The purpose of this book is to name the spiritual habits common to transforming congregations like Trinity. It is written to embolden those historic Protestant churches that are just now taking the first tentative steps toward change and to encourage those congregations that have been at it awhile and are growing weary along the way.
Several factors have positioned me to observe the spiritual habits of transforming congregations. I have lived most of my life in the western United States, the part of America sociologists recognize has long embodied the post-Christendom culture other parts of the country are only now anticipating. In some western communities, less than three percent of the population worships in a church or synagogue during the week.1 Many people mark “none” when asked to identify their religious affiliation. Having spent my entire ministry in this “none zone,” I have never known anything other than the church on the margins.
Now I live in Montana where isolated communities are known for their rugged and fierce individualism. Montanans mind their own business and keep their own counsel. Strong family ties and established friendships among long-time residents make it hard for newcomers to find community. On the weekends, as in other parts of the nation, recreational sports compete with church for people’s time and attention.
I am an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a small denomination that began as a movement for Christian unity on the American frontier in the early 1800s. It now refers to itself as a “Movement for Wholeness.” Frequently called simply “The Disciples,” we center our lives in Jesus Christ but we do not use any written creed as a test of right belief. We value freedom and diversity of opinion. Like other historic Protestant denominations, we expect each person to read the Bible and to seek to understand the meanings of Biblical passages in light of the historical context in which they were written. Each congregation takes responsibility for its own life and ministry and binds itself to live in unity with the whole church. Lay people lead alongside pastors, and women and men serve together in all the roles of church organization. Whenever The Disciples worship, we come around a common table, sharing the bread and cup of communion in celebration of God’s abundant generosity.
I am the spouse of a congregational pastor who struggles to find his way in the changing landscape of ministerial leadership. Sometimes frustrated because many of the skills he honed during thirty years of ministry no longer seem needed, he is seeking to learn new ways of pastoring and leading a spiritual community committed to inclusivity and mission. Often surprised by the new kind of church emerging, his hope is enlivened when he sees individuals, relationships, and structures transformed by the touch of the gospel.
I am a Regional Minister and a Church Consultant. Those ministries have given me the opportunity to walk alongside leaders of many different denominations in hundreds of churches over the last twenty-five years. I have seen congregations at all points of their life cycle and have studied congregational dynamics first hand. I have worked with faith communities of various sizes in cities, in towns, and on prairies that are struggling and straining to see the new thing God is doing among and through them. I have coached pastors during times of stability, change, conflict, and harmony.
From this vantage point, I have noticed that the congregations which find their way to vitality hold in common the practice of twelve spiritual habits. (A list of them also appears in Appendix A.)
1 Transforming congregations root themselves in the power and presence of God through prayer.
2 Transforming congregations listen to the voice of the Spirit which speaks through sign, symbol, and metaphor.
3 Transforming congregations continue to grow spiritually.
4 Transforming congregations align their purpose with God’s purpose of peace, security, and justice for all.
5 Transforming congregations engage in ministry where there is suffering.
6 Transforming congregations frequently testify to the activity of the Spirit that works in and through their vision, mission, and core values.
7 Transforming congregations become inclusive communities by welcoming the stranger and forming mutual relationships.
8 Transforming congregations question religious perspectives that have lost credibility and engage in robust theological dialogue about issues posed by change.
9 Transforming congregations build capacity and expect accountability.
10 Transforming congregations cultivate gratitude which helps them see God’s provision of plenty in their midst.
11 Transforming congregations collaborate with other partners in order to serve God’s intentions in the place where they live.
12 Transforming congregations choose to take strategic actions that heal personal, social, and environmental injuries.The transforming congregations described in this book are real; they all identify with one of the historic Protestant traditions named above. Other books and articles already have told in depth the stories of congregations like them who have been traveling the transformation road, learning to serve in new ways in the places where they are located. This book describes the pattern those churches make when seen together which reveals the spiritual habits they hold in common. Those spiritual habits serve as lights on lampstands, marking the way for other congregations trying to navigate new paths in the 21st Century.It is not possible to see all the changes the future will require of historic Protestant congregations; but churches today do not need to see that far ahead, they only need to navigate from signpost to signpost, to be courageous, faithful and open, trusting that the Spirit will guide them the whole way.
Introduction
Becoming New
The important thing is this:
to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are
for what we may become.2
– Charles Du Bos
Transforming congregations adapt to changing conditions. As situations arise in their neighborhoods, they respond nimbly, sacrificing what they are in order to become new. One of the best examples of a transforming congregation adapting to its environment comes from the country of El Salvador. It is the story of the church of Fe y Esperanza (Faith and Hope). Congregations in the United States can learn from the ways it took creative action when circumstances called for new ministries.
The year was 1982 and El Salvador was embroiled in a civil war. Death squads invaded villages. They kidnapped children to train as soldiers and burned food supplies and homes. Over 70,000 villagers were murdered. Others fled for their lives. Six hundred of those men and women who escaped found their way to a piece of property in the countryside purchased by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at the request of the Lutheran Church in El Salvador. That land served as a sanctuary for those escaping the ravages of war.
It was there that Fe y Esperanza began. Volunteers from other historic Protestant churches helped out wherever they could while the Green Cross tended to wounds. Families cooked food in shared outdoor kitchens as was their custom back home in their own villages. Together they lived in long cinder block buildings that provided the bare minimum shelter. When soldiers came, church leaders hid the refugees in underground bunkers. For seven years, the mission of Fe y Esperanza was to provide a safe haven for those who had been displaced.
But in 1987, things changed. A peace accord was signed. Some villagers went back to the places where they had grown up, hoping to reconnect with members of their families. Others began constructing settlements right around Fe y Esperanza. Now, because the needs of the people had changed, Fe y Esperanza became something different. The leaders built a large hall and classrooms on the property and began offering worship services, Sunday school, youth groups, and seminars about how to prevent violence. They set up workshops where people created traditional Salvadoran art to support themselves. Once Fe y Esperanza had offered safe space for refugees; but its new mission became helping people build for the future.
Now, Fe y Esperanza has altered its mission focus again. It teaches resettled families ways to sustain themselves on small parcels of land through the latest techniques in organic agriculture. Families can produce the food they