Transforming Church

The Assumption
Any one person, including the pastor, is bound to have a limited perspective on why this is happening. I am sure that if we all put our heads together, maybe take a survey, we will be able to both name the problem and come to consensus on what we need to do to turn it around and correct it. A few leaders, however, tell me it’s unfortunate I don’t realize that I’m part of the problem, not the solution. That’s a hard pill to swallow; I feel like kicking and screaming that it can’t be true. If we cannot crack this together, how in the world is it ever going to get fixed?

The Correction
Church is not a democracy. I’m as much a patriot as anyone, but don’t jump to the conclusion that the way to fix “our” government is the way to fix “Christ’s” church. If we try to fix “our” church that does become part of the problem, and “Christ’s” church will not be able to get back on track. Instead of searching our hearts and minds, we need to search His. Step back into scripture and look at Christ’s directives and commission, portions like “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these...,” not “Inasmuch as you have done it to other church members...” and “Go therefore into the world...,” not “Go therefore into the church directory....”

The Assumption
I still think it would be a good idea to take a survey. That way we will be able to see more clearly where our weaknesses are so we can work to strengthen those ministries for Christ’s sake. It’s already obvious we have too few families with small or teenage children. Maybe we need to hire a part time youth worker so we can attract more of these families to our church.

The Correction
First of all, as congregations shape their ministry their principal focus needs to be on their parish area, not the congregation. Many congregations need to first redirect their focus from their membership to the parish area they are called to serve. It has to be extremely difficult for Christ to relate to congregations that have no focus on their parish area, if He does.

The Assumption
Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us what our congregation is supposed to be doing at this point in time. Nobody from the Bishop’s office is going to tell us what to do. I’m not at all sure if someone did that we would listen. We who live here and belong here are in a much better position than anyone else to make decisions about what we are going to do as a congregation.

The Correction
Yes, we are the ones who are there and responsible for doing the congregation’s ministry, and yes, just as the Bible does not provide a blueprint for someone’s life, neither does it lay out a particular road map for a congregation. Who is going to decide if we don’t? That is correct; we are to decide, but not to decide by way of a consensus of what we would like to see happen.

We should use these guiding principles:
a. Don’t ask each other, “What would you like to see?” and don’t seek consensus on that.
b. Don’t ask, “What do you think Christ would like us to do?” or seek consensus on that.
c. Don’t ask, “What do you feel our church needs to do?” or seek consensus on that.
d. Ask your congregation’s spiritual leaders to discern, “What does Christ want us to do?”
e. And finally, then, seek consensus on how best to accomplish what Christ wants done.

The Assumption
Our congregation has participated in Natural Church Development which identifies numerous areas of ministry and makes the assumption that the most effective congregation will always try to raise its shortest bar, that if it is weaker in one or more areas it will never achieve its fullest potential. If that is true, doesn’t it still suggest we need to improve our weakest ministry?

The Correction
I think NCD is an excellent way to evaluate a congregation striving for greater effectiveness. This needs no correction, except and unless we are using our criteria and not Christ’s. Rely on a true discernment of the needs of our parish area. If our congregation is made up of retired people, many of whom are traveling back to our parish area on Sundays, and our parish area is filled with young families with children, the congregation’s effort to relate to young families may be woefully lacking. However, if our parish area has transitioned to mostly retired singles and couples, our youth ministry program, meager by some criteria, may be quite strong.

The Assumption
We need to elect and train stronger leaders who can do a better job of managing the ministry of our church. Some of our committees don’t even meet regularly. Even if the pastor is responsible for the ministry, she/he cannot run it alone. We need more attentive leaders.

The Correction
I would never be against training stronger leaders, though I would prefer the adjective more-effective to stronger. The role of the pastor is to spiritually coach ministers (members) which is her/his ministry and he/she is responsible for that. And yes, we do need more attentive leaders. The biggest correction, however, comes with managing. Why ever would we assume that we can manage the ministry better than the Holy Spirit that we should manage it?

Don’t ever assume because we have never seen the Holy Spirit and He has not submitted a written report, that He is not capable of leading and managing our congregation’s ministry. The Holy Spirit calls each Christian and equips them with gifts for their ministry. Rostered or lay leaders who see themselves as intermediate managers will muck this up. Oh yes, the Holy Spirit does not need approval to do something new, and anyone nervous about accountability needs only assess what the Holy Spirit is doing through disciples against the congregation’s mission and vision.

The Assumption
Honestly, it doesn’t seem that difficult to determine what Christ wants done. All you have to do is imagine the perfect congregation with the perfect ministry. It’s a “no-brainer.”

The Correction
Every congregation has essentially the same mission, from the Great Commission. But the Holy Spirit provides each congregation with a unique vision for ministry on that path in the months and years ahead, unique to this time and place. If we start out with strategic planning, we will have little chance to ever discern that vision. We will be off on some other path. Vision is seldom immediately clear or specific. Only as the vision or some of its parts become very clear to everyone will it then be time to even consider whether to use a tool like strategic planning.