Resource List

A "Second" Worship Service? (Contemporary i.e. culturally appropriate)

Chart of Churches Planted by Different Denominations

[Note: 3/2000 This document was written in the Winter of 1997. It gives some background to the Shifting Models Design I'm currently espousing. However the current design is more Systematic with 3 Phases each containing 3 Steps. A church could implement Phase I without dealing with Phase 2 and 3. Like people, it depends upon the church's call. The Steps in this document followed our experience as it happened to us as a church. The order of the Steps I'm currently suggesting, follows a format that would be more Systematic and easier to implement.]

November 1997

To: Our CT Conference Ministers & Associations
Re: One view on the possibilities for the Local Church

Hi All !

I was reading Davida’s (our conference minister) address to the Oct. 1997, CT. Conference and a number of thoughts came to mind. Some of these I’ve shared with Judy Hjorth and Matt McCaffrey, but wanted to try to systematize those and some others into a reflection on the potential of the local church in the United Church of Christ in CT.

Like the Conference adapted to the shifting paradigm of the church on the Conference level, I believe that the churches - if we are to be faithful - need to shift our paradigm as well. I have heard some reflections as to what needs to happen: Plant churches, reflect on the music in the life of our churches, and freeing pastors up to equip and teach members about the fundamentals of the faith, to name a few.

What I would like to do in this document is to suggest How we put together a Systematic Process to help the local church shift it’s paradigm from generations past to generations present and future.

From "Who’s the problem" to "What’s the problem!"

Davida’s address to the CT Conference at the annual meeting, noted some of the frustrations experienced in local churches. For example, Davida notes that "if all they [frustrated church members] are interested in is "success" in the world’s terms, it is easy for them to blame the pastor, or the denomination."

Following is an example of how frustrated clergy feel in a letter we just recently received from the "First Protestant Church" of New Braunfels, TX who want to start their own denomination!:

"There are many of us in the United Church of Christ who have fought against the radical, liberal, leftist agenda of our denomination’s leadership for all or part of the last forty years.... Over these many years many of us have tried to work within the denomination. May of us have joined various renewal or reform groups attempting to call our church back to faithfulness from within. Meanwhile, we have watched many of our churches, many of our pastors, and many more of our members slip away. Although our church finds itself compelled to speak out on every conceivable issue and always from a leftist point of view, scarcely ever has our church been willing to address the hemorrhaging of our membership or attendance. ..." (Note: According to the UCC Statistical Review in 1995 we lost 45 churches and in 1996 we lost 56 churches.)

My concern with either of these comments is that pointing fingers in any direction (clergy, denomination, laity that are historically or biblically challenged, etc.!) only highlights the grave nature of the state we currently find ourselves in.
This isn’t a problem with people (clergy, denominational folks, frustrated or challenged laity) what we are dealing with is a Systematic problem. We have allowed ourselves to remain in a system that can only maintain <100 to 200 people per church (88.5% of UCC churches). So when our churches plateau at those levels, we all get frustrated.

We get frustrated because we see the needs around us and realize that with the current System or "way of doing/being church" we just can not take care of any more needs. That is because our current system or way of being church is to hire someone to "care" for "our" folks. Any care giver would max out long before 200 people!

Frustration leads to "let’s blame somebody." Laity blame clergy, get rid of some, get others, generally find themselves in the same position. (Occasionally they find someone "charismatic" only to find that when that person leaves, they are back to where they started.)

Clergy blame laity, move on to be with others, and find themselves in a similar position. Sometimes they hang in there and decide to focus on taking care of those that are there, since not too many others are coming! (If others do come, others rotate out. We call them "inactive!" Actually they just don’t have the attention of the Pastor as much as they use to so they leave or we haven’t provided them with an understanding of their ministry and gifts to accomplish that ministry, so they leave.) The numbers on the roles may even continue to go up, but the worship attendance remains the same.

Some churches shift the blame to the denomination. The answer in their minds is to, "get out of the UCC." (I’m not recommending we use the denomination as a target either, but it does leave the clergy and laity working together! Yet their support system is rather shallow and unless highly motivated their mission focus remains weak.) They too find that in or out of the denomination, their ability to either take in, minister to, and disciple new people or up their commitment to issues of mission and service, or justice and peace, is no different than when they were members. They may be even less able to actually do ministry after the rush of taking on and standing up to some "bad guy" (i.e. the denomination - which by-the-way in their mind is "something" and not "someone" and therefore is higher moral ground to focus frustrations on!)

Never-the-less, after the "crisis" (with clergy, laity, or denomination) fades, we are still left with the same situation. A system that keeps us from ministering faithfully as God calls us to minister in our communities. (Personally I think it’s higher moral ground to blame the system anyway, instead of all those faithful & frustrated clergy, laity, or denominational folks!)

"It’s the System dummy!"

Suppose 100 people came to each of our churches tomorrow. Would they still be there 6 months later? Not using our current system of ministry. (Some might be, but others that were members already would be gone, and the actual number of participants would remain the same.) Yet somehow Jesus managed to structure a system that was able to handle 3000 who came into the fellowship in one day!

We are currently immersed in a System that keeps 88.5% of UCC churches with less than 200 people attending worship on an average Sunday. (the state of the UCC, 1996 - statistical review, p. 25) If #’s aren’t important to you, I’d suggest they represent people, God’s creation, and their commitment to the Call of our Lord and Savior will make a huge difference in the amount of Justice and Peace that our churches, communities, schools, homes, and work places experience in the 21st. century.

I also agree, in principle, with Davida’s comment that "nothing will be more important in this next decade than the role of the ordained minister as theologian and teacher of the flock." By principle I mean that those clergy working out of what I call the "Moses" paradigm will suggest this means one thing and those working out of the "Jethro" paradigm will suggest it means something very different. At least in the way it gets worked out. Allow me to explain. (See Exodus 18 - "Shifting Desert Paradigms" or from Jethro’s point of view, "How can I get my daughter and grandchildren to go home to Moses instead of camping out at my place for the next 40 years!")

"Moses" clergy may see it as their job to teach all the flock. That will keep them busy, tired, and retired early! Jethro clergy will see it as their joy to teach a leadership group, who will then go on to train other leaders who will then go on to train other leaders and so on and so on.

Writing out of a business perspective Eliyahu Goldratt says we need to be moving: "towards the avenue of re-examining the foundations of the system, in order to find the minimum number of changes needed to create an environment in which the problem simply cannot exist." Theory of Constraints, p. 37. In other words, the frustrations we are currently experiencing in our churches is due to the system. The foundation of how we "do church" is what needs to change so the problems and frustrations simply can’t exist.

The author of the E-Myth takes it to a personal level: "You will be forced to find a system that leverages your ordinary people to the point where they can produce extraordinary results." E-Myth, p. 61. Now that sounds like the Spirit at work in the church if you ask me! The problem with the system we have now, is that it doesn’t empower ordinary people (and can even discourage extraordinary people!) I’m afraid our current system is trying to hold on to what was, and isn’t able to adapt to what is, and what will be.

Phase I - "Getting Ready" - Creating Systems of Caring/Training
Moving from a Moses Model to a Jethro Model

This relates to Davida’s comment on clergy being the teacher of the flock. To move the model more from Moses to Jethro, I’d suggest the clergy teach leaders who then teach and care for the flock. (When Todd Williams was pasturing here he suggested that his job was to train the sheep dogs and then they were to gather the sheep.)

[Update note 3/2000: The "Steps" as they are outlined in this article are an earlier conceptualization. The steps today follow this outline: Devotion (Prayer: Intercessors, Lighthouses, and the Faithful Format); Discipleship (Training: Alpha & Omega, using Faithful Format model); Deployment (Ministry: in the church like small groups, mentoring, children & youth and outside the church like Habitat, Heifer Project, Local Needs and Issues or Justice and Peace, World Needs and Issues, using Faithful Format model.)]

STEP A: Current Systems -
Shifting them Biblically with the Faithful Format

Ever hear: "All churches want is my time and my money and I get nothing in return!" Ouch! Or: "This is my last year on this committee, and I can’t wait till it’s over!" That might give us a clue that people who were hoping to develop or continue their spiritual journey, were not finding what they were looking for in committee work.

In one church we implemented a Biblical process for committees to follow, one deacon said, "I don’t know if it’s because of our new format or what, but I’ve been a deacon for two other terms and this is the first time that I am going to miss going off this committee. I’m going to miss working with you people."

At a mentoring lunch, at my current church, one mentor mentioned that people say things like the quote above, "All churches want is my time and my money and I get nothing in return!" and then added, "But we’re not like that." Another mentor, the chairperson of our Diaconate board, said: "If you remember, we were like that... before we began to use the Faithful Format in our meetings."

The Faithful Format is a process taken from insights in Acts 2:42 regarding how the early church structured their lives together. Instead of focusing just on agenda items ("all they want is my time .... and I get nothing in return!") We structure in time for Worship, Fellowship "How are you today?" (in 2’s) then the Agenda, and before leaving time for 2’s to share prayer requests, finally closing with the Lord’s Prayer.

People experiencing this four fold process don’t have to "act out" during the agenda time to get unconscious needs meet. The result is more people feel spiritually cared for, a team consciousness develops, it’s an easy (and Biblical) model to train people in, and God is acknowledged at the beginning and the end.

We not only implemented this structure in our committees but also in our groups (children, youth, adults), teams, staff meetings, one-to-one meetings, our annual budget meeting and sometimes even during telephone conversations.

The modification is "being intentional" about acknowledging God and one another before we do "business!" And then praying for one another before closing with acknowledging God in the Lord’s prayer.

The first Step in "Getting Ready" is to Modify the current structures so they are life giving instead of life draining!

Step B: The Body - "Go, Baptize, & Teach to obey"
Systems of ministry to support & free up Pastoral Ministry

Mark Warren, Lyman Coleman and others suggest that our churches tend to exist with the following configuration:

Percentage of People	Church Metaphor	Group
10 %	Altar	Leadership Core
30%	Pew	Congregation
60%	Narthex	Fringe - Loosely related
+ potentials	Outside the Doors	The Community

Jesus used [experienced] a similar model:

Percentage of People	Group	Jesus' relationship with this group
10%	The 4 & the 12	Mentored the 4 and Discipled the 12
30%	The 70	Facilitated their Spiritual Development
60%	The 120	Shepherd for the 120
+ potentials	Multitudes	Visionary Teacher

This outline comes from Robert Loran’s "Focus of Influence" (handout from 3-ring on Preparing Laborers for the Harvest). He suggests, and I would agree, that the last two levels call for the Greatest Demand, but actually are the least significant. The first two levels he says have the greatest significance and are the least demanding! Interesting. If we were to view these as models of ministry, which did Jesus spend most of his time on and where do we spend most of our time? I fear we do more shepherding and less facilitating, discipling, and mentoring! Is it any wonder we have so much clergy burn out, lots of demand with little significance to show for it.

The Moses model shepherd’s the 120 to 200 and the Jethro model tries to create systems (teams) that deal with the basic needs of each of the major groups so Moses (the pastor) can focus on training others to minister (using their gifts). (That is, setting people free to use the gifts that God has given them to use and to find the purpose for which they were gifted.) The goal would be to minister to those in the 60% and draw them into the 30% which grow into the 10% who realize their gifts and are encouraged to use those gifts in ministry to the community, where people respond by coming to the church as a part of the new 60%, etc. etc.

Now if you are reading into this that we’re going back to training the laity to do the Pastor’s job, please bear with me! If you want to free people to use their gifts in their daily lives, you first have to free the system that is keeping you from training them to do just that. Second, that type of thinking is from the old model of ministry. The new model sees the Pastor’s job modeled by Jethro and Jesus. Leadership Training!

God provides the gifts needed. And I believe some are called to the ministries within the church. (After all, the church is the people, not the clergy!) For example to focus on the 10% I am currently mentoring about 10 people on a 1-1 basis with the idea that they will do the same after about 20 weeks. (I’ve begun to notice that those in the mentoring program are applying their faith at home and work on a daily basis by the stories they tell. So while I’m training them to do what some might consider an "in church" ministry, i.e. mentoring, they are taking those same tools and applying them at home and work long before they have completed even 4 weeks of training!)

We’ve also trained small group leaders to lead small groups. (In Phase I we’ll call them small groups. In Phase II we’ll call them mini-church. More on that later.) The small groups seem to minister to those in the 30% area. We created a Telecare system (monthly or BI-monthly) calls: contacting those in the 60% area. We only ask "How are you today ..., & Any prayer requests...?" We’re not looking for anything or selling anything. We’re offering our time to listen. (All those not on a committee - which now follow a group format - or in a group or a team receive a call.)

So our Step B of Phase I looks like this; for each of the various % groups, we have the current Systems in place to minister to their needs:

Percentage of People	Group	System for Care & Training
10 %	Altar	Mentoring, Small Group Leaders (Youth & Adults)
30%	Pew	Small Groups, Teams, Committees, etc. (Children, Youth, & Adults)
60%	Narthex	Telecare team calls them to check in
+ potentials	Community	Hospitality team for worship, Outreach Committee for sharing $. We are currently looking for ways to be more personally involved in local mission. [Since this article was written, the Unionville church adopted a social worker's case load called "Covenant to Care". This was in response to a mentor's call to ministry.]

In summary we are moving from a model where 1 person is hired to care for all he/she can care for (hitting and missing the needs of those in each of the above % categories) to a model where we create systems for each of the above % categories that teach us how to "Love God, One another and Neighbor" through mentoring, groups, telecare, & teams.

Step C: The Individual - "Love God & Neighbor"
Using the Mentoring Manual as a foundation for Discipleship

Once we have started to shift the current structures (step A) and created systems for the various levels of commitment within the church (step B) using Biblical models, we are ready to actually initiate a Discipling Process.

There are any number of materials on the market that one could use to help people in this process. The end result in my view is that the person finishing the process would: 1. Know his or her gifts, 2. Be using those gifts in Ministry as directed by God, and 3. Be able to mentor someone else in the same process.

The Mentoring Manual I developed takes people around the following bases with an emphasis upon listening to God in our lives:

Sequence	Group	Relates to these Biblical Mandates	Personal Focus
First Base	Seekers	Love God / Baptize	Faith Issues
Second Base	Believers	Love God / Teach	Tools for Faith
Third Base	Disciple	Love Neighbor / Baptize	Invitational
Home Plate	Apostle	Love Neighbor / Teach	Gifts for Ministry and responding to one's call

We have just recently started this phase so I can’t tell you if our goals will be reached. But I can say that the spiritual growth and willingness of those involved in the 1-1 mentoring to act on their faith at home and work / school is uplifting and fulfilling for me personally.

After we’ve modified the current structures and provided systems for ministry, we can be intentional about "making Disciples."

RESOURCES FOR PHASE I - "GETTING READY" o The Second Reformation - William A. Beckham This book has an interesting quotation on the front cover: "Those who want to be Christians in earnest and who profess the gospel with hand and mouth should sign their names and meet alone in a house somewhere to pray, to read, to baptize, to receive the sacrament, and to do other Christian works." Martin Luther (If this was the paradigm, how did we get so far away from it!) o The Coming Church Revolution - Carl F. George o 21st Century Strategies (Currently Easum/Bandy Associates) o Dancing with Dinosaurs - Bill Easum o Church Smart Resources o Beyond Church Growth - Robert Logan o Natural Church Development - A guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches - by Christian A. Schwarz (Over 1000 churches worldwide were surveyed to obtain these qualities.) o Mentoring Manual - First Church of Christ, Unionville, CT [Addresses & Phone numbers at the end of this document.]

Phase II: Contemporary Worship -
A Second and separate service of Worship

In the Conference Minister’s letter of Oct. 9, 1997 Davida mentioned her "generational disability" in regards to the music of the Broadway show "Rent." Her suggestion to include music with a "stronger rhythm faster cadence, and emotional quality" is right on. How we include it is the subject of Phase II.

One of the eight qualities of a Healthy Church according to Christian Schwarz in Natural Church Development is "Inspiring Worship." The issue here is what inspires me and someone 20 to 30 years younger than me are probably two different things.

The answer to the question: "Why is the average age of our Traditional Congregations about 50 years old and up?" (Just a guess, the Statistical Review - the state of the UCC, 1996 doesn’t report on age! However it is a key factor in this Phase and in the issue of music in worship.) Our traditional worship services certainly don’t seem to appeal to the 20 and 30 year olds.

Now if we were to change our Traditional service of worship to accommodate the needs of the younger group, I’m guessing we’d either lose the older group or those trying to make that transition would lose their jobs! (A friend from a Wilmington Baptist Church said they tried to put everyone together in one service and it was a mistake. Now they are trying to go to two services. Each service designed to meets the needs of a different "musical appreciation" group.)

For those that are patient, there will be time for unity, certainly in missions and maybe some day in worship as well.

(In an article in Christianity Today - Oct. 6, 1997, p.21-27 Gary Burge in "Missing God at Church?" suggests that some who have come to faith through Contemporary worship and "like" churches are looking now for more Traditional worship experiences. Looks to me as though we need both! The Contemporary to bring folks into faith and the Traditional to help them to continue to grow in faith.)

For now church consultants and experience of those who have tried would suggest we start a second worship service that is designed to meet the needs of the 20 and 30 year olds. "Can’t we all just be friends?" sometimes works at Thanksgiving, but not when you’re talking about "my worship service" or "my music!" (Need any more proof? Try changing a word or two in some well known hymns, publish it with some new tunes and call it the "New Century Hymnal" and see what happens!)

(To be honest, I don’t think the hymnal issues would even see the light of day if the church was actively making Disciples. I think people feel so frustrated with the state of our churches that any place they can stand up and make some kind of a stand, they take the opportunity; since they feel helpless in the paradigm we’re currently working out of. I’m guessing that churches with 20-30 year olds who are new to the faith wouldn’t have a problem with the New Century Hymnal!)

This second service needs to be created using models from the new paradigm. This isn’t another "task" for the current pastor, but we create a Worship Team who is responsible for this service. The current pastor might share her/his message, but the music, order, etc. is the responsibility of the Worship Team. (Who had better be of the age of the group you hope to minister to through contemporary worship.) By-the-way contemporary worship need not be any less liturgical. Allow me to quote this experience of a contemporary worship pastor from an e-mail chat line:

One person said: "As a liturgical church we have the liturgy as a key component of our worship, yet that in some ways keeps new people from looking at us." Another replied: "says who? only if it's done out of HABIT rather than SPIRIT. the street mission congregation I spoke of in another post, was very liturgical correct. in fact the "liturgy police" committee of our denom., came to visit and they HATED us, but they couldn't find a single "liturgical infraction". in fact they told us we were one of the most "liturgically correct" congregations in the denomination! but we ROCKED the place! liturgy can be done in a contemporary way without losing it's integrity. liturgy itself is good, but who says it has to be dead and boring? wanna keep your kyries, hallelujahs, and sanctuses? great! just ditch the latin, do them in the contemporary language of the people and use the music of the people too. make them VITAL not routine and habitual. even Hossanah Praise music publishers has some great settings of the apostles creed, etc. i've seen a "rite of reconciliation" with kyrie and hallelujah bring street vagrants to tears because a recovering alcoholic may not be able to relate to "kyrie eleison" sung over an organ, but they sure can relate to "lord, please have mercy on me" sung over guitar/synth/drums, then watch them really PRAISE GOD with open weeping when they get to the hallelujah and realize that through Jesus Christ, their sins really are forgiven and they are set free! it's an incredible experience to behold!) [transitioning-churches@easum.com]

Look at the advantages. What Traditional group of folks, who really do care for the young but don’t want their service to change, wouldn’t support this new service? I would welcome it if I were in their shoes. Why, because we’re doing something about reaching out to the younger generation and at the same time you’re not taking away what I’ve grown to love and cherish. After all, I have worship needs too! Of course I’d support a second service. (Especially if my spiritual needs were also being meet through the Mentoring, Small Groups, or Telecare systems in place, depending on what level of commitment I was currently in, regarding the 10% the 30%, or the 60%.)

This need not be a schedule fight either. 20 and 30 year olds (Generation X) don’t "do" Sunday morning. Saturday evening, late Sunday morning, or Sunday evening seem to be better time slots for this group of people. (Generation Next - seem to like Friday nights!)

(In the e-mail chat line those who have tried this pretty much leave the Traditional service right where it is with few exceptions.)

As this contemporary service begins to grow, we apply our new paradigm and systems that are in place for those attending the Traditional service. 20 & 30 year olds can be organized around the same systems of mentoring, small groups, and telecare. The younger leaders can learn from the older leaders (in each of these systems: mentoring, small groups, telecare) and all will share together in leadership lunches and meetings, regardless of what worship service they attend!

To prepare for the next phase, we will need to make a slight paradigm shift with the small groups. Our Traditional folks who are involved in small groups view the leader as a leader. For our Contemporary folks, the leader of their group is one of their Pastors. Ralph Moore’s concept of the "Mini-Church" (his terms for his small groups) is that they are the church in miniature and are to act like that for and with one another.

Ralph Moore, Ralph Neighbor, and others are beginning to move toward Martin Luther’s concept of church as quoted on the outside of the book, The Second Reformation - by William Beckham:

"Those who want to be Christians in earnest and who profess the gospel with hand and mouth should sign their names and meet alone in a house somewhere to pray, to read, to baptize, to receive the sacrament, and to do other Christian works." Martin Luther

I’m not sure there are many of us Pastors who are ready or even willing to make this shift. And yet, it is central to preparing this Contemporary group for the next Phase, which is to plant churches. The Mini-Church is the training ground where potential future church leaders are developed. Most will remain as "small-group" leaders, but a few will emerge as real "Mini-Church" pastors. They will be the ones called by God to plant a new church, and I’m guessing they will come from the "mini-church" groups of the Contemporary church folks rather than from the "small groups" of the Traditional church folks.

Resources for Phase II: Second Worship Service / Contemporary o Ralph Moore Ministries o 21st Century Strategies (Currently: Easum/Bandy Associates) [See end of document for #’s and addresses]

Phase III: Planting New Churches
Dr. Craig Skinner writing for the Christian Press in Australia points out:

"Church Growth in the New Testament was valid, yet breathlessly swift. Twelve disciples began. Before Pentecost these became 120 (Acts 1:15), then quickly grew to 3000 (2:41-42), then 5000 (4:4). Almost immediately the increase had to be listed as "multitudes" (5:15), and disciples then as "multiplying" (6:1,7; 12:24; 19:20).

From multiplication of disciples the record swiftly moves to list the multiplication of churches (16:5). The number of believers becomes so vast that the church "Turned the world upside down" (17:6). The historian’s hopelessness at keeping track of such acceleration shows in the final word, (21:20), where he calls the believers myriads (murias), literally tens of thousands." (Quoted from the DAWN Report, Issue No. 32, Nov. 97)

In Unionville, CT we have 40,000 potential Protestant church "goers" in a 5 mile radius from the church building. There is no way we can minister to that number of people. And that is an exciting aspect to this whole process. There is no need for competition. We can’t afford it! We need all the churches that currently exist and more, to respond to the needs of the people within a 5 mile area of our building! We need to work together ecumenically. We need to plant churches.

[We received a report for a 5 mile radius of our building from Precept, which lists not only the census numbers but also the religious affiliation, percentage wise, of the people in the area. This gave us the number of potentials for any church. (60,000 people, 20.000 Catholics or Jews = 40,000 potential Protestants based on report) The yellow pages has the number of other churches in our area (15). Pretend they each could get 1000 total members and from the 40,000 that leaves 25,000 still available to our church. We can’t minister to those folks, so we’ll need to plant other churches. I’m guessing other areas will find they have similar possibilities!)

At the conclusion of Jose A. Malayang’s after-lunch talk on the Friday of the CT Conference, Davida raised the issue of our system to educate clergy. Referring to Jose’ experience in the Philippines and her experience of other clergy training models, I heard her saying that we may need to look at other ways of developing clergy than just depending upon the seminary system we currently have in place.

Ralph Moore did a study of various church planting methodologies from the Congregational, Methodists, and Baptists. He says seminaries didn’t arrive until the 1800’s. In the Congregational system, after college, a person would apprentice with a Pastor until ready to serve a church. In the Methodists system a lay leader, serving under a Pastor, would ride the circuit to develop churches. In the Baptist system, any lay person who displayed the gifts was called upon to lead or start a church. Here are his statistics for the number of churches each planted in the corresponding years:

	Number of Churches Planted
Year:	Congregational	Methodists	Baptists
1750	600	0	200
1850	1600	1200	8600
1950	3200	5800	77,000

If people and their relationship with God are really a priority in our lives (statistically planting churches is the best methodology for reaching "pre-Christians" with the Good News of God’s love for them), if we are serious about Justice and Peace in the world (like locally for instance / with say 40,000 concerned with Justice and Peace issues instead of just 200 being interested / involved) then we need to be about using a System that helps us to accomplish that goal in the best way.

Again, I think there is room and wisdom in having both the seminary model and a Mini-Church apprentice model. All I am suggesting is that we change the order. Use the Biblical model of apprenticeship to see who God has gifted for Pastoral ministry:

• 1. encourage them to develop those gifts in the Mini-Church, as they progress take them through
  
• 2. the lay Ministerial Standing (Commissioned Ministry, p. 110+ or Licensed Ministry, p. 160+) process that already exists in our Manual on the Ministry, 1986 ed. and as this new church is being planted, then give them
  
• 3. the seminary training that leads to ordination.
  

We still need the seminary, we’re just putting it at the end of the process instead of at the beginning. (My own seminary training was much more useful and meaningful once I was out in a church for a year and then came back to take my last year of seminary.)

The current seminary process can be a waste of resources and frustrating to churches when they end up being the training ground for newly ordained folks that may not actually have the gifts or the call.

(Yes, we do have systems in place so this is not likely to happen. But by the time these take effect, this person could have been on to another call more appropriate for his / her gifts. In this new system, if they didn’t make it as a Mini-church pastor, there is little harm or waste of time and energy. And the group might be able to support the person in realizing other gifts for ministry in other areas. Can you imagine the let down if after 4 years of seminary and one or two churches you finally realize you’re not gifted for that form of ministry?)

Resources for Phase III: Planting Churches o Ralph Moore Ministries o 21st Century Strategies (Currently Easum/Bandy Associates) [See end of document for #’s and addresses]

Summary: The Role of the Associations - Will we be ready?
Clergy encouragers and watchdogs. "Is that all there is?"

To show just how out of touch we are with the issue of planting churches, I’d suggest you check your Association by-laws to see what, if any, provisions are made there for welcoming a new church. If a group of people came to us tomorrow wanting to start a church or be recognized as a church, the Association I’m a part of doesn’t have any detailed guidelines to allow this to happen! (It’s currently the role of the Committee on Ministry! I believe they have enough to deal with!)

I did receive an outline that the Central Atlantic Conference and its Associations are using for "Extending ‘Church in Care’ Status to New or Existing Congregations Seeking Membership in the United Church of Christ." I’m afraid that if something like the Central Atlantic’s guidelines are not a part of our By-laws, then the whole idea is off our conscious radar!

I’m sending this note to you because I’m tired of Association meetings as they currently exist. I also wonder about any body (of people) that seems to be basically in existence to deal with clergy (who’s in and who’s out) instead of existing to support and encourage one another as churches and people of God in ministry.

The clergy related role needs to be dealt with, and it can still stay at the Association level. In Farmington Valley Association it’s really the role of the committee on Ministry, then the Association approves or disapproves of their recommendations. (Generally approving of their recommendations!)

Wouldn’t it be exciting if we couldn’t wait to get to our Association meetings so we could share with one another how we were doing in our common goals (Phases I, II, III) sharing frustrations, praying for one another, and getting feedback to help us continue on our way! What if every Association meeting became a Celebration of what God was doing in each of our congregations. What if each Association meeting started with: I. A reporting in process, followed by II. A small group sharing, praying, and caring process, culminating in III. A regional Worship Celebration (that Rocks!) Thanking God for the many Blessings in our lives. (Have the representatives show up for the reporting in and small group process, and have the church members sign up for all those who want to come to the Worship celebration! Here is where we could combine the Traditional with the Contemporary, something for everyone, twice a year!) You wouldn’t have to beg people to come to that meeting and the average age wouldn’t be 65! (I wish that 65 comment was a joke, but it may be more accurate than I care to admit!)

If this were happening, the voices of disunity and conflict that we currently find would fail to find a footing upon which to base their objections. Through the Spirit’s guidance, we will have created "an environment in which the problem simply can’t exist."

If we heard any objections at all, it would probably be because the person complaining is still working out of the old (Co-dependent) paradigm, "Moses, give me some attention and please solve all my problems for me or my personal friends." In the new paradigm we direct them to where they can get attention (telecare, small groups, mentoring, teams, etc.) and suggest they find out what their gifts are so they can be about what God created them to be about. When they are using their gifts to respond to God’s call, they will find that their problems and frustrations tend to disappear.

Isn’t it interesting... that same process (we just suggested for the individual) will work for the church itself. When we find our gifts, using a new model of ministry (not that new, see Jethro and Jesus!) the problems and frustrations of clergy, laity, and the denomination being treated as a targets, will disappear.

Jesus told us to lay our burdens upon him. And he gave us a model to follow. A model of Leadership Training, starting with 4, then 12, then 70, and finally 120 trained leaders, who were ready for their Pentecost. Will we be ready for ours?

(For Traditional folks:) "Let’s follow God's way."

(For Contemporary folks:) "Let’s just do it."

Yours in Christ’s Ministry & Peace,

The Rev. Tom Burlington, D. Min.
[Former Address: First Church of Christ,
61 Main Street, Unionville, CT]

Home: 860-669-1859
e-mail: tburlington@macconnect.com (current e-mail)

Organizations:

21st Century Strategies (Bill Easum / Thomas Bandy consultants - Now Easum/Bandy Associates)
1126 Whispering Sands
Port Aransas, TX 78373
512-749-5364 fax: 512-749-5800
e-mail: Easum@aol.com
o Dancing with Dinosaurs - Bill Easum

Kicking Habits - Thomas Bandy

Church Smart Resources (Robert Logan consultant)
390 E. St. Charles Rd.
Carol Stream IL 60188
800-253-4276 fax: 630-871-8708
e-mail: 103612.2011@compuserve.com (?)
o Beyond Church Growth - Robert Logan
o Natural Church Development - Christian A. Schwarz


Ralph Moore Ministries (Ralph Moore consultant)
Hope Chapel Foursquare Church Kaneohe, Oahu
46-001 Kamehamea Highway #111
Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744-3724
808-235-5814 fax: 808-247-2070
e-mail: hope@aloha.net

Cell Church Ministries (Ralph Neighbor & William Beckham consultants)
TOUCH Outreach Ministries, Inc.
PO Box 19888
Houston, TX 77224
1-800-735-5865 fax: 1-281-497-0904

Internet: www.touchusa.org

The Second Reformation - William A. Beckham

Precept: Ministry Area Profile
151 Kalmus Dr Ste A104
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-957-1282 fax:714-957-1924

Books / Pamphlets:
o The Coming Church Revolution - Carl F. George
Christian Bookstore - Published by Fleming H. Revell, Grand Rapids, 1994

o The State of the UCC - 1996 +
The Research Office - UCBHM
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115
216-736-3810 fax. 216-736-3803

Magazines:
o Net Results
Cokesbury
201 Eighth Ave. South
PO Box 801
Nashville, TN 37202-0801
800-672-1789

o DAWN Report
Dawn Ministries
7899 Lexington Drive, Suite 200B
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
719-548-7460 fax: 719-548-7475
Report on e-mail: Steelesd@aol.com

o Focus
Focus Renewal Ministries
PO Box 330
Sassamanville, PA 19472
610-754-6446 fax: 610-754-6799
e-mail: frmucc@aol.com

o Prayer Track News
Global Harvest Ministries
PO Box 63060
Colorado Springs, CO 80962

Mentoring Manual: Copies found at:

• First Church of Christ; 61 Main Street; Unionville, CT 06085-0251; Phone: 860-673-2796

e-mail: tburlington@macconnect.com