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Massachusetts Conference Edition
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Growing faith in our congregationsby Paul Nickerson, Associate Conference Minister for Evangelism & Church Vitality February/March 2008
Even though it costs $3.00 a gallon, all cars need gasoline so we need to find that money in order to operate the vehicle. Similarly, all of our congregations need adult members who are going deeper in their faith if the church is going to function. The good news is faith is a free gift from God! It doesn’t matter if we are talking about stewardship, Christian education, evangelism, or mission and justice; none of these ministries happen in our congregation unless we have church members who are exploring their faith and getting excited about their walk with Jesus Christ. Churches that help people discover the Spirit find they can do ministry and mission in powerful new ways. And there are ways and resources to see more folk in your church growing and reaching out. The bad news The reality is that many of our congregations, and in fact, congregations throughout mainline Protestant denominations, have ignored faith development for several decades. With fear of sounding like some of our more conservative brothers and sisters, with a decline in training in seminaries and with a focus on institutional maintenance, the basic church task of building disciples has often been on the sideline. We have paid a heavy price for forgetting this basic work of the church. Mainline Protestant denominations have lost almost 50% of their membership over the past four decades. A smaller and smaller percentage of the population goes to church anywhere (the national average is now 22%). More and more people under 45 have never been in a church in their lives, and when they hit life’s difficulties, they don’t even know to turn to a church. Many of our members have trouble articulating what difference their faith in Jesus Christ makes, and don’t know how to share it. Our influence in the community has waned as our enthusiasm for the faith has faded.
But there is good news Despite the harsh reality of the past decades, there is hope. There is a spiritually-hungry un-churched population that we can reach. A growing number of congregations are recognizing that our primary function in a church is to grow disciples and these congregations are producing some wonderful results.
Hope Church in Roslindale and the United Church of Christ in Medfield have both used a process described in ‘Power Surge,’ a book by Michael Foss that looks at 6 marks of discipleship. They have discovered that people can grow in their faith, use their God-given gifts and make a difference in their community and their world. Instead of just putting people on committees, more and more churches, like First Church in Belchertown, are inviting people to follow their passion and doing mission in creative ways. First Cambridge has a staff person, Dan Smith, who was called to that congregation to grow disciples. Many congregations in Vital Congregational Life Cluster groups (see Vital Congregational Life Cluster Groups accompanying article below) have learned how to help people go deeper in faith, identify their gifts and callings, train people to use their gifts and team them for ministry and mission. Yes, it’s true our discipleship muscles may have atrophied over the past decades, but we are getting back to the gym and learning again how to grow disciples! Resources that help Roy Oswald, of the Alban Institute, said that we need three things to have a full “Christian diet.” They are:
Any one of the above by itself is a “starvation diet”, but all three together help us to be wellsprings of new life. The Commission for Evangelism and Congregational Vitality of the Massachusetts Conference is providing a growing network of resources to help congregations nurture spiritual growth. For example, Richard Peace, of the Wenham UCC, Professor of Evangelism and Spiritual Development at Fuller Seminary, has written a curriculum called Holy Conversation, which helps people in our churches begin to talk again about their faith story. Through the Commission’s efforts, Richard has worked with dozens of our MACUCC congregations. On March 1, Martha Grace Reese who has studied evangelism in Mainline Protestant denominations, will be with us in Massachusetts. In her book, ‘Unbinding the Gospel,’ Gay Reese outlines how congregations can learn to pray, share their faith and reach out in new ways. Her companion books, ‘Unbinding the Church’ and ‘Unbinding the Heart,’ help churches plan a congregation-wide “E” event which culminates in 40 days of prayer and sharing. There are also trained Vitality Coaches in the Conference who can work with your congregation to strengthen your discipleship process. Jump on board Is it time for your congregation to get excited about its faith and mission? Would you like to reach a huge portion of your community that doesn’t even know what a difference a church and a faith in Christ can make? MACUCC has recognized that adult faith formation is a key to vitality for our future. It all starts with you. I hope you will pray for your congregation, and that you will gather a small group in your church to read scripture and share how God has made a difference in your lives. Growing disciples is our primary work as a church. May the Spirit lead you to a new and deeper understanding of this work before us. I look forward to hearing your story of how your congregation is growing and reaching out in new and wonderful ways that God’s kingdom may flourish. Vital Congregational Life Cluster GroupsChallenging Churches to go deeper as Disciples of Jesus
discipleship process of spiritual growth.
Out of this growth can come any number of possibilities that you customize to your church setting. These options include:
If you would like to be part of a Cluster Group, need individual coaching, or would like to be trained as an Evangelism Coach, please contact Rev. Paul Nickerson at nickersonp@macucc.org.
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Under the direction of the Evangelism and Renewal Commission, Vital Congregational Life, is an ongoing process of transformation being offered to local congregations. So far, over 80 churches have participated in this process which is led by Rev. Paul Nickerson of the Conference Staff, and by trained Evangelism Coaches throughout the Conference. In this process, your church can look at its strengths and areas for improvement and examine and implement a core