Book Review: Alice Mann's "Can Our Church Live?" Alban Inst., 1999.
by Stewart Lanier on March 17, 2005 06:10PM (EST)
This book is a very good overview of the various issues and options for congregations seeking redevelopment.
Here are some of the questions and options that Mann raises:
Congregations need to address three formation questions:
1. Who are we? –Especially with regard to faith matters
2. What are we here for?
3. Who is our neighbor?
There are different kinds of congregational development work based on where the congregation is in the life cycle. [See George Bullard for more detail on implications of lifecycle for length and depth of redevelopment effort.]
1. Early decline – renewal
2. Later decline – revitalization
3. Late decline -- redevelopment
When the focus in decline is on blaming, and the congregation is not able to move beyond it into a more reflective learning stance, then death (sooner or later) is likely.
Redevelopment attempts are often “undercapitalized” [that is, the level of effort—spiritual, financial and political is underestimated.]
1. Spiritual failure = inability or unwillingness to accept that much of the congregations former identity must be let go, in order to accept a new spiritual identity
2. Financial failure = over optimistic revenue projects and/or under funding of ministry initiative
3. Political stalemate = inability to move through the resistance that will inevitably occur (it may come from internal or external sources)
Some questions to consider:
Suppose that it is true that society will never deliver people to the church’s doorstep again? How will your congregation respond to this?
How well equipped is your congregation to deliver the fundamentals of the Christian faith from scratch to inquirers and people with negative experiences/connotations with the church?
What is the core vocation of your congregation? --The ministry that members will pay any price to pursue? To whom is this ministry directed?
What are the central rituals of your congregation? –The repeated patterns that allow you and others to move into an uncritical, openness toward the holy? Do these rituals help you to face chaos: illness, death, societal upheaval, and conflict? [Are these rituals effective in incorporating new persons?]
Whom do you serve?
If answer is “our members” then church will be in decline—this is a diminishing group...
If other than members, then church will tend to draw new members, even though numeric growth is not a goal.
Characteristics of churches that grow, from Alan Klaas, a Lutheran researcher. Regardless of size or social context, the congregations that grow…
1. see themselves in mission beyond their current membership
2. have lay and clergy leaders that share a vision
3. are flexible in communicating an unchanging message
4. are action-oriented—are willing to take on challenges of size, money, or criticism.
A critical juncture comes when a congregation is increasingly aware of its declining resources but not fully open to tolerate change.
Options available to congregations:
1. Relocate
2. Merger
3. Dramatic transformation*
a. Change style and schedule of worship to relate to broader/different audience
b. Change size of congregation, and thus radically changing its culture
c. Leadership and membership shifts to a different demographic population
d. Shift to non-clergy centered ministry – a ministry of the laity congregation
4. Parallel development: launch a new congregation while providing chaplaincy to the existing congregation
a. New ministry get “prime time” of its choice
b. Chaplaincy ministry get 1/3 of pastoral time/energy
5. If you do not discern a call to any of the above, then your call may not be to redevelopment, but to intentional retirement
a. Part-time clergy with no expectations to grow
b. Yoked ministry, to maintain existing ministry
c. Hospice: plan a holy death
Thirteen competencies of a pastor suitable for church planting and redevelopment from an ELCA study by Charles R Ridley and Robert E. Logan. © 1998.
1. Visioning capacity
2. Personal motivation
3. Creating ownership for ministry
4. Reaching the unchurched
5. Spousal cooperation
6. Relationship building
7. Commitment to church growth
8. Responsiveness to community
9. Utilizes the giftedness of others
10. Flexibility and adaptability
11. Building group cohesiveness
12. Resilience
13. Exercising faith
P Stewart Lanier
978-772-0225
Stewart@Net1Plus.com
This book is a very good overview of the various issues and options for congregations seeking redevelopment.
Here are some of the questions and options that Mann raises:
Congregations need to address three formation questions:
1. Who are we? –Especially with regard to faith matters
2. What are we here for?
3. Who is our neighbor?
There are different kinds of congregational development work based on where the congregation is in the life cycle. [See George Bullard for more detail on implications of lifecycle for length and depth of redevelopment effort.]
1. Early decline – renewal
2. Later decline – revitalization
3. Late decline -- redevelopment
When the focus in decline is on blaming, and the congregation is not able to move beyond it into a more reflective learning stance, then death (sooner or later) is likely.
Redevelopment attempts are often “undercapitalized” [that is, the level of effort—spiritual, financial and political is underestimated.]
1. Spiritual failure = inability or unwillingness to accept that much of the congregations former identity must be let go, in order to accept a new spiritual identity
2. Financial failure = over optimistic revenue projects and/or under funding of ministry initiative
3. Political stalemate = inability to move through the resistance that will inevitably occur (it may come from internal or external sources)
Some questions to consider:
Suppose that it is true that society will never deliver people to the church’s doorstep again? How will your congregation respond to this?
How well equipped is your congregation to deliver the fundamentals of the Christian faith from scratch to inquirers and people with negative experiences/connotations with the church?
What is the core vocation of your congregation? --The ministry that members will pay any price to pursue? To whom is this ministry directed?
What are the central rituals of your congregation? –The repeated patterns that allow you and others to move into an uncritical, openness toward the holy? Do these rituals help you to face chaos: illness, death, societal upheaval, and conflict? [Are these rituals effective in incorporating new persons?]
Whom do you serve?
If answer is “our members” then church will be in decline—this is a diminishing group...
If other than members, then church will tend to draw new members, even though numeric growth is not a goal.
Characteristics of churches that grow, from Alan Klaas, a Lutheran researcher. Regardless of size or social context, the congregations that grow…
1. see themselves in mission beyond their current membership
2. have lay and clergy leaders that share a vision
3. are flexible in communicating an unchanging message
4. are action-oriented—are willing to take on challenges of size, money, or criticism.
A critical juncture comes when a congregation is increasingly aware of its declining resources but not fully open to tolerate change.
Options available to congregations:
1. Relocate
2. Merger
3. Dramatic transformation*
a. Change style and schedule of worship to relate to broader/different audience
b. Change size of congregation, and thus radically changing its culture
c. Leadership and membership shifts to a different demographic population
d. Shift to non-clergy centered ministry – a ministry of the laity congregation
4. Parallel development: launch a new congregation while providing chaplaincy to the existing congregation
a. New ministry get “prime time” of its choice
b. Chaplaincy ministry get 1/3 of pastoral time/energy
5. If you do not discern a call to any of the above, then your call may not be to redevelopment, but to intentional retirement
a. Part-time clergy with no expectations to grow
b. Yoked ministry, to maintain existing ministry
c. Hospice: plan a holy death
Thirteen competencies of a pastor suitable for church planting and redevelopment from an ELCA study by Charles R Ridley and Robert E. Logan. © 1998.
1. Visioning capacity
2. Personal motivation
3. Creating ownership for ministry
4. Reaching the unchurched
5. Spousal cooperation
6. Relationship building
7. Commitment to church growth
8. Responsiveness to community
9. Utilizes the giftedness of others
10. Flexibility and adaptability
11. Building group cohesiveness
12. Resilience
13. Exercising faith
P Stewart Lanier
978-772-0225
Stewart@Net1Plus.com
posted by Congregation Renewal Associates at
8:30 PM
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