Transforming Church

The grant called for cluster groups in various Synods of the ELCA to help clergy and therefore – hopefully – congregations deal with the changing nature of parish ministry. As this has been a passion of mine for many years, I readily accepting his invitation!

Our group covenanted together in November 2003 to meet monthly to study transformational ministry, leadership, and spiritual disciplines. We fulfilled our covenant diligently, formally ending our monthly meetings November 2005. A partial listing of the books and materials we studied with a brief commentary is included at the end of this report so others might have a place to start if they wish to pursue their own small group study. Here is a synopsis of the concluding thoughts of some participants.

Rev. Forrest VanGundy, Pastor, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Huntertown, Indiana

Editor’s Note: Resurrection Lutheran has a baptized membership of 352 with an average Sunday attendance of 114. It has recently sold its building and is moving to a new location.

Resurrection was a mission restart. After ten years of rapid growth the congregation plateaued in Sunday worship attendance. It took about three years for the Pastor and lay leadership to understand what was happening. Seven years ago the Church Council "established a task force to develop a vision and plan for the future. The congregation has made significant process in transformation since that time."

"A vision statement was developed as the guiding principle for continuing ministry at Resurrection: Accept the great commission; Trust God to provide the resources for ministry; Go forward now in mission and ministry. Part time staff was added to develop small group ministry in the congregation and foster the concept of spiritual gifts. After two years, there are ten new small groups functioning well in the life of the congregation. Half the congregation has completed Spiritual Gifts inventories and the leadership of the congregation is beginning to fill ministry positions using the data from those inventories.

After study, we decided to sell the existing property and build new facilities in a new location. The property has been sold, the congregation is in an interim location and plans are being completed for the new facility. The constitution and by-laws of the congregation were re-written to streamline the decision making process, foster the concept of ministry teams and facilitate changes needed in the future. The Stephen Ministry has been implemented and plans are underway to implement an Alpha program in 2006.

Power Surge is being used as a focus for ministry programs. Forty persons participated in a yearlong daily Bible reading program. After January 2006, another daily Bible reading process will begin. Weekly prayer ministry has been in place and is currently under redevelopment. Power Surge principles are taught in Confirmation and in new member classes. Small group ministry develops relationships for spiritual growth. A major tithing emphasis will be part of the 2006 capital campaign. Serving others has been and continues to be an emphasis in the congregation. A group has been formed to plan and initiate contemporary worship in the life of the congregation. Meanwhile, the pastor is participating in the Vital Pastoral Leadership project of the Synod.

At this point the changes at Resurrection have been positive and the base of leadership in the congregation has been broadened greatly. The team concept of ministry has struggled but is beginning to take hold in some key areas. Members are beginning to capture the vision of Spiritual Gifts, their call to ministry and the Marks of Discipleship. Major changes related to staffing and facilities have been implemented with manageable amounts of conflict. Ministry programs are strong and vital. However, Sunday attendance has not increased, in fact since the move to interim quarters it has declined slightly. That is the dark side. The bright side is an increase in visitors and people indicating an interest in joining the congregation."

Rev. Ann Marshall, Pastor, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Albion, Indiana and Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church, Kendallville, Indiana.

Editor’s Note: St. Mark Lutheran has a baptized membership of 152 with an average Sunday attendance of 68; Mt. Pleasant has a baptized membership of 95 with an average Sunday attendance of 51. Both are rural congregations.

"I have enjoyed the theological, ministerial and pastoral discussion with my team colleagues. I also found the PowerSurge conference (Changing Church Forum, Burnsville, MN) a good and helpful experience. I have learned many things about how to be a visionary/transformational leader from the various books we read. I feel I have grown in my ability to be a transformational leader but also know I need much additional growth.

We have begun several Teams-Worship, Stewardship, Christian Education, and Vision/Mission—and I have had decent participation. However, I have had difficulty getting leadership on the Teams, so I end up doing much of the organizational work myself. Our joint Vision/Mission Team has developed a parish mission statement (i.e. one statement for both congregations) and we are excited about that. The next step is a visioning process.

The greatest challenge has been trying to implement transformation at two congregations simultaneously. Our Teams have members from both congregations, simply because it is not feasible to have four or five viable Teams in a congregation of less than 100 baptized members. We must make separate plans for implementing any decisions with different groups of people taking responsibility at each congregation.

Rev. Judith Follis, Pastor, Hope Lutheran Church, Coesse, Indiana

Editor’s Note: Hope Lutheran has a baptized membership of 141 with an average Sunday attendance of 70. It is a rural congregation.

"The parish developed a new concise mission statement from which ministry would flow and be directed. The mission of Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church is to 'live and spread the Gospel, reaching out to all in Christ's love.'

After completing a major facility renovation, "the congregation began developing ministry areas and teams. I was invited to join this Vital Pastoral Leadership group, read PowerSurge [by Michael Foss]. We further developed ministry areas and teams, authorizing teams for creative, relevant ministry and preaching on the Marks of Discipleship. I recently conducted our first Ministry Team Leaders Meeting, helping the Council to focus on goal-setting."

Editor’s Note: Rev. Follis described this congregation as a typical small, ingrown congregation content to be as it was. After a very successful renovation and remodeling program that provided much more usable space, the congregation was ripe for the need to define its next steps.

Rev. Paul Offhaus, Associate Pastor Rev. Dr. Stan Sneeringer, Senior Pastor, Messiah Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Editor’s Note: Messiah Lutheran has a baptized membership of 1050 with an average Sunday attendance of 416

Rev. Offhaus: "A lot of what we’ve discussed and sought to implement through our small group has been stuff I've heard or read before, so in that sense it has never really been 'The Next Big Thing.' The real challenge for me has been implementation on a widespread scale throughout the areas of the church for which I have direct responsibility. I have been primarily responsible for Messiah's small group ministry and its Alpha ministry, in addition to regular pastor duties split with my colleague... Relationships have been the area of greatest benefit I've derived from the VPL small group. Simply gathering on a monthly basis with my colleagues to check in on how our lives have been going: to listen, encourage and challenge one another in leveraging our ability to be vehicles of Christ's transforming power—this has proven to be a joy worthy of my time commitment to the group. In short, community in Christ has proven integral to a positive experience in transformational ministry, just as it is integral to following Jesus Christ. I have appreciated the challenge of reading a book each month to discuss with my colleagues.

Throughout my 7+ years of ordained ministry I have struggled to maintain balance between the church, God’s mission, God time, family time, and personal time. The 2+ years of my involvement in this group have been no exception. If I were doing it over I would have tried harder to find ways to seek out and apply the wisdom and experience of my colleagues in how they have worked at maintaining balance in their own lives and ministries.

Rev. Dr. Sneeringer: Admittedly, the transformation of Messiah began before our formal involvement with the Vital Pastoral Leadership project. Seeds for its change were sown when this pastor formally began the interview process with the congregation in February 2001. Messiah was well aware of my perspective when it came to the necessary prerequisites for ministry in a postmodern culture. In fact, I was insistent that open meetings precede any vote by the congregation to extend a call. Hence, when I arrived in August 2001, Messiah was prepared that a new way of thinking (although they probably did not know how that 'way' might translate into actual ministry) was on its way.

Initially, Messiah was confronted those first few years with certain practical concerns that had to be solved before any transformation process could begin: 1) several building maintenance concerns; 2) certain Stewardship and Finance problems; 3) and instituting certain governance procedures that would normalize and decentralize ministry accountability. This occupied much of the leadership’s time and energy the first two years of my tenure. Quite frankly, the rectification of these problems offered an opportunity to celebrate several quick victories instilling confidence over time in the congregation’s ability to reassert itself as a viable center for ministry. At the same time with reference to the third challenge mentioned above, a system of governance was initiated which allowed for greater freedom, opportunity and accountability for ministry to be practiced within the congregation. This was augmented with a mission/vision/values statement, which is often quoted and used around the church.

Probably the first major signal of the transformation of Messiah came with the beginning of the contemporary praise service June 2002. A new spirit began to sweep the congregation albeit not embraced by everyone. A few left the church to join other area Lutheran churches. This praise service has contributed significantly in the 10% increase in worship attendance Messiah has enjoyed over the last three years. Over the last year, this service has added drama and visuals to its regular Sunday morning experience.

In the last year and a half, Messiah Lutheran has introduced small groups to the congregation including the addition of Alpha, a ten-week program of bible study and fellowship. We have also begun emphasizing six spiritual disciplines or practices for discipleship: daily prayer, weekly worship, regular Bible study, service, relating to others for encouragement and spiritual growth and giving a tithe and beyond.

Currently, Messiah is addressing two new major emphases. The first is the complete review of our Growth Learning ministry (Sunday School, Confirmation, First Communion, Small Groups, Youth Ministry, Vacation Church School, Cradle Roll, etc). The second is entering into a partnership relationship with Grace Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, a center city church currently without a pastor but served by a part-time Associate in Ministry. As a transforming and transformed congregation our purpose is bound up in our mission to "help people grow a faith in Jesus Christ that works in real life."

Final Comments

Two more pastors and a seminarian were involved in this two-year program:
Rev. Richard Hartman, Pastor, Epiphany Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Rev. James Cress, Pastor, Grace Lutheran Church, Columbia City, Indiana and Mr. Kurt Simerman, a recent graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio and awaiting a call. They were not able to provide written comments for this report but I do want to acknowledge their participation.

I hope this provided the reader with a brief summary of our Vital Pastoral Leadership small group, its rewards, challenges and successes. I believe you will have concluded that while effort and commitment are required, significant personal and spiritual growth are rewards. I commend to all the effort.

Summary of Readings
1) PowerSurge by Mike Foss: A good basic primer of the various issues involved. A good study text to be used to introduced the concepts of Transformational Ministry.
2) A Servant’s Manual: Christian Leadership for Tomorrow by Mike Foss: Mike’s attempt to further flush out some of the concepts of his PowerSurge book.
3) Real Faith for Real Life by Michael Foss: A suitable follow-up text to the one above that highlights the six spiritual disciplines outlined in the first book.
4) Leading Change by John Kotter: A good book for conceptual learning of the steps necessary to begin the change process. It comes out of the business community.
5) Good to Great: Why come companies make the Lead and Others Don’t by Jim Collins: Another book from the business world that has some application to the church. However, working within a business employee/employer atmosphere has its differences with a volunteer organization. Nevertheless, it has some important learning’s.
6) After Heaven: Spiritual in America Since the 1950s by Robert Wuthnow: A tome that attempts to address the broad spiritual change that has occurred in the last 60 years. It provides a basis for the transformational call for a return to the spiritual disciplines that were a staple particularly of the medieval church.
7) A New Kind of Christian by Brian D. McLaren: A writer of the evangelical perspective that will at times be at odds with the mainline reader, still this is a very readable outline of some of the theological issues inherent in the transformed church. It is told as a dialogue between two persons: the frustrated and disillusioned parish pastor and a freewheeling guru that serves as McLaren's mouthpiece.
8) The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball: A useful book outlining the emerging 21st century culture of the GenX generation. While any community has a subculture of GenXers it will be difficult for most rural, suburban and even contemporary churches to reach this group within their existing ministries.
9) Mission-Driving Worship by Handt Hanson: The music director of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN, Handt will resonate with most mainline musicians that are at least interested in looking into contemporary music. A good conceptual book rather than "How To" material.
10) Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels: A book that tries to cover the waterfront but is still useful in understanding the type of leadership that one often finds connected with the megachurch world.
11) The Change Monster: The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change by Jeanie Daniel Duck: This book was not studied by the group but this reporter would recommend it to allay concerns, frustrations and challenges that are often associated with change.