ELCA Congregations Experience New Vitality and Growth

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hundreds of congregations, with Sunday morning worship attendance averaging between 100 and 300 people, are experiencing new vitality and growth as a result of the Mid-Size Congregation Transformation Project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
"Congregations with a worship attendance of 100 to 300 people each week have a unique set of dynamics unlike any other size congregations," said the Rev. Marta Poling-Goldenne, director for witness, Christian education, and evangelism, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries.
"Stretched between tight budgets and increasing demands for programs and services, these congregations and their leaders frequently feel the stress of having not enough resources and staff for their ministry," Poling-Goldenne said.
About 40 percent of the ELCA's nearly 11,000 congregations fall into the mid-size congregation category. Seven of the ELCA's 65 synods are at work on the project.
Congregations involved in the project have reported major successes in growth and strengthened spirituality in one year. They have gathered together to check on their progress and fine tune their programs in "retooling and celebration events" held around the country in 1999 and scheduled for 2000.
The Division for Congregational Ministries is managing the mid-size congregation pilot project, a product of "Witness in God's Action in the World" one of seven ELCA "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century." The Initiatives, approved by the 1997 Churchwide Assembly, are significant areas of ministry for the 21st century.
The Rev. John Weber, pastor of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, Peachtree City, Ga., helped to design the two-day workshops conducted last summer. Weber is one of nearly a dozen presenters who have initiated the program with presentations in selected synods of the ELCA.
The synods are: Northwest Synod of Wisconsin; Southeastern Synod (Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia); Central States Synod (Kansas and Missouri); Northeastern Minnesota Synod; Northeastern, Northwestern and Southern Ohio Synods; Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod; and Greater Milwaukee Synod.
In each of the pilot areas, letters were sent to pastors of congregations that fit the mid-size profile on the basis of worship attendance.
According to Weber, the thrust of the two-day workshops is to help congregations find out what it takes to grow beyond a "growth plateau" where they feel "locked in." He said, "The growth that is expected relates more to the spirit of the congregation rather than to numbers."
Most of the workshops offered congregations 10 "handles" that would help them set goals for growth. They are to multiply hospitality ministry, strengthen community outreach, ground growth in prayerful planning, expand and diversify worship, create additional lay-led ministries, deal with conflict constructively, streamline the decision making process, staff for growth, move from a "volunteer" to a "minister" mentality through acknowledging spiritual gifts; and expand Christian education and youth ministries. Thinking together about these handles helped free some congregations to do what they had already been thinking about doing, said Weber. Each congregation participating in the workshops was expected to formulate three specific goals their leaders thought it could reach in the coming year. Congregations worked in clusters of three to five. They met several times a year and reported to each other on progress made toward goals.
That gave them accountability, Weber said. All participating congregations in each synod will continue to gather for reporting and "retooling."
A key component of the plan is the involvement of lay people. Congregations were invited to send a minimum of three lay people with the pastor to the initial workshop. Some sent nearly 20. The strength of lay involvement has proven to be central to the strength of both spiritual and numerical growth experienced by each congregation, Weber said.
According to Weber, the program gives lay members a chance to get excited about their congregation's mission, and to work on meeting the goals that bring about positive changes.
Weber uses an example of a congregation in Ohio noted for its rapid growth. The congregations is known as the "cathedral in the cornfield." Members of the congregation visited the church Weber serves in Georgia.
After they went home, they moved "coffee hour" from the church basement to the narthex, said Weber. As a result, about 40 people stay after worship services and relate to each other, he said.
The congregation decided also to print door hangers for every residence within a four-mile radius of the church. Twelve new families came and five of the family members are interested in attending the church's membership class.
Weber emphasized that the workshops for mid-sized congregations are not designed only to be "how to sessions." The workshops also "give out lots of ideas." Lay people get fired up by those ideas and begin to think about what they can do -- how they can adopt those ideas to work in their congregations, he said.
Many mid-size congregations are going through the pains of change, and those pains cause the church to stagnate and keep them from growing spiritually or numerically, Weber said. The workshops have helped congregations to recognize their pain and get past it to newly energized life and action.
The Rev. Carl L. Johnson, evangelism resource pastor for all three ELCA synods in Ohio, said the project has helped many churches become aware that they have unique characteristics. He said, "Most members of mid-size congregations see their church as smaller than it is. They don't realize the power of God in the midst of their congregation. These churches are building relationship with like-size congregations and are learning from one another while they support one another." More than 200 people 37 pastors and 175 laity involved in the mid-size congregation project in Ohio meet to study together, pray and support one another. "The project really hit a nerve," Johnson said, "because mid-size congregations have not experienced this kind of special attention in the past."
"The project is helping these congregations pray more as they seek God's will in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ," Johnson said. "It is teaching them the power of prayer and the power of the gospel."
The churches are looking at "hospitality evangelism," one of Johnson's special interests.
"We are leading people to understand that pastors and lay people need to embrace courageous leadership skills to be willing to take risks, to realize that change will be involved, and to have thick skin," Johnson added.
Many churches are learning that they need to change their leadership structure from a committee system to the organization of task forces and small groups. When that happens, said Johnson, everybody's role changes. Both clergy and lay people are being trained on how to handle the criticism they know they will receive. "They are working for the long haul," Johnson said, "and they are being reminded that Christ is their leader, not certain people. The program is teaching laity the purpose of the church -- to give Christ away." The Rev. James A. Wilson, Sr., pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Wis., has been the coordinator for the ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod.
Redeemer has identified specific groups of people to target and planned some kind of outreach activity every month. Activities, like musical events and an Easter cantata, are designed to encourage people to come to church.
A non-alcoholic New Year's Eve party at Redeemer drew 600 people this year, up from 200 when the idea was first tried eight years ago. The party at Redeemer Lutheran Church has become a