The most important revelation to me from Spellers' book was the importance of shifting the congregational leadership as new people and ethnic groups join. For some reason, it never occurred to me that the composition of the congregation council and committees should reflect the demographics of the congregation itself. This is the same idea as the above one, but I just failed to connect it until now. Getting new people involved in efforts that guide the congregation's future is incredibly important, as they are able to provide some fresh direction and help the congregation grow.
In class, we covered four ingredients for urban ministry, including:
- Context
- Your Leadership
- Community Ministry
- Congregational Development
All of these are important for work in urban ministry, and ministry in just about any setting. Clearly, the context of the congregation factors into what will happen there, but context can be extended to include the context of the parishioners as well as the pastor(s). Since many members--and pastors, for that matter--commute to church, a functional contextual understanding of the congregation must include what happens in all these places. The pastor and council's leadership styles and skills are also important, hence the popularity and value of leadership institutes run by institutions like the Illinois megachurch we read about in class.
The first two ingredients can then combine to bring about the third, as knowledge of the congregation's neighborhood and effective leadership make it possible to come up with vital ministries that can help provide what the community needs. By supplying much-needed services in the community, the congregation usually sees more foot traffic through the facilities, which may lead to some new people attending worship services. This, then, is where congregational development becomes incredibly critical. Potential growth is nothing if it is not embraced by the congregation, who must take ownership of God's call to spread the gospel to new people. Growing a congregation is not something we are supposed to do simply to pay the bills or to look better on denominational demographics reports; rather, it is simply something the Lord expects of us and equips us to do with the help of the Holy Spirit. We do not have to invent radical welcome--God has already established it through the power of water and the Word in Holy Baptism. Now, the challenge is to broaden our hopes and visions for our congregations to more fully incorporate, as Spellers calls it, "the dream of God."
