Town Hall offers info on restructuring
For more information:
- Implementing Vital Change: Collaborative Hubs and Connecting Churches document
- Creating Vital Change webpage
- FAQ from the Feb. 11 Town Hall
- Resources for Vital Change: Wave 1
- Video of Town Hall presentation
The 564 churches of the Baltimore-Washington Conference are preparing for restructuring that is designed to foster deeper relationships, revitalize ministry and build transformational, outward-facing, community-driven ministries.
At a town hall meeting on Feb. 11, conference leaders provided more information about the restructuring plans, which Bishop LaTrelle Easterling stressed is not a program or campaign; it is a way to create vitality. “Revitalization, she said, “is a way of life. It is the way of Jesus who came to bring life, and bring it abundantly.” (See a video from the bishop on Revitalization and Restructuring.)
Members of the BWC’s restructuring task force explained that churches in the conference will be placed in collaborative hubs, clusters of churches made up of five to 12 churches. Each hub will create a community with shared values and diverse resources, experiences and expertise. Hub members will work collaboratively to craft a vision for discipleship and a missional action plan to serve the surrounding community. Learn more.
Every hub will have a Connecting Church that assists in relationship-building and leads the collaborative work of the hub. The pastor of that church will be the Connecting Pastor, who will meet monthly with the bishop for learning opportunities and support. The Connecting Pastor will work to assist the Connecting Church in carrying out its responsibilities, but Connecting Pastors are hub supervisors.
The hubs will be gathered into six geographical districts, with 11-12 collaborative hubs in each district. This is a change from the original restructuring plan, which divided the districts according to population density. Being arranged according to geography is expected to simplify strategic ministry efforts.
To resource the congregations, three Vitality Strategists will be hired to serve on the conference staff. The job posting for these positions is expected to be announced in March.
Which churches will be assigned to which hub and district is expected to be announced after Easter. Before that time, churches are encouraged to lay the groundwork for their participation in the hubs by exploring the BWC’s shared values.
These values were identified during in-depth listening and information-gathering sessions last year, which were held to assess the well-being and needs of local congregations. The values include love in action, strength through connection, partnering with purpose, unity in diversity and freedom to try. Learn more.
Resources to assist with this work are online. Additional waves of resources will be added this spring.
The restructuring is designed to bring about vital change, creating a culture of connection and deep, consequential relationships, Bishop Easterling said. She cautioned that there will be no room in churches for passivity. “We are called to action,” she said. And to renew our commitment to discipleship and forming relationships with our neighboring churches and communities
This paradigm shift, the bishop said, “will require discipline, intentionality and a willingness to change. … It’s so easy to become focused on the structural changes that will take place. But that is not the most important part of this work. We need to come to this with open minds, open hearts, with excitement, and with the expectation of what miraculous things God can do in and through us, things we can’t even imagine. That should be our primary focus.”