Transforming Church

1Kings 19:11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Shapes in the Mist
God’s will never comes to me as a fully formed picture. It’s more like pieces of a puzzle, shapes in the mist. If I move towards the shapes in the mist, more detail appears. Connections appear between different pieces of the puzzle that show God has a larger plan in mind. When I think I know where He’s calling me, I stand at the edge, peering out into the chasm, and say, “Is this really what you want? Is this where you want me to go?” And, I hear nothing. It’s only when I step out in faith that I get confirmation I’m on the right path. When I’m following a faint trail in the woods, I can often only see that I’m still on the trail by looking back. Ever noticed that?

My true aspiration is to work with young leaders, helping equip them to realize their potential. At the Founding Board Meeting last July, as we talked through the development of our Transforming Church Initiative, I realized the huge amount of infrastructure building required to just get something like this off the ground. I spent August and September praying about this, asking whether I was ready to commit the time and energy to build a solid foundation, to develop a sustainable project to the point when we’d actually have a cohort of 40-50 pastor/developers, their spouses and key lay leaders engaged in a four-year learning journey.

Meetings with the Pastoral Leadership Institute (LCMS) helped me realize we’d need to raise millions of dollars to enable something similar to unfold in our branch of the Lutheran Church (ELCA). The scope of work weighed heavily on my shoulders.

Count the Cost
What is the cost of discipleship? Jesus said in Luke 14:28-30: "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it - lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

As I counted the cost, I recognized the need for one or two years of infrastructure to be built before the first cohort could begin. I know I can do this work, but it is not my passion. In my quiet time, I reflected on all the experiences and abilities God led me to acquire during my life. I realized I had spent my life building infrastructure. My brother and I took a 35-year-old company with 80 employees, and in a decade grew the organization to 325 people spread across eleven locations in two states. Our business supplied heavy construction equipment to the contractors building the infrastructure on which our civilization rests: roads, bridges, dams, power plants, water & sewer systems, buildings, houses and rail systems. We took our business through three rounds of strategic visioning, each producing a new organization. We acquired another business and started two more.

At the same time, I spent the decade of the 90’s reading church leadership stuff, studying the effective churches that were still relevant and growing. I completed an Executive MBA to prepare myself. We sold our business at the end of 1999. I spent five years studying structural consulting with Robert Fritz. Since I left the business, I’ve created a consulting practice, partnered with teams to create the Academy for Transformational Leadership for our Synod and our virtual web community. Then we started this project. So I know how to do infrastructure, but my true passion is coaching and mentoring. I had to be sure God was calling me to do this, because I would not choose this path on my own.

Wrapped around an Axle
This fall, a conflict of vision about our project emerged. Some feel this project needs to work within the institutional church, to be grounded within our leading seminary. How could a lay leader with a team of outsiders ever hope to pull this off?

These conflicting views left us wrapped around an axle for six months. “We don’t have the right people around the table,” was the refrain. So, we started contacting Bishops, meeting with more leaders from Churchwide agencies and seminaries. We decided to hold a stakeholder summit to try to reach consensus. Trouble is, it took three months to find a day when everyone could meet. Consensus did not come. Instead, what came were suggestions that we restart, that a new team be gathered. Then followed a call to disband our board, and to empower others to take the leadership of this project moving forward. Somehow, that still did not feel right. If the powers that be are capable of creating such a leadership project, why have they not done so?

At the same time, the IRS has not moved to approve the 501C-3 application we submitted last August. That means that we have never been able to receive the $25,000 planning grant approved by Thrivent. So, we labored on, spending our own money to travel from here to there, continuing our dialog and building support, feeling the energy slip away.

It’s amazing how disempowering the organized church can be. We Lutherans are the church of the “Priesthood of all Believers.” Yet, in leadership circles, if you aren’t ordained, it is difficult to be heard. I’ve spent a year and a half traveling the ELCA, sharing this idea with whoever would listen. Some of the same leaders, who would not even respond to a follow up email after we talked about the project, got all excited when they heard the same ideas from some of my ordained friends. Maybe it’s just me. One of my friends even told me recently that the problem was not that church leaders were unwilling to listen to the laity. It was just my style.

After Six Months, the Fog begins to Lift
In the last couple of weeks, the fog began to lift. We’ve had successful meeting with several Bishops. One of them, Bishop David defreese of Nebraska has agreed to join our board. We have interest in dialog and potential partnership with a couple of seminaries. We’ve made inroads with the Senior Pastor’s Conference. Mark Grorud, the Presiding Bishop’s liaison to the larger churches has offered his help in connecting with larger churches. A core team has emerged from within our Board, committed and energized to move forward. We have decided to continue moving towards our vision. Here are excerpts from a message to our board and advisors announcing this decision.

Transforming Church Initiative Go Forward Plan
In extensive conversations, the board of TransformingChurch.org has reached a decision about the go forward plan for the Transforming Church Initiative. Our team will continue to move towards a demonstration/pilot project that will start our first cohort in the Fall of 2008. We have reconfirmed our intent to move forward with our 501C-3 as the conduit for this work, and that we will partner with willing leaders from Churchwide, Seminaries, Larger Churches and the Conference of Bishops. Our board will provide governance, articulate the vision and the strategy, and we will continue to broaden the circle of advisors to the project who bring experience, expertise, relationships and connections necessary to move forward in a sustainable way. We will walk along side, but be separate from the institutions of the church.

We will begin raising financial support from private donors immediately to demonstrate the viability of the strategy. We will continue to build relationships with several seminaries. Out of these relationships we will specifically seek the opportunity for our participants to receive credit towards a Dmin degree.

We will continue to grow our relationships with Churchwide staff, larger churches and the Conference of Bishops as we move forward.

Asking for support from the ELCA Senior Pastors of Large Churches.
At the ELCA Senior Pastors Conference next week, this project will be a major topic. Should another strategy emerge from those conversations, we would welcome it. As I’ve said, there has been a divergence of opinion, a conflict of vision on the board about taking an “outside” versus and “inside” track with this project. Should another strategy or team emerge, we will be happy to cooperate, coordinate or collaborate as we are invited. At the same time we will continue our work towards the vision God has planted within our team. We will gladly share our learning as we move forward, and be informed by the ideas that emerge elsewhere. There is certainly room within the ELCA for these ideas to be explored independent of our effort.

To the best of our human ability, we have followed the leading of the Spirit as we work to equip a new generation of courageous leaders. We need your support. We need your prayers. We need financial support. We need mentors, coaches, signature ministries, and participants to make this work. Most of all, we need the continued blessing of God to empower us and keep us on that faint path, regardless of the obstacles and challenges we encounter.

Lord God, we pray continuously for your will and your blessing. Lead us forward in your will. Shine a light on our path, lead us on, empower us by your Spirit to do what we are totally incapable of doing on our on. In Jesus name we ask these things.

Gregg Burch
Team Leader
Transforming Church Initiative
A Leadership Learning Community
Copyright 2007 TransformingChurch.org