Transforming Church

The Emerging Church is a new subject of discussion among Christian leaders today. The term is an effort to label, in a certain sense, some of the changes in the North American cultural landscape and congregational attempts to connect to it. Building off a shared reading of Dan Kimball’s book, The Emerging Church, TLG went in a somewhat new direction. We went beyond dealing with some of the practical ministry aspects that have been part of its purpose (networking leaders and congregations, providing team building tools for ministry, exploration of discipleship models, etc…), to explore aspects of the emerging church. Experiential worship, a recovery of ancient church practice, spiritual disciplines, the power of digital communication all were fertile ground for discussion.

Coaching and mentoring is a core value of TLG and several discussion groups centered on developing coaching skills as leaders and among congregational leaders. We also learned about Natural Church Development as a tool for congregational evaluation and development and its use by the ELCA Division of Outreach.

The commitment to mentoring began with the pre-conference, aimed at leaders who are searching for some of the basic building blocks for relevant ministry in the 21st Century, ranging from building discipleship communities, fractal leadership, visioning, and dealing with the stresses of change.

One particularly powerful event was our onsite visit to Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church on the east side of Orlando, which is renovating a bowling alley into its first home. Through a difficult but faithful journey, this mission congregation and its pastor, Jeff Linman, are a great example of perseverance and the power of the Holy Spirit. An example of how the world has changed along with the church, the group gathered for a Puerto Rican hog roast, followed by a PowerPoint presentation. We ended with a traditional African song and dance blessing the renovated bowling alley, led by our visitor from Burundi and taught to the entire group! Emerging church indeed!

Plans are already in the works for next year. The small group, retreat style of TLG is well suited to the ongoing network building that goes beyond an annual event and provides an ongoing network of support for transformational leaders. Be sure to check the web site in coming weeks for more information and pictures of the gathering and join in the community at www.transformingchurch.com.