Today’s post from the Consulting Group that was once the consulting team of the Alban Institute is by the Rev. Dr. John Wimberley. Dr. Wimberley served an urban congregation for several decades. He knows about the challenges of the urban church scene and overcame many of them.

His post today talks about the discernment process—a current hot topic in the Church.

He points out that when he was engaged in ministry in Washington, D.C., he didn’t know anything about discernment, but he and his congregation engaged in the process without the big word.

Most congregations engaged in discernment WAY-Y-Y-Y long before church leaders labeled it. Assigning this big word to the decision-making process makes it more formal and more formidable. Now we tend to think we need help from the outside to make group decisions. Official help. Paid help. Help that will keep the faithful in line.

Pastor Wimberley points out that the discernment process requires abandoning personal agendas.

There are other agendas in play in the church discernment process.

• There is the personal agenda of each member.
• There is the personal agenda of each clergy.
• There is the corporate agenda of the denomination.
• There is the personal agenda of each corporate leader. 

Oddly, this process with the big name promotes a hands-off stance. Everyone thinks a system is in play with which they should not interfere. This discourages member involvement and empowers the corporate agenda.

Personal agendas are not all bad.  Sometimes, people with personal agendas are actually thinking about other people!

Personal agendas created many a church here in the Land of the Free. They are still creating modern church movements and storefront faith communities in neighborhoods abandoned by mainline denominations that discerned that ministry was no longer economically feasible. When people can’t pay for a church with all the modern expectations, they don’t deserve any church at all.

When immigrants began flocking to America in search of religious freedom, many were fleeing the threat of jail for daring to dissent in the Church that had the power of State. There was no money for full-time pastors. Labor and land were donated. Personal agendas overcame the lack of resources.

These churches started small. Some never grew to be very large.

The large church is a fairly new concept. It gained ground in post-industrial America. Consolidation was the order of the day.

Church leaders saw advantages. Big churches could better support clergy and hierarchy—a new and continuing agenda!

Back when we, who live in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave were both freer and braver, the discernment process usually took place seamlessly at the local level. Today, many congregations turn to outsiders for help. Denominations encourage this with the “interim pastor” concept.

Here’s what can happen.

1. The denomination assigns a leader to oversee a discernment process.
2. Those with agendas that support the denomination’s agenda gain prestige.
3. Those who disagree will be silenced—one way or another.
4. Most of the faithful will not want to engage in the resulting clash.
   • Some will take sides.
   • Some will take a back seat.
   • Some will take a hike.

How much force is used in the discernment process is up to the regional leaders.

We, at Redeemer, have experienced the worst with the regional body attempting to lock out the congregation and suing local leaders, forgetting the reason many immigrants came to America—and forgetting the admonitions of the Bible. They gained support among other churches with an effective and ongoing defamation campaign, easily implemented with clergy gossip.

We’ve seen the discernment process take place with NO involvement of the congregation. But the denomination spreads their story of how they worked with Redeemer in a process of discernment. TRUTH: None of us were invited.

The discernment process can become a manipulative tool. The big word helps with that — makes it seem righteous.

Dr. Wimberley is correct. Selfish agendas must be put aside.

Easier said than done.

But Our Eyes Keep Looking to the Horizon for the Masked Rider

Today’s post from what used to be the Alban Weekly and is now some consulting group talks about “Lone Ranger Leadership.”

The consultant author of this post, David Brubaker, writes that congregations struggling with change (in other words, all congregations) often look for a dynamic leader who can turn things around. The benefits, he explains, are often short-term and over the course of five years can do more damage than good.

He calls it Lone Ranger leadership. (It’s probably misnamed. More about that later.)

What Brubaker describes as Lone Ranger leadership is exactly the model that is promoted by regional leadership. They even send their own Lone Ranger in. They call it an Interim Pastor. The Interim Pastor is supposed to turn things around or at least head things in the right direction before riding off into the sunset.

Congregations are expected to call a pastor not only as spiritual leader and resident theologian but also as chief executive officer. It is an unwritten rule of church leadership, a carryover from the centuries we spent in the Middle Ages. We thought we left this behind somewhere in the last 500 years of Reformation, but we keep reverting. The pastor is the boss.

Consultant Brubaker is right. This doesn’t work. Consultants aren’t likely to say so (it would be biting the hand that feeds) but the pastor as CEO may be the root of church decline.

If you read congregational constitutions, you will find that it isn’t meant to work. Most church constitutions (at least in the Lutheran tradition) assign most leadership roles to the people.

This is as it should be. The people will outlast any single leader. They carry the mantle of the congregation’s culture into the home and community. They or their descendants will be there in the pew long after a pastor decides to move on for whatever reason.

That doesn’t mean the lay culture is always right. Nor does it mean that lay culture cannot or should not budge. Skills must be honed and updated. Procedures tweaked. Customs enhanced, if not changed. The true role of leadership is to make sure the congregation is empowered to lead—not just comply.

It all comes down to love.

A loving leader can put aside personal agenda for the good of the group and for individual’s within the group. A loving leader sees each member as more than a statistic. A loving leader applauds fledgling leadership efforts and helps without criticism when they flutter without flying.

A loving leader knows that true growth is a slow process—that those fifty new members that came as a result of an initial charismatic offering might not be in it for the long haul.

Yet every time there is a congregational change, the “search committee” will be tempted and encouraged to look for leadership that will override the local leaders—the long-haul leaders. (In Redeemer’s case, the local leaders were all but asked to leave before everyone was locked out!)

Most congregational conflict is a predictable turf war in that regard. Unless leaders —both lay and clergy— adopt the biblical model of humility in a search for justice, mercy and compassion.

But let’s get back to the Lone Ranger. He —with Tonto— rode into help at the sign of trouble. He empowered the people he helped. He provided the help they needed—no more than that. He didn’t look for credit or reward. That silver bullet he left behind was a way of saying, “Glad to be of service. Now you can do it. Take it from here!”

We Sheep Know His Voice

The texts for Mothers Day (that nonliturgical church holiday) focus on the image of Jesus as shepherd. He is the great gatekeeper. He knows our voice. We recognize His voice.

In Lent, 2×2 published a slideshow based on Psalm 23. That is the psalm for this Sunday, too.

Here is the link if you’d like to reuse the images from this presentation.

Road to Emmaus and Supper at Emmaus in Art

The story is simple. Two disciples are returning home from Jerusalem on that first Easter. They had heard the news that Jesus had risen from the dead—or so some women had reported

A stranger—a very knowledgable stranger—joins them and explains the day’s events in light of scripture.

The travelers invite the stranger to stay with them. He breaks bread with them. They recognize him as the Lord.

Then Jesus vanishes.

The two disciples backtrack to Jerusalem that very hour. They have their own news to share.

The first two scenes— Jesus walking with the two disciples and Jesus breaking bread with them—are favorites with artists. The last scene—the return to Jerusalem—is rarely depicted.

How would you imagine that scene?

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Where the Church Resists Change the Most!

Historically, pastors play a pivotal role in faith communities. They are the on site expert in religion—the resident theologians. They are caretakers and catalysts. They nurture faith and shape community. They make sure we believe the right things and behave accordingly.

Traditionally, they perform ministerial tasks in isolation. As long as things run smoothly, they have no reason to interact with authority or colleagues. No one questions their wisdom.

Years ago, a child in our church came to me. He was upset. His dog had died and he wanted to know what had happened to his beloved pet. Was his pet in heaven?

We were often without a pastor and the child came for help to the person he knew and trusted.

But we had a new pastor. I suggested to the boy that he take his question to the new pastor. It would help build relationship, I thought.

I was sorry I did.

The new pastor didn’t see the pain in the boy’s eyes. He began a discourse—something about heaven being for souls and animals have no souls and therefore there are no animals in heaven. The boy walked away in distress — faith-hindering distress.

The new pastor, eager to impress with authority and knowledge, confident in His role as theologian, had missed the opportunity to heal and nurture.

The boy needed to know that his dog’s life mattered, and though he felt powerless to help—that somehow his dog was still loved.

That boy would seek comfort elsewhere. Wouldn’t any of us?

The world has changed. The role of pastor must change, too. If we are people of faith looking for comfort or inspiration and we aren’t finding it within our congregation, we are going to look elsewhere.

This isn’t any different than any other realm of modern society. We are all faced with challenges to our expertise and demands to work and think differently. Job descriptions are being rewritten daily!

We can’t live in isolation any longer.

Seekers will look for answers beyond the pulpit. They will find meaning in spiritual teachings of other faiths. In that sense the role of pastor is more important.

But most pastors aren’t active in the venues where spiritual discussions are taking place. They are still waiting for people to come to them on Sunday morning—a narrow window of opportunity.

The Church faces choices. Build walls around our beliefs. Make rules. Rein in the seekers. Manufacture penalties for those who disagree or challenge. Circle the wagons. Celebrate the past. Hope that it will last a little longer.

This is the road chosen more often than the Church will admit.

OR

Use curiosity and modern communication as tools. Find teaching moments among the questions asked. Juxtapose ideas (a favorite exercise among creative thinkers). Weave new ideas in with the old. Find points of agreement and understanding. Live in today’s world—the same world the congregation faces daily. Understand our neighbors who believe differently. Befriend them.

Recognize that members will find spiritual leaders online. Help them find the good ones! Follow them yourself!

The same thing is happening in the secular world. Authorities in every venue must keep up with online competition.

The answer is to be part of spiritual dialog—whether it is in your fellowship hall or online. Build on it.

Failure to do this is making the Church seem archaic and out of touch.

Ignoring this will not make it go away.

What does the modern Christian look like?

Wait! Don’t answer that question! Not yet!

I’m reminded of a song we learned as children—probably taught by my missionary grandparents.

Just around the corner lives a stranger child.
Did you smile at him? Were you kind to him?
Did you tell her of the one who loves us all?
Father, Comforter and Friend.

Evangelism is a simple concept that the Church complicates.

The simple formula:

• You welcome whomever comes through your door.
• You tell your story to anyone willing to listen.
• You meet people where they are.
• You invite.
• You help.

This is easier for missionaries because they accept themselves as the stranger. They understand that everyone they talk to is coming from a different place.

Congregations, on the other hand, look for community. The search for community leads us to people like us.

The Gospel tells us this is wrong. Most of the gospel is one story after another about reaching out to people with whom we are unlikely to associate—except for our faith.

We are birds of a feather. We naturally flock together.

If we don’t believe it, there are church consultants ready to educate us.

“The demographics do not support having a ministry here”—as if the communities they are addressing exist in a wasteland. They’ll be careful when they explain. They don’t want to seem judgmental or aloof or—well, racist.

They’ll point to census reports on household income, etc. This is what they mean: The people like you have fled to the suburbs. Whoops, they forgot their wallets! We’ll help you with that.

This is an adoption of slumlord thinking. Taking from neighborhoods replaces any shred of caring and giving.

There is plenty of mission work to be done.

Church leaders have so narrowly defined their job descriptions that they don’t leave room for mission anymore. Mission work requires creativity and edginess. 

It is the reason we exist.

The economics of church paralyze us and stand between us and our future.

Demographic experts don’t know more than we. We know our neighborhoods. We are all too willing to pay our dwindling offering money to justify failure—and this includes the failure of church leaders.

What do modern Christians look like? Look around. They are closer than you think.

Just around the corner lives a stranger child . . . 

Here is a skit you might enjoy acting out on Stewardship Sunday.