Don Remick MACUCC 1 Badger Road Framingham, MA Navigating Change in Congregations

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1 1) Look at how our current organizations are working. 2) Examine the core discipleship process 3) Review an all-church envisioning process 4) Explore a new organizational model 5) Develop a plan for your congregation 6) Questions, resources, etc. Don Remick MACUCC 1 Badger Road Framingham, MA remickd@macucc.org Navigating Change in Congregations

2 1) A look at our Current Church Organizations Do any of the following ever happen to you? People are less than thrilled to be on a Nominations Committee There are open slots on the Nominations report at Annual Meeting. People are exhausted at ends of terms and don t want to serve again. How long have you been following this same system wishing for different results? Most of our congregations are in this dilemma-our system is not working but we don t know how to change it.

3 2) The Core Discipleship Process The Traditional Pattern If I am a newcomer and come to a new member meeting, you will probably: *Inform me of all the activities at the church *Invite me to serve on a board or committee based on the church s needs and not my gifts. *Supervise my work with several layers of administration *Try to keep me happy and assume my faith is growing. The Transformational Pattern In this model, if I am a newcomer, you will probably: *Ask me what I need to grow and go deeper in my faith. You will often find a small group to meet my need. *Over time you will help me to discover my gifts and my calling to use those gifts (again often in a small group) *You will then train me to utilize those gifts to the best of my ability. Excellence will be valued. *You will them team me with other like-gifted people so that I may go deeper in my faith in Jesus and utilize God s gift to be a blessing to the community. Which model makes sense to you? The traditional model tends to lead to burnout and drop out. The transformational model tends to lead to great faith, energy and mission.

4 A Sense of Vision and Values Structure needs to follow a congregation s vision and values. There is a discernment process available through the Conference to assist congregations in clarifying their mission. This discernment process includes: Forming a Vision Team to oversee the process Reflecting on the great Vision texts of scripture. Exploring the mission field around the church. Claiming our church history and learning from it. Assessing our values ; how we want to live and behave together as a congregation. Reflection on growth areas : strengths; areas for improvement, dreaming of the future. Assessing the energy and commitment levels of the congregation. The Vision Team then enacts a process to put all the above pieces into a vision statement and an action plan. Implementing and embedding the vision and values. (Note: for more details on this process see those instructors who are teaching this workshop)

5 A Life-Giving Organization Vision and Values Small Groups Stability Triangle Visionary Board Annual Meetings

6 Small Groups Small groups are not a program of the church but become the church. Often these groups take three forms. Vision and Values a) Discovery groups-who I am and who this God is that I am experiencing. b) Destiny Groups-I discern my gifts and calling. c) Mission Teams-Doing witness and service based on my gifts and calling. From an all-church visioning process (see Vision for your congregation ) the vision and values are set by the congregation and this creates the boundaries of the organization. Within those boundaries small groups may do anything the wish and don t have to report to a board or committee. Each small group leader knows and helps embed the vision and values of the congregation to that small group. Stability Triangle This is the administrative piece of the organization and it has three components. A) Human Resources-this group makes sure that spiritual growth is taking place in all the groups with resources and leadership. B) Training Team-This group helps people discern gifts and trains them to use gifts. C) Administration Team-Uses finances and property to communicate and deploy ministries and mission. Visionary Board In this model, the Board does not hear reports, nor constantly reviews the budget, nor approves every action of the church, but focuses on the question: Where do we need to go next as a church? The emphasis is where the mission will be, how the community around us is changing, and how our church system needs to adjust to the changing world. Day to day

7 management is left to the Stability Triangle, while the Board spends its time on the big picture issues. Congregational Meetings The role of the all-church meetings is to constantly look at the vision and values, to celebrate where the church has been faithful, to ask forgiveness where it has fallen short and to reflect together how to better live out the vision in the year ahead. The two bottom-line questions that come out of such a process and organization are: What is it about your experience of Jesus that this community cannot live without? Do you really want to be in the mission field with Jesus?

8 Governing Board Committee Committee Committee Permission-Giving Organization

9 Strategies for Organizational Change Organizational change is a process. It doesn t happen overnight. The more small groups and task forces there are, and the more a discipleship model has taken hold, the easier it becomes to transform the organization. The more the focus is on the mission field and not on the congregation, the easier the transition to a new organizational model becomes. Many congregations find it helpful to suspend sections of by-laws to experiment with new models. This strategy saves a lot of rewriting of bylaws. Congregational leaders need to assess the level of change a congregation can handle. Trust and permission-giving become the hallmark of this new organizational model, which is a change for many congregations. The potential for discipleship and mission multiplication are great and the not-yet churched world responds well to shorter-term tasks that are significant to them.

10 Our Next Steps Given what you heard in this workshop, what do you feel is the next step(s) you need to take when you return to your Congregation? What Who How When

11 Resources Christian Chaos, by Tom Bandy (Abingdon Press) is a great resource for a transformational organization. Flexible, Missional Constituion/ByLaws by Alan Klass (Mission Growth Publishing) is very helpful. Challenging the Church Monster, by Douglas Bixby will be very helpful to many congregations. Power Surge, by Michael Foss is very helpful in setting up a discipleship model in your congregation. Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership by Dan Hotchkiss is a great tool for rethinking the organizational structure to free up creative and faithful energy.