Transcript Slide 1

Becoming the Vital Churches and
Disciples that Tomorrow Requires
David Schoen
Congregational Vitality and Discipleship
Local Church Ministries
United Church of Christ
Vital churches in the 21st Century
Missional, Relational & Conversational
• Missional in purpose
• Relational in outreach
• Conversational in witness
•
Postmodern Culture
and
Church
Christianity in North America has moved (or been
moved) away from its position of dominance
– loss not only of numbers
– but of power and influence within society.
• Rather than occupying a central and influential place,
North American Christian churches are increasingly
marginalized,
– in our urban areas they represent a minority
movement
– It is now a truism to speak of North America as a
mission field.
•
Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America, Edited
by Darrell Guder, the Gospel and Our Culture Network
Missio Dei – “Mission of God”
• The real problem is much more deeply rooted than
programmatic and methodological solutions.
– It has to do with who we are and what we are for.
– The real issues of the church are spiritual and
theological.
• In The Other Side of 1984: Questions for the Churches
Bishop Leslie Newbigin analyzed the challenge presented by
the changing context of Western society.
– What had once been a Christendom society was now
clearly post-Christian and in many ways anti-Christian.
• The missiological consensus that Newbigin focused on may
be summarized with the term mission Dei, “mission of
God”.
Missional Church
• “The Church exists to serve God’s Mission”
Mission as Missio Dei, UCC Committee on Structure, 1992
• The church of Jesus Christ is the instrument and
sign of God’s mission and realm.
• God’s mission is calling and sending us, the
church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary
church in our own societies, in the cultures in
which we find ourselves.
Missional Challenge for Church
• This is challenge for the Church:
– Neither the structures nor theology of Western
traditional churches is missional.
– We have been shaped by the legacy of Christendom.
– Formed by centuries in which Western civilization
considered itself formally and officially Christian.
• Christendom – the system of church-state
partnership and cultural hegemony in which the
Christian religion was protected and privileged
religion of society and the church its legally
established institutional form.
Difference between church with
mission and missional church
• Mission in 20th Century became program
of church
– Mission boards emerged
– Mission workers became professional
– Mission ‘work’ become financial support
– Mission arena was someplace else
• Our challenge today is to move from
church with mission to missional church.
What is Missional Church?
Mission is not a program or project some people in
the church do from time to time; the church’s
very nature is to be God’s missionary people.
We use the word missional to mark this big
difference. Mission is not a project or a budget,
or an event somewhere; it’s not even about
sending missionaries.
A missional church is a community of God’s people
who live into the imagination that they are, by
their very nature, God’s missionary people living
as a demonstration of what God plans to do in
and for all of creation in Jesus Christ.
The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World
Vital Churches in 21st Century
• Local Churches are
• Missional Communities,
– moving from membership based social
organizations to
– discipleship forming missional communities.
• Our mission focus is transforming lives, by
transforming both individuals and wider
social culture.
Missional in Purpose
• Vital congregations
– clear sense of purpose
• Vital congregations
– are sent churches
• Vital congregations
– reach out beyond themselves
• Vital congregations
– reproduce and plant new congregations
Identity and Mission
• Reverend Otis Moss III from Trinity United
Church of Christ in Chicago speaks on
Church Vitality and Discipleship
• www.ucc.org/vitality/ready-setgrow/video/otis-moss.html
Vital congregations discern
God’s call and mission
• The greatest characteristic of a vital
congregation is the ability to articulate
and live God’s purpose.
• What is God calling this church to be
and do at this time, in this place, with
the gifts we have on this corner of
God’s realm that we are placed?
Missional in Purpose
• What is Your Mission Statement?
• Mission Statement should be:
– 7 – 9 words or less
– Engaging
– Compelling
– Visionary
– True
Missional Purpose
Cathedral of Hope UCC
– The Mission of the Cathedral of Hope is to
reclaim Christianity as a faith
of extravagant grace, radical inclusion
and relentless compassion.
We are a people of compassion
We are a people of inclusion
We are a people of liberation
We are a people of hope
We are a people of Jesus
Missional Statement
• First Grace UCC, Akron OH
– First grace…..then faith and works!
• First Congregtional UCC Santa Rosa
– Making God’s love visible
• Others
–
–
–
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Strangers no more…
Jesus loves you…this we know!
In the Heart of the City with the City in our Heart
A Church Just for You, A Just Church for You.
Vital churches are vital in
community where they are located
• No congregation can afford to ignore its context
or those in the surrounding community.
• “Congregations that live only for themselves are
‘starting a trip toward extinction’.”
Herb Miller, How to Build a Magnetic Church
• “Vital congregations are vital on the corner of
God’s realm where they are planted.”
Gil Rendle
Missional Church outreach to
community and neighborhood
• God is still speaking to us in culture and
community.
• God’s purpose is that our communities are
not forsaken or the land desolate.
• Church no longer center of community, but
it can be good neighbor.
• Church can accompany community to be
all that God’s realm would want the
community to be.
Location, Location, Location?
• Congregational Life Survey points to the relative
unimportance of location in predicting either
congregational strength or numerical growth.
– Congregational location plays a minimal role in
the numerical growth that congregations
experience.
– Few measures of location had an impact on
strength or growth.
– Vital growing congregations, as well as non-vital
declining congregations can be found in any
location.
•
Places of Promise: Finding Strength in Your Congregation’s Location: US
Congregation Survey 2008
The One important factor
• The one location factor that does play a role in
congregational vitality is the match between a
congregation’s worshipers and the people in the
community who are between 18 and 44 years of
age. This critical age group must be recruited
and openly welcomed in our congregations and
we need to ensure our worship and activities
meet their needs.
Community Involvement = Growth?
• Involvement or focus on the community does not
necessarily lead to growth
• Congregations scoring high on focusing on the
community place considerable emphasis on serving
the needs of those outside the congregation.
• They may de-emphasize or overlook the importance of
inviting people to become part of the congregation and
welcoming them warmly when they visit.
• Focusing on the community must be one of the other
aspects of vitality, including welcoming new people,
meaningful worship, caring for children and youth,
engagement in the congregation and a sense of
belonging. Places of Promise
Places of Promise
Finding Strength in Your Congregation’s
Location
www.uscongregations.org
• Traditionally we think about context as
location. In this view:
• Community context determines who we were,
what we are, and what our future holds.
• Congregations are passive—location has the
upper hand!
• Leaders use contractual language about
location—our location is a piece of real estate
with a specific land value, appraised as a retail
outlet might appraise a location. It’s a
commodity.
Places of Promise
Finding Strength in Your Congregation’s
Location
www.uscongregations.org
• Instead—Think about context as place.
• Location is God’s gift to us. The congregation
is in this place at this time for a reason—God’s
reason.
• Congregations can achieve strength and
effectiveness in their present location.
• God claimed this place for us; the place claims
us as people of faith. We have inherited this
place from those who first worshiped here, and
we have an obligation to use it wisely and care
for it.
Places of Promise
Finding Strength in Your Congregation’s
Location
www.uscongregations.org
•
Questions to be asked:
–
–
–
–
–
How did our congregation come to be in this
location? What is our birth story?
Why has God planted us here?
What significant things have happened in this
location that continue to shape our ministry?
What do we believe are the strengths of our location?
What steps can we take to build on the strengths of
our location? Who is in our community that we can
reach out to?
Know your neighborhood
Know your mission field
• Demographic Information
– Percept
– Mission Insite www.missioninsite.com
• Using Demographic Information
– Community knowledge
– Missional outreach and program
Resources for Vital Congregations
• Ready, Set, Grow Resources
– Vital-o-Meter
– Discovering your Congregation’s Strengths
– Discerning your Congregation’s Mission
– Vitality Interviews
– www.ucc.org/vitality
• Demographic Information
– Percept
– Mission Insite www.missioninsite.com
“True Life” Story of Vital Church
Involved in Community
Missional in Purpose
Relational in Outreach
• Ministry in 21st Century is Relational
• Build community with those outside the
church
• Get to know the unchurched people and
culture
the world has
changed
60
– 80 % unchurched
80
% of baby boomers left
80
% of youth have
negative view of church
Culture does not support
church
Relational in Outreach
• Bridge the gap by building relationships
• The days of waiting for people to come to
church to welcome them are over.
• Instead of waiting inside, we go outside
Relational in Outreach
• What do you think when you hear the
word….
–
EVANGELISM ?
Celtic Evangelism
In The Celtic Way of Evangelism:
How Christianity Can Reach the
West . . . Again, George Hunter
writes about the difference between
what he describes as the evangelism
approach in Roman and Celtic
Christianity.
Celtic Evangelism
Roman Model
Presentation
Decision
Fellowship
Celtic Model
Fellowship
Ministry and
Conversation
Belief, Invitation
to Commitment
Belonging and Believing
Christianity is more caught than
taught!
As Professor Robin Gill observes,
belonging comes before believing.
For this reason, evangelism is now
about helping people to belong so
that they can believe.
Missional Outreach
• Go to where the unchurched are:
Coffee shops, Book stores
Parks, Gyms
• “I stopped wondering about how to draw
younger folks into my church and started
focusing on how to draw my congregation out of
its building and into relationship with the world
outside its doors.”
Go Forth….
Into the Virtual World.
• In Asia, Europe and North America—an entire
generation has experienced the Internet as a
means for maintaining relationships with
family and friends.
• The Internet is a lifeline for users whose
mobility is limited by disability, chronic
illness or advanced age.
• The Internet is where we can find and engage
seekers.
The Socialization of the Web
You Now Control the Message!
“The socialization of the web ... is now forcing a renaissance that
is transforming information distribution, human interaction and
everything that orbits this nascent ecosystem.”
Brian Solis, PR2.0, “Unveiling New Influencers” 6/29/2009
The Church’s message never changed but its methods
must change
Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.tv
Modern day example
We haven’t had a new
visitor in 10 years
Our congregation
is on dial-up
We don’t have
enough staff
Ministry doesn’t
happen online
Our congregation is older
It’s too
expensive
Our membership
is too small
We like things the
way they are
What are the excuses?
Costs are nominal or FREE!
Sweat Equity
&
Passion to Share Christ’s
Message
Missional in Purpose
Relational in Outreach
• Ministry in 21st Century is Relational
• Build community with those outside the
church
• Get to know the unchurched people and
culture
Resources for Vital Congregations
• Ready, Set, Grow Resources
– “It’s a Whole New World”
– Knowing Your Neighborhood
– Web University and online resources
– www.ucc.org/vitality
Relational in Outreach
Conversational in Witness
• Conversational ministry is central to the
future of the church in 21st Century
• Count conversations, not conversions
– Brian McLaren, More Ready than You Think
Conversational in Witness
• Buzz Marketing
• Evangelism
One beggar telling another where there is food
• Come and See!
Conversational Ministry
• The postmodern world calls for disciples
who reach out to a world that is hungering
for good conversation about faith, values,
hope, meaning, purpose, goodness,
beauty, truth, life after death, life before
death and God. Engaging in everyday
faith conversations will not only help
others become Christians, it will help us
become better Christians, who know and
love the still speaking God more than ever.
Conversational in Witness
• Spiritual Seekers want to talk.
• Holy Conversations – Richard Peace
• We are the ones not talking.
– Reverence for God – silence and service.
• Tell it Like it is: Reclaiming the Practice of
Testimony - Lillian Daniel
• An unchurched world doesn’t know why
we do what we do.
Conversational Ministry
• Vital churches are communities in
which the pastor and members
have invited 5 to 15 new folks to
their community of faith in the
past six months.
Witness and Invitation
UCC-Style
“Tricking” the church
into Evangelism – Taking it
back!
What do you say when
someone asks you about
your comma?
“For us it means God’s not stuck.
God still has more light and truth for
us today.”
“My church believes that God is still
speaking to us today.”
“It means that no matter how bad
things are in my life or in the world,
God is in the midst of it.”
Are you Ready to Talk?
“Tricking” the church into Evangelism – Taking it
back!
Conversational in Witness
• Who are conversation partners?
– Audiences for conversation
• Outsiders Become Insiders
• Forgetters made Rememberers
• Beloved Children become Belief-ful Adults
– Biblical Perspective on Evangelism
W. Brueggemann
Are You Ready to Talk?
Why do you love your church?
What impact has believing in God
and following Jesus made in your
life?
What Bible text has made a
difference in your life?
God is still speaking,
Through you
and me!
Eight Challenges
Richard Peace
• We need to learn how to talk about Jesus
• We need to create spaces within which both
seekers and committed Christians can explore
together their spiritual journeys.
• We need to learn how to invite others
• We need to move beyond our stereotypes, fears
and negative experiences of evangelism for new
creative and wholistic ways of outreach.
Eight Challenges
Richard Peace
• We need to heal the split evangelism and justice
issues so it is a both/and and not an either /or.
• We need to find the energy to engage in and to
sustain an outreach ministry.
• We need to stay open to conversion, our own
conversion even as we invite others to be
converted.
• We need to learn how to discuss all of this in
non-theological terms.
Welcome and Hospitality
Hospitality is an act of worship
Greeting the Divine Shekinah
Becoming a Welcoming Church
• You won’t magically turn your church into a
welcoming church overnight. However, with
organization and planning you can make it feel
that way to visitors and seekers. What you are
planting today will eventually transform your
congregation into a welcoming place . . . expect it
to take time.
Becoming a Welcoming Church
• Does your church actively invite others into its
worship and ministry?
• Do visiting guests feel welcome in your
church?
• Avoid the perfection trap, often a mask for
fear.
• Are there things you can do better to be a
visible witness and active presence of God’s
radical and all-inclusive welcome?
• Tracking progress
Where will we be in 2020….?
• The still speaking God
– calls us to become
• Churches that the Future Requires
– Missional in purpose
– Relational in outreach
– Conversational in witness
And in Conclusion……
Seven Missional Lessons
• God is calling the Church to be a missional
community in an unchurched world.
• Missional congregation is to be a sign and
instrument of God’s realm in its community.
• Missional congregation listens for and seeks out
the still speaking God in culture and its
community.
• Missional congregation finds transformation and
vitality in its location.
And in Conclusion……
Seven Missional Lessons
• Missional congregation is driven to discern,
articulate and live God’s calling and purpose for
church and community.
• Missional congregation is relational and
conversational in outreach.
• Missional congregation engages culture’s tools,
especially the web to reach out to world of
seekers.
In Five Parts
Step 1: Select a team
Step 2: Articulate your mission
Step 3: Know your missionfield
Step 4: Know your strengths
Step 5: Plan for desired & measurable
outcome
Two questions
•
Where are the signs of vitality in your
congregation this spring?
•
What are you going to do from today’s
presentation to increase vitality in
your congregation?
Resources for Vital Congregations
Vitality Powerpoint - Retreat Resources
www.ucc.org/vitality/retreat-resources
• GrowtheUCC.org Events and Webinars
– www.GrowtheUCC.org
• Churches Birthing Churches
• Redeveloper Leadership Institute
• Web University
• Evangelism and Leadership Webinars
• myUCC http://community.ucc.org
– Congregational Vitality – Ready, Set, Grow Group
• Congregational Vitality – Ready, Set, Grow Group
Thank You!
• Thank you for your Vital Leadership
• Thank you for Your Support of
– Changing Lives: That’s Our Churches’ Wider Mission
• Thank you for Spreading the Love
– Strengthen the Church Offering
– www.ucc.org/stc