Transforming Church

Here is the setting
The Modern Age lasted five hundred years from the Renaissance to barely over half way through the 20th Century. In that age it made sense to define Christians by membership in a congregation. In contrast now, especially in light of the assumption by members they are to lead and manage (control) the ministry of the congregation, the Post-Modern Age requires the church to restore the leadership to the Holy Spirit. Where the church had become defined and ordered by baptized, active, adult, confirmed and voting membership, it needs today to get back on track with Christ’s mission by allowing the Holy Spirit to again lead.

1. Intensify Discipleship Awareness
Step 1 is evident by the number of books out there on discipleship. The present church needs to return its attention to the servant role as disciples of Christ. Where this is achieved, the church becomes a platform on which to organize Spirit-led ministry. More than just talk or information, this transition requires a major makeover from “members” and what members cling to in personal interest as their congregations decline. For those, however, willing to die sacrificially and rise with Christ there will be venues of mission that will rapidly grow and multiply disciples in congregations well beyond simply adding an annual net growth of 50-80 new members.

To this end, the pastor as key spiritual leader along with others will need to devote great patience in leading this turn-around in lived out discipleship. Through all available venues, preaching, teaching, newsletters, conversations in gatherings and any other ways that present themselves, this needs to challenge members. Sharing the vision of where Spirit-led transformation is leading the congregation can gradually be introduced to the leadership, but care should be taken not to act on it until the needed support awareness is readied for it to take hold. Otherwise it will just be a great idea that will drift and fade.

Until such discipleship awareness begins to impact the DNA of the congregation, any public attempts at transformation will likely be shot down. Knowing how long this takes, even when pursuing it intensely, one should dedicate an intentional diet of this step for one and a half to two years. After many, many months, as congregation awareness of discipleship starts to become evident, gradually begin to draw attention to what the congregation is not achieving or accomplishing as it should. This begins to bring into focus what needs to change or where the congregation itself has to change. Pointing out how Band-aids applied to what presently exists will be ineffective lays the foundation for the longer range vision yet to be publicly shared.

2. Foster a Climate of Trust and Permission-giving
This needs to happen at the same time as the first step, and when the effort to achieve the first step is able to be partially redirected, that luxury can never be afforded step 2. The need to foster in the congregation a climate of trust and permission-giving can never be given less priority. If you are unable to achieve and maintain this climate, fold your tent and go no further with any attempt to transform your congregation. Trust is absolutely crucial to whatever you attempt, and any flaw or lack of trust will signal failure.

This is not said to scare anyone, but never is this more delicate than when you begin. To build this climate begs for starting with baby steps and celebrating as many examples of it being realized as possible without looking like you are trying to force it to happen. Since any effort to build up this climate in your location must fit your environment, I would urge you to get a “feel” for it by reading or rereading the five part series on trust that appears in our archive. This will help immerse you in awareness. Not necessarily to be read right now, the links are here when you are ready for them: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

3. Persistently Cast the Congregation’s Vision
To understand more clearly the difference between “mission” and “vision,” click here. If you are not crystal clear on how to discern the vision God has for your congregation I would urge to you read another five part resource, “Help in Clarifying Vision for new visionaries,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Casting the truly discerned vision will inspire and excite your congregation about getting on board with Christ and it will have ripple effects spilling over into the witness of the congregation and much more.

As I work with more and more congregations I have become aware that breakdown can occur when a congregation thinks of this as “their own” mission and vision. Their perception is how they are going to help Jesus, by doing this for Him. Vision is not what we want to do for Christ; vision is what Christ wants us to do for Him. What “He” wants is what is needed to be discerned with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. It will not be discerned through a poll or by taking a survey. What is at stake here is really taking a poll or survey of the Holy Spirit.

To keep the congregation more clearly focused on its mission and vision, every pastor should spend even 80% of her/his time casting the vision to the congregation. Obviously any pastor will need to multi-task, accomplish it while preaching, teaching, attending meetings, conferencing, conversing face-to-face, on the phone, writing emails, letters and articles, etc. Effective vision casting also comes in a number of perspectives: needs to be met, specific ministry and programs, cost, people and other resources needed, spiritual gifts needed, timetables, target people it will impact, what it will achieve or accomplish, etc. etc.

4. Establish Spirituality Consciousness
There are many ways to spell out the pastor’s leadership role with a congregation, not the least of which is to be the key spiritual leader. Congregations are much more committed to following a pastor whose communication and life-style radiate spirituality. Though they were hopefully no less “spiritual,” pastors in the Modern Age did not seem to always allow their spirituality to be seen by others. Post-modern pastors will lead by spirituality. More than simply modeling a spiritual life, their relationship with Christ becomes a tangible inspiration. This is step 4 in introducing your congregation to Spirit-led transformational ministry. No pastor failing to evidence personal spirituality will ever be able to do that.

Having said and established that, congregations needing to be transformed will not have the motivation, energy and persistence to do that unless they can sense their own corporate spiritual growth. As part of a society hungry for that, they look with expectations to experience that in ministries like worship and education. The real surprise and deeper more intense strength comes when it permeates the total ministry of a congregation.

Clear evidence of this came for me in the last dozen or so years as we focused on stewardship ministry. For thirty years I thought the key to growth was increasing theological understanding of proportionate giving. My surprise was the consistent tremendous growth not previously realized when we made the focus instead connecting to our spiritual awareness as a congregation.

5. Provide Intentional Leadership Training (for all leaders including the pastor)
I am not sure how many preschool youth this would be effective with, but there is no age at which this begins. In the 21st Century there can be little doubt this should be training in a coaching style of leadership, not a managerial style. Presently management style in the church manifests itself in personal interest voting at congregational meetings, councils who see their role as running/managing the ministry and also a fair number of “control freak” pastors.

The current pacifier for the absence of trained leadership is to perennially name the present youth as the future of the church. The day will come when they will be the future, but right now mostly untrained leaders in their twenties, thirties and forties are the future of the church. It’s unfortunate they are mostly untrained, but when discipleship begins to take precedence over membership, hopefully we can begin to catch up with discipleship training. Presently, apart from an occasional Bible Study, most of our congregations offer adults very little for growth in discipleship OR leadership for those in their twenties, thirties and forties.

Self-differentiation remains to be a key characteristic in post-modern leadership. If you lead from the mission and vision of the congregation instead of yourself and your ideas, it will give you lots of help with not becoming self-defensive, no matter how noble the cause. Where defensiveness takes over it is always disastrous. Self-differentiated leaders stay in communication and connection with all persons of all perspectives regarding whatever. Allowing the Holy Spirit to be the principal leader of the congregation, the pastor to be a key spiritual leader and councils to manage only the administrative affairs of the congregation will gradually gather the majority into an overarching mission team that will lead the vision forward.

6. Begin Proactive Assessment/Correction of Both Climate and Progress
All aspects of ministry are measured against the mission and vision of the congregation along with its core values and beliefs. This is the focus of both review and assessment. The team approach is there are no bad ideas, only disconnects with the mission and vision to be avoided. If something is sincerely tried and it doesn’t work, it’s not a failure, only a learning experience.

If whatever is proposed does not fit inside the mission and vision we don’t do it. If it does fit it’s worth considering and maybe even running up the flagpole. Again, if it doesn’t work it’s a learning experience. All victories, whenever possible should be celebrated.

7. Carefully Plan and Implement a Transition From Committees To Teams
Before you leave the gate on this one, be sure you have a clear understanding of the difference between a committee and a team. There are no similarities. Committees become a millstone and teams advance mission and vision.

The number of congregations who have shot themselves in the foot by simply renaming their committees as teams is legion. All they have accomplished is making it extremely more difficult to help their leaders and congregation ever be able to see and experience the difference. It would undoubtedly be quicker and ultimately more effective to change the names back to committees, wait awhile and then start out all over again.

To achieve this 7th step and have a chance of moving to the 8th step, this will have to be a real change, not in name only. That you might be more clear about the difference yourself, read or reread, “Anatomy of a Committee and a Team.” While transformation of your congregation will suffer with committees, it can blossom with teams. You are urged to copy, print and use this piece in your leadership training, especially with those about to begin new team efforts, or you will risk ending up with a lot of committees called teams that may well go nowhere.

8. Initiate a Specific Discipleship Identity to Replace the Membership Identity
This is now getting down to the nuts and bolts. We are not just talking about awareness here, but transforming the congregation. For now, within the ELCA at least, we will need to maintain the membership classifications, but the congregation’s ministry needs a major makeover to support discipleship growth. Wherever you would use the word membership, analyze what needs to change besides the name to support the fullness of discipleship, make those changes, and only then change the name itself. Don’t make the same mistake as many have renaming committees as teams.

No doubt one of the trickiest places to make a replacement is with Confirmation. How glad I am that we Lutherans never gave Confirmation sacramental status. Right now I don’t see much choice than to phase it out completely. Education should never again target Confirmation as the completion or pinnacle of its ministry. What we need to do is move right through it and beyond with growth in discipleship for all ages.

9. Replace the Mechanical Organization of the Congregation with an Organic System
As society moved from the Modern to Post-modern Age, the Industrial Age to the Age of Technology, the profit-driven corporate world moved with it. We, the church, are still stuck in the Modern Age. The corporate world has essentially abandoned the old mechanical pyramid model of organization in favor of such as management teams and associates instead of employees. We are still stuck with council and congregation managed ministry and voting members instead of disciples.

(To secure any of the downloads identified in italics from here to the end of the article, click here for the article that contains those downloads.)

Suggested by the current ELCA Model Constitution for Congregations, the mechanical pyramid model of organization, also identified as the Immigrant Model, the Industrial Model or the European Model is a style that worked fairly well in the Modern Age. The similarity, however, between today and the Apostolic Age of the 1st Century steers our search for effectiveness to the organic system of the early church as seen in the Book of Acts. Organic means new parts grow out of old or former parts. New (and old) expressions of ministry can be best accomplished through teams, not committees.

There is a download that diagrams one possible organic system. Another download explains more about it. In this instance related ministry teams are gathered into networks and not micro-managed by anyone. Decisions are made by those closest to the ministry, the same people with gifts for it and who are willing to take responsibility for it.

10. Write a New Congregational Constitution to Replace your Old One
If we were to start with a blank sheet of paper a new congregational Constitution would look quite different from the present ELCA Model Constitution. In the present time, however, we don’t want to make dangerous waves with our affiliation and so we have put together a transformed model that can be downloaded.

Feel free to use any part or all of this model. If you do, or if you write something similar yourself, you may have to defend it a bit with some of the synod review committees. Anyone open, however, to post-modern needs should easily see the wisdom of what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. You will also find in that article downloads of sample bylaws and continuing resolutions. The focus in all of this is to move as much as allowed at the present time from membership to discipleship, and to restore the leading of the church’s ministry to the Holy Spirit.

The Congregation Council, unless your Council can truly serve a visionary function, which is seldom likely, should only address corporate legal and administrative concerns of the congregation, i. e. property, finance and other fiscal concerns. It should in no way be micro-managing ministry.