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September 2011

VBS-Aid Fosters Team Ministry

2×2 was recently in conversation with a pastor researching the concept of team ministry. He was interested in our VBS-aid program.

Team Ministry is a concept which we think must be explored. It answers many of the challenges small churches face and has great promise. The problem is that it flies against the tradition of the entire parish life revolving around the congregation’s relationship with one pastor (and adding more pastors only as the congregation grows). This age-old model of the church is foundering because small churches cannot afford the salaries all pastors expect, regardless of the number of people supporting a ministry.

The modern era faces another challenge which team ministries can address. Modern ministry requires leadership with multiple skill sets. It is not likely that any congregation, much less the smaller congregations, will find one pastor who can provide all the services they need.

Team ministry is worth exploring for any mission-minded congregations, but especially for those who fear they have no future.

They may face some obstacles. Pastors may feel threatened by outsiders influencing their parish. Congregations might share some distrust. Programs like this aren’t in the current budgets and congregations may be hesitant to fund something “different.”

VBS-aid is an ideal way to give team ministry a try. VBS-aid trains teams of 4-8 people to travel to several churches during the summer to provide leadership for Bible School outreach programs. The program calls for the congregation and its leadership to work with the team to do upfront recruitment and to put a fall program in place so that there is a reason for VBS newcomers to return. VBS-aid pledges to work and help train congregation members, so that the congregation grows its skills while they have some hands-on help to get them started.

Congregations will work with VBS-aid for about two months — preparation, training and recruitment; the two-week Bible School, and follow up. Then they are gone — until next year, if the congregation liked the program. VBS-aid connects congregations, church camps, seminaries, and the community. A lot of talents and skills are made available for a minimal investment ($5000-$7500 — far less than it would cost to hire and train part- or full-time help). The congregation will have had a taste for team ministry and may begin to think of other ways to team with the greater church and the community in mission.

We encourage congregations to visit (www.vbsaid.com) and start to think if the summer of 2012 might be the summer to get your feet wet with team ministry. Talk about it in your congregation and plan to budget for it now. Contact us for more information. We will be glad to make a presentation to your congregational leaders.

02 Sep 2011

ELCA’s Resolve to Support Congregations May Backfire

Let’s examine the resolution passed by the recent ELCA National Assembly.  Here it is:

Resolution (11.03.06) passed with 57 dissenting votes and 914 approving votes.

RESOLVED: To make support for the work of congregations one of the highest priorities of this church. To request congregations, in collaboration with synods, to begin, develop, review or redefine their unique mission plans by the end of 2012, so that each congregation strengthens its capabilities and resources for witness and mission.

57 people voted against making the support for the work of congregations a high priority. Why?

On the face, the resolution sounds like a “no brainer.” This is why a synod judicatory exists in the first place. Why restate the obvious?

Perhaps it’s a matter of urgency. Mission and stewardship numbers are down.

This resolution forces congregations to face a fork in the road. Collaborate with the synod or don’t collaborate. Either choice will be rocky. Saying either “yes” or “no” puts the congregation in a position of being judged. If the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, small congregations can feel threatened.

For several decades church leaders have been looking for answers to steady decline. In so doing, they attempted to reinvent a judicatory’s relationship with congregations — sometimes in conflict with the denomination’s traditions and governing laws. In recent years, little has stood in the way of judicatories in their expressed goal of “transformation.”  Small congregations live in realistic fear that working with the Synod will “transform” them out of existence.

The list of small congregations who thought they were collaborating with synod in mission only to find themselves on the chopping block is growing. Will this resolution feed into a Synod practicing the triage of transformation – independently determining which congregations deserve their attention and which should be left to die?

There is real risk that Synod will assume authority in the collaborative process despite congregational constitutions that call for self-determination of mission goals and use of resources.

The interdependence fostered by the resolution is no doubt meant to inspire congregations and synods to begin working together more closely to make sure the congregations have the help they need. However, it may be interpreted to create a hierarchical relationship resulting in attitudes that insist on compliance with Synod’s view of a congregation’ mission — or else! It all depends on who is reading between the lines!

If this resolution has any chance of being effective, judicatories must approach congregations with the truest of intent and purpose — to help them, not themselves. The mission and growth of the congregation is the goal — not closure and reassignment of assets to the benefit of the judicatory’s mission.

Those 57 dissenting votes may have a point! Time will tell.

Would you vote for this resolution? Tell us why or why not?

01 Sep 2011