How we got here

There is a long answer to this and a shorter answer. I can go through all the details of the congregations history - in which there were major events that lead to this conversation happening, one incident being the splitting of the congregation in the early 1990s over a flag in the sanctuary issue and asking a pastor to resign. I can talk about general church history and how many congregations found it much harder to do ministry or outreach after the "hay day" of the 1950s and 1960s started to dwindle. After the culture around going to church started to become different and congregations were not seen as social outlets anymore. I can talk about church becoming social club and not a place to come to find Jesus or be with the Holy Spirit or trust God and God alone. I can talk more specifically about my past 21 months with this congregation and the resistance to change, the anger, the un-understood grief, the power struggles, the family circles, the hope in building a Sunday school, the joy in growing a food pantry, the members that left and the new members that joined. All of this leads up to where we came to 2 months ago when the though, closing the congregation, became a real option of the congregation.

I chose to start this story from 2 months while bring in details from the past 80 years, but mostly past 20 years to fill in gaps here and there.

Two months ago I sat in my office with the congregations "Turn Around Team". This was a two member team - the third person asked to come of the team two weeks before due to language barriers (his native language is Thi) but my gut tells me that there was more to it.At this meeting two weeks late with me and the remaining two people on the team our goal for the meeting was to plan out a year long vision for the team. We just presented a set of Core Values for the congregation to the council. Well, actually, we presented the Core Values two months ago and the council had yet to discuss them - we found out they had been tabled for discussion yet again. Once the congregation started discussing the Core Values that the team took 8 months to gather information, lead conversations, lead a survey, and eventually write - then the team could begin using a common language within the congregation. The team could start using similar goals to being formulating a Mission Statement and eventually a Vision for the entire congregation. So, at this meeting we were going to talk about the next year for the team and how do we get feed back from the congregation on Core Values and begin moving in the direction of developing a Mission Statement (of course this is after the council decided to talk about the Core Values presented - or if they would ever get to them...)

The three of us, me and the two members of the team, sat on the couches in my office and I could feel thickness in the air. I could tell that the excitement in this ministry was running down. After opening with a word of prayer and going over the minutes from the last meeting we were about to jump into the agenda - but it felt like we just wanted to meet so we could tell people that we were doing our job. At this point I stopped and asked for us to evaluate where we are before we start talking about a vision. My goodness, this changed the conversation. I had just recently read a book called, "The Six Thinking Hats" that gave me an idea for how to lead the conversation. By the end of the conversation we had a list of 4 possibilities for the future of the congregation.

1. Continue on the same path, transformation within - but what a stronger commitment from the congregation in backing this process.
2. Begin building a "new congregation" alongside the current congregation. The team would no longer focus on making the current congregation happy and all their energy would be put into visitors and new members
3. Do nothing. Stop trying revitalization and see where the congregation ends up.
4. Close the congregation

Over the course of the next month the Turn around Team had a meeting with the Bishop's Staff about close or a new term mention "Redevlopment" which is a lot like our option #1 but much more formal with funding coming through the ELCA and the synod and a developer pastor being called to the congregation through the denomination. This was an exciting option for us and we decided to present both Redevelopment and Close to the council.This month included talking with the council and presenting the options to the congregation for discussion. Both options were not liked, but people saw the reality of the situation. Pros and cons were talked about but opinions were never really sought. This lead to people having a list of questions about Redevelopment to ask the Bishop. You see, Redevelopment was going to end up closing the congregation anyway. the developer pastor would have come into the congregation and cared for the current members through worship and visitation but they would be giving up their council, their committees, their parties, their activities - essentially, everything that they felt made them a church - to allow the Holy Spirit to breath new life in the congregation, much like the valley of the dry bones. This was hard for people to accept and there was a lot of backlash to the idea, but this option was much better than the other one... closing.

Finally, the Bishop came to meet with the congregation. Really, it was only 6 weeks after the Turn Around Team started the conversation and 3 weeks after the congregation started the conversation, but it felt like forever. The Bishop did an amazing job at giving hope to the situation, helping us see the work of Christ in the situation but at the same time not holding back or mincing his words. At the end of the meeting he told the congregation that the synod is no longer recommending the congregation to move ahead with redevelopment. I will have a post that has an outline of the Bishops conversation listed soon - it really was a great message, but it was a shock to many of the people there.

This lead us to 6 days ago at the council meeting where the council decided to put on the ballot at the Annual Meeting of the Congregation at the end of October to dissolve the congregation. It was a hard conversation, and a hard motion to write and vote on.

We are now 5 weeks away from that meeting with 2 more council meets in between. I had a meeting with the Synod Staff to talk details and the council will meet with some of the staff in the next few weeks as well.

As I mentioned above, I will fill in gaps and give more details or post outlines of conversations to help congregations that are starting the process - or are toying with the idea of starting the conversation of closing a congregation. This is never an easy conversation to walk into. When I was in seminary I felt that God could do anything and there should never be a reason for a congregation to close. If the pastor had vision, if the people had trust in the Holy Spirit and if ministry was happening - then any congregation should be able to turn around and become a vital ministry once again. And, you know, I do still believe that - with all my heart. We do have an amazing God. I would not put it past God to work a miriacle here in my small little urban congregation over the next few months. And, I do believe that any congregation can find revitalization - if they start the work before the congregation is nothing more than a social club that worships on Sunday mornings. Once this happens, the reversal is a lot harder - still possible - but much harder and it will not happen in 1 year or even 3 years. I truly believe if we found a way to continue trying to transform the congregation within while building up a new ministry even this congregation could find new life in around 7 years. In this situation, new life will be found in new ministries started with the assets of this congregation, new church homes that the members will attend and find support and a renewed spirit, struggling congregations that will use this congregations holy things for their ministry and worship and so many other ways I cannot foresee now but will experience throughout this journey. After all, we are people of the resurrection. We know there is life after death.