Renewal: Whose job is it?
BY DAN SMITH AND MARY K. (SELLON) HUYCKE
If you're a layperson in a congregation that's experiencing decline, whether or not the congregation thrives is ultimately up to you and the other members.
Your pastor can teach, guide, lead, support, inspire, even cajole. But in the end, congregational health is a function of how people in the congregation relate to one another, to God, and to their community.
A congregation is a microcosm of the greater church, a local embodiment of the body of Christ. In John's gospel, Jesus says, "I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly." We believe this is one of the primary messages that a healthy congregation embodies for its members and its surrounding community.
A congregation that is truly being church brings people into a loving, life-giving relationship with God and others that is transformational. This is the nature of the kin-dom of God, where covenant relationships model the best aspects of family. People find hope. They experience belonging, extend and receive forgiveness. They discover a sense of purpose and direction. They learn to live with appreciation and joy no matter what circumstances they find themselves in.
While a pastor can preach and teach this message, the message only has power to the extent that the people in the congregation live it and practice it with one another. Practicing loving, life-giving relationships transforms congregation members. Witnessing such benefits draws others who want something similar for themselves and their families.
Businesses are based on the premise of offering something of value-goods or services-to a customer in exchange for money. Successful businesses "give value for money." Gimmicks and fancy features may bring people in the door, but people won't buy unless they believe they'll receive something of worth. And they'll only return and recommend the business to others if they actually receive something of value.
Congregations are not businesses, yet they can fall into a similar trap of thinking that it's the features and the gimmicks that people want. A congregation's greatest asset, the unique gift it offers, is the people who make up the congregation and the possibilities for transformation they embody.
When we talk about congregational renewal, we mean a renewal of the people's ability to notice and experience God in their midst, a renewal of the congregation's desire to partner with God in achieving God's aims for the world.
The term renewal implies that the congregation knew how to do this at one time and that the work is a reclaiming of a lost skill. We find that's not always the case. Some congregations we've worked with have no memory of ever being a church that talked openly about God and matters of faith. The people have no memory of the congregation ever having an evangelistic bent. However, we have yet to encounter a congregation that when asked to recall moments when its church was really being church, couldn't name sacred moments when God seemed very present and people found healing and hope.
The place renewal aims for is not a bigger building or high-tech worship or a slew of professional programs, but a new way of looking at church, the work of a congregation, and what it has to offer the world.
Congregational renewal is a renewing of the people's understanding of their relationship with God, their relationship with their community, and a renewal of their calling. In the most fundamental sense, congregational renewal happens through people renewal.
Each denomination has its own way of describing the work and purpose of a local church. Each congregation has its own emphasis. We've heard it said that congregations lean towards either the great commandment-love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34-40) or the great commission go forth and make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20).
Though both are found in Matthew's Gospel, we find that people generally do emphasize one over the other. While able to engage in acts of love directed to neighbor, many pastors and congregations we talk with express a deep ambivalence about disciple-making. They wonder if evangelism has a place in today's world. At the same time, they tell us that they rarely talk about these doubts with anyone.
This inner and unspoken conflict has left many congregations unsure of what their "good news" is and why they should share it, let alone an understanding of how to do it. They don't know the value they offer.
The value they offer is the "abundant life" that Jesus came for the world to have. A renewed congregation embodies that message of abundant life for its members, its surrounding community, and the world.
Excerpted from Mary & Dan's upcoming book Pathway to Renewal: Practical Steps for Congregations, due to be released in late 2008. You can contact them by at courageous
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