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Rethinking Small Church Ministry

What Are We Risking . . . and Why?

In the unending quest for transformation, churches in our area have been asked by their regional leader to take risks.

Sounds very daring!

But look before you leap!

What are congregations being asked to risk and why?

We presume our leaders are asking us to change. They are never very clear on how. Just change. (When they bring their experts in to to evaluate, they usually try to set things up the same old way.)

So what are our leaders expecting to happen now?

They could be looking at society and seeing a spiritual desert. They could be concerned for the troubled individuals, broken families, the children who live in two houses with torn parental loyalties, the outcasts of society, the people who struggle with illness and addiction, the jobless, the homeless, the youth who feel left out, or the lonely and unnoticed in general. They could be concerned with the growing number of people who do not know God and can’t pray.

They could be looking more globally at a world of injustice, hunger, disease, tension, prejudice and discrimination.

Most Christians would agree that if these were the major concerns, taking risks and making changes would be well worth a congregation’s efforts.

Unfortunately, the changes sought by the Church are economically based.  The risks we are being asked to take are so the Church can survive—that the hierarchy can survive— just the way it always has. No changes there!

Small churches have proven to be resilient. Immigrants and pioneers, uprooted from the established Church of the Middle Ages, came to America and started the Church anew. These small churches survived for hundreds of years. They changed over the years without prodding. Many actually grew!

The cost of hierarchy is weighing down the small church. The need for change and risk today is because hierarchies are failing.

They don’t intend to fail alone.

Change will happen in the small church when hierarchy demonstrates that they, too, can take risks and make significant changes. This doesn’t mean cutting ten percent of the staff or freezing salaries. It means revisiting everything they do. Reallocating initiatives more in line with the modern world. Changing the way they relate and communicate with congregations, and how they value the contributions of members—all members.

It means looking at our relationships with our schools and seminaries and our social service agencies. Are they serving the mission of the Church or have they adopted a secular mission while expecting support from the Church?

It means examining what is expected of professional leaders at every level. If pastors can be settled in ministry for 10 years while statistics steadily drop — and be applauded for nothing but having a satisfied congregation — well, it’s the same problem academia has with tenure. Security tends to trump mission.

Things are just fine here. Let someone else take the risk. Ten years to retirement.

The Church will not survive the present age without taking risks. Let’s make sure the risks are for the mission of the Church, not the survival of our comfort and way of life.

And leaders, congregations are more likely to take risks when we see you in front of us, not prodding (or picking our pockets) from behind.

30 May 2013

Networking and the Modern Church

Will the Church Use the Power of Networking?

One of the joys of being excommunicated from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the freedom to not only think outside the Lutheran box but to explore religion and the concept of church beyond what is expected of the traditional congregation.

Here’s an interesting quote from a prominent blogger in the Jewish community, Rabbi Hayim Herring. He addresses many of the problems the Christian church faces but from a Jewish point of view. Do they have different solutions?

It seems one of the Jewish initiatives is building network-based communities. Here’s a quote from a recent discussion.:

Established organizations are structured as hierarchies. They still have a command and control model, complete with organizational charts that visually portray a chain of command. But networks rest on platforms and platforms abhor hierarchies. They are self-directed and not directed ex machina. They rely on influence and not control, connections and not command.

This observation will benefit Christian community in the new information era.

The Church that will survive in the 21st century will master network-building. Social Media is the turbine for network building.

Network building means reaching out beyond who we already are.

Why think “networks”? Why now?

Because now we can. Now we have the tools to reach people like never before. Now we can think beyond our traditional membership base (which is waning). We can easily look beyond family, friends, and immediate neighbors. Now we can go directly to the people in society who can help us or whom we feel we can help without the gatekeeping of hierarchy or the institutionalizing of our efforts.

 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all people.

Hierarchical thinking may have once facilitated the goals of Christianity. (It is debatable.) It may now be a handicap—an expensive handicap. Networks are not created by command but by nurture. We will not build networks effectively if we are looking over our shoulders for hierarchical approval.

Hierarchical thinking in today’s world will hinder the spread of the Gospel. As the self-proclaimed “Greatest Generation” fades, the new and as yet unlabeled generations will see no reason to submit to hierarchical thinking in most realms of life and certainly not in religion.

We, as Church, can spend the next decade trying to preserve the past, or we can start to build the platforms and networks that will keep our religion viable in a spiritually competitive world.

Every dollar spent preserving the past is a mission dollar squandered.

This should not be alarming. It is really what we have all been waiting for—a chance to open dialog with people who are not necessarily like-minded. (Don’t most churches look for people who will fit in and contribute in traditional ways?)

The new evangelist will listen and respond. Hyping the Church’s agenda will not build the networks and platforms. The new evangelical approach will return us to our mission of love.

Are we ready for the new world?

11 May 2013

The Social Media Revolution (or Reformation?)

 The Transformational Tool the Church Is Waiting For

The Church is slow to understand Social Media and how it could impact the local congregation.

The fact is Social Media can benefit congregations—both large and small. It can do more. It can transform them.

Larger churches have more resources for exploring this new world, but the emphasis should actually be on helping small churches master Social Media. Their success will benefit the entire Church.

People like small churches. Most churches are small. Most small churches are struggling. Social Media could change this.

The power of Social Media, if unleashed, could change how we understand church and mission foundationally.

Church structure has been pretty much the same since Moses. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. With that command in mind for thousands of years, God’s people have gathered once every seven days for worship. The structure of Christian worship is built on the traditions of Jewish scripture.

It’s quite a heritage. Why change?

There are at least two reasons.

  1. The number of people following the age-old traditions is dwindling.
  2. For the first time in history, we CAN make significant changes.

Most church leaders view Social Media as additive. It’s something new they have to do in addition to all the things that already keep them busy. That’s one reason why they never get around to mastering new skills.

But Social Media can be so much more. It can be a game changer. It can turn church life inside out and connect congregations to the very people we have so much trouble reaching. 

Look, for instance, at what is happening in the world of education because of the influence of social media.

The old model of education is to gather students around a teacher who lectures them. The students then go home and do homework to reinforce what they learned. Students who understand breeze through their homework. Students who don’t understand often return to the classroom to hear another lecture without mastering the foundations of the previous lesson. This model of education works for students with an academic mindset. It leaves a lot of great minds that  think differently behind.

But now, progressive teachers are beginning to understand that the best lecturers in the world can present the lessons to students online. There is no longer any economic benefit to gathering students around one teacher to hear them talk. One  excellent teacher can lecture a million students! Students can listen to the lesson before they come to class. They can repeat sections they don’t understand and search for additional information, if they are so inclined. 

The role of “teacher ” changes. When the students gather together for the state-mandated school attendance, the teacher can work with them hands-on. The classwork (as opposed to homework) can involve debate and projects and individual instruction. Using this time to lecture is a waste!

How does this apply to Church?

We are accustomed to the gathered people of God coming together once a week to worship and listen to the Word. The Word is presented by one person who may have spent a day preparing the message. The format is 20-40 minutes — way longer than the modern attention span. There is little or no actual exchange with the congregation (unlike the accounts of Paul’s preaching in the book of Acts). There is no way of reinforcing the message. Even the best sermons are forgotten before the Sunday dinner table is cleared!

Social Media can change this. It means changing habits or perhaps creating a new discipline.

News flash: Preachers do not have to wait for congregants to come to them!

There is no reason a preacher cannot interact with congregants (and seekers) every day of the week. Short, thought-provoking messages tied to the daily lectionary as well as the weekly lectionary can bring the congregation together on Sunday prepared to be more involved in worship. Worship and post-worship can become more hands on. The pastor may learn much more about the congregation he or she serves and new mission ideas and opportunities are bound to surface.

What could come from this is a new understanding of the talent that today is simply sitting in the pew. Congregants, with daily reinforcement, will make religion more a part of their lives. With daily inspiration, they are more likely to talk to others as they go about their work and family lives. When they come to church once a week, they will come not as passive listeners but as empowered, knowledgeable Christians who are eager to put their faith to work. They might argue with the preacher (just as the temple-goers in the Bible did). They might present new ideas or come up with new mission possibilities—which can then be addressed online during the week—for all in the community to read. It will expand a congregation’s witness.

For Social Media’s power to reach full potential, we must be willing to transform how we structure our expectations of pastors. Pastors and educators of pastors must be part of the transformation.

It may even change the role of seminaries. All the newly empowered lay people might see value in studying more about their faith—not necessarily to become pastors, but to become more involved and knowledgeable lay people.

What are we waiting for?

06 May 2013

Blogging Is Not About Forsaking the Assembly

An anonymous commenter wrote today:

Blogging may be good and it may reach all over the world. But the word of God says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another . . . . ” (Hebrews 10 :25) and to my understanding I am going to church.

We have never advocated blogging as a replacement for Christian community. We see it as enhancing Christian community.

There is value in assembling as a people of God. Most of the people who read and correspond with us through our blog are active in such assemblies and send us many photos of their congregations.

Assembling as a congregation is not in itself an evangelism tool. The sizes of these assemblies are shrinking—big churches and small churches alike. Most are experiencing sizable decline. As they shrink, they are becoming protective of who they are. In a sense they forsake who they might become, if they actually had a way of reaching out.

The value of blogging is that you reach beyond the four walls of your congregation and start to learn about the people who are not part of your assembly—yet.

As for the people of 2×2 and Redeemer? We have been locked out our place of assembly by all the other Lutheran congregations in our region. This was an unnecessary cruelty and was designed to make taking our property, our offerings and possessions easier.

And still we attend church — sitting several times a month with the very people who condone this action—some actively, most passively. We worship, we pass the peace and sometimes commune with them. We listen to words read from the Bible that point to the wrongs of these actions. We have visited 60 happy and contented congregations who would rather not be bothered. We live the Good Samaritan story every day. The Levite and Pharisee pass us by.

We worship with others even when it is difficult to do, even when we are treated with only minimal hospitality and no recognition of what their communities have put our community through. We have abided condescending platitudes. We have also met some really nice people!

Congregations seem to find justification in their communal acceptance of wrong.

We still believe in local assembly and gather in our own “upper room” in a theater that has loaned us the space for three years while our church has persisted in vilifying our members to justify their leaders’ actions. We pass our locked church, a symbol of atrocity, every day.

We still get together once a week for worship and often during the week to work on projects or just enjoy one another’s company. We still help one another through tough times and celebrate good times. We still pray for one another and for the rest of the church that treats us so badly.

We agree with you! Go to church.

But beware! Just being there is not enough. The gospel—including the book of Hebrews—makes other demands on us.

Don’t forget the teachings of love, forgiveness and reconciliation. Don’t forget the admonition to go into the world and make believers of all.

Blogging has made this possible for every Christian.

02 May 2013

The Squandering of a Small Congregation’s Reputation

clrgyglassesChurch Vision: A Study in Black and White

Congregations and clergy, including regional leaders, are often strangers to one another.

Regional leaders can know very little about the congregations they serve or the people who support them with their offerings.

It is not likely that they visit often with lay leaders. Even if they did, lay leadership shifts every couple of years or so.

Regional leaders have only two sources of information.

  1. Annual parish reports (completed and submitted by clergy) 
  2. Pastors’ firsthand accounts which can not help but be delivered with self-interest.   

Regional leaders are likely to come into contact with congregations at pivotal times in a congregation’s history.

  1. When they need to call a new pastor for any number of reasons.
  2. When there is some form of conflict, which often involves a pastor.

Consequently, regional leaders are likely to have a very biased view of a congregation.

When they don’t know what’s going on they fall back on numbers — not seriously considering what the numbers represent.

They might send someone to visit a church and report their findings. That visitor reports there are only 14 in worship. They have no way of knowing that 50 usual attendees are really upset about something that might involve the pastor. They are not going to hear about this from the pastor! They come to the conclusion that the church cannot survive. They never deal with the problems. When the regional body is hungry for assets, it is easy to reach this lazy conclusion.

The congregation then has a reputation among clergy. The memory for this reputation is quite long. Clergy might comment: “Wasn’t there trouble in 1960?” The congregation has no idea what they are talking about!

Lay people are often unaware of the power of the clergy gossip mill. They are unlikely to be part of the conversation that can spin out of control with no way to correct misunderstandings.

Clergy are sometimes so self-absorbed that they even come up with trendy slang. Years ago, pastors talked among themselves about alligators. “Who is the alligator in your church?” they might ask one another. An alligator in clergyspeak is a lay person who lurks in the congregational water ready (in this clergy person’s mind) to snap its jaws on a pastor’s throat. Paranoia? Perhaps! It reflects neither love nor respect for their flock. It does untold damage to a congregation within the Church—all the less fortunate when it voids the congregation’s reputation outside of ecclesiastic circles.

Every congregation has a reputation in its community. Clergy can influence it or they can exist totally unaware of it.

This reputation spans longer periods of time—generations—and takes in the community’s knowledge of the congregation’s participation and response to community needs and the lives they have touched that may not be part of the congregation’s membership or collected statistics.

The community measures churches with a different yardstick.

  • They work together on community projects.
  • Their children attend schools and programs sponsored by the church.
  • The community can count on the congregation to share their facilities generously.
  • The community remembers a congregation’s response to a local disaster.
  • They may have acquaintances and family members whose lives were touched in some small but significant way.
  • The community knows nothing and cares less about denominational involvement or reputation. They only know what they see and that’s the local congregation and its members.

A regional body has no way of measuring this, except as filtered through the clergy. Too bad. This reputation is an asset to the entire denomination. It is far more powerful than slogans or logos or even press releases.

The challenge to the Church is to know a congregation’s reputation and protect and nurture it. It must learn to separate the truth from the gossip. This becomes difficult when the regional body’s interests are limited to placing pastors and accumulating assets.

2×2 published a parable about this division between clergy and lay leaders and how it impacts the small church and the mission of the church. It is based on our 60 visits to local congregations—most of them quite small. It is meant to spark discussion on how clergy and laity can work together and advance mission with the limited resources (both human and financial) which define today’s church.

LandingPageWidgetRead Undercover Bishop. Share its short chapters weekly with your congregation. Ask if they see themselves anywhere in the story. Study questions are included at the end of the book.

UndercoverBishop

08 Apr 2013

Ambassadors Visit Reformation, Media, Pa.

Palm Sunday in Media

reformation:mediaRedeemer Ambassadors decided not to miss Palm Sunday. We hopped on the Blue Route and were in Media in less than 30 minutes.

Reformation, Media is the 57th SEPA congregation we visited.

We attended the second service and found a packed sanctuary. Empty seats were few. There were probably around 200 in attendance. As seems to be common these days there was a lot of moving around in the back of the church.

First Communion for six young people and the tradition of Palm Sunday brought people out.

We spoke with two people and found we had something in common with both. The first woman we spoke with told us about her mother’s work in a mission hospital in Madras, India, in the late 1920s and 1930s. One of our Ambassadors was born in the southern India mission fields at the same time. His parents were missionaries there for 25 years. The second woman we spoke to was introduced as being from the western part of Pennsylvania. Two Ambassadors have roots in the same town. She knew the pastor of our church. In fact, we lived in the same house as her friends!

Try as they do, SEPA cannot disconnect Redeemer from our heritage.

The adult choir was strong and led the traditional singing of The Palms. It’s our tradition, too. Our organist always balked at playing it. He considered it unsingable. One of our former leaders, not known for her voice, finally told him, “If I can sing it, you can play it.” He played it.

Their music director chose excellent music for two choirs. Their adult choir did a dramatic anthem —almost theatrical.

A five-member children’s choir — all girls — did a nice Natalie Sleeth number. We used a lot of Natalie Sleeth anthems as hymns at Redeemer. She was a great church musician.

Reformation did an abbreviated version of the Passion Story but left out the Psalm and Epistle. The voice of Isaiah was heard, though.

They used three Palm Sunday hymns. The version of Ride On, Ride On in Majesty in the new Lutheran hymnal is deadly and the congregation sat it out along with us!

It was explained to us afterward that some elements of the service are traditional for them and were not included in the bulletin. We understand the importance of tradition and miss our own.

Reformation has a “bridge” pastor, the Rev. Arden Krych. We encounter interim pastors, mission pastors, and bridge pastors. Bridge pastors, it seems, are post-interim pastors — a second stage of “interimness.” We continue to believe that the interim minister process is a symptom of a growing clergy body seeking flexibility in their careers. Their needs are in contrast to the needs of congregations who are encouraged to seek “settled” relationships with pastors.

Redeemer was not part of any such process. Not our choice. Bishop Almquist broke the contract we had with an interim pastor in 1997. We were left on our own for most of the next decade. We found our own “between calls” pastors.

We know now that this neglect was intentional. A step toward closing our congregation. It is actually a stated policy of Bishop Burkat who advises church leaders to not waste time and resources on congregations that will close in TEN years. Ten years of neglect will close a lot of churches!

We hope Reformation has better luck with “the process.”

Reformation owns a nice tract of land. They acquired adjacent property and cleared some old homes.

We liked the flexible seating—chairs, not pews. We also liked that name tags were available for members and a good number were wearing them.

Someone introduced us as from a closed church. We corrected them. Redeemer is not closed; we are locked out of God’s House by SEPA Synod. It’s time for SEPA Synod to revisit their thinking in regards to Redeemer and our community as we have continued to grow even under oppression.

Locked out and shunned by SEPA, we took our ministry online. We are experiencing exponential growth. We doubled and then tripled our growth over the last six weeks. Redeemer now has a greater reach than any SEPA congregation. We now have almost 1400 visits to our website every week (nearly twice the average weekly attendance of SEPA’s largest church). We continue to grow — just as we were in 2008 when SEPA coveted our property.

There is more economic potential in open churches than in closed churches. (Click to Tweet)

If there were ever any questions about our ability to survive (and this was never discussed with US), they are now debunked. Had SEPA worked with us (as they have falsely claimed) we’d have money to share and a new model for ministry that might help other congregations.

A lot of churches talk about transformation. We have done it!

SEPA’s actions in East Falls and Roxborough have resulted in almost no Lutheran presence in the largest geographic neighborhood in Philadelphia. In addition, they leave a horrendous legacy for future Lutherans to overcome.

Reconciliation is the only answer, but reconciliation takes dialog. There has been no dialog with our congregation since 2007.

Now would be a good time to resume.

And so we continue to visit all the congregations who voted (against their own governing rules) to take our property. We meet a lot of good people who are generally unaware of their churches actions. That’s a shame.

24 Mar 2013

Transforming the Role of Clergy in the Future Church

Transformational Ministry Requires Structural Change

Part of the challenge facing today’s Church is that the role of clergy and how they relate to congregations must change. Changes have already occurred in the numerous short-term and part-time pastorates. This is likely to continue while our expectations remain in the past.

The monetary demands on congregations have grown while the source of funding has been steadily dwindling.

Clergy spent decades griping about being highly educated but poorly paid. They had a point, but the resolution of their complaints has put their services out of reach for many congregations.

“Too bad!” might be a quick response.

The fact is that every church that fails diminishes the mission of the whole Church. Small churches reach more people. The economics of fewer larger churches make economic sense but don’t really work.

Fewer recent college graduates are entering the ministry. Today, candidates for ministry are often mature adults. Some are nearing the end of their careers—drifting from a professional calling. As older servants of God, with established families, lifestyles, and debts, they are looking for economic security and as little disruption to their settled lives as possible. Since clergy often view themselves as CEOs, the pay expectations are the pay expectations of older professionals.

The talent pool in which all congregations fish for leaders is crowded with candidates who can make only part-time commitments within tight geographic parameters. The pool of available talent may not fit congregational needs. Yet it is the role of regional bodies to place their rostered leaders in their rostered churches. Lots of square pegs in fewer round holes. That translates to unhappy clergy and congregations. Conflict often results.

That’s one side of the equation.

On the other side of the equation—the congregational side—an ongoing revolution has been underway. People have stopped attending church. The Sunday morning worship demographic is upwards of 50+.

The younger demographic—the demographic absent from church—represents well-educated career people, whose varied expertise is hard for professional church leaders to recognize if it competes with their own.

This is only part of the picture.

The needs of congregations change so dramatically that they are difficult to define and fill when the need is greatest. Community demographics, once stable for generations, now shift every few years. Congregations using the “settled pastor” model can easily be left with beloved leadership that is unable to serve the changing neighborhood. Decline sets in and everyone is afraid to make changes. We are church people. Nobody likes to complain—even those charged with the welfare of the congregation.

It is fairly clear that most congregations can no longer afford a full-time theologian in residence. Even if they could, it might not be to their mission advantage. The skills of theologians are no longer a congregation’s most urgent imperative.

Theologians are trained in the art of preaching — pulpit to pew communication. Modern church leadership must concentrate on communication beyond pulpit to pew. The pews are nearly empty.

Communication in today’s world is person to person. Very pastoral.

Money spent on making sure a good sermon is provided to a dwindling number of listeners is money that cannot be spent on reaching the people who are not in church—a key mission.

Yet the pastor’s salary is the foundation of every church budget.

The power in the world has shifted to the individual. This changes the way individuals think. We are no longer wired to understand the need to gather on Sunday morning—especially if our presence in Church does not recognize our abilities.

This trend is not likely to reverse. The Church is going to have to adapt.

In the Church, we see a structure that cannot budge. It continues to make unrealistic demands on the few people who remain loyal.

It is disheartening to be a lay person in today’s Church.

The typical congregation of the future, large or small, needs communications experts, education experts and service providers. We need business and entrepreneurial skills. It will be the rare pastor who can fill every need. It is unlikely that the growing pool of second career clergy perceive these skills as part of the role they are adopting late in life. (It may very well be the demands for change in their first careers that inspired them to turn to the Church.)

The day is coming when clergy will not be called to one congregation long-term but to multiple calls defined by skill sets which they will provide to congregations only for as long as they are needed.. They may join teams of clergy with complementary skills. Congregational budgets will detail mission tasks and will no longer allocate a large sum to one pastor.

This is an economic necessity and it will further empower the laity.

And then the Church might be transformed.

19 Mar 2013

Why Small Churches May Solve Mainline Problems

The Church’s Food Chain

FishChain2

Here is an interesting analysis of problem-solving potential.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest, imagine you are a person with a level 2 strength of character and attitude looking at a level 5 problem. Would this problem appear to be big or little? From a level 2 perspective, a level 5 problem would seem like a big problem.

Now imagine you’ve grown yourself and become a level 8 person. Would the same level 5 problem be a big problem or a little problem? Magically, the identical problem is now a little problem.

Finally, imagine that you’ve really worked hard on yourself and become a level 10 person. Now, is this same level 5 problem a big problem or a little problem? The answer is that it’s no problem. It doesn’t even register in your brain as a problem. There’s no negative energy around it. It’s just a normal occurrence to handle, like brushing your teeth or getting dressed.

~ T. Harv Eker Quotes from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Let’s look at how this might relate to churches—most of which face similar multiple problems with varying degrees of urgency. Let’s say Big Church A and Little Church B both face thm same Level 5 Problem. Because we live in a society that considers bigger as better, smarter and more desirable, we are tempted to think Big Church A won’t find a Level 5 Problem to be any challenge. Similarly those who represent the big churches assume that Little Church B will find the Level 5 Problem to be insurmountable. The Management-minded Solution: Close Little Church B down and reallocate their resources to Big Church A who faces the same challenge. In reality Big Church A will have a more difficult time solving the problem.

  • It can avoid facing foundational problems longer. (The largest congregations in our denomination and region are showing large statistical losses, but are still viewed as more viable than small congregations that are holding their own.)
  • They have a process they must follow to solve any problem. Creativity is less likely to enter the picture.
  • Staff may be more bountiful, but problem-solving isn’t on any of the job descriptions.
  • Lay talents are viewed with suspicion.
  • New talents take longer to gain notice and acceptance.

The Level 5 Problem is likely to continue unrecognized for years. Taking on problems that few people recognize is asking for trouble.

On the other hand Little Church B is truly threatened by the Level 5 Problem. Their very existence depends on finding solutions. They start looking for answers. They evaluate the few resources and people they have and go to work.

And here is the magical nature of Little Church B. Every new person who walks through the door is a resource that can immediately be put to work. Leadership is cultivated. The roles of laity can change as problems force them to develop new skills.

The status of Little Church B, therefore, can change dramatically in months. Resilience.

Understand this. There are many more Little Church Bs than there are Big Church As. They are a valuable resource in themselves that is being squandered as we worship church size.

Management-minded regional bodies easily get stuck with prejudices — often fostered by years of disgruntled pastors who failed in leadership roles. They have rare interaction with smaller churches and view them as stagnating—lying in wait for the regional body to save them.

In reality, they haven’t given this notion a moment’s thought.

There is a prejudice that Little Church B cannot support professional services and therefore must be controlled or closed. No small churches have as their mission statement—We exit to support the clergy and contribute to the regional and national church. Yet this is the priority when evaluating viability.

This threat is felt at all levels of church leadership. They just don’t know what to do with Little Church B. Clergy hear God calling them only to congregations that ensure a comfortable living. The result is a form of cannibalism.

Regional bodies, strapped with their own survival problems, are tempted to manage small congregations. They usually manage them out of existence. Even so, small churches vastly outnumber large churches. They always will.

If the cannibalism (closing small churches and assuming their assets as their own) continues, the entire denomination will become a relic. There will be a few larger congregations sitting in suburban outposts with no real ability to serve the neighborhoods they stripped of their assets.

Fewer churches means there will be fewer traditional jobs for church professionals which will result in fewer seminaries, fewer service initiatives and much less need for the regional body.

Pretty soon, the larger churches who were content to watch as neighboring congregations were managed out of existence will feel something nibbling at their own toes.

Let’s end with another quote from a 20th century genius.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.—Albert Einstein

16 Mar 2013

At Home in the Church

There’s No Place Like Home

Redeemer Ambassadors have now visited nearly 60 churches. We are perennial visitors. If there is such a thing, we are experts. Practice makes perfect.

Our status is unique. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America locked us out of God’s House. What they expected to happen as a result is unclear. We started visiting churches.

We are learning the strengths and weaknesses of churches and their hospitality efforts.

Some congregations are more welcoming than others.

  • Many churches have no hospitality program.
  • Some congregations have welcome teams who are ready to tell you all about their ministry.
  • Two gave us a token gift — a mug and a candle.
  • Most think they are very warm and inviting, even those who don’t say a word to us.

Some have a genuine sense of caring that permeates the entire community. Three of the most welcoming churches we visited had no pastoral presence.

Some say “welcome” but seem a bit suspicious. We understand. There’s a lot of gossip out there. The bishop even sent a letter warning churches that we visit—including a number to call if we cause trouble. How welcoming can you get!?

That was three years ago and we’ve done no harm. None was intended.

The bishop’s unwelcoming tone trickles down. Think what the opposite might do. Clergy could play a big role in setting a welcoming example. They often do not.

We have noticed that pastors are rarely present during fellowship and often stay in the sanctuary or hallway, talking to a select few. That translates in the fellowship room to pockets of people talking to one another with no effort to include visitors.

In three years and 56 visits only one pastor wrote acknowledging our visit afterwards. When we followed up, the conversation stopped. One pastor called and met with us. His church ended up leaving the ELCA. Another pastor returned a call when one of our ambassadors called with a question. Pastors don’t want any part of the situation they helped to create.

In general, the welcoming approach of churches tends to be self-centered. They have a product to sell — membership. And with the purchase of this product you get the following benefits. The list that might follow is a little unclear.

  • Salvation?
  • Love?
  • Acceptance in our community?
  • The right to contribute?
  • The right to vote (until the bishop takes your vote away)?
  • The right to be part of something bigger?
  • The right to take the blame?
  • The responsibility but not the power to move the church forward?
  • The pleasure and satisfaction of doing things our way?

This may sound pessimistic and cynical but it is precisely the uncertainty that lay people face. If visitors are new to church, it is even more unsettling.

The approach of the church with every encounter — with individuals or with groups — should be filled with questions. Gracious, non-judgmental, questions.

  • How did you find us? What brought you here?
  • Where are you from? What is your work?
  • Do you have family? How can we serve your family?
  • How can we help you?
  • How can we get to know you?
  • Do you have a special burden we might be able to lift?

The approach toward visitors should not be list of “talking points”—programs offered, your congregation’s wish list.

It is the job of the church to love others. We can’t do that when we are always looking in a mirror.

In general, although our Ambassadors enjoy our visits, we very much look forward to our own worship once a month. There is no place like home, even if home is borrowed space in a local theater. We can sing the hymns we want to sing, pray the prayers we need to pray, know that the people we are communing with are not attacking us or taking what is ours or looking at us with judging and critical eyes—without ever talking with us outside a court room.

Putting a WELCOME sign by your front door is a promise. Keeping that promise is work that each member needs to be trained to do.

15 Mar 2013

Small Church vs Large Church — Looks Are Deceiving!

trinity-redeemer

Comparing SEPA’s Largest Congregation
with the Church SEPA Says Doesn’t Exist

What do Trinity, Lansdale, and Redeemer, East Falls, have in common?

We both engage with more than 700 followers each week.

According to Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Trend reports, Trinity, Lansdale, stands alone among Southeastern Pennsylvania churches in numbers. It has nearly 5000 members and an average worship attendance of 725. Most other large churches in SEPA — and there are only a few — average around 400.

Most SEPA churches are much smaller with about 100 or fewer at worship (many much fewer). ELCA Trend  measures only membership, attendance, income and expenses (in various configurations).

There are new statistics that will mean more in the emerging church. Churches don’t have to worry about collecting the data. The internet tracks results for you. This is where Redeemer is breaking ground no other SEPA church seems to be seriously exploring.

Redeemer is no longer listed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Trend reports, although the congregation never voted to close. We’ll take that up with the ELCA later.

Redeemer was growing quickly although we were still among the SEPA churches with fewer than 50 in average weekly worship attendance—the only engagement most churches measure. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod seized Redeemer’s property and locked our doors in 2009—something about inability to fulfill mission. (They approved a $275,000 budget deficit at the same time they claimed our property.)

There was plenty to question at the time, but no one did. There is more to question now!

Redeemer has continued its ministry without our property. There is no rule that a congregation must own property.

Locked out of God’s House in East Falls, we took our ministry online with our blog, 2x2virtualchurch.com. We now have an average weekly following approaching 800 in new traffic and about 150 who subscribe to our site daily. We engage between 1000 and 2000 readers each week.

Redeemer may have the largest engagement of any SEPA congregation! The potential for effective mission is huge.

While the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA has tenaciously tried to destroy our ministry, we adapted — and grew!

2×2 is written with lay leaders in mind. Our experience as a small church is that lay leaders are the innovators in ministry. Most have part-time pastors. Growing churches is not part-time work. The passion of lay people (an undervalued resource) is keeping many churches going.

Small churches need resources that don’t rely on paid skills.

We had an additional challenge. Redeemer is multicultural and multilingual. No single age group dominates. That means we can’t just turn to a choir or a youth group or a Sunday School class to create interesting activities. We developed materials that could be adapted to any eclectic grouping.

When we still had our building we posted these resources on generic ministry websites.

Two years ago we began posting them on 2×2.

We posted an Easter play Redeemer performed for all East Falls churches in 2009. It was downloaded 300 times last year and 3000 times this year.

This tells us how we can further serve the large audience of small churches. Search engine analysis shows us that people are beginning to find our content by specifically plugging in terms specific to our site (“2×2 Easter play” — not just “Easter play).” Our content is gaining a following.

We post at least two features a week which congregations can adapt. Early in the week we post an object lesson intended for adults based on the week’s lectionary. Mid-week we post an analysis of art that complements the week’s theme. These can be adapted to multimedia presentations that some churches now show before worship (just as Redeemer did). We will continue to build on this foundation.

In addition, we offer our experience in using social media with dozens of how-to posts.

One large church recently wrote to us: “A lot is written about social media and the church, but you are the only church actually doing it.”

In all likelihood, Redeemer has the widest reach of any church in SEPA Synod with followers all over the world. We engage with them one-on-one. We share ministry problems and successes and rely on one another for prayer.

What does this mean for ministry in East Falls? It means our worldwide reach can now benefit our local ministry. We have a new potential source of funding for ministry.

Redeemer always was viable despite SEPA’s self-interested reports. Our day school, locked since SEPA interfered, would be generating upwards of $6000 per month. (That’s nearly $300,000 of squandered potential over the last four years.) The web site could begin to generate several thousand a month within a year of nurturing—plenty of resources to fund a neighborhood ministry without a single coin in an offering plate.

Redeemer has never had more potential.

If mission is the goal in East Falls (and it is definitely our goal) the best potential for ministry is to make peace with the Lutherans who have steadfastly maintained and grown mission during the last six years of conflict. The property should be returned to Redeemer. This would be in keeping with Lutheran polity.

Our journey has been a leap into the future of the church. We could still be a small neighborhood church serving a few, focused on survival and paying a pastor—as is the case of so many small churches.

We’ve learned that it is possible for a small church to grow. We are very aware that 2×2 can grow beyond our own vision.

Meanwhile, the largest church in SEPA and Redeemer, the largest online church, are both fulfilling their mission with impressive results.

God is doing something new at Redeemer, East Falls.

Can you perceive it?

10 Mar 2013