Crossing the Muddy Jordan:

1
Crossing the Muddy Jordan

• Navigating Congregational Transformation

The Discipleship Clergy Collaborative
MACUCC Plenary Oct. 31, 2008
2

• "The world for which you have been so carefully
  prepared
• is being taken away from you
• . . . by the grace of God."
• --Walter Brueggemann

3
Crossing the Muddy Jordan
Joshua 3 1-17
4
The Way We Live Now
The End of Christendom --Loss of Christianity as
the American civic religion Culture Shift
The Ground Shakes Beneath Our Feet --Rise of
pluralism, secular atheism -- Erosion of
Christian identity (rupture/weakening of our
traditioning processes) The24/7 Tsunami
--Individuals torn away from building shaping
community (people swamped, depleted) --Calls
into question efforts aimed at attending
to institutional maintenance Muddy sense of
congregational purpose
5
THEN NOW
6
THEN (the 1700s) Over two thirds of the
congregations in the colonies were either
Congregationalist or Anglican (Episcopalian).
NOW There are more practicing Muslims in the US
than Episcopalians and UCCers combined.
7
THEN (the 1950s) The phrase under God was
added to the Pledge of Allegiance and prayers
were routinely offered in the public schools.
NOW Prayer is forbidden at all public school
events, including graduation ceremonies
8
THEN Every respectable and upwardly mobile
citizen was expected to be in church on Sunday
morning. NOW The culture is usually
indifferentand sometimes hostileto people of
faith.
9
THEN (1965) There were 34 UCC churches in the
Massachusetts Conference with over a thousand
members. NOW There are 3.
10
THEN When someone moved into a new community,
one of the first things they would do is join a
church. NOW If someone decides to join a
church, it is only after a long process of
deliberation and soul-searching.
11
THEN Those unaffiliated with a church were
baptized and preparation for baptism was largely
a matter of communicating the logistics of the
ceremony. NOW More churches have classes for
those seeking to have their children baptized.
12
THEN New member orientation was deemed
sufficient. NOW Many churches worry if mere
orientation is sufficient.
13
THEN Stores were closed on Sundays. NOW
Sunday is the second busiest shopping day of the
week.
14
THEN Sermons preached from important pulpits
were often quoted or reviewed in Monday mornings
newspaper. NOW That is even hard to imagine.
15
THEN Sermons often quoted a wide range of
secular authorities. NOW Sermons, often
following the lectionary, tend to lean more
heavily on an exposition of the Biblical text.
16
THEN The focus of church mission outreach was
on denominationally sponsored foreign missions.
NOW The focus of church mission outreach is
on hands-on efforts.
17
THEN A civic organization would be expected to
have at least one clergy on its board and would
ask him to offer a prayer before meetings.
NOW A civic organization will sometimes have
a clergyperson on its board, but would not ask
him or her to offer a prayer.
18
THEN The authority of the pastor of a local
church was widely recognized in the community, as
well as within the church. NOW The authority
of the pastor of a local church is recognized
only within the church (and sometimes not even
there).
19
THEN The role of the laity was to help pastors
do ministry. NOW The role of the clergy is
to equip laity for their ministry.
20
THEN We relied on volunteers. NOW We
extend calls.
21
THEN The action was in the boards and
committees of the church. NOW The excitement
is around ministry teams.
22
THEN Congregations were governed like
democracies. NOW Congregations utilize
discernment as a spiritual practice.
23
THEN We emphasized membership. NOW We
nurture discipleship.
24
Can anyone spell sea change?
25
We live in a time when Christianity is in the
awkwardly intermediate stage . . . of having once
been culturally established, but not yet clearly
disestablished. - George Lindbeck
26
Our Group
27

• Initial Musings -
• How to counter the identified problems?

Hire more staff?
Restructure for Two Years
????
Convert to a cyber-church --no need to leave home!
Hold More Meetings!
(aka floundering stage)
PRAY ALL DAY?
28
Complicating Factors
How are we to live into the Adaptive
Challenge? Ron Heifetz
29
Ron Heifetz Leadership Without Easy Answers
(1994, Harvard Press)
TECHNICAL FIX When the problem is clear and
known solutions are applied by experts using
existing techniques
ADAPTIVE RESPONSE Based on the discovery of
answers not already known, as discerned by the
collective. Living into the new
wisdom requires risk, change, and possible
loss.
30
II. Common Problems/Roadblocks

• Enough Motivation for Change?
• Tony Robinson Healthy congregations have lower
  
• levels of surfaced distress, which sometimes
• means a lower amount of energy for change.
• b) Enough Commitment for Change?
• Progressive Christianity prides itself in its
• open acceptance. But do our porous boundaries
• set the bar low in terms of commitment?
• c) A Common Language for Change?
• The unchurched, the post-churched, and
• preaching to the choir! How to communicate?

31
The D Word
32
Our APPROACH
Discernment. Waiting. Studying. Praying.
Questioning. Seeking . . .
Together. Collaborative solidarity.
33
Some Common Marks of Churches Living into a New
Model

• Emphasis on an experiential pursuit of God
• Embrace of SPIRITUAL PRACTICES - used
  corporately and individually - to establish a
  deeper connection with God.
• Revitalized grounded WORSHIP.
• FORMATION vs. Education, for all ages.
•  

34
Common Marks (cont.)

• Intentional Infrastructure built to support
  Core Values (not maintenance of status quo)
• Clear understanding of congregational PURPOSE
• Alignment of congregational resources to
  optimally pursue that purpose (FOCUS)
• Flexible MINISTRY TEAMS -- discernment of gifts
  passions of the laity

35
Common Marks (cont.)

• Recovery of Heritage
• Recovery of classical TRADITIONS -- imaginative
  adaptation of enlivening things from the past
• Recovery of CHRISTIAN IDENTITY, even amid
  diverse theological understandings
•  
• Recovery of TRADITIONING (passing down the
  wisdom of the Christian traditions) as a priority
  
•  

36
Common Marks (cont.)

• Embrace of Christian Discipleship
• Creation of an infrastructure which facilitates
  an experience of MOVEMENT GROWTH for all
  individuals . . . development of stages of faith.
• An overarching call to DISCIPLESHIP permeates
  the congregation

37
OBSERVATIONS
Transformation will look different in each
congregation, based on many variables history,
context, leadership styles, gifts, geography, and
so on. Each congregation, via discernment, must
come to know its own unique purpose . . . its own
call longings. Congregational purpose must be
well-defined (not vaguei.e. to love our
neighbors), and should be easily articulated by
all.
38
OBSERVATIONS (cont.)
Attempts to put this living thing into
pre-packaged systems steps will fail . . .
because it is Spirit-driven. We must now
understand our work to be the creation of
conditions such that our churches again become
shapers of Christian identity.
39
THE RIVER CROSSING

• The Plains of Moab . . . are you just beginning
• to hear the call to a new journey?
• 2. The Shores of the Jordan . . . can you hear
• the roar of the water as you rally the troops to
  put surf shoes on?
• 3. In the River . . . are you working hard to
  keep
• your head above the muddy water?

4. On the Far Side . . . are you handing out
towels, wondering whats next? 5. Walking
Towards the Promised Land . . . is the Jordan
behind you, and Canaan is on the horizon? 6. The
Promised Landliving as a transformed community
40
Our Stories

• Snapshots of UCC Churches
• in the Midst of Change

41
A Key Finding The Role of the Pastor in Leading
Transformation
42
Leadership is a function of a social system.
Since the social system (culture) has changed,
so too must leadership. But what does that
look like?
43
Tension between two poles
CEO- Pastor (imposing a vision from on high)
Placeholder Pastor
(caretaker of the status quo)
VS.
Passive Cheerleader Pastor
Master Puppeteer Pastor
44
What is MY role in transformation? What do I
need to be effective?
45
The Pastoral Virtues

• Reclaiming the gifts and habits of heart mind

46

• I Choose You Trusting God's Call
• I Do and I Will Pastoral Authority
• A Scribe in the Kingdom A Sense of the Church
• Eyes on the Prize Seeing Evangelically
• Grace upon Grace Devotional Depth

47
Q ASmall Group Questions
48
Top 10 Take-Aways

• 10. The old New England adage, If it ain't
  broke, don't fix it, is not helpful in the
  current climate. Once something is broken, it is
  often too late to fix it.
• 9. In this new era, we all need each other.
  Part of the transformation initiative reflects a
  larger paradigm-shift in our culture the rise of
  social networking. The challenge for many pastors
  might be in learning how to ask for help. . . and
  then to receive it. Collaboration expands
  possibilities.

49

• 8. I don't know what the secret to success is,
  but I know that the secret of failure . . . is to
  try to please everyone.  (Bill Cosby)
• 7. A sense of crisis can paralyze a church, but
  a sense of urgency helps us grow
• 6. It cant happen without you, Pastor, but . .
  .
• its not up to you, Pastor!
• (We, as leaders of churches, need to first be
  the change we are hoping to facilitate.  In this
  new time, a transformed heart is the primary
  leadership tool God uses to bring about a new
  kind of church).

50

• 5. Christendom is a hard, hard habit to break,
  especially as the alternative reality and its
  disciplines remain unnamed.  Maybe this is why
  Augustine said, Sin boldly!
• 4. Transformation doesnt always feel like
  progress. Sometimes it feels like chaos and
  regression. Thats because the it (where were
  being led by God) isnt always clear till were
  there.

51

• 3. Communication is crucial! Repeat the message
  everywhere, all the time, in every medium
  possible. Status quo is default mode if we
  want to change it we have to WORK to get vision
  into the lingo, imagination and experience of the
  congregation.
• 2. The words of the living Christ, seek first
  the reign of God...and all these things will be
  given as well . . .
• free us to put aside our anxieties about
  survivability,
• so that we can ask instead How do our words
  and deeds praise God and embody the Gospel?

52
1. Theres no singular resource that will tell
you how to do it in your congregation. Its an
adaptive challenge. Its discernment. Its
God.
53
Tonys Rule of Thumb

• D V FS gt R

VISION
FIRST STEPS
DISTRESS
OVERCOMES
RESISTANCE
54
Closing thoughts
1. Transformative work in congregations is
worthwhile. 2. In trying to move forward, weve
re-discovered that pastors play a unique role in
the process.
55

• CLOSING

Wed love to hear your comments
feedback! E-mail us dcc_at_afterchristendom.com