ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 24, 2005
Lutherans Train To Start New Congregations
05-152-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 200 pastors and lay leaders
whose vocation is to provide visions for starting new
congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) gathered here Aug. 19-23 for the annual ELCA Mission
Developers' Training Conference.
"A mission developer is a leader who has the call and the
gifts to create a new congregation in the ELCA," said the Rev.
Ruben F. Duran, executive for new congregational development,
ELCA Division for Outreach.
The conference was the first to include Lutheran mission
developers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the
North Elbion Lutheran Church in Germany and leaders from several
ethnic communities of the ELCA. Participants discussed in small
group and plenary sessions the "dos" and "don'ts" of mission
development, heard some common characteristics among healthy,
growing congregations, and put together six-month plans to start
new ministries. Participants also learned "guiding principles"
for starting new congregations through Bible study and keynote
presentations.
A strategic direction of the ELCA churchwide organization is
to assist members and congregations of the church to "grow in
evangelical outreach." Part of that direction includes a goal to
start 54 new ministries in 2005, said Duran. The conference
served to "train mission developers who will work to start
forming those new congregations," he said.
"Starting a new ministry grows the ELCA, and that growth
comes from the margin," Duran told participants at the beginning
of an Aug. 23 plenary session. Mission developers and directors
divided into small groups to finalize and share their six-month
plans for starting new ministries in their geographic and ethnic
contexts.
"How are you going to find people for Jesus Christ, and how
are you going to start and shape your ministry? If you want to
change your church, show me your six-month plan. We're giving
you the freedom you need with [Lutheran] identity and theology to
begin your ministry. This is your window of opportunity," Duran
said.
In an Aug. 22 plenary about "what works in mission
development and some common mistakes," the Rev. Ernie Hinojosa,
Camino Real Christian Fellowship, San Antonio, told participants
that "whether you are starting a new mission or re-starting, it
is helpful to define the mission, vision and core values" of your
ministry context. He said, "It's about what God wants to do with
God's people."
During the plenary session Hinojosa, the Rev. Daniel L.
McKnight, Kaw Prairie Community Church, Lenexa, Kan., and the
Rev. Patricia R. Woods, Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Oswego,
Ill., commented on four "leadership basics" -- "keep the vision
clear," "get the people engaged," "make your gatherings
memorable" and "pace yourself."
"Know the distinction between leading and pastoring,"
McKnight told participants.
"Learn how to say 'no.' Pastors don't know how to say 'no,'
but leaders do," said Woods.
According to participant Jimmy Hao, Grace Chinese Lutheran
Church, Seattle, the "role of a pastor is not to be the boss." A
pastor is called to "administering the Word and Sacrament," as
well as "empowering members of the congregations into leadership
so all can carry out the mission." Hao said Grace Chinese
Lutheran Church became an official congregation of the ELCA on
May 15.
"Most of the members at Grace Chinese Lutheran Church are
new Christians or newly baptized," Hao said. Before becoming an
organized congregation, "we focused on teaching the Lutheran
Confessions. Members were not necessarily clear on Lutheran
doctrines," he said, but "what is clear is that the Word of God
changed people's lives. We are still inviting people."
"There's a great amount of diversity among people and
languages. Members are from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong
Kong, and others are second-generation, American-born Chinese.
Worship services are conducted in Chinese and English," Hao said.
For Hao, the conference provided an opportunity to learn
about the diversity of other new mission starts, particularly in
worship. "Every worship centers on the order -- gathering, Word,
Meal and sending -- but congregations include unique cultural
gifts. That is very liberating for me," said Hao.
The Rev. Eric Krushel, Coquitlan, B.C., Canada, chair of the
Canadian Missions Committee, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Canada (ELCIC), said pastors of the ELCIC have been attending the
training conference every year "because we've found it to be
valuable in helping to give our pastors a mission perspective of
the church."
"The vision of the ELCIC is to be 'a church in mission for
others.' Under the vision there are three strategic directions,
which include an impetus to continue starting new congregations
and, at the same time, to find ways to revitalize our existing
congregations, equipping them for ministry in a changing world,"
he said.
"Our challenge is to move from an idea of maintaining to
becoming more mission-minded and outward-looking," Krushel said.
"It's also been the ELCIC's temptation to see and replicate
what American churches are doing, and that isn't working," he
said, adding that the ELCA's training conference has helped
participants move from "programs -- a cookie-cutter approach to
revitalizing church, which assumes that every congregational
context is similar -- to principles. We're moving into a new
paradigm that identifies certain principles or characteristics of
healthy, growing churches, and encouraging congregations to work
on developing those characteristics as they discern God's unique
vision and purpose."
Participants spent a significant part of their time together
learning about "Natural Church Development," a tool or system of
understanding congregational life that links healthy
congregational life with congregational growth. The system --
originated in Germany and developed as a global instrument --
offered eight common characteristics among healthy, growing
congregations.
Characteristics most associated with the first stages of
development in the ELCA include "passionate spirituality, loving
relationships and gifts-oriented ministry," said Duran.
"The mission developers need to draw from the depths of
their relationships with God and their Lutheran identity in order
to lead and shepherd new communities of faith. That's why
passionate spirituality is important," he said.
"Building loving relationship is also important, because
mission developers need to fall in love with their community and
welcome the love in return," Duran said.
"From the very beginning, the mission developer will also be
on the lookout for people with special abilities given to them by
the Holy Spirit. The developer harnesses those gifts and
provides opportunities for people to use those gifts in the
effort to start a new congregation and be involved in God's
mission in the world," he said.
Duran said the heart of the conference was "about leadership
development for people who are going to start churches. The
number one priority is focusing on the spiritual life of the
leader. The second priority is to learn a process for guiding
groups to identify the purpose for a new congregation and the
principles by which they are going to make decisions. Jesus is
the foundation of the church." Duran added that "the mission
developer surrounds herself or himself with leaders of a
particular community to develop a common vision and purpose,
engaging their community with ministry according to their context
and opportunities around them in order to participate in the
mission of God in the world."
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
