Transforming Church

At the core of this community will be a TransformingChurch.org, a 501C-3. A Founding Board will provide vision and governance. We will draw experienced, respected Pastor/leaders from around the country who have demonstrated their ability to build vital congregations doing creative ministry to a postmodern world. Joining them will be lay leaders who have demonstrated the ability to build organizations and execute in the business world, and have personally committed to a discipleship journey moving them from success to significance.

We are identifying potential candidates, and asking them to pray and discern if God is leading them to put their energy and resources into this collaborative. In July, we will gather those called to this mission together to build a team that shares this passion and flesh out the vision and action plans necessary to propel us to the next level. Discernment is the key to this step.

Out of the team’s work will evolve a business plan and a map forward. We plan to complete the plan and be underway within twelve months. The core of our work will be an Learning Community to build servant leaders committed to the transformational journey.

The offering will be a high potential leadership development program for the best and brightest emerging leaders as they begin their call as pastors and mission developers. Find out about this initiative in the article, Are We Equipping our Future Leaders.

Beyond that, we plan to invite into the collaborative learning outposts like the Changing Church Forum, the Adaptive Leadership Academy and the Transformational Leaders Gathering and several others that we have gottent o know. We will develop curriculum, and bring together the best offerings from those who are a few steps down the road of this journey. At our essence will be a peer learning community, a community of practice.

For the last two years, we have been part of the Vital Evangelical Leadership Collaboration, which has created a network of coaches and mentoring churches around the ELCA. Our own Academy for Transformational Leadership has worked for the last three years to build Mission Outposts in the southeast. Several of these churches have committed not only to become discipleship communities, but also to journey together with other churches in their region who are hearing this call. Today, we have nearly 600 pastors, developers and lay leaders in our web community. People have come from 30 states, Canada, India and South Africa. God is calling thousands together into our virtual network.

This community will grow out of TRANSFORMINGCHURCH.COM. The website will expand to include blogs, podcasts, distance learning components, and monthly articles from the best and brightest practitioners in the church today. Beyond that, we are planning video podcasts (as that becomes available) and other cutting edge learning tools to the community. We will accompany each other on this lonely journey, courageous leaders walking together.

We know that for this to work, God must call the team. Join us. Help us discern the roadmap and build the Lutheran church for the 21st century. Together we can create the future for Christ. In His name, we pray for this vision to become a reality. We aspire to be 1st Century Leaders for the 21st Century, building the infrastructure for a new Reformation.