financial backbone of the church.

They are a neglected part of church culture. Their career path starts with baptism and membership. Then what?

2. Recognize that laity change—as a group and individually.

Today’s laity are not the same as the laity of 50 years ago. Collective educational background is much higher. Our cultural experience has matured. The zeitgeist of the time changes. Yet, the church scans the pews and sees the past.

I was recently using a seminary library when I overheard an exchange between a seminarian and the clergy librarian. The student was expressing gratitude that a professor had pointed out how their congregation will view a certain theological point. “I’m so glad he pointed out to me how lay people think. Now I’m ready.”

How do we think? Someone should tell us.

The particular point they were discussing and the supposed viewpoint of the laity was so dated that anyone holding it today would be 150 years old.

Sometimes we get what we expect. If we expect laity to have shallow theological understanding, we will find those people.

This notion that laity are always the same is a cause of church closings. If we keep looking for cookie-cutter members to replace those lost to attrition, we will soon have a difficult time.

Many churches today sit in the middle of vibrant neighborhoods and lament that demographics have changed. That’s one thing that is never going to change!

3. The laity are encouraged to change but are not really allowed to implement change around the set structure of the church.

The churches that will survive the next two decades will have members and clergy who think entrepreneurially. Entrepreneurs have a “can do” attitude. The challenge to congregations will be to ensure that laity have the tools to implement new ideas.

Look at Steve Jobs and his product line, Apple and Macintosh computers. When retailers refused to stock his products, he didn’t adopt an attitude of contrition and defeat. He opened his own retail stores and sold through computer vendors. He soon ruled the market.

The Lutheran Church recognizes lay talents with their Associates in Ministry program. It requires 600 seminary hours and field experience before laity can tap into the church compensation programs. The field experience is in predictable areas (education, social services and music).

Perhaps this is a way of keeping order, but it tends to turn laity into little clergy and puts skilled laity directly under the oversight of clergy. Ultimately, that’s crippling.

What about all the laity that spend 600 or more hours in (or teaching) Sunday School and Confirmation Class and spent another 10,000 hours developing skills that seminaries don’t teach—and who are not looking for the Church’s seal of approval?

Their voice and talents are supposed to be equally valued in Lutheran structure.

They are not. And lay people sense that. And so they sit. Sitting does not produce change.

4. The Good News must be presented to God’s people today.

In today’s world, where life-long learning is expected, laity will not want to hear the same Sunday School lesson over and over. They must provide new and challenging avenues for service that begin with the interests and skills of the laity — not what the church thinks it needs at the moment.

The church must bring this kind of life into their faith communities or younger laity will be gone. They are on their way out the door now.

5. Nurture the attitude of leaders.

The culture of the church feeds off the attitudes of leaders.

When they appear to be self-protective, self-focused  and managerial, only laity conditioned to that will respond. The attitude of modern clergy must be welcoming, positive and nurturing.

I was riding in a cab recently and the cab driver was listening to a dispatcher giving basic business coaching. “Remember to thank your passenger. They have choices.” Good advice for building the culture of church. Today’s laity have choices.

6. Find the laity’s strengths.

Too often the church seeks to fit laity into pre-established service roles. Do you want to sing in the choir, teach children or work in the food bank?

Every individual has at least one strength; some have many. What if it’s “none of the above”?

People like to play their strengths. If there is no opportunity to do so in church, they will find somewhere else to serve.

7. Give the laity ownership of their ministry.

Don’t we already do that?

Constitutionally, yes. Practically, no.

The challenges of today’s church have weighted the hand of hierarchy.

How’s this working for us? It’s not—but we keep at it anyway.

When clergy are assigned, not called, when congregational votes are bypassed, and assembly votes are rigged, the church is sapping the laity for managerial gain.

It’s a dead end. Wait and see. (It won’t be long!)

8. Let the call process work.

Calls are supposed to come through the congregations—not managed or dictated. Any church that is accepting a pastoral match without the skills necessary to nurture the congregation is pouring resources down the drain and sapping the spirit of the church. They are taking advantage of their laity. If there are not enough pastors with the necessary skills, the church professional leadership structure should work to remedy that ASAP, before dozens more congregations fail. Saddling congregations (usually, but not always the smaller ones) with pastors who have no intention of working to grow a congregation is dishonest.

9. Remember the past but celebrate your current culture.

If you have an annual homecoming, make sure you also have an equal celebration of your current history. Each year note how your culture has changed and improved. New people aren’t insensitive. They care about the history of the church. But it’s more important that they know that they fit into the culture here and now.