TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

SECTION  1.          Small Membership Church: Foundation for Mission Centered Ministry

 

 

SECTION  2.         Concepts and Models for Mission Centered Ministry

 

 

SECTION  3.         Vision, Goal Setting and Action

 

 

SECTION  4.          Areas of Ministry in the Small Church

 

 

SECTION  5.          Administration in the Small Membership Church

 

 

SECTION  6.         Education Opportunities in the Small Membership Church

 

 

SECTION  7.         Annotated Bibliography

                                                  AN INTRODUCTION

 

In the Gospel of Luke we are told in the words of the Risen Christ that repentance and forgiveness are to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.  (Luke 24:47)  It is the commission given to the disciples while they were gathered following Jesus' death on the cross and the discovery of the empty tomb.  It is the command to us today who are Christians that we hear repeated over and over again.  We read repeated by Luke in the Book of Acts and at the end of Matthew's Gospel.  We know we are to be witnesses of God's saving grace in Jesus Christ to all people.  Still we find ourselves frustrated to be about the task of sharing the Good News that Jesus has died and that Jesus is risen.

 

The hesitation we experience has roots in the fear of inadequacies, of feeling we are not prepared to carry the message, of not knowing what to say, of the possibility of being rejected by the one to whom we would speak and share the Good News.  Though our faith urges us to speak of repentance and forgiveness, our will is weak. The commission to witness to the Risen Lord Jesus Christ remains our responsibility as followers of the same Christ.

 

We are Christ's children drawn together in the household of faith. This household takes particular form as we are members of congregations and particularly those who would read this handbook, members of small congregations. For us small congregations or churches have 250 baptized members or less and have an average Sunday Worship attendance of 75 or less. We are drawn together in a relationship that is much like a family. Our relationship with one another is the prime motivator and reason for our being God's faithful people. Because we are a part of small churches, we feel as though we do not belong to the wider church because we do not act or do things the way larger churches do ministry. As a result, we feel that we are not accepted by the wider church or the larger churches. Often we do not look well upon ourselves which causes us sometimes to not do what God has commissioned us to do very well. We feel inadequate to proclaim repentance and forgiveness for fear we won't do it "right".

 

As you read this HANDBOOK FOR SMALL CHURCHES you are encouraged to set aside the feeling of inadequacy and boldly share the Good News as best we are able using the gifts God has blessed us with as individuals and as we can do ministry as small churches. It is the intent of this Handbook to offer any number of possibilities to be about God's mission through a variety of ministries. We first need to recognize the wonderful gifts that God has given us and be good stewards of the many gifts or blessings.

 

One of our great strengths as small churches is the importance and value we place upon relationships. As we nurture and care for one another as family members in the church, we must also recognize God's call to extend that love and care to those who are not yet part of the church family. It means opening our hearts and extend the invitation and welcome of newcomers, strangers, "aliens", as the Old Testament writers refer to those who are not like us yet dwell in our communities. It is the challenge and the risk taking that is required of all who bear the name of Christ. Relating to new people and providing ministry to different people in the communities where we serve as God's chosen and called people we find ourselves frightened. We know that to be a witness will bring about change. Change is hard to deal with. We are not sure we want to deal with change. There are already too many changes for our lives to handle and now to actively look to bring change. We are not so sure we can.

 

Remember God has commissioned us through Jesus Christ the Risen Lord to be witnesses, to proclaim repentance and forgiveness in his name. As God promised the disciples in the concluding verse of Matthew's Gospel that he will be with them to the close of the age, so will God in Christ be with us now in the days to come as we are about his work. To follow Jesus is to deny self and take up the cross. To do so is to experience change. It is a good change. Mission is a present happening through the various ministries we employ to love and care for God's people. It becomes a positive experience for those of us who are members of small churches. It is what we are about in Christ Jesus.

 

Pastor Glenn Heasley

Assistant to the Bishop

Upper Susquehanna Synod

(Works with pastors and members

  of small churches)

Evangelical Lutheran Coalition for Mission in Appalachia

 

Helen R. Harms, Coordinator for Appalachian Ministries

P.O. Box 676, Somerset, KY 42502-0676 / 606-678-4790

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April, 1995

 

 

 

Dear Colleagues in  Appalachian Ministry:

 

Small membership congregations have played a vital role in the lives of many people and communities in the Appalachian region. They continue to witness to the love of God through Jesus Christ.

Many of these congregations have a surprising vitality. Although small membership congregations may die a natural death or decide on their own to close, as Herb Miller of Net Results says, "It's easier to kill a turtle than it is to kill a small membership congregation". But we are not about the killing of the small membership church. Instead, we would like to celebrate its special place in the total witness of the church.

Today, small membership congregations face a unique set of challenges. Communities are changing. In some places, the population is declining; in others, it is stable or growing. The "boomer" generation, the emerging leadership of churches of every size, have been shaped by a social ethos quite different from that of the pre-boomer generations. Many congregations once able to support the ministry of seminary ordained clergy now find themselves priced out of the market. Leadership for the small membership congregation is critical. In the midst of these changes, one thing remains certain. Appalachian people and communities are just as much in need of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ as ever. The mission of the small membership church remains essential.

Small membership congregations are in a unique position to deal with all the changes of today's society. The very resilience of these congregations makes them especially able to adapt. This is especially true of those congregations who are focused on developing caring communities that reach out to the unchurched.

We offer this resource notebook as a way to celebrate and strengthen the small membership church. We pray that God will be with you as you focus on God's mission through your small membership congregation.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Helen R. Harms

 

HOW TO USE THIS RESOURCE

 

 

As you work with small membership congregations you are often asked for or expected to have ideas and resources. But most resources use the larger membership churches as their model.

 

This notebook is a compilation of ideas, resources, and programs gleaned from parish pastors, synod committees and church publications. Nothing is presented as a model for you to copy. Rather, this is an idea book, with all kinds of suggestions to be adapted to your individual use and context.

 

The intended audience includes synod staff who work with small membership congregations and their pastors, parish pastors looking for new ideas, and lay members with leadership roles in their congregations.

 

This notebook would be a useful addition to a synod resource library. It could be a reference book for a rural/town and country team. Many small membership church pastors may wish to have this as a personal resource.

 

The Small Membership Church Task Force of the Evangelical Lutheran Coalition for Mission in Appalachia (E.L.C.M.A.) asks only that your address is on our file. The hope is for this notebook to be dynamic, practical, and more useful through your suggestions for additional material, modifications of the present material, and deletion of no longer helpful material. We would hope to be able to share these updates with you.

 

Unless otherwise noted, permission to duplicate is granted you. The goal is for this information to be as easy to use as possible.

 

You, too, can be a contributor. If you have an idea or resource to share, or any comment to make, please contact:

 

The Small Membership Church Task Force

E.L.C.M.A.

P. O. Box 676

Somerset, KY 42502-0676

 

 

Trudy Brubaker - Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, Chair

The Rev. Kenneth Hacker - Northeast Ohio Synod

The Rev. Glenn Heasley - Upper Susquehanna Synod

The Rev. Phillip Huber - ELCA Mid-Atlantic Region for Mission

James Judy - Lutheran Center for Lay Ministry

The Rev. James Slater - Upstate New York Synod

The Rev. Dawn Spalding - Southern Ohio Synod

The Rev. Neal Weltzine - West Virginia/Western Maryland Synod

 

 

RESOLUTION ON RURAL MINISTRY

Reference:  1993 Reports and Records, Part 2, pages 285-287

 

                                                                                                                                           Adopted 1993 Churchwide Assembly

ASSEMBLY ACTION                                                                                                                       Yes, 918; No-5; Abstain-4

CW93.3.4:                      A.   LEADERSHIP

 

WHEREAS, rural congregations have been faithful in the proclamation of the Gospel and in support of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its predecessor bodies, and are now facing a critical crisis in leadership caused by a shortage of clergy available for town and country ministry; and

 

WHEREAS, the projected shortage of ordained pastoral leadership and lack of available financial resources for town and country congregations may require lay leaders to assume the responsibilities formerly performed by clergy; and

 

WHEREAS, this church needs to recruit ordained and lay leaders who will see rural ministry as an opportunity for service and will make long-term commitments to this ministry; and

 

B.      CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 

WHEREAS, the presence of the unchurched in rural areas serves as opportunity to develop new congregations to provide a full ministry of nurture, witness, and service; and

 

WHEREAS, there is a demonstrated need among rural congregations for trained consultants to assist them for networking and in the development of cooperative ministries; and

 

C.      COMMUNITY ISSUES

 

WHEREAS, the percentage of rural poverty is higher than in urban areas and opportunities for employment are diminishing; and

 

WHEREAS, factors including the lack of access to social services, low commodity prices, marketing systems, housing, financial practices, reduced real-estate values, sluggish economy, government farm programs, and declining income have contributed to the ruralization of poverty; and

 

WHEREAS, rural communities are distressed economically and are being targeted as dumping grounds for toxic, industrial, and municipal wastes, thereby threatening the environment and health of rural people; and

 

D.      CARE OF CREATION

 

WHEREAS, urban communities benefit from the natural resources and hard labor of sisters and brothers in Christ who live in rural areas; and

 

WHEREAS, rural congregations are in unique positions to lift up the need for wise stewardship of creation to those who depend upon the land; and

 

WHEREAS, love demands that we care for and uphold the viability and integrity of the whole of creation -- people and the rest of creation, the living creation and the non-living creation -- which sustains life; therefore, be it

 

RESOLVED, that

1.      this church affirm its commitment to ministries in the rural setting;

2.      this church assist congregations to move beyond congregational independence and biases toward better communication and cooperation among ministries in related communities, including ecumenical possibilities; and assist in developing creative responses to changing situations;^[1]

3.      the seminaries of this church use instruction by extension and other instructional methods as ways for developing pastors and lay leaders in rural ministry, and that synods coordinate communication of Lutheran and ecumenical opportunities for continuing education events related to rural ministry, and to inform rostered persons serving in rural ministries of those opportunities;^[2]

4.      synods, in cooperation with churchwide units, develop and train teams of indigenous, lay leaders to serve and provide leadership for worship, evangelism, community service, and Christian care;

5.      resource materials in evangelism for and with rural congregations be developed;^[3]

6.      this church provide resources to assist multi-point congregations in the development of "articles of agreement" for well-defined operations and relationships;^[4]

7.      the publications of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, synods,  and other entities of this church recognize and tell the story of multi-point parishes;

8.      this church give encouragement to rural congregations to become more inclusive and to understand what gospel inclusivity and cultural diversity mean in the rural setting;^[5]

9.      this church has an opportunity to foster a sense of community in the rural setting and should assist congregations in developing skills in the areas of community and economic development;^[6]

10.    this church assist rural congregations to become active participants in working with others of goodwill on environmental issues and to be advocates for the care of creation;^[7]

11.    this church assist in the formation of partnerships of prayer, presence, understanding, and resource sharing between rural and urban congregations in particular;^[8] and

12.    this church advocate for people suffering the effects of economic and social conditions that exist throughout the countryside.^[9]

CONCEPTS AND MODELS FOR MISSION CENTERED MINISTRY

 

In this section of the book we hope to create two sub-sections, one dealing with "Concepts", and the other with "Models". We make a distinction between the two terms.

 

Concepts are basic notions and abstractions generalized from issues that have developed in particular places. It is the idea, notion, philosophy, theology, and theory that is the driving force behind the subsequent model that develops. A concept or concepts are the driving force behind the creation of a model or series of models (i.e. examples). A "concept" is that which gives birth to a "model". While a concept can be transported from place to place -- a model cannot.

 

A model is the implementation of a concept, or concepts, in a given locale or context. Model, as we use the term, is a lived out application of a concept for doing ministry in a given ministry context. A model is therefore contextual and indigenous for a specific situation. It is an "example" of how a concept(s) can be manifest. A model is a concept that has been inculturated and is now lived by people as a response to the issues of ministry and the life of the gospel in their particular community. As such, a model is not transportable. To transport a model is to miss the critical process of inculturation that is implied in creating a model from given concepts. It would not be incorrect to talk about models having an "incarnational" character.

 

We hope this section of the notebook will have an ongoing life, as those of us who work in the Region write up and add the "concepts" we develop and work with, as well as those "models" that are put into practice as an attempt to do appropriate contextual ministry in the life of the small church.

DEVELOPING COOPERATIVE MINISTRIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Central Pennsylvania Synod

Maryland Synod

Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia Synod

 

Lutheran Church in America

DEVELOPING COOPERATIVE MINISTRIES

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The following is prepared as a tool for synod staff, congregational leaders, and others involved in developing new organizational patterns where cooperation may strengthen ministry.

 

A word first about structure. Everything has structure, identified or unidentified, loose or tight, helpful or hindering including even the Body of Christ as it finds varying expressions. The question for the congregation is "Does the structure help in the conduct of ministry, or does it hinder?"

 

Fourteen elements and principles for the development of good models for cooperation in ministry are delineated. They have been gleaned from the experience of the personnel of the committee.

 

Our belief is if these principles find expression as a structure is being created the pattern of organization will be the better for it  -- more healthy -- more helpful to ministry.

 

Western Pennsylvania/ West Virginia Synod		Central Pennsylvania Synod		Maryland   Synod
J. Samuel Johns Donald J. McCoid John A. Rodgers		Charles L. Lady Theodore Lindquist, Jr. Gerald E. Miller William H. Snyder Frederick G. Wedemeyer		Lavern D. Rasmussen

ELEMENTS

 

1.    Sense of Purpose

2.    Criteria of Ministry

3.    Intentional Cooperation

4.    Leadership

5.    Ownership

6.    Decision Making

7.    Control and Management

8.    Evaluation

9.    Communication

10.  Flexibility

11.  Outside Support

12.  Identity

13.  Recognition and Legitimatizing

14.  Articles of Agreement

 

 

PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPING GOOD MODELS OF COOPERATIVE MINISTRY

 

 

 

1.         Element:  Sense of Purpose

 

Principle:  Having a clear sense of purpose when entering upon a form of cooperation in ministry provides clarity, honesty to thinking, and opens wide possibilities.

 

. . . . Purpose is ministry to people

. . . . Survival is legitimate, but it is a means

. . . . Cooperation is a means to minister

. . . . Stating "why" opens options

 

Some suggestions in identifying purpose. The question ought never be, "What can we do for the Church in this community", but always "What can the Church, as an expression of the Body of Christ in this place, do to make Christ meaningful to the people in this community?" This puts the focus on ministry to people.

 

Survival may well be that which prompts a congregation to enter a cluster or coalition. If so, state it, be honest about it. After all, one must survive in order to be there to perform ministry. The problem with survival as a purpose for acting, the reason some are embarrassed to acknowledge it, is that many people forget that survival is a means. It is a very human tendency for us to use people to develop our congregational life, rather than develop our congregational life to enrich the lives of people.

 

To accomplish the tasks of ministry new structures need to be available to the congregation. Many are finding these new structures in the array of possibilities opened by cooperation. These congregations are clustering, joining with others in mission, as a strategy in ministry, as a strategy of survival, and as a means to provide additional options and potentials to enrich congregational life and ministry.

 

Identify, state and clarify the why of your actions. Doing so will open your options and help to make the organizational structure you create serve your purposes.

 

2.         Element:  Criteria of Ministry

 

Principle:  The criteria of ministry is determined by what expresses Christ at this time, in this place, in these circumstances, by these people.

 

. . . . Envision your ministry based on a call from Christ

. . . . Build in a safe-to-fail attitude

 

It is from the incarnation Theology of John, the "Body of Christ" references of Paul, the encouragement of Luther that we be "Little Christs" in the place where we are, that ministry is envisioned.

Some see cooperation as a means to enable small congregations to "do as the big boys do". Like a four year old playing baseball, it is fun to watch; but it will not put the ball over the bleachers and out of the stadium. What the "big boys do" is not the criteria of Ministry.

 

While the "mission", variously understood and variously stated, may be the same for us all, the ministry of each congregation and cooperative venture is unique to that group. Time, place, circumstances and people involved set the differing possibilities and open differing potentials for ministry.

 

Without the freedom to risk failure, little will be done. A "failsafe" mentality will accomplish little -- what is needed is a safe-to-fail attitude.

 

Ministry. What is it? It is the activities done in carrying out mission. "Mission" is used instead of "Purpose" to underscore that, for the congregation, it is a given -- a given from Jesus Christ.

 

3.         Element:  Intentional Cooperation

 

Principle:  No matter how small or large a congregation may be, it is part of the Body of Christ, both through its denomination, and also through its relationship to other Christian congregations in its community. This relationship is expressed and strengthened through cooperation.

 

. . . Redirection of energy from competition to cooperation can release new potentials                                for ministry

. . . . Barriers are overcome by mutual affirmation of the partners

. . . . Sociological factors need consideration

 

When for long years the relationship of congregations in a community had been highly competitive with survival as each congregation's only goal, often sought even at the cost of another, it becomes a true transformation of values and a true spiritual revolution in a community when congregations (of people) begin to work together, to share together, to be mutually supportive.

 

Such a transformation becomes possible -- and is a real potential -- when mission (the purposes of Jesus Christ - the will of God) and ministry (the actions and strategies to accomplish that mission) determine the decisions.

 

Where cooperation is sought among local congregations, the more integrated the community to be served, the easier is the cooperation developed. This is simply a sociological fact. It ought to be considered.

 

Another factor is the relationship of people -- in dominant and supportive roles. There are instances ("Cathedral Ministry") where large congregations are in coalitions with small ones. Some of the better ministries are to be found in this pattern, but only where the large congregation acknowledges, affirms, and is supportive of the small congregations. However, it is hard -- perhaps impossible -- for a small congregation to enter such a relationship before they have experienced the affirmation.

 

There are restraints that keep congregations from entering upon cooperative efforts. There are also pressures that help them to enter into cooperation. It is helpful if these can be identified, admitted, and acknowledged. To do so will clear the air, help each to know both where they themselves are and where the other is, and make it possible to make decisions that will overcome the barriers to a healthy situation. The concept which we are speaking of here is the intentional union in mission of congregations having a purpose and will to carry out ministry as one body.

 

4.         Element:  Leadership

 

Principle:  The pastors and laity together must be supportive of the cooperative venture or it will not function.

 

. . . . Team building is an essential means

. . . . Laity is a key

. . . . Professional leaders are a key

 

The intensity of the need for person to person honesty is always great in a cluster; and this lays one of the great traps which often destroys the effectiveness of cooperative ventures. The trap again is that a means becomes the end: the leadership becoming involved in person to person relationships, in group life, etc., that they never get around to getting any work done. The entire leadership, laity and clergy, must be involved in team-building; and each must learn to function as "part of the team". This is a necessary element of clustered ministry. However, it must be remembered not team-building, but ministry is what it's all about.

 

Clusters or coalitions including these principles is the cooperation in ministry of congregations. A "cluster" that is really a cluster of clergy is weak to the point of hardly qualifying for the word "cluster". One person leaves, and it is no more. It may be re-created, but it must be re-created.

 

The laity have a role in leadership and decision-making that is essential in any expression of true cooperation among congregations, be it "cluster" or "coalition". The laity must be supportive of the venture; indeed, it must be their venture. The pastor's saying "yes" to cooperation and letting it happen if it will is not enough. The professionals in the situation need to be enthusiastically involved in making it happen, or it will not happen.

 

That means, in very practical terms, that each person professionally involved must be able to see opportunity for personal fulfillment in the potentials of the cluster; and not always are these opportunities for personal fulfillment to be found in the new potentials for ministry. Unless those opportunities for personal fulfillment are seen, at best the professional will say "yes", and let it happen if it will (which it won't), or, at worst, he/she will say "yes" in public while working in private to destroy the cooperative efforts. Better to be honest and say "no" to begin with than this latter. At least, the effort can be tried after he/she is out of the picture.

 

The professionals involved must either have or gain savvy of the potentials of cooperation -- potentials to be found in nurturing, developing, being supportive of, and supported by, and in capitalizing upon each other's strengths for ministry. This is difficult; and with this, too, any fall-short weakens the potential for ministry by means of the cluster. Until very recently, clergy were trained to be soloists, and those people attracted to the ministry were largely of the nature that would seek expression as soloists. So true is this that they may affirm the cluster, and mean it, and seek to work for it, but what comes out of the head and mouth does not become experience. There is hope here, at least the intention is present and honest; but called for are education, training, and a high degree of person-to-person honesty. These are needed always; the intensity of need for education about the new options opened, and training in the practice of cooperation varies with each cluster.

 

5.         Element:  Ownership

 

Principle:  People need to be responsible for their own ministry; the ministry people are performing must in fact be their ministry, on their initiative and on their decision.

 

. . . . Initiative ideally is from within

. . . . People feel more responsible for their own program

 

People have the need to be the architects of what they build. Thus future leadership, as it comes to responsibility, will more likely be affirming the past and stepping into the future still building together. A constant danger is that the clergy or the consultant become the only owners of the cooperation -- that they create their own package.

 

6.         Element:  Decision-Making

 

Principle:  Provision has to be made for the decision-making process within the structure.

 

. . . . Who decides what should be predetermined on the basis of who is affected

. . . . Decisions should be made on the basis of who is affected

 

Who makes the decisions? -- the pastors? -- selected lay leaders? -- the people in the congregations? -- the judicatories? -- the exterior support system (consultant, etc.)? -- the coordinator?  -- representative lay leaders?

 

Whose ministry is it? Yes, it is all of these, but ultimately that of the people in the congregations. There are many different kinds of decisions that are made in the conduct of ministry. Routine decisions dare not be expected to be made by all the congregations -- nothing would ever happen. But care should be taken that there is real ownership of both the ministry being performed, and of the structures through which that ministry is effected. To these ends every congregation should be represented in any group which will make decisions affecting them, i.e.: worship scheduling, personnel, identifying ministry. A formal constitution may not be desirable, but a clear statement of accepted procedures is necessary.

 

7.         Element:  Control and Management

 

Principle:  Coordination, or management and control, is a function that needs to be filled.

 

. . . . Responsibility has to be designated

. . . . Organize to fulfill your purpose

 

On his desk Harry Truman had a sign which read, "The Buck Stops Here". Who is accountable to whom and for what? Just as there are levels of decisions that are made, so also accountability has different "levels", and control and management are effected at different "levels".

 

In Lutheran congregational politics, the buck stops at the congregation in a congregational meeting. All else is determined by constitutions and procedural guidelines by whatever name. We leave ourselves open for unnecessary conflict when we do not reduce these to paper and the peculiar kind of clarity that that affords.

 

Conversely, coordination, or management and control, are functions that need to be filled. Coordination may be vested in a group, or in a person identified by election or employment for this purpose. There are many options.

 

The differing management styles of people ought not be confused with the function.

 

Coordination passes over into unilateral decision making when there is a crisis. In a crisis, who ultimately can give the instant answer that will be made to stick? This is the coordinating group or coordinator; and it is confusing when others assume that authority.

 

An element that belongs under "Control and Management" flows from the purpose. The purpose and goals are effective guides to organizational patterns.  Thus, we organize to do a job, to fulfill our purpose, to carry out our goals. To take somebody else's organizational pattern and impose it upon your goals is like taking a fishing rod to go hunting. If it works, it is only accidental.

 

8.         Element:  Evaluation

 

Principle:  Provision for evaluation should be established at the outset, including criteria and frequency.

 

. . . . Know what data is needed

. . . . Make evaluation a learning opportunity

 

The final evaluation cannot be made until all has been said and done. The final evaluation is less apt to be based on the highs or lows of the evaluators and more on a clear understanding of what is intended to have been done if the criteria of evaluation are determined as intentions, are identified, and goals themselves are set.

 

Evaluation, when done well, is less a judgement than a learning opportunity on the basis of which modifications may be made.

 

The most important evaluation begins at the beginning and continues to the end. Some circles call it "concurrent critique". It is to walk around with the interrogative "Why?"  "Why did we succeed?"  "Why did we fail?", including the more basic, "Why are we doing it anyway?"  It isn't easy to ask "why".

 

If the criteria of evaluation is determined as intentions are identified and as goals are set, then the data for evaluation is recognized and generated as you go along. Then evaluation is based on data and fact -- and not only upon feelings.

 

9.         Element:  Communication

 

Principle:  Free flowing, open and complete communication strengthens.

. . . . There needs to be provision for reporting

. . . . There needs to be provision for sharing

 

Communication is internal and external; it is reporting and sharing; it is writing history and publicity; it is telling to and dialoging with; at its best, communication is both giving and receiving.

 

Free flowing, open and complete communication strengthens. Operating on a "need to know" basis may be all right for international spies and national security, but in situations of cooperative effort among people, such a non-communicative style has the sound of paternalism and of something less than affirming people.

 

History and minutes are "reporting to".

 

Sharing ideas while they are still flexible, is one of the keys to dialogue -- and to new possibilities. There needs to be a readiness to hear people and to foster expression having candor. How to do it is perhaps the problem.

 

10.       Element:  Flexibility

 

Principle:   The ability to modify structure, even purpose, certainly ministry, in the light of experience, is a sign of health and life.

 

. . . . Building a lifestyle open to change is desirable

 

In different times and in different places, and with different circumstances, and with different people involved, the congregation involved in mission has found itself called into differing expressions. Where we are now does not need to be where we shall be two years from now.

 

Concurrent critique will enable constructive change. An openness to change is demanded by changing needs and perspective. Vision is recognizing where you are and where you could be. A lifestyle that looks upon change not as an enemy, but as a friend -- a part of life -- is necessary if any ministry, cooperative or not, is going to realize its potential.

 

11.       Element:  Outside Support (Consultant)

 

Principle:  The involvement of a consultant can give perspective, experience, resources, stability, and more options for ministry.

 

. . . . Recognize the need for and the usefulness of a consultant

. . . . Identify resource persons and what to expect from them

 

Being from outside the immediate ministry but related to it, perhaps the most important thing a consultant can do is to give ongoing exterior support to the ministry and to the people involved.

 

Such a consultant might be found in denominational staff persons or the ministry development personnel of an ecumenical agency, neighboring pastors or laity. There needs to be an agreement concerning mutual expectations between the consultant and congregations.

 

This person is also a catalyst. To so serve, he ought have a standing invitation to all meetings, even though he is not always in attendance, and be kept informed with all minutes, mailings, etc.

 

12.       Element:  Identity

 

Principle:  There is need to provide for both separate and corporate life.

 

. . . . Difference ought not be feared. Rejoice in them. Variety broadens the possibilities for effecting ministry.

 

. . . . There is need at once to preserve identity, to provide for accountability, and for recognition and life of each cooperating congregation/person.

 

The French have a word for it: Viva La Difference! They apply it differently, but its point is applicable: to identify, to acknowledge and to celebrate the differences among both the participating congregations and people makes for better results. This is more than tolerance, or even acceptance of differences. This is rejoicing in the differences because of the new possibilities for ministry that they make available.

 

A barrier to cooperation in ministry is the self-protective attitude, the feeling of some that autonomy is threatened by uniting efforts with another in ministry. The world being what it is, too often this attitude is appropriate. Therefore, built into the structure of the cooperative effort should be care to preserve identity, to provide for accountability and for recognition of each cooperating group/person.

 

Not everyone has to do everything. Provision should be made for individual congregations, not only to be able to speak to and contribute to corporate ministry, but also to address their personal concerns, such as finance and property -- and some ministry that they shall perform by themselves.

 

13.       Element:  Need for Recognition and Legitimatizing

 

Principle:  Cooperation is a legitimate means to perform ministry and needs to be affirmed.

 

. . . . Those involved need to be aware of and intentionally doing their ministry.

. . . . People, clergy and congregations have the need to be affirmed in their efforts to                                perform ministry, especially since they are doing things in other than the                             patterns of the past.

. . . . Judicatories can and ought to be supportive of efforts at cooperation in ministry.