Cultivate Urgency for Change

The God we serve and the Gospel we celebrate are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; however, living out and communicating the Good News must be culturally relevant to the people that are now living in our community if we are to be fruitful in ministry to them.  Those congregations that have effective ministries are constantly discovering new wineskins for holding the new wine of discipleship (Mark 2:22).  Doing this requires that leaders intentionally cultivate an urgency for change in their congregation.  As an airplane without sufficient momentum will not lift off the runway, so a congregation without sufficient urgency for change will lack the motivation to join Jesus in more fruitful ministry to their community. Urgency for change can be intentionally cultivated by helping congregational members have heartfelt clarity about and experience the propelling tension between (1) Christ’s purposes for His Church, (2) their community’s needs and (3) their congregation’s current reality.

Christ’s purposes for His Church: The Church belongs to our Lord.  In a very real sense, it is not “our” congregation at all.  Since Jesus holds the franchise, His purposes take precedence over our preferences.  While there may be a variety of ways to express it, United Methodist’s have summarized the Biblical mission of the Church as “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  Furthermore, we have affirmed that congregations fulfilling Christ’s historic mission are involved in five fundamental practices:

• Cultivating a congregation capable of Passionate Worship,

• Extending Radical Hospitality to their community and the next generation,

• Intentionally Discipling persons into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ,

• Sending out Salty Servants into the community and the world, and

• Encouraging followers to pour themselves out in Extravagant Generosity. 

To learn more about and find resources on The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations,    also known as The Methodist Way of Discipling, click below.

These five interconnected practices make up the essential, disciple-making core process of every congregation whose ministry is fruitful.   They can also give a congregation a common language and way of talking about Christ’s purposes for them as they “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Helping your congregation be both clear about these five practices and emotionally committed to them takes ongoing attention.  Through preaching, teaching and study a congregation can be reminded of Christ’s purposes for His congregation.  When making decisions they can be challenged to realize that loyalty to Christ’s purposes (“Who discerns this to be God’s desire now for our congregation?” takes priority over our preferences (“Who would like us to do this?”).  People can be urged to recognize the difference between choosing to maintain their membership through ministries and programs that are comfortably cherished by them – and choosing to do whatever it takes to join Jesus in life-changing, fruitful mission to their community. 

A congregation is married to its community in ministry.  To talk about how a congregation is doing apart for their effectiveness in ministering to the community, is like asking someone how their marriage is doing without ever finding out how their spouse feels about it!  The five practices need to be seen against the backdrop of the world to have scriptural integrity.  See the verses below with emphasis added:

• For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:16-17)

• You are the light of the world.  (Matthew 5:14)

• Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  (Mark 16:15)

• God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

As you can see in the diagram below,
three of the five practices move a congregation out into the world!

Our community’s needs: A congregation is the primary strategy of our Annual Conference for influencing and reaching a community for Christ.  Congregations are married missionally to their community.  Demographic information is available for any congregation in our Conference for free through missioninsite.com. 
                 For first-time users, download the following start up information.

Consider calling together a taskforce of persons who are trusted by the congregation and gifted for researching and communicating demographic trends and community needs.  Ask them to put together a presentation and a booklet on the community’s trends and needs using both narrative and charts.  They may also want to interview key leaders in the community (school officials, police chief, city or county commissioners, and/or heads of different helping organizations in your community) about the trends and needs they are seeing.  Tell the story then in terms of people and families with feeling and compassion: these are the people that need Christ in us and through us!

Our congregation’s current reality: Often persons define the health of their congregation institutionally.  “As long as the bills and apportionments are paid and charge conference forms are filled out well and turned in on time – well, we are doing fine, right?”  Not right.  Christ is primarily concerned with how your congregation is doing missionally!  Consider calling together another taskforce to gather these statistics for your congregation over the last 10 years and present them creatively and graphically to your congregation.

• Passionate Worship:  What is the average annual attendance at your primary worship services?

• Radical Hospitality:  What is the annual number of persons that have joined your congregation by Professions of Faith and Reaffirmation of Faith?

• Intentional Discipleship:  What is the number of persons involved in small-groups aimed at intentionally helping persons to become more like Christ?  As important as this overall number is, it is also insightful to look at it as a percentage of your average worship attendance each year.

• Salty Service:  How many persons are involved annually in ministries of mercy and justice in your community and beyond your own members?  This may be the most difficult practice to quantify because United Methodists have not been asked to keep records in this vital area previously.  Again, it may be helpful to look at the percentage of your average worship attendance that is involved in blessing your community through salty service.

• Extravagant Generosity: What is the trend of giving to the congregation’s budget and capital concerns?  This might also be expressed in terms of giving per average worshiper annually.  Additional information in this area might include the percent of connectional askings (apportionments) paid each year and the amount of unpaid connectional bills at the end of each year (pastor’s pension and health insurance, property and casualty insurance, and workman’s compensation). 
  

After looking at the facts of these trends, engage your congregation in discussions evaluating these ministry practices more qualitatively.  For example: Are people encountering Christ afresh and becoming more obedient disciples in our worship services?  How do the demographics of our congregation compare to the demographics of our community?  How are we having a Kingdom influence on the needs in our community? Are the members of our congregation increasing in their Christ-likeness and in their obedience to all that Christ has taught us?  If your congregation disappeared tonight, would the community mourn the loss of their blessings and influence?  Are more persons tithing and restructuring their finances in ways that enable them to respond to needs generously?

Making the case for change: by continually drawing attention to and helping persons experience the tension between (1) Christ’s purposes for His Church, (2) the people and needs of the community, and (3) the congregation’s actually record of ministry, urgency for change is cultivated and maintained.  Leaders who wish their congregation to improve their effectiveness in ministry must convincingly make the case for change and help persons experience their own desire for change.  Otherwise they have no reason or motivation not to continue doing what they have been doing – even when it may be painfully clear to outsiders that their past ways of being in ministry is no longer effective in the current community.