Where Does Transformation Begin?

As University considers engaging in the Congregational Transformation process, I must admit that this article from the Alban Institute piqued my curiosity. Go ahead and read it...its a little long, but I'll wait for you to get back...go.

Pretty interesting, huh?

Honestly, the opening paragraph could have come out of my mouth at any point in time over the last few months. I think it has crossed my brain at least a thousand times - even if it never has made an audible escape yet.

This is the paragraph I want University to wrestle with as we discern our involvement with the congregational transformation process:

Here's the hard truth. If you're a layperson in a congregation that's experiencing decline, whether 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.

Wow! I am caught between emotions as I reread that paragraph. I feel relief to know that it is not my job to make the congregation change, but I also feel discouraged at how quickly negative reactions have bubbled up from the congregation at our possible engagement in the transformation process.

Further in the article, the authors say:

The church-growth movement is often blamed for leading congregations down the path of thinking that bigger is better and that increased numbers equal health and growth. That movement did, however, help raise the question of how to measure congregational health. If the measure is not dollars in the bank or people in the pews, what is it? We hear congregations and pastors wrestling with questions that weren't on the table twenty years ago. "What's the fundamental purpose of church? What difference is a congregation supposed to make in the lives of its members and in its surrounding community? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? What does it mean to be spiritual? What difference do spiritual practices make?"

Indeed those are good questions. Question every church should endeavor to answer on a regular basis - not necessarily to find new answers (although that may be necessary some time), but to remind themselves of why they do what they do. When was the last time University asked some of these questions?

In addition to understanding our fundamental purpose as a church, we must understand what is driving us toward renewal. Is it fear of closing the church? Is it a desire to keep our programs going? Or is it something else? The authors posit:

Fear of having to close the church or to reduce the services offered to members typically prompts a congregation's desire for renewal: "We need to do something now, if we're going to still be open a decade from now." This desire to avoid death drives many renewal efforts, and it certainly provides energy. But if the congregation itself doesn't ultimately trade its fear of death for a longing for life, the efforts will end as soon as the danger has passed.

I have wondered (not out loud) lately if this "fear of death" rather than a "longing for life" is a transition in thought that we can make. Which are we more afraid of: failing ourselves in not being able to sustain our current level of ministry OR failing God in not responding to God's call to make disciples? In whom do we trust, us or God?

One more quote before opening up the floor for conversation:

Before others will turn to a congregation as a life-giving resource in their lives, the congregation has to be a place that offers life.

Are we life-giving? How? When? To whom?