PRAXIS 21 N C L I The UCC...New Ideas for New Churches. Ten Church Models for a New Generation. PRAXIS21 New Church Leadership Institute 2012

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1 TIMES The UCC... Ideas for Churches Spring 2012 Issue 3 Leaders Leaders Churches Churches Hope Hope Ten Church Models for a Generation PRAXIS21 Church Leadership Institute 2012 PRAXIS 21 Christianity After Religion A Ministry Scorecard N C L I 2012

2 PRAXIS/21: National Church Leadership Institute 2012 A Conference for Entreprenurial Church Leaders F or the past five years, the National Church Leadership Institute has featured world-class speakers focused on church planting and renewal within the progressive church. This year, we are taking this to the next level, encouraging church teams passionate about the future of the progressive church to gather in Atlanta from August 8-10 for a conference focused on teaching and equipping you to grow your ministries and your church. Our theme this year is Praxis21: Practicing Progressive Christianity in the 21st Century. You will hear from more than a dozen leading experts on everything from building a dynamic, volunteer children s ministry to running the business of church. Bring a team from your church to take full advantage of this experience. By definition, praxis is the application of best practices, said Ben Guess, Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ. We re inviting not only local church pastors to attend, but groups of lay and clergy leaders so that every aspect of your church will be reinvigorated with proven ideas and applications that can grow your church in vision, vitality, mission, outreach, and, yes, numbers. This three-day conference is the only one of its kind in the nation. We call NCLI: Praxis21 an un-conference because we don t want you to come just to listen to talking heads. Our time together is shaped to promote networking, creativity, imagination, and inspiration. times require new approaches and renewed efforts to serve an eternal faith. NCLI informed, inspired and challenged each of us to work toward that daunting but crucial task. No more sitting in stiff chairs listening to boring lectures! At Praxis21, you will discover new resources, the latest research, creative thinkers and new friends. During the three days (or four if you come to a pre-conference intensive), you will have access to the latest practitioners and experts of our age who are changing the church as we know it. They will teach you how to birth new churches within existing churches and how to start new ministries in your community. Pre-Conference Intensives Church is changing so fast, and we have so much to cover. We decided to create pre-conference intensives for those who want to spend concentrated time on specific issues. The pre-conference intensives will start at 2 p.m. and run until 6 p.m. on August 7. Bring your team one day early for intensive learning in the following areas: * Church Planting: Pre-Launch * Church Planting: Post-Launch * Digital Discipleship: Social Media in Ministry * Grounding Hispanic Ministry in the Progressive Church * The Black Church: Defining a Future for Growth * 21st-Century Children s and Youth Ministry * Denominational Structure in a Age NEW TIMES: Ideas for Churches Rev. CameronTrimble Editor Executive Director, CEO The Center for Progressive Renewal cameron@progressiverenewal.org Kimberly Knight Contributing Editor The Center for Progressive Renewal cassie@progressiverenewal.org Times is a bi-annual publication of the Congregational, Vitality & Discipleship Team of the United Church of Christ and The Center for Progressive Renewal. The United Church of Christ (UCC) 700 Prospect Avenue Cleveland, Ohio Office:

3 The Main Event The main event starts on August 8 at 9 a.m. with an amazing lineup of presenters including Phyllis Tickle, Bruce Reyes-Chow, Ken Samuel, Michael Piazza, Eric Elnes, Ben Guess, Susannah Davis, Ruban Duran, Teresa Angle-Young, Jim Powell, Jim Antal, Kimberly Knight, Cameron Trimble, and more. PRAXIS/21 Speakers The main sessions of Praxis 21 focus on the bigger opportunities facing leaders in the church. We will talk about global trends reshaping what it means to be church in this time, how leaders can retool themselves to lead churches into a new age, what it means to be a 21st-century disciple of Jesus Christ and how we build sustainable ministries for the present and future. We took all of these topics and broke them down into six main sessions with workshops that follow each session. Phyllis Tickle Bruce Reyes-Chow There are already dozens, if not hundreds, of so-called recharging events, but this conference promises much more, said Guess. This gathering is designed to be a call to entrepreneurial leadership in the church, so that participants will be sent away with the tools they need, as a team, to make things happen when they get back home. Laurie Beth Jones Ken Samuel If you are entrepreneurial and thinking of starting or renewing ministries in your area, Praxis21 is for you. Praxis21 Workshops Eric Elnes Michael Piazza Models of Church: Trends & Counter-Trends that are Reshaping Our Ministries After the Call: What to Do After You Decide to Start a Church Virtual Church: Forming Online Faith Communities revision: Renewing Your Church Through Vision and Mission How Do I Start a Healthy Church? Mind Your Own Business: Mastering the Business of Church Contagious Generosity: Creating a Culture Of Giving In Your Church Four Elements Workshop with Laurie Beth Jones Getting People Engaged with Mission The Vocation of the Church and Climate Change Alvin Herring Cameron Trimble Susannah Davis Susan Mitchell Leading Change While Avoiding Martyrdom Building Congregations that Influence Public Debates Ben Guess The Socially Networked Church Multicultural Church 1.0 Building Your Leadership Team 21st-Century Discipleship Beyond MY Church: Community Organizing as a Church Growth Tool Communicating Vision Visually Art as Worship: Reclaiming Art, Poetry, Dance & Music in Worship And More! Ruben Duran Kimberly Knight 3

4 Ten church models for a new generation What kinds of communities are working well? By Carol Howard Merritt First published in Christian Century* I m in a lot of conversations about why the denominational church isn t working. In some ways, I think of our churches like a crop of corn that was planted at the same time. That field produced corn for 50 years so much wonderful corn that many of us were fat and happy. In our abundance, we forgot to diversify and plant new fields. Now the corn is coming to the end of its season, all at the same time. In my denomination (PCUSA), 90 of our members are white and most of them are over the age of 60. Many of our churches are rural and many of the buildings were constructed in the 1950s. After 60 years of dutiful service, the structures are too large, too inefficient, and require too much maintenance for smaller, aging members to keep up with. We re ministering in a country where younger generations are much more diverse and many of them move into urban areas. Many congregations plan to cut staff (including the pastor) and hold on to the building until there s only one person left standing. In fact, right now, half of our churches cannot afford pastors, so it s not difficult to imagine that we might be closing them in the next 20 years. The crop may be coming to end of its season, but the ground is not fallow. What are some other options? What about the communities that are working? What about new communities? They tend to be small (much like our existing churches) but they often don t have the real estate and endowments to keep them going. They have to think of other ways to create space as well as other funding sources. I m going to list these some are conservative, some are liberal, some have hardly any beliefs at all. I m giving them to you as models, not because I agree with the theological content (or lack thereof), but because they re worth exploring. 1) Large churches plant new communities. Using money from a large congregation and denominational funding, a church is planted. That seems to be what happens the most in our denomination, and it seems to be our trustiest default. The problem? It s usually conservative, evangelical big-steeples who are in the planting business. If a church-planter does not fit that theological mold, she s out of luck. 2) Multi-cultural congregations. Often churches realize that they can t connect with their changing neighborhoods, so they start or welcome another immigrant congregation within their existing church structure. All they ever talk about is money! No, all we talk about is ministry. The more money we contribute, the more ministry we can do. This works best when it s not seen as a landlord/renter relationship, but a mutual ministry. 3) Neo-monastic communities. You can see a list of communities that are connected with the Simple Way. Missio Dei of Minneapolis is a community that I often here about. I ve also heard Wayne Meisel of thebonner Foundation talk about wanting to plant 45 Houses of Hospitality. I don t know too much about this I m trying to set up a meeting with him so I ll keep you posted. 4) Church/business hybrids. The most popular hybrid in our neighborhood is Ebeneezer Coffeehouse/National Community Church. I have also seen an emerging church community where the women (the community was mostly women) make and sell jewelry to support the church. 5) Pastor/business hybrids. Kirk Jeffery is a pastor who is also a coffee roaster. You can learn about what he s up to and order some coffee here. I have friends who want to follow in the monastic tradition of combining wine and beer making with ministry (if you d like to invest in start-up costs, I can connect you!). 6) Art churches. The Church of Craft is interesting (the video is pretty good at explaining it). They meet in an Etsy lab in Brooklyn, and different chapters have sprung up all over the country. These are churches that are formed around the knowledge that making things is often a person s spiritual practice. There s alsowicker Park Grace, which met in an art gallery. Creating art, poetry and music has become central to who they are as a commnity. 7) Food churches. Many congregations are using food farmer s markets, local food movements, etc to connect with the community and (in some cases) provide additional funding. You can hear Craig Goodwin talk about how his existing congregation started a farmer s market. 8) Non-profit/church hybrids. In a similar vein with food churches, The Common Table is a non-profit that serves food, and guests pay whatever they can afford. Western Presbyterian (the church I serve) houses Miriam s Kitchen. members often talk about coming upstairs. In other words, they first connected with the church through Miriam s, but then they decided to venture up the stairs on a weekend for worship. 04 4

5 Where on earth is CPR in 2012? 9) Podcast churches. Revolution Church in NYC meets in the back of a bar. They probably can t seat more than 50 people, but they podcast to 10,000 people. If those 10,000 people pay $10 to support the church, they have funding to keep going. Jay Bakker copastors the congregation, so I m not sure if the model would work for everyone, but the model is worth mentioning. 10) Internet churches. Koinonia Congregational Church and 1PCSL (1st Presbyterian Church of Second Life) are virtual congregations on Second Life. I like these churches because in Second Life, I m me, but taller and skinnier. Carol Howard Merritt is a pastor at Western Presbyterian Church, an intergenerational congregation in Washington, D.C. Western s deep commitment to serving the poor in the city has helped to initiate programs like Miriam s Kitchen, a social service program for the homeless which provides a hot, nutritious breakfast and dinner for more than 200 men and women. Carol is the author of Reframing Hope (Alban, 2010) and Tribal Church (Alban, 2007). * Two Model UCC Church Leaders Dwayne Royster: Bishop Royster is the founding pastor of Living Water United Church of Christ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is an advocate for preparing congregations for the ministry of availability. He is fond of saying that, Ministry should not be limited to Sunday mornings. Sunday is a time of worship. Ministry should be done Monday thru Sunday on the bus stops, at the supermarkets, in workplaces, at soccer games, etc. Wherever people are so is God, and He is able to do miraculous things through His children that are prepared. In this current generation many will never grace the doors of a church, but like Jesus we must take the message to the people and tell them the good news. Like the woman at the well they can be FREE. Living Water UCC was started in Check them out at National Church Leadership Institute August 7-10 Atlanta, GA CRP on Campus: re June Brite Divinity School July 9-13 Chicago Theological Seminary July 30 - August 3 Pacific School of Religion Social Media Intensives September 28 & 29 Ohio Marsha Charles: Pastor Marsha Jean Charles was called by the Kentuckiana Association of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in August of 2010 to provide pastoral leadership for a new church start in Lexington, Kentucky. After a 20-year career in accounting and human resources, Marsha answered a call to ministry that she first felt as a teenager and started Bluegrass UCC in In her words, Bluegrass UCC is a welcoming place of worship and a community where we all can meet one another where we are on our faith journey and discern how God might be leading in our lives as individuals and as a church. As a pastor, Marsha feels very committed to advocacy for a variety of social justice issues in our community and in our world and believes God s Spirit will lead us as we listen, learn, and grow in faith so that we can extend God s message of inclusive love, grace, hope, and peace to all, and, specifically, to those who have been traditionally rejected or turned off by organized religion or churches. October Nebraska October 27 Jersey November 3 Massachusetts Check them out at

6 Ministry Scorecard by Cameron Trimble I n writing his most recent book, The Lean Startup, Eric Ries set out to discover why some startup companies succeed and why others fail. His hunch was that most fail because they measure the wrong things. Startup companies focus on statistics about the millions of hits on their website or thousands of tweets per day, but, as Ries points out, these are vanity metrics, useful in making us feel successful without actually saying anything about our overall Scorecard impact or longer-term success. Ries says, Vanity metrics are designed to make your competitors feel bad about themselves and also reveal nothing about your business. For some time, we have talked about the need to have new metrics for the church. Traditionally, we have measured a church s health by the number of members in the church or the average giving per family. Increasingly, those metrics point more towards Notes of people who can articulate a clear sense of vision and purpose for the church Knowing why the church exists and what difference the church is making in the world is one of the key indicators for motivation, impact, and growth. Congregations rarely grow unless the vision is owned by the larger gathered body, not just the leadership. of participants active in all areas of the life of the church Active church participation acknowledges the new reality that people may be active contributors in a church without seeking formal membership or serving on a board or committee. Sunday morning worship is not always the primary connecting point for participants. of first & second-time guests Measuring first-time guests remains important as an indicator of your marketing effectiveness, but an equally important number is how many people return after a first visit. Generally, in growing churches, 20 percent of active participants are people who have joined the faith community within the past year. of active participants below the age of 40 of diversity in the faith community Growing churches engage the generational spectrum and have a balance of younger and older participants. As we live in an increasingly globalized world, embracing diversity is a core value of thriving churches. of budget dedicated to ministry compared to building maintenance & mortgage Too many of our churches spend the majority of their budgets on building maintenance, yet strong churches work to keep ministries central to their budget narratives, limiting institutional maintenance to no more than 35 percent of the overall budget. 6

7 who we were rather than who we are today. You can see the problem when you ask two questions of church leaders today: How many members does your church have? followed by, How many people actively participate in the life of your church? The gap between those two numbers is growing wider and wider. We need new a new scorecard. We need new language to reflect the new ways we are forming and sustaining community. Today, our scorecard might look something like the table below. How is your church doing when we look at it through this lens? What might you add to this list? As we midwife the emerging progressive church, recognizing and celebrating new insights will be more important than ever. What does it mean in your setting to be the church in the 21st century? We are explorers in a new world, charting a new path as the people of God and learning from one another along the way. Share your insights, reactions and ideas on our Facebook page at Scorecard of externally focused ministry opportunities vs internally focused management opportunities of followers on Facebook & other social networking sites Notes You also can measure this by looking at the number of pages in the bylaws or the number of hours your leaders dedicate to meetings about the management of the church. Thriving churches understand that people are transformed by ministry not management. In a recent study released by Faith Communities Today, Scott Thumma shows that growing churches have robust, engaging online ministries and use technology to connect with people. of community ministry partners In a 2010 edition of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, authors noted that in order for churches or nonprofits to have significant community impact, we have to partner with other organizations with shared, common goals. of ministry failures vs. successes Thriving churches take risks and experiment with new ways of shaping ministry. Every church should require that their leaders make at least 12 mistakes per year, and one of them should be big! Learning organizations innovate and adapt. of continuing education hours by staff & key leaders Thriving churches need entrepreneurial leaders who can balance the pace of change and spot moments of opportunity. The 2008 FACTS survey shows that churches that encourage their leadership to engage in continuing education grow faster than those that do not. of entry points into the faith community (small groups, worship, website, etc.) Historically, people became involved in church through Sunday morning worship. Increasingly, people connect to church through small groups, web ministries, and other front doors. 7

8 700 Prospect Ave. East, Cleveland, OH Keep current with news, discussions, webinars, and other information from The Center for Progressive Renewal. Resources for Leaders Recommeded Reading Online Learning at CPR A Few Great Websites Patheos - Spirituality & Practice - Beliefnet - Darkwood Brew - Church Next - Faith Communitites Today - Quest for Meaning renew Skills for Leading and Renewing Progressive Churches renew is a D.Min. focus group designed around the premise that churches are rarely resurrected, but can be born again. The focus is on creating compelling vision, an effective communication strategy, data management, community development, external mission, and transformational worship. This curriculum is designed by the Center for Progressive Renewal. Mentors: Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson, Rev. Michael Piazza, and Rev. Cameron Trimble APPLY NOW FOR AUG AND JAN bthomas@uni ted.edu More D.Min. info at links.united.edu/iacrc NEW TIMES NEWSLETTER - Past editions are available for download at Spirit Led, Renewing the Church! 8