Via de Cristo

Teens Encounter Christ

Alpha

Servant Evangelism

I Pray This Will Help

I want to share with you a few principles and resources that I have found to be important as we have stumbled along the discipleship path at Holy Cross. I believe that they will be helpful in most settings:

1. Leaders must model good discipleship themselves. Study the scriptures devotionally. Work hard but take care of yourself and your family! Pray. Pray. And then pray more.
2. Plan to be a long tenure pastor. Change must take place slowly to avoid destructive levels of conflict. I have been here over 8 years and folks have just now come to really trust my leadership. Read Bill Easum on this subject. He fought the Methodist “rapid pastor transit system” for years and has written some great stuff on this. Make no mistake… this is a real problem for Lutherans too! I believe that only three pastors in my seminary class (LTSS-class of ’96) are still  in their original call… and I am the only one left where initial worship attendance was under 100. This trend must stop if smaller congregations are going to have a fighting chance for transformation to a discipleship model.
3. Make sure your community of disciples know that you love them before introducing any radical changes. Otherwise you won’t survive to be a long tenure pastor.
4. Take time in the beginning to learn your congregation’s history; and both the formal and informal leadership network. Figure out the most influential folks who must understand and accept the need for change. Get to work on teaching them as a high priority.
5. Pray. Pray. Pray some more. Get other leaders to pray with and for you.
6. You will usually get two or three chances to make significant changes without too much flack in the first year of parish leadership. Call them honeymoon changes. Make them count!
1. I tackled the introduction of a biblically based, effective stewardship program (Consecration Sunday-Cokesbury) as one of these changes. If you do it exactly as presented this is an easy success and will give you many more resources to work with. Remember that success breeds trust… and therefore more success!
2. My second honeymoon change was introduction of Via de Cristo Retreats (www.wncvdc.org) for adults and Teens Encounter Christ Retreats (www.hihtec.org or www.hoftec.org) for youth. These are the most effective tools I know for helping folks to leap forward in their personal spiritual growth. They have the added benefit of introducing small prayer groups into the congregation. Somehow get prayer groups going early! Prayer is foundational for all congregational life! Try to get key leaders (formal and informal) to attend a retreat as early in your ministry as possible. Both VDC and TEC are endorsed by the NC Synod of the ELCA as evangelism and leadership training programs.
3. My third honeymoon change was the introduction of ecumenical worship ventures with denominations which practice widely different worship styles and cross racial barriers. This helps people to understand that different is not always bad or wrong and begins to break down racism barriers.
7. Preach and teach the need for the change to discipleship in the church over and over and over again… every chance you get! And don’t expect them to love you for this! All of the prophets were persecuted! It takes a lot of time and repetition for people to understand that what they have been taught for many, many years must shift for the good of Christ’s body. The ELCA resource Living Faith: Teach the Faith  Initiative Congregation Planning Guide is excellent. Likewise the books PowerSurge by Michael Foss (www.transformingchurch.com); The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (www.purposedriven.com) are very helpful.
8. Low levels of conflict are inevitable and healthy in a growing, changing congregation. Learn good conflict management skills. You WILL need them and probably did not get them as part of  seminary education.
9. If you are going to introduce worship style changes (which I highly recommend) move very, very slowly. The potential for divisive conflict is great but success pays big dividends. We talked about it for four years, introducing contemporary music slowly at special events like Lenten worship and VBS… before we ever held our first contemporary Sunday worship. And when the time finally came we still had serious conflict from a small but influential group. Make certain before you start that your Music Director is absolutely and positively on board before introducing new worship styles. This is their turf… expect them to be protective and respect their feelings. Teach and lead them to understand the need.
10. Pray. Pray. Pray some more. Get other leaders to pray for and with you!
11. Don’t expect instant success. Celebrate the positives every chance you get. Building congregational self-esteem is vital to continued successful changes.
12. Putting even very high quality contemporary worship in place will not cause seekers to knock down your doors to get in. This is only preparation for receiving them. Mainline churches do not generally have great reputations among the unchurched. Programs like ALPHA (www.alphana.org) and Servant Evangelism (www.servantevangelism.com) are very manageable for small congregations and have the potential to transform your image in the unchurched community.
13. Look for connections with other community groups such as Boy & Girl Scouts, AA, NA. Invite them to use your facilities. Take time to get to know them and that they are welcome in worship. This can pay big dividends in both seekers and community image.
14. Pray. Pray. Pray some more. Get other leaders to pray for and with you!

No matter how slowly, carefully and prayerfully you move EXPECT some people to disagree with any new direction that you are taking…. and to move their membership elsewhere. Expect them to be angry with those leading the changes. About 30 regular members eventually left Holy Cross for other local congregations. This has been the most difficult and painful part of my pastoral ministry. I have laid awake many nights and cried many tears over them as have many others in this congregation. But do not give up! Stay the course! The real impact of discipleship on the lives of people is worth this pain! In spite of these losses our worship attendance has grown 55% and giving to budget has grown 87%. I mourn the loss of those who felt they must leave. It hurt very badly… but now we are poised and ready to begin 21^st century ministry. I celebrate and thank God for the many new faces and lives that have been transformed by His grace and power at work in this place!

Sometimes when you write something like this it seems as if you have all the answers or have it all together. Nothing could be further from the truth at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. We celebrate God’s power and grace at work in our midst; and humbly acknowledge that we have merely stumbled our way along attempting to follow our Lord Jesus as best we are able. I openly admit that not a single idea presented here is original to me. We continue to search for ways to grow disciples and reach out to the unchurched. If you have ideas or questions please share them with me. You can e-mail me at pastorjd@charter.net or pastorjohn@holycrosselca.org .

I hope that reading this has been encouraging and helpful to leaders and pastors who are looking for ways to shepherd their congregations through change. Even more so, I pray that the stories of God at work in the lives of his people have and will continue to inspire you in your holy labors!

God’s peace and joy to you,