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On Growing a Church by Selling Spirituality

Spirituality has become a commodity for sale on the competitive capitalist free market.

I was struck by this reality when I read Jeff Sharlet's profile of Ted Haggard, pastor of a magachurch in Colorado Springs and president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), in the May issue of Harper's Magazine. Let me say quickly that I do not make reference, in this case, to Haggard's philosophy in order to criticize it (as I may have in the past and may again in the future) but to confess that, even though I would never have put it so crassly, he articulates the way I often find myself thinking when I am thinking about how to help my church grow.

In his Harper's article, Sharlet says about Haggard: "One of Pastor Ted's favorite books is Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which is now required reading for the hundreds of pastors under Ted's spiritual authority across the country. From Friedman, Pastor Ted says he learned that everything, including spirituality, can be understood as a commodity. And unregulated trade, he concluded, was the key to achieving worldly freedom." [italics mine]

Haggard argues that just as corporations market toothpaste and consumers vote at the cash register, a church should market spiritual experiences as a way of organizing itself. "He [Haggard] believes it is time 'to harness the forces of free-market capitalism in our ministry.'" Sharlet writes. "Once a pastor does that, his flock can start organizing itself according to each member's abilities and tastes."

Honestly, this is the way I too think much of the time: What do people want? What will attract them to my church? What will keep them? What will they buy? What options can we offer that will fit everyone's tastes and preferences? What new program, experience, type of service, music, or opportunity might bring new people to my church? What can we sell them?

Richard King and Jeremy Carrette, the authors of a new book entitled Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion, are concerned that, when we think this way, we are abandoning the greatest contribution that the religions we have inherited have to make to society and to each of us individually.

King and Carrette argue that the very essence of religion is lost when spirituality becomes a commodity. They offer this analysis of religion in the last half-century: Spirituality began to be separated from religion in the 1960s. Spirituality was increasingly cut off from its roots --the historic bodies that had have for centuries passed on spiritual stories, values, and practices from one generation to another. Spirituality became individualized and focused on my fulfillment, my quality of life, my prosperity, my authenticity, and so on. Religion, meanwhile, came to be associated with oppressive dogma and rigidity. The historic faiths or, if you prefer, organized religion became increasing marginalized as personal self-fulfillment spiritualities were promoted, including by corporations using them as part of their branding strategies in the 1980 and 90s.

However, King and Carrette warn, doing away with organized religion in favor of individualistic spiritualities also does away with the values underpinning many social goods--such as a belief in social justice and respect for the earth's resources.

King and Carrette say the purpose of their book is to challenge "the colonization of our collective cultural heritage by individualist and capitalist forms of spirituality," in order to emphasize what they believe has been increasingly silenced within those traditions, "namely a concern with community, social justice and the extension of an ethical ideal of selfless love and compassion towards others."

In an interview in thesocialedge.com, a Catholic monthly electronic magazine about social justice and faith published in Canada, King --who begins teaching at Vanderbilt University this fall-- says that capitalism (I might say consumerism) has become the new world religion. In fact, King says capitalist ideology is "the new opium of the people" that keeps the masses exploited, isolated from one another, and passive. He believes humanities' best hope is the witness of the historic religions which include a social justice dimension.

King thinks many of the churches (as well as other religions) have been co-opted by the growing tendency to understand spirituality as a commodity for sale. Instead of coming to church asking, "What does the Lord require of us?" people are coming to church asking, "What can you do for me to make me more successful and happier?" What is wrong with this? "Individualism [or a focus on self] per se is not the problem. Because what's wrong with a bit of freedom and individual self-expression?" King says in thesocialedge.com interview. "The problem is the kind of atomized version of individualism that developed in modern capitalistic societies. It's pernicious because it creates a widespread sense of anomie and social isolation which causes fear, depression and loneliness for people who see themselves as individuals. On a societal level this undermines our ability to feel empathy, care and respect for others."

Haggard would seem to understand exactly what King is saying and to have made a unambiguous and transparent choice for capitalism --or consumerism-- over historic religion's emphasis on community, social justice and the ideal of selfless love and compassion towards others. "I want the church to help me live life well, not exhaust me with endless 'worthwhile' projects," Haggard writes in his book Dog Training, Fly Fishing, & Sharing Christ in the 21st Century. Sharlet explains: "By 'worthwhile projects' Ted means building funds and soup kitchens alike. It's not that he opposes these; it's just that he is sick of hearing about them and believes that other Christians are, too. He knows that for Christianity to prosper in the free market, it needs more than 'moral values' --it needs customer value."

All of this leaves those church leaders in contemporary America who are trying to be faithful to our historic faiths in something of a bind. We feel like we need to respond to people's desire to find a personal spirituality which is self-fulfilling, just as Haggard and other megachurch pastors do. At least I feel this way. We need to offer many options, popular music, high quality worship services, learning and sharing experiences that will meet personal desires, needs and convenience, and lots of options. At the same time, we also feel the need to help Americans discover a spirituality by which we truly come into the presence of God and into the true fulfillment that comes from selfless love, compassion for others, and self sacrifice. To find our lives is to lose them. (Matt. 16:25)

This is no easy task in a society where capitalist consumption and self-centeredness, maybe even selfishness, has become the doxa -- the uncritical assumption that governs everyday life and that sets the parameters of public discourse -- as King puts it, quoting the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. It is no easy task when many of the fastest growing churches --if Haggard is an indication-- have simply abandoned Jesus' invitation to take up our crosses and follow him for a gospel of self-satisfaction and enhancement.

I say this not as an excuse for when those of us in the historic churches are insensitive to people's wants and needs. I am not arguing that we should not be, what marketers call, customer friendly. I am not arguing for worship and programs that are not well planned or conducted. I think we need higher standards of excellence than we usually have. We need to be effective in telling our story in the marketplace. We need to offer an attractive and inviting alternative to the unchurched. We need to do this without taking on the values and spirit of the competitive and consumer-oriented marketplace.

This is the hard part. Is it the impossible part?

California-Nevada Conference Defines Sexual Orientation as a Status

The California-Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church passed a resolution June 17 defining sexual orientation as a status. (See here also.) The exact wording of the resolution is: "The California-Nevada Annual Conference hereby defines the word 'status' as including sexual orientation such as heterosexuality, homosexuality, bi-sexuality, and transgendered."

The conference also passed another resolution explicitly refusing to define the word "practicing." This resolution states: "The California-Nevada Annual Conference hereby specifically refuses and declines to define the words 'practicing' or 'practicing homosexual.'"

According to the California-Nevada Conference record of the daily proceedings for June 18, a member of the conference requested that the presiding bishop, Beverly J. Shamana, make a ruling of law on the following questions:

"Does our adoption of Item 26 defining 'status' void, violate or otherwise pre-empt the force of law of para. 304.3 in the 2004 Book of Discipline?" [Para. 304.3 states that "self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church."]

"Is the definition of 'status' as adopted in Item 26 sufficiently overbroad as to render it ambiguous, unenforceable and/or violation of the principles of due process?"

"Does our refusal to define 'practicing' in Item 27 void and/or violate the enforcement or enforceability of para. 304.3 in the 2004 Book of Discipline in the California Nevada Annual Conference."

"Since 'self-avowed practicing homosexual' is defined in footnote 1 on page 197 in the 2004 Book of Discipline, is Item 27 legal?" [The footnote defines "self-avowed practicing homosexual" as meaning that "a person openly acknowledges to a bishop, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual." The definition defines "self-avowed," but not "practicing."]

Bishop Shamana has up to 30 days after the close of the conference session to rule on questions of law, so her ruling will be due no later than July 18. It will surely be interesting to read her ruling when it is issued. Decisions of law made by bishops have to be reported to the Judicial Council annually. The Judicial Council, then, has the authority to "affirm, modify, or reverse" a bishop's ruling of law. (2004 Book of Discipline, Para. 51)

Although Bishop Shamana has to issue her ruling by July 18, if I read the Discipline correctly, she really has up to a year to submit it to the Judicial Council for review. It is likely, however, that she will send it in this summer --why wait?-- which means the Judicial Council will consider her ruling during its next session scheduled for October 27 in Houston -- the same meeting during which the council will rule on the Committee of Appeals verdict in the Beth Stroud case. (See here.)

Strictly speaking, the Stroud appeals verdict and the California-Nevada resolutions have nothing to do with one another (Stroud is a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference which has defined neither "status" nor "practicing"), except that they both deal with the same concern.

The Constitution of the United Methodist Church states clearly that: "In the United Methodist Church no conference or other organizational unit of the church shall be structured so as to exclude any member or any constituent body of the Church because of race, color, national origin, status or economic condition." (2004 Book of Discipline, para. 4, Article IV) The Constitution also charges General Conference with the responsibility "to secure the rights and privileges of membership in all agencies, programs, and institution in The United Methodist Church regardless of race or status." (2004 Book of Discipline, para. 16, Article IV.14) If sexual orientation is a status, we have a conflict between church law and the Constitution that needs attention. If sexual orientation is a status, there is a serious question whether para. 304.3 is constitutional.

However, the logic of the Committee on Appeals decision in the Stroud case is even narrower than constitutionality. The committee's decision is very precisely written and deserves to be read carefully and thoughtfully. It is based significantly on Judicial Council decision 702. Judicial Council decision 702 says: "[I]n order to do that" --that is, in order to ensure that "the prohibition of an appointment . . . is exercised in compliance with the rights of all persons who are in full membership"-- "the words 'status' and 'self-avowed practicing homosexual' must be defined by either the General Conference or the various Annual Conferences."

The simple point made by the appeals committee in its decision is that neither the General Conference nor the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference has defined either "status" or "practicing homosexual." The Judicial Council has wisely recognized that it is not its role to make such definitions. The Judicial Council said in decision 702: "It is not the task of the Judicial Council to legislate the meaning of words passed by the General Conference.

It is clear that either the General Conference or the Annual Conferences must define for their own use, the words 'self-avowed practicing homosexual.' It might be observed that the latter may not be very successful unless there is a considerable degree of uniformity. Likewise, it is obvious that the term 'status' needs to be defined."

The point the appeals committee decision makes is that neither the General Conference nor the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference has defined the terms under which the trial court found Stroud guilty. It is a violation of due process to find someone guilty based on undefined terms which anyone is free --no, forced-- to interpret subjectively.

The following paragraph from the Committee on Appeals decision is important: "The Committee stresses that its decision on this point says nothing about the wisdom or theological soundness of ¶ 304.3. The Committee recognizes and respects that the General Conference is the supreme lawmaking body of the Church and that all are bound to live by, and may not legitimately act to nullify, that law. The Committee also appreciates that its decision may frustrate the will expressed by a majority at several General Conferences. On this issue, however, that frustration is a product of the fact that the Committee is obliged to follow the rulings of the Judicial Council when applying the Discipline. The Committee's narrow holding is simply that binding Judicial Council precedent continues to require that ¶ 304.3 cannot constitutionally be applied to prohibit an appointment unless either the General Conference or the Annual Conference has first defined both 'practicing homosexual' and 'status.' Since neither phrase has been defined by either of the requisite bodies in this case, the verdict and penalty must be set aside."

So, even though its resolution doesn't apply to Beth Stroud because she is not a member of the California-Nevada Conference, this particular conference has taken the bull by the horns. The California-Nevada Conference has said that sexual orientation is a status. If a complaint were to be brought against a clergy member of the California-Nevada Conference based on para. 304.3, there would be no way to avoid a discussion about the constitutionality of this particular law -- the very discussion the presiding officer in the Stroud case chose to squelch.

The California-Nevada Conference's decision to refuse to define "practicing" or "practicing homosexual" is equally significant. The introduction to the California-Nevada Conference resolution questions the propriety of defining "practicing." It says: "It is inherently subjective and speculative to define the word 'practicing' as regards sexual acts. To define 'practicing' as related to homosexual acts without also having to explain 'practicing' as it differentiates in some instances from heterosexual acts is discriminatory and confusing. Further, to define 'practicing' creates the unseemly and humiliating necessity of questioning clergy about their intimate and private sex acts ..."

In other words, the California-Nevada Conference has refused to participate in asking clergy about the mechanics of their sexual relationship, as though (excuse me, I don't like discussing this either) what goes where were the point. I appreciate this particular resolution because, during the Stroud trial, when the prosecutor asked Beth Stroud whether her relationship with her partner included "genital contact," I suddenly realized that there were certain intrusions into people's dignity and privacy that I hope I will never participate in, even if I thought to justify it by saying that I was merely fulfilling a necessary function in church governance. There are questions we should be embarrassed to ask.

So, the logic is clear:

1. We cannot prosecute people based on undefined terms;

2. It is not the job of the Judicial Council to define General Conference's terms;

3. If General Conference has not defined terms, annual conference definitions should apply;

4. If neither General Conference nor annual conferences have defined the terms, disciplinary rules cannot be fairly enforced.

The Judicial Council, it seems to me, has no choice but to accept the conclusions of the Committee of Appeals in the Stroud case. And it has no choice but to allow the California-Nevada Conference to establish its own definitions.

If we are a church of order and due process, how could the Judicial Council decide otherwise? The other option is to choose popular opinion over reason ... mob rule over order and due process.

Evangelicalism Today -- A sad time for an honorable tradition

The Rev. Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Col., talks on the phone to President Bush or his staff every Monday. Haggard is president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

Throughout the years, while not always agreeing with its stances, I have respected the NAE. As a senior in college 37 years ago my senior thesis for the political science department was a comparison of the positions of the NAE and the National Council of Churches on issues such as war, economic justice, civil liberties, and the separation of church and state. I found the NAE to be a thoughtful organization -- one, it seemed to me, that was truly trying to take Scripture seriously.

The NAE has had some remarkable leadership during the 50-some years of its existence. It was formed --in large part-- as the result of a vision born and fostered by Park Street Church in Boston. Park Street Church --where I worshipped from time to time when I was a seminary student-- has a close relationship with Gordon-Conwell Seminary, a center of solid evangelical scholarship. Dr. Harold J. Ockenga, pastor of Park Street and president of Gordon-Conwell, was an early leader of the NAE. Ockenga was an evangelical --some called him a neo-evangelical-- who believed that evangelicals need to take scholarship and social justice seriously. Other evangelical leaders influential within the NAE have included people like Carl Henry, Richard Halverson, Max Stackhouse, Billy Graham, and Ron Sider. These were thoughtful church leaders with theological depth.

None of these evangelical church leaders, not even Billy Graham, talked to the president every Monday. Ted Haggard does.

Jeff Sharlet of The Revealer visited Haggard's church, interviewed him and his members, and wrote an excellent report about his experience for the May issue of Harper's. The article, entitled "Soldiers of Christ: Inside America's most powerful megachurch" is not encouraging. Haggard does not appear to represent the kind of thoughtful evangelicalism that I have historically identified with the NAE. Unless Sharlet is exaggerating --I don't think he is-- Haggard is obsessed with demonic forces, spiritual warfare, and capitalism.

Here are a few quotes from Sharlet's article about Haggard's obsession with demonic forces: "He was always on the lookout for spies. At the time, Colorado Springs was a small city split between the Air Force and the New Age, and the latter, Pastor Ted believed, worked for the devil. Pastor Ted soon began upsetting the devil's plans. He staked out gay bars, inviting men to come to his church; his whole congregation pitched itself into invisible battles with demonic forces, sometimes in front of public buildings. ... He called the evil forces that dominated Colorado Springs and every other metropolitan area in the country 'Control.'" "He sent teams to pray in front of the homes of supposed witches; in one month, ten out of fifteen of his targets put their houses on the market."

Reporting on a conversation with a New Life member named Linda Burton, Sharlet writes: "She reached across the table and touched my hand. 'I have to tell you, the spiritual battle is very real.' We are surrounded by demons, she explained, reciting the lessons she had learned in her small-group studies at New Life. The demons are cold, they need bodies, they long to come inside. People let them in in two different ways. One is to be sinned against. 'Molested,' suggested Linda. The other is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could walk by sin --a murder, a homosexual act-- and a demon will leap onto your bones. Cities, therefore, are especially dangerous."

Here is a quote about Haggard's obsession with spiritual --and material-- warfare: "... he believes spiritual war requires a virile, worldly counterpart. 'I teach a strong ideology of the use of power,' he says, 'of military might, as a public service.' He is for preemptive war, because he believes the Bible's exhortations against sin set for us a preemptive paradigm, and he is for ferocious war, because 'the Bible's bloody. There's a lot about blood.'"

And, here are some quotes about Haggard and his devotion to capitalism: "... Pastor Ted says he learned that everything, including spirituality, can be understood as a commodity. And unregulated trade, he concluded, was the key to achieving worldly freedom." [Haggard says:] "I want the church to help me live life well, not exhaust me with endless 'worthwhile' projects." [Sharlet explains:] "By 'worthwhile projects' Ted means building funds and soup kitchens alike. It's not that he opposes these; it's just that he is sick of hearing about them and believes that other Christians are, too. He knows that for Christianity to prosper in the free market, it needs more than 'moral values' --it needs customer value." "They're pro-free markets, they're pro-private property," he [Haggard] said. "That's what evangelical stands for."

The Slacktivist blog has taken this last quote and used it to create a litany, which begins: "They're pro-free markets, they're pro-private property. ... That's what evangelical stands for." -- Pastor Ted Haggard

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." - Acts 2:44-45

"They're pro-free markets, they're pro-private property. ... That's what evangelical stands for." -- Pastor Ted Haggard

"Thou shalt not turn away from him that is in want, but thou shalt share all things with thy brother, and shalt not say that they are thine own." -- The Didache

"They're pro-free markets, they're pro-private property. ... That's what evangelical stands for." -- Pastor Ted Haggard

"Therefore all things are common; and let not the rich claim more than the rest. To say therefore 'I have more than I need, why not enjoy?' is neither human nor proper." -- St. Clement of Alexandria

(Read the rest of the litany here.)

I know many evangelicals would not consider me one. I am aware that I would not pass many of the litmus tests. Yet, I like to think of myself as warmly evangelical. It is a shame to see the NAE come to this. It is a shame to see America's evangelicals using their political clout to get time weekly on the phone with the president for Ted Haggard.

One more quote, this time not from Sharlet's article but from a New York Times article written by Laurie Goodstein. Largely due to the work of Rich Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs for the NAE -- a solid evangelical in the tradition of Ockenga and Sider-- the NAE issued a statement this past March calling for action to stop global warning. Cizik issued an effective sound bite: "I don't think God is going to ask us how he created the earth, but he will ask us what we did with what he created."

According to reporter Goodstein, Haggard's contribution to the discussion was, well, a bit more personal. "The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group of 51 church denominations, said he had become passionate about global warming because of his experience scuba diving," she wrote in her article. Okay. Now if we could just get Haggard interested in rock climbing in Iraq maybe we could end the war.

Why Is Your Conference Growing? An E-interview with Rachel Simeon

Rev. Rachel Lieder Simeon is conference superintendent of the Alaska Missionary Conference, one of the few U.S. United Methodist conferences reporting growth in both membership and attendance in 2004.

The Alaska Missionary Conference, which has 28 churches, ended 2004 with 4,045 members, up 1 from 2003. Average attendance during 2004 was 2,609, up 15 from 2003.

The Alaska Missionary Conference covers an area twice the size of Texas with a population of about 600,000. (If you overlaid Alaska on the lower 48 states, it would stretch from Maine to California.) Some of the conference's mission stations can only be reached by boat, plane, or --in one case-- dog sled. Temperatures can vary as much as 160 degrees in some areas.

The Alaska Missionary Conference has no clergy members; all clergy serving in the conference are members of other conferences. Rev. Simeon is a member of the Yellowstone Conference. She formerly served as part of a superintendency team and as pastor of the United Methodist Church of Chugiak. In 2004 she was appointed to serve as the Alaska Missionary Conference's sole superintendent full-time.

Untied Methodist asked her to reflect on why her conference grew last year and also to educate us about the Alaska Missionary Conference.

Your conference grew in both membership and attendance in 2004. What caused the growth?

Short answers: Growth in immigrant populations, committed clergy and un-stuck laity, longevity of episcopal leadership, appropriate accountability.

Long answers: The Alaska Missionary Conference (AMC) is experiencing a significant influx of Pacific Rim immigrants, and we are making a concerted effort to address their needs and offer a United Methodist presence. Currently we have congregations serving the Korean, Tongan, Samoan, Hmong, and Filipino communities. In fact, a predominantly Anglo, older congregation in Douglass, Ala., has requested a Filipino pastor to address the needs of that emerging population in the Douglass-Juneau area. We have appointed a Filipino clergywoman and expect her to arrive in the fall. We have excellent pastors from every jurisdiction, and soon, from a central conference.

Since we have no clergy membership, there are no guaranteed appointments in Alaska. Everyone who is serving here wants to be here. If someone is not effective for whatever reason, we are not required to reappointment them, and therefore are able to find folk who match Alaska well, and match our churches well. Especially in recent years, as I've recruited from across the country, the folks who want to come to the AMC are willing to be deployed where we believe they are needed.

Folks do not come here with one appointment in mind; they come to the whole and, then, are deployed to the places where their gifts are best matched. If the General Conference would ever allow it, we would be willing to be the guinea pig for equalized salaries to further encourage this kind of approach. The trend is for longer-term pastorates, and actually many of the clergy who serve here end up retiring up in Alaska. The laity are transitory. Though we have some long-time folk here, our population is young, and most of the folks that come to church also come because they want to, not because they grew in the church or their families have always attended, but because they choose to be here.

This allows for a kind of creative approach to ministry that enlivens both the clergy and laity. It is rare to hear: "We can't do it that way" or "We tried that before." We typically hear, "Well, let's give it a try!"

For the first time ever, we will have at least 12 years --and possibly 16 years-- under the same episcopal leadership. Bishop Edward Paup came to us with Oregon-Idaho Conference in 1996, and when his assignment changed to the Seattle area, the jurisdictional College of Bishops put Alaska with the Seattle area. He is a creative and relational bishop, and the folks--both clergy and lay--know and love him well. He has pushed us to always see the larger picture, to realize that being self-sufficient is not necessarily a goal for any Christian community, and to stop feeling as though we are "less than" because we are interdependent with the rest of the church. He has helped us understand that our status as a missionary conference gives us a new way to approach our ministry. The AMC was in the top per capita giver to the Children of Africa appeal, and just recently was number three within the general church in per capita advance giving. This is a direct response to Bishop Paup's invitation and vision, to the spirit of community within the conference, and the way in which this conference views mission and ministry.

Finally, there has been a spirit of support and accountability that has grown over the past few years. At our professional church-workers retreat we have worked hard to be in community together, and it is rare for anyone to miss the opportunity to gather together. In short we generally and genuinely like each other and try to support each other's ministry. Again, because we are so small, every one's participation within the life of the conference is needed, and that expectation, along with a sense of purpose in our gatherings, has helped us remember that we are in this together.

How old is the Alaska Missionary Conference?

We celebrated 100 years of ministry in Alaska last year (2004).

How old are its churches?

The oldest church is Ketchikan in the Southeast area (100 years), but we have a presence with the Jesse Lee Home in Unalaska that predates that. Our newest church is the First Samoan United Methodist Church of Anchorage, which we chartered last year (2004).

Could you give us some sense of its history?

Perhaps the answer above will have to suffice..... with the notable exception that Alaska was linked with the Oregon-Idaho Episcopal Area in 1960 when the conferences of Pacific Northwest and Oregon-Idaho differentiated. Just last year we were linked with the Pacific Northwest Conference, and will probably always share a bishop.

Which is your largest church and how large is it?

St. John UMC in Anchorage with 718 members.

Which is your smallest church and how small is it?

Moose Pass UMC on the Kenai Peninsula with 22 members.

Is being a pastor in the Alaska Missionary Conference different from serving in other conferences?

Yes ... and no. As stated above, we have no guaranteed appointment. I think that offers a kind of leverage for quality that is sometimes hard to come by. Many of us often serve in isolated areas, off the road system, on islands. At least half of our churches receive support from outside the conference through the Advance Special, which means pastors in Alaska itinerate and tell the story in the other conferences.

We may have a new appreciation of mission and connectionalism because of our isolation and interdependence. There is very little vying for perceived 'plum" appointments, born out of the limited number of appointments and no guarantee of an appointment, and the shared reality that when you come to the AMC you come to the whole conference. And there is the opportunity to work with clergy leadership from all of the jurisdictions. (An aside: I think we could be an interesting study for the general church in how we might find a way to all live together!)

Where we are just like being a pastor anywhere, is that, like anywhere else, our churches flourish under effective, competent leadership. The issues of our churches are very similar to other churches around the United Methodist Church --and the workload is similar with the possible exception of significantly fewer funerals. While I served the Chugiak church from 1993-2004, I had five funerals--only two of which were for members. Sometimes it takes a while, especially when you're serving an urban or suburban church, to recognize what is unique about ministry here, but those of us who have spent enough time here recognize it in due time!

How do you decide to start a new congregation?

In the past, this has been a superintendent-driven process. With one superintendent being the norm and a non-resident bishop, often the superintendent has become a kind of regional bishop, and as that person would travel around the state, he or she would identify places for new congregations. Though I clearly have significant input, we have just beefed up our New Ministry Committee so that the identification of new congregations is a more widely held responsibility. I'll let you know how it goes!

How do you go about planting a new church?

The biggest challenge for us is cost. In the past, we were heavily supported financially by the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). Though the board still support us in major ways, it does not have the resources to offer significant seed money for new churches. It is expensive to start churches here, and usually our growth occurs as a result of another local church offering hospitality to the people of an emerging congregation, and then slowly finding their relative autonomy. We would love to plant a church, for instance, in Kodiak, but the start-up costs are prohibitive at this time in our life. Another placement that is highly needed is in the villages, but that too requires significant monies for travel, housing, etc. In short, in this time of diminishing resources, it is especially difficult for a small conference (with a total budget of $600,000) to initiate new church growth.

Did your growth in 2004 occur as a result of starting new churches or growth in older congregations?

Fifteen of our churches increased membership from 2002-2003; one remained the same, 11 decreased. Our two largest churches grew, but so did our two smallest. In 2004 we added a congregation. What causes churches to grow in your conference? Effective pastoral leadership, good support and accountability from the execs in the conference; flexible laity; missional outreach.

What can other conferences learn from the Alaska Missionary Conference?

I think the answer to the first question may address this. What Alaska has going for it is the desire of folks to be here, the openness to new ideas, the cross-pollination from all the jurisdictions of the church, an ingrained sense of being in mission, appropriate support and accountability by its leaders, and a deep commitment to the power of community to transform.

What else can you tell us that we should know about your conference?

Clearly, I am not all that objective about ministry in this conference. It is not perfect, but it is exciting, flexible and creative. I am delighted to serve here, and would welcome the opportunity to talk with anyone about mission and ministry in this context! I come to the East coast frequently, as I am a director on the GBGM and would be more than willing to be in contact with you in anyway that would be appropriate.

Our thanks to Rev. Simeon for her thoughtful responses. It is obvious from her responses that the unique situation of a missionary conference is an important arena to learn and experiment. I am especially impressed by the commitment of the Alaska Missionary Conference to be deployed for the sake of the greater good. Her e-mail address is rlsimeon@aol.com.

Why Is Your Conference Growing? An E-interview with Paul Nixon

Dr. Paul Nixon serves as Conference Director of Congregational Development for the Alabama-West Florida Conference. His conference is one of the few United Methodist conferences reporting growth in both membership and attendance in 2004 ... and one of the very few that has been growing for more than two decades.

Dr. Nixon's ministry includes planning and coaching new church starts, identifying and mentoring potential new-start pastors, supporting the revitalization of congregations, developing cooperative parishes, and consulting on congregational development issues.

Untied Methodist asked him to reflect on why his conference is growing when so few conferences are.

Why is your conference growing when most aren't?

Dean, I wish I had a short answer to this question, but I do not. There are many factors that together contribute to 23 consecutive years of growth in the Alabama-West Florida Conference.

The first is a pastor by the name of John Ed Mathison. He was appointed to Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery 33 years ago when the church ran 150 in attendance, and he led Frazer to relocate to the growing edge of town. He and his leadership exegeted the Montgomery community brilliantly, and then innovated in the early Wesleyan spirit to meet the needs of the varied people in Montgomery's demographic.

Today Frazer is the largest black church in our conference, the largest Hispanic church, (I think) the largest Asian church, and by far the largest Anglo church. Together, they are some 5,000 strong on most Sundays! Frazier's influence has given cover to enable other United Methodist churches to similarly innovate in ministry and worship design, and has helped create a culture of long-tenure pastorates in our conference.

Since John Ed started at Frazer, two other churches have kept pastors for 28 years (Gulf Breeze United Methodist) and 26 years (Christ United Methodist Church Mobile). These two churches, along with Frazer, together account for about 10,000 people in Sunday worship, one sixth of our conference!

Creating a culture where such flagships can sail is a big reason for our conference's continued growth. Some would say that conservative theology is the engine that drives these churches. I feel it is more accurate to say that reaching the unchurched is the passion that drives these churches. A church can embrace such a passion regardless of where they are on the left-right theological spectrum. I personally served on the pastoral team at Gulf Breeze for nine years, and I have never been accused of being off to the right theologically. But Frazer gave us cover to innovate, innovate, innovate - even to the point of creating a second and third campus - something that would have been inconceivable before John Ed Mathison taught us we could color outside the lines for the sake of the mission. (Note: Exegete is normally a verb used to mean "reading the text of Scripture wisely". Fred Craddock of Candler School of Theology talked also about exegeting a congregation: reading the needs of people in the church. John Ed Mathison has done those things, but also learned how to read his community and then adapt ministry methods and forms to fit the cultural setting. This is profoundly Wesleyan.)

Another factor in the growth in our conference has been our planting of new churches, new faith communities, and new ministry sites. We did a study last year that showed us that one half of our attendance growth is attributable to our newest 10 churches. These 10 churches netted an increase of 3,500 in attendance, while the other 660 churches netted an increase of 3,500, over a period of eight years or so. Steve Compton's book Rekindling the Mainline (Alban Press, 2004) documents the fact that planting new congregations is the most effective thing a denomination can do in order to grow numerically. Conferences that plant churches are likely to grow; those who do not, or who plant only one every few years, are likely to age and decline.

In Dothan, Alabama, a town of 60,000 people, 10 years ago there were 1,600 in worship in United Methodist churches on a typical Sunday. Today the town has grown by 5 percent, but there are now 3,500 in worship in United Methodist churches. What happened? Well, we planted an incredibly successful new church (Harvest United Methodist Church) that grew to 1,000. But if you subtract 1,000 from 3500, you find that the remaining churches also grew from 1,600 to 2,500. One church, running 300 in attendance, and stuck at that number for several years, was located only two miles from the new church we planted. That neighboring church (Covenant United Methodist Church) is now also running nearly 1,000 in attendance. Why? Because Harvest raised the bar, and taught Covenant and others some things they needed to be doing to "stay in the game." My studies show that when we start a new United Methodist church in a community, the neighboring United Methodist churches will actually grow about 80 percent of the time.

Finally, at the conference level, two important things: (1) We have had bishops down here who have been content to let long-term pastorates proceed without re-assigning the pastors - so long as those churches were paying 100 percent of apportionments. (2) The current bishop created a new position, a cabinet-level director of congregational development - overseeing new church plants and revitalization initiatives in existing churches. You have a congregational development director in Baltimore-Washington as well. I may be prejudiced since I was the guy who got that job when it was created in our conference; but I think every conference needs such a position, even if they have to reduce the number of district superintendents (as we did) in order to fund it.

Some people suggest that our growth is because we are in the Bible Belt. However, there is as high a percentage of church affiliation in the Dakotas as in our region - and many of our neighboring annual conferences in the Southeast are not growing at all. So I don't put much stock in the Bible Belt theory. In fact, our growth has been stronger in those communities where the percentage of unchurched was higher.

Roughly how much money does your conference invest in new church starts, and how much of your growth do you think comes from starting new churches?

We do not invest nearly enough in new church starts, probably less than your annual conference. I think we are presently budgeted for $120,000 a year in subsidized support for pastoral salaries of new church starts, and another $100,000 for program grants to these churches (with only $50,000 of the latter funded last year due to apportionment shortfall). So that is $170,000 a year. This does not include the office of congregational development and the support services it provides to these new churches. It does not count our demographics contract, etc. It does not count the district investment in pastoral housing and property purchases. But we started six new projects last year and two more this year on this shoe-string budget.

One key has been utilizing persons other than elders as planters - they are often very gifted and far less expensive than elders. Another key has been inviting strong, healthy churches to directly plant other churches and to underwrite much of the cost locally. Finally, we have seen some new churches born and chartered without a dime of conference subsidy. Thankfully, our cabinet has been open to bless new churches that bubble up from the grass roots without it being the bishop's idea. Those churches cost the conference nothing. As I said above, we have determined that new churches drive about half our growth.

Please describe your process for starting new churches? What principles and processes do you follow?

We have no cookie-cutter process for new church development. Some conferences have a more standardized approach and it works well. We try to be flexible and responsive to the Spirit and the situation in each place. A few principles that guide us: (1) We assess pastors prior to appointing them as planters. (2) We require our planters to get training for their task and to participate in an on-going relationship with a planter coach during the first two years of their work. (3) We pull the plug on any project as soon as we feel that the chances of its succeeding have diminished; we have too little money to waste any on projects that aren't moving forward steadily. (4) We encourage new mission projects to develop small group ministries with at least 100 adults involved prior to launching public worship; typically this means a worship launch 15 months into the planter's appointment, in the September of the second appointment year. (5) The conference is no longer in the land purchase business. If the district wishes to assist, we encourage them to do so. Otherwise, we focus mainly on developing the church first, and then worry about land, when we have enough folks in the movement that they can help in the land purchase.

We started a project last year where we anticipate the church being permanently nomadic - never purchasing land. This can be maddening for the district board of buildings and location - since a land-less church is free to meet anywhere they like. We have just launched another "church within a church" this year, and we are hopeful that it will be a great model for revitalizing United Methodist ministry in urban areas where the original congregation has aged and fallen out-of-touch with the newest neighbors.

How much of your growth comes from existing churches reaching new people? How does this happen?

Existing churches grow when they decide they are willing to do whatever it takes to effectively serve and disciple the people God has placed around them. It's just that simple. Prayer is a big part of that process of a church choosing to let go and lose itself in ministry. I have found that anytime a church decides to love its community and to fling open its doors to its community, good things happen.

Our bishop, Larry Goodpaster, is tenacious in his belief that any church can add one new member by profession of faith in a given year IF they are in love with their community and seeking to reach the least, the last and the lost.

Over the years that I served Gulf Breeze Church in Pensacola, Fla., we reached 120 to 160 folks a year by profession of faith. Why? Because we designed ministry and deployed staff in order to reach the people who had never been in our doors yet. We decided that reaching the unreached took priority. Some churches think that making disciples can be accomplished within their current membership, simply nurturing the kids and taking the grown-ups deeper. That is an obscene notion, that turns the Christian Church into a club. Jesus sends us out into the bars and out among the people who are not yet a part of a faith community. So, at Gulf Breeze, we had services in bars, out on the beach, and in a community center in addition to worship in the sanctuary. Hundreds of the people who have helped drive those positive stats for the annual conference are, in fact, the precious people we found, loved and discipled outside the sanctuary in Gulf Breeze/Pensacola Beach.

Are you finding Natural Church Development to be making a difference in your churches?

Not yet, but we are still new into Natural Church Development. Ask me again in two years. We are introducing it in about 30 churches this year.

What can annual conferences do to prepare, motivate, and train pastors to help their churches grow?

Several annual conferences with vital congregational development departments now have pastors' academies of various designs, most lasting between one and two years with several off-site retreats where excellent ministry practitioners teach. I am most impressed with Arkansas Annual Conference's Connected in Christ program. It is likely to put Arkansas back in the growth column again in a few years. Investing in pastoral training beyond what they got in seminary is important, but it takes a while for this to make an impact on an annual conference. We completed our first Academy of Congregational Development with 28 pastors this past spring and will start another round in 2006. Church-to-church and pastor-to-pastor mentoring can also be effective, so long as we partner churches with churches that are the same size or slightly larger and in a similar community setting.

Do you have any thoughts about how conferences and/or congregations can reach non-European-American cultural and ethnic groups?

The only new work we have started on my watch (that has succeeded) has been in the Hispanic community. A couple thoughts:

(1) We have learned that we can start Spanish-language faith communities very quickly if we use leaders who are gifted and willing to work under the authority of an elder. We do not even have to send them to licensing school, and since they are not appointable, the movement grows without direct control from the bishop. I am not sure that all our Hispanic faith-community developers even have green cards. I am just happy that we are listening to the Spirit and partnering with such talented evangelists and leaders. They can be very sophisticated theologically. Sometimes I am absolutely amazed at the wisdom and nuance with which they can interpret Scripture. In many cases, they will never have the opportunity to attend seminary, but the Holy Spirit worked without seminaries for several centuries in the Christian movement.

(2) The "church within a church" model seems to work okay with the Hispanic community in our area where predominantly Anglo churches offer space and sponsor the new ministry. This takes the financial pressures off the new start in the early years of congregational development. First United Methodist Church of Clanton, Ala., has been our best model of how this can work. Eventually, San Juan, the church that meets in the Clanton facility, may choose to locate in another place, but they have been embraced so lovingly by the Clanton First people that I cannot imagine anyone wanting to change the current arrangement. Since the San Juan kids all speak English, they are sometimes mixing the two churches' youth and children's groups, so I cannot predict whether or not San Juan will ever choose to be separate from First Church. One of the leaders who came to Christ through San Juan is now planting a faith community in conjunction with the First United Methodist Church of Wetumpka, Ala., about 40 miles away. We hope to plant a third such community in Selma within a few months, and in Mobile within a year -- with pastoral leadership all coming out of San Juan.

What else can you share with us that might help those of us from conferences that are not growing begin to do so?

I would say the same thing to a declining conference that I would say to a declining church. I have long said that I refuse to pastor a dying church. (I just wrote an article in the leadership journal Net Results about this.) When I am appointed to a church that is declining, I concentrate on discerning the people who have bright eyes and who are ready to embrace God's future. I may find 20 or 30 of them. I take names. I keep that list in my desk drawer. That is my real membership, the people who are stake-holders in God's vision. I disciple those people. I work to double them and to triple them. They are the remnant that God will use to do God's New Thing in this generation.

The same thing is true in annual conferences. As a conference staffer, I look for the churches that are longing to reach people, and I help them to do that. I spend my time with the people who are tired of playing church and hungry to change the world. This means that I do not track church membership numbers as a primary indicator of God's movement. First, I am tracking disciples. I am tracking small group attendance, the numbers of ministry leaders, the numbers of professions of faith, and possibly the total worship attendance. Seek first the Reign of God and all the other things (including positive membership trends) shall be added unto you, in God's time.

Ken Callahan once told me (and I am paraphrasing to the best of my memory), "Paul, when you coach baseball, you waste your time if you only coach the best players - those who are going to thrive anyway - or the very poor players - those who are never going to thrive on a baseball field. You are wise to work with the average players who want to be good players, and the good players who want to be excellent." I think that was brilliant advice. Conferences need to invest in the churches who are good but ready to be great! Thanks for the opportunity to share a little of what God is doing in our part of the world!

Our thanks to Dr. Paul Nixon for this inspiring and sometimes provocative interview. Anyone reading this interview should be able to tell why he is helping his conference grow.

Church Growth Due to Biology, Not Theology?

In response to recent posts a friend sent me this note:

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Demographic research shows that the primary reason for the decline in membership in mainline churches and the growth of conservative churches has little to do with ideology and much to do with biology. Conservative church members have more children.

According to findings published in the American Journal of Sociology: “A combination of higher birth rates and earlier childbearing among conservative women …explains over three-fourths of the observed change in Protestants’ denominational affiliations for cohorts born between 1900 and 1970. Most of the rest of the observed change is caused by falling rates of switching from conservative to mainline denominations; differential apostasy plays a small but significant role.

Remarkably, because it has not increased over the past 50 years or so, switching from mainline to conservative denominations as the focus of the leading explanations explains none of the decline of mainline denominations.” (From Hout, M., Greely, A., & Wilde, M. J. (2001). The demographic imperative in religious change in the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 107(2),468-500.)

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As I understand it, this article claims that conservative church growth has been mostly due to conservatives having larger families. A much more secondary factor is that fewer conservatives switch to mainline churches than used to be the case. A third, but quite minor, factor is that a higher percentage of members of mainline churches disaffiliate from church than happens in conservative churches.

The article also claims that there has been no increase in the percentage of members of mainline churches switching to conservative church these past 50 years, so this cannot be a reason conservative churches seem to be growing faster than mainline churches.

Find an abstract of the article here or, if you have trouble with that link, go here and open volume 107, number 2.

Why Is Your Conference Growing? An E-interview with Nancy Rankin

Dr. Nancy Burgin Rankin serves as Director of Congregational Development for the Western North Carolina Conference. With half of U.S. conferences having announced their numbers for 2004, her conference is one of the few United Methodist conferences reporting growth in both church membership and average worship attendance.

Dr. Rankin served as a pastor and district superintendent prior to becoming Director of Congregational Development in 2004. While pursuing her doctorate of ministry at United Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, she studied with Michael Slaughter, the pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church. As Director of Congregational Development, she helps plant new congregations and resources congregations seeking to redevelop and grow.

Untied Methodist asked her to reflect on why her conference is growing when so few conferences are.

Why is your conference growing when most aren't?

The short answers: population growth; intentional evangelism; training; Disciple Bible Study; planting new churches; funding congregational development; using new worship styles; prayer ministries; annual conference strategic plan.

We have been blessed with a large population growth, at least in our urban counties. Our annual conference has been having a net increase in membership growth for over 15 years but, to put that in perspective, our conference secretary at this year's annual conference meeting reported to us that we have grown since the 1968 merger by 4 percent while the population has grown in our conference area by 68 percent. So, clearly, while we are growing we have not begun to capture what we could have of the new people among us.

But I can point to two things that turned us around from a 20-year decline. First, our annual conference made a determined effort to learn about the Church Growth movement, and to get our pastors and laity trained to intentionally do evangelism. Training in Faith Sharing by Eddie Fox and Danny Morris followed that. Then we made Disciple Bible Study a priority for our churches, expecting our pastors to teach it and then have their laity be able to teach Disciple. Training was also offered for churches wanting to reach new people through new worship styles, and most of our new churches use upbeat music, visuals, drama, and other innovative approaches that speak to contemporary people. We have put a much greater emphasis on prayer ministries. Terry Tekyl has done several conference events here, and we have churches that have implemented his Building a House of Prayer concepts, and they have seen their congregations transformed.

Secondly, we determined that we had to start planting new churches again. We had a boom of new church starts in the 1950s and 60s, and then we went dormant until the early 80s. It quickly became evident that our largest numbers of new adult converts to Christianity were coming from our newest churches. Much of our general growth has also come from those new churches and from the churches who were willing to be revitalized and willing to reach out to new people through a new worship style and/or mission outreach. In 2004, four of the 10 churches with the largest average worship attendance were churches started less than 20 years ago.

Our conference entered a capital funding campaign called the Vision Builders Society that had a goal of raising one million dollars for new churches. It did not reach its numerical goal, but it did raise the awareness of the effectiveness of planting new churches. We have just launched a new funding program called Vital Partners that replaces Vision Builders Society, and it has a broader focus. The Vital Partners funds will go for new churches and for remissioning existing churches that want to be vital churches making disciples of Jesus Christ.

I believe, too, that our new annual conference strategic plan will continue to help us grow. I served on the strategic planning team and we read Bishop Claude Payne's book Reclaiming the Great Commission which describes the turnaround of the Episcopal Diocese in Texas. Our mission statement now reads "Follow Jesus, Make Disciples, Transform the World." The first of seven points in the plan is that we will "intentionally relate unchurched persons to Jesus Christ." This, in effect, gives marching orders to the work of congregational development and justifies the need for planting new churches.

How much money does your conference invest in new church starts?

Our usual funding for a new church start was $120,000 over three years in declining sequence. Then we gave $200,000 for the purchase of land and another $100,000 for their first building. However, we have felt budget crunches like other areas of the church so we are re-evaluating how we plant new churches. We are now planting using a partnership model where there is a sponsoring or "mother" church helping in significant ways to "birth" the new church. We also have an example of a healthy church taking on a failing church, their debts and all, by merging, making the failing church now a multi-site campus for the "adoptive mother church." The same mother church is launching a second multi-site campus this summer. The church they merged with uses a combination of live worship with a video of the pastor's sermon from the mother church's Saturday night service. We are emphasizing for our new churches to concentrate more on building the people and postponing going to land and buildings, thereby avoiding premature debt loads that impede ministry growth. So we are looking more at sharing worship spaces with existing churches and leasing spaces.

Describe your process for starting new churches.

I have asked that each district have a committee on congregational development that will work with the district superintendent and the resources of my office to develop a master plan for their district to identify potential church plants as well to identify churches that need revitalization and/or remissioning for their context. Districts then propose to the bishop, cabinet, and to me, their commitment to start a new faith community. We have just started using an assessment process for potential new-church-start pastors. We give the names of those pastors whose assessments reveal that they are good candidates to start a church to the cabinet. We develop a financial plan that combines the resources of my office, those of the district, and the sponsoring church/es for the new plant. We have been budgeting for three new starts a year but with the new partnership model I predict we can start more. We should be planting 10 a year. A pastor is appointed and a launch team of laity will either emerge from among the existing congregation of the partnering church or from people in the district who are committed to helping start a new church. Once the new faith community is ready to go out from the partner church they meet with the district superintendent and me to set benchmarks for their church. These benchmarks would include a time-line of "taste and see" events; numbers of contacts that will be made by both pastor and laity; expectations for growth; development of a discipleship system and a stewardship ministry so that new Christians can be discipled and financial commitment is built into the DNA of the church from its inception. It will be understood that if those benchmarks are not met serious consideration will have to be given to discontinuing the plant. We expect our new church pastors to attend the national training or "boot camp" (held this year at Simpsonwood in the North Georgia Annual Conference) and that they enroll in the Fitzgerald Pastors Program provided by the General Board of Discipleship. In our conference they must also be an active participant in a Church Planters Network that meets every other month for support, resourcing, and fellowship. We are planning on providing each one with a trained coach. Our annual conference also uses a paid consultant who is a five-time church planter to advise me and to help me establish our planting process.

Do many of your new starts fail? How do you handle new church starts that seem not to be taking off?

Unfortunately, some do fail. What we have discovered is that many fail because they went to public worship too soon. I highly recommend Craig Kennet Miller's book NextChurch.Now where he describes an excellent rationale as to why churches should not go public until they have nurtured 12 groups of 12 people in small groups. This not only creates a foundation of discipled people; it provides a critical mass of people more ready to take on the debt of leased worship space and the extra costs of music staff, and who are equipped to nurture the new people that join their church. This number of people seems to also be easier for new people to feel comfortable among.

A critical factor in some failed starts is whether or not the pastor is truly "wired" to be a church planter. Church planters are a different breed. They have to be self-starters, visionary, entrepreneurial, teachable, fabulous networkers, and fearless social beings. A wonderful, caring shepherding pastor may love their people but fail to grow them in numbers that can be self-sustaining. Just this year we chose to go ahead and pull the funding of one of our new starts that really never gathered enough people. It was a hard decision but it was done in time for the pastor to be appointed to another church and for the district to re-evaluate that particular start and the model that was used to launch it.

How much of your growth comes from existing churches reaching new people? How does this happen?

We have good news here, too. One of our oldest and most traditional churches led the conference in adult professions of faith in 2004 with 107 adults joining as new Christians. The second highest was also one of our older churches that had 88. They are both healthy churches in an urban area, but we had good news in less likely places. One of the older but less impressive churches of the past decided to open its doors to 58 Montenyards; it was a huge decision for this Anglo church to be willing to become multi-cultural/racial.

We cannot dismiss the fact that pastoral leadership is critical to growing healthy churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ. Committed, energized, life-long learners serve these growing churches, and some of them are older pastors as well. A second factor in growing churches is committed lay leadership that has a heart for the lost. Churches that grow have to decide they want to grow and to grow for the right reasons -- not to pay their bills but to reach people for Christ and to share his love with them. This inevitably means being willing to change some things. Most of our churches that have added a new style of worship service have seen a positive influx of new people. A few have been willing to relocate their church site to reach new people.

What does the conference do to stimulate the growth of existing churches?

As I shared in response to the first question, nearly 20 years ago our conference started emphasizing the Great Commission imperative to "go and make disciples." This year at each charge conference our bishop is asking our churches to report on how many adults they have received into their membership on profession of faith. We have emphasized discipleship and spiritual formation through small groups using the Wesley Covenant Disciple model and Disciple Bible Study. Our annual conference has a large Building Team ministry and we promote Walks to Emmaus. We provide conference training events, as I earlier described, for laity and pastors. At our annual conference meeting, we recognize Churches of Excellence that have achieved evangelism, ministry, stewardship, and outreach goals set by the annual conference.

Do you have ideas about how to help congregations that seem to be in decline?

My office offers Natural Church Development (NCD) by Christian Schwarz as a great tool for helping churches diagnose their health and identify where they need to improve. We pay for the coaches to be trained and deploy them to churches wanting to use the NCD process. We use the Percept Demographics information to help churches know their communities and discover ways they could be in ministry in their parishes. We are going to be even more intentional about the partnership concept by looking at ways to link churches for the sharing of resources that might even include having families from a larger church being willing to spend a year or two in a small, struggling church, to help it get its bearings and move forward. One of our large, new churches is partnering with a small, dying, inner city church to offer Recovery Worship and ministries dealing with addictions. The possibilities are endless when we take seriously that as United Methodists we are to be a connectional church.

Do you have any thoughts about how conferences and/or congregations can reach non-European-American cultural and ethnic groups?

A few of our larger churches are being intentional about having multi-racial/cultural staff persons who are regularly seen in worship, preaching, and pastoral leadership roles. We have found that we are more successful in attracting other people groups when one from that particular people group is seen in leadership. We have a few cross-racial appointments of senior pastors serving a congregation different from their race. We also have churches that are offering Spanish worship services led by Hispanic pastors or lay missioners that are held in the Anglo partnering church while the Hispanic participants are invited to participate in all other areas of the Anglo church's life and ministries. An African-American pastor using an upbeat worship style in the fellowship hall of an Anglo church leads one of our new church plants. The African-American church is already over 150 in worship and has not even gone public yet. They have also attracted Anglo people to join their fellowship.

What else can you share with us that might help those of us from conferences that are not growing begin to do so?

I would suggest that often our laity have not been equipped or empowered to offer their faith to others. Offer training and share the good stories of what is working. Use healthy churches as teaching churches, or go visit places like Church of the Resurrection, Ginghamsburg, and Frazer Memorial, and learn from them. There needs to be a compelling vision for offering Christ projected by your bishop and annual conference leadership. We need to be held accountable as churches, pastors, and lay leaders for reaching unchurched, or dis-enchanted churched people, and we need to be intentional about reaching new people groups among us. It is so easy to become insulated from the diversity around us. Move away from maintenance ministry. Get people out of committee meetings and into ministries. Use Wesley Covenant small groups for adult spiritual formation. We fund what we value. See to it that you fund congregational development and evangelism.

I interviewed one of my colleagues about what was working for his inner city churches. He said, "The only ones that are growing are the ones who chose to fall in love with the people right outside of their doors." I think that says it all.

Dr. Nancy Rankin, thank you! You have been amazingly generous in sharing your insights and learnings. You have provided us with a lot of encouraging and hopeful ideas and possibilities. May God continue to bless your ministry!

Recommitment

Several years ago Jane and I were in Zimbabwe to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the United Methodist Church there. About 10,000 people gathered nightly under a massive tent at Old Mutare Mission, the birthplace of Methodism in Zimbabwe. Some had walked for days to get there.

One evening retired Bishop Abel T. Muzorewa preached. Even though he spoke in Shona and I couldn't understand a word, I could tell it was a powerful sermon because, well, you just know when it is. At the end of his sermon, Bishop Muzorewa extended an invitation to full-time Christian service. Dozens of people responded. After a time of prayer at the front of the tent, those who had responded to the invitation were led away to one of the buildings on the mission grounds.

As we made our way to the van to return to our hotel for the night, I heard praying in loud voices, weeping, and moaning coming from the building. I asked one of the Zimbabwean pastors what was happening. He told me that those who had responded to the invitation would fast and pray throughout the night and into the next day to ascertain the depth of their commitment to ministry before they were accepted into the ministerial candidacy program. Of course, he said, no one would enter ministry without praying, fasting, and watching through the night to make sure his or her commitment was total. The Zimbabwean pastor said this as though to reassure me that United Methodists in Zimbabwe took ministry as seriously as surely we did back in the United States.

When we arrived back on the grounds of Old Mutare Mission the next morning, those who had responded to Bishop Muzorewa's invitation were still together, still praying.

Contrast that with this: Several years ago, when I was a member of another conference, I got restless one afternoon during annual conference sessions. I decided to take a walk and was wandering around the college campus where the conference was held. I happened upon the building where child care was provided for the children of delegates. I stopped to chat with one of the nursery attendants whom I knew. She told me that earlier that day she had heard one of the children say to another child: "My daddy is being ordained tomorrow. Then we'll be set for life!" "Set ... for ... life!" the child sang joyously. The attendant commented that the child had surely not come up with this on his own. It was something he had obviously overheard at home.

I have great respect for my colleagues in the United Methodist ministry. This is tough and demanding work we do. It is hard to both care for the members of a congregation and challenge them. It is demanding to be with people through their illnesses, divorces, griefs, and deaths. It is hard to live with the criticism --sometimes warranted, sometimes irrational, it doesn't matter-- we face from people whom we serve with all our hearts. Conflict, which is inevitable, saps our stamina and wearies us. It is no lark to live on the salaries we are paid. It is disheartening to see others promoted to pulpits and positions we might enjoy and to not understand the logic by which these decisions are made. It can feel as though our bishops and superintendents make demands of us but provide little support to help us. Are we expected to make bricks without straw?

It is especially hard to be in ministry in our denomination because we have been in numerical decline for 30 or more years. Many pastors my age and younger have never served a growing church. As a friend who is a church consultant reminded me recently, many United Methodist pastors who went into the ministry after 1970 have never had the experience of feeling like a part of something successful. Never. United Methodists in general, laity as well as clergy, my friend added, have not felt a part of a dynamic, thriving movement for the past three decades. No wonder, he said, so many Methodists are cranky and so many congregations demonstrate so much negativity.

Most of us went into ministry for lofty and idealistic reasons. There are exceptions. In my day some of my fellow seminary students may have been there to avoid the draft. Most of these left ministry long ago. There may be a few who are attracted by the low expectations and security our system seems to offer. These, however, are exceptions. We go into ministry because we want to serve God and to be part of making a difference for time and eternity.

In college I was a political science major contemplating law school. In large part I went into ministry because I thought the church, and the biblical ground on which it is built, offered a foundation to stand outside of and over against an unjust and violent world. I figured that unless we find our self-understanding and identity elsewhere, it is impossible to keep from buying into the basic assumptions of the society of which we are part. I saw the church as the solid ground upon which we could set our fulcrum so that we could move the world.

When is the last time I thought about this? When is the last time I reminded myself why I went into ministry in the first place? When is the last time I had a meaningful conversation with somebody else about why I do what I do? It is easy to get caught up in problem solving, getting all of those visits and phone calls done, pacifying unhappy members, filling all of those offices, raising money for the budget, teaching another class, attending another conference meeting, and forget why we are here in the first place.

In Zimbabwe I didn't want to get into the van and go back to the hotel. I wanted to spend the night praying, fasting, weeping, and moaning with those who had responded to Bishop Muzorewa's invitation to full-time Christian service. I wanted to feel as committed to ministry again as I had when I first began this journey. I wanted to feel as if I belonged to a community of commitment with those others who had answered an invitation to leave all else behind and to give themselves to full-time service.

Clergy in my conference do not do much to help each other remember and wrestle with the meaning of our ministries. Historically we meet on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday to hear a sermon, to share our struggles very briefly in small groups, and to recommit ourselves to ministry. This is helpful but not very profound.

I think that we should pick a year within United Methodism and devote it to a renewal of our commitment to ministry. Clergy should spend a year meeting, sharing, praying and studying together to remember our decisions to devote ourselves to ministry in the first place and to discern our commitments anew. We should plan for this and prepare our congregations so that our people understand that this is going to be a year when we will focus more on discernment and renewal than on the business of the church. Pastors should be released from most church business meetings. How could it be possible that our laity could not have learned by now how to do trustee and finance meetings without us looking over their shoulders? Laity should be prepared and trained to assist with pastoral care. Pastors should be released from pulpit responsibilities four additional Sundays that year, and we should spend them meeting and praying together. Let gifted laity fill the pulpits those Sundays.

Understand, I don't want to renew my commitment to ministry just in some small cluster group. I want to do it with dozens, hundreds, and thousands of others -- all of us at the same time remembering what moved us to decide for ministry and recommitting ourselves. Maybe some of us will decide we are no longer committed to ministry. Fine. Let's arrange for severance packages and retooling for those who opt out. It would be the best money we every spend.

At the end of the year all 54,000 of us who are clergy should gather at one place and pray, sing, and share together. We should have a giant service of recommitment. If we need to, we could pass two-year budgets at our annual conferences the year before and cancel annual conference sessions that year to pay for this global gathering of the ordained. We could pray, fast and watch through the night, asking God for a fresh blessing of our ministries.

I suppose something like this is too much to hope for.

Numerical Decline

Yesterday I posted last year's membership and attendance numbers from the 37 annual conferences that have provided reports so far to United Methodist News Service (UMNS). UMNS awaits 36 additional reports from the conferences in the United States, so half of the reports are in. You can see the numbers in yesterday's post entitled "No Comment."

So, okay, in spite of saying no comment, I will comment. It does not appear we are doing well numerically -- unless conferences with declining numbers tend to meet earlier in the year, and thus submit their reports earlier, so that the 36 conferences yet to report will have better numbers. (Unlikely, but wouldn't this be interesting? We could grow by changing the dates of our annual conference sessions.)

Of the 37 conferences that have submitted their 2004 reports so far, only nine conferences had membership gains last year. Only nine conferences had attendance gains. And these, surprisingly, were mostly not the same conferences. Only three conferences had both membership and attendance increases -- Alabama-West Florida, Western North Carolina, and Alaska Missionary (which grew from 4,044 members to 4,045, an increase of one, and from an average attendance of to 2,609, an increase of 15).

Even Florida lost members and attendees. This is really quite remarkable when you think about it. We in the Northeast write half of our transfer-of-membership letters to churches in the Florida Conference. Decline in Florida United Methodism makes no sense at all. What are they doing with all those Methodists we send down there to them? What can it mean if even Florida isn?t growing?

Why does there seem to be so much numerical decline and so little growth in our denomination? I do not buy the argument that numerical growth is proof of correct theology and decline is proof of wrong theology. If so, we should all become Mormons or internet pornographers. Growth and decline are not determined by whether we are liberal or conservative.

Years ago, when I was a conference director of congregational development, I invited the pastors of the 40 churches that had reported the greatest attendance growth over the past decade to meet with the bishop and other conference leaders to tell us why they were growing. The churches invited to the discussion because their attendance had increased the most included every theological variant of the conference.

When I directed congregational development, I was fairly single-minded. I didn't care if a new-church-start pastor was conservative or liberal. My only questions were whether he or she had the capacity to build a congregation and whether he or she was loyal to United Methodism. It seemed to me that no single theological perspective had a greater capacity than others to start churches. This is also what Steve Compton seems to suggests in his book Rekindling the Mainline: New Life through New Churches.

I believe that the numerical decline the United Methodist Church is facing has to do with non-theological issues, and it seems to me these are the most significant ones:

1. Clergy are not expected or trained to grow churches. For the most part, bishops and district superintendents don't communicate to pastors an expectation that their churches should be reaching new people and growing. Instead, they may well communicate that what they want is happy, non-complaining congregations.

Cultural and missional shifts that help stagnated congregations grow often include discomfort. Some clergy do really dumb things in the name of growth and wound or destroy congregations. Many more clergy accommodate congregations, allowing them to gradually decline. Bishops and district superintendent tend to get more upset about the former than the latter. I know of no pastor who has ever gotten a phone call from his or her superintendent saying, "You've been at your church two years now, and I haven't heard any complaints about your ministry. Why not?"

For the most part, seminaries --which tend to belong more to academia than to the church-- don't teach students how to grow churches. Most faculty know much more about how to maneuver in the academic world in order to get degrees than they know about how to grow churches. Unlike medical schools and law schools, our seminaries have very few successful practioners on their faculties. Furthermore, in order to support themselves, many seminary students take appointments to small congregations where they learn to be chaplains rather than leaders.

You can spend an entire career in the United Methodist ministry getting appointments one after another without ever being told it is your job to help congregations grow or being trained to do so.

2. High maintenance laity hold many of our congregations in bondage. Often these are persons, families, or cliques for whom the congregation is an important place to meet their needs for inclusion, recognition, and power. They do so at the expense of welcoming, including, and empowering others. Meetings in many congregations are hijacked by individuals with extreme needs for attention and control. Others may have poor social skills so as to turn meetings or classes into unproductive or unfocused sessions.

Councils and boards can meet month after month and accomplish little because of one or two dysfunctional members. No one is able --often no one even tries-- to set limits on the dominance of dysfunctional individuals or small groups over congregations. No one insists they get help. Congregations become no fun. These members result in congregations that thwart spiritual growth rather than enhance it.

3. Our real estate often limits growth. Church buildings that hold only small numbers of people; have grossly inadequate space for Christian education; have little or no parking; look dirty, cluttered, and ugly inside; and are at the wrong locations hinder growth. Other buildings that are beautiful but not functional hinder growth. Emotional attachment to buildings that prevent congregations from relocating in order to reach out to and serve new people hinders growth. Buildings that are allowed to deteriorate while a small group holds on as the neighborhood changes without reaching out to the new people nearby hinders growth.

Shane Raynor quotes a Christianity Today article by Howard Snyder: "Interestingly, church history shows an inverse ratio between dynamic church multiplication and preoccupation with buildings," Snyder writes. "Emphasis on buildings is generally linked with relatively slow growth or even decline. Rapidly growing movements generally put little stress on buildings, tending toward pragmatism and flexibility, meeting wherever they can."

4. We aren't starting nearly enough new congregations, new campuses for the expansion of existing churches, and multiple services. New churches, new campuses, and new worship services reach new people.

I attended a training recently where I was the only clergyperson participating. One of the other participants who was active in the leadership of a new, very conservative megachurch asked me a lot of questions about my congregation. At the end of the training she told me she would love to belong to a church like mine where she could say what she really thinks. Often she has to stifle her real thoughts and feelings to fit in at her church, she told me. I asked her why she didn't join a United Methodist church in her community. "Oh, there wasn't room for me in those churches," she said. "I wanted to find someplace where I could make a real contribution."

Lyle Schaller says in The Ice Cube is Melting (p. 31) that to remain on a plateau in size a denomination should organize as many new congregations each year equal to one percent of the number of existing congregations. The United Methodist Church has 350,000 congregations, so to stay the same size we should be starting 350 churches a year. For us to grow would require even more. The actual number of new United Methodist church starts since 1965 has averaged out to less than 75 per year.

This is how Bishop Will Willimon summarizes it: "Growing denominations have higher rates of new-church development and an increasing average congregation size. Growing denominations plant churches in areas that are 'geographically favorable' -- that is, in areas of high population growth, high in-migration rates, and/or unchurched people groups. ... "We United Methodists, in my opinion, confirm these hypotheses in that we have a huge number of very small congregations, a decreasing number of large congregations. We tend to have a high proportion of churches that were in areas of population growth a century ago, but are in areas of population decline today."

5. We have low standards of quality. Worship, preaching, music, Christian education, printed materials, and responsiveness are too often second-rate in our churches, and we don't seem to notice or care. I once knew a church secretary who had the highest quality office equipment available, but still produced Sunday bulletins that looked like they had been mimeographed. This was the way bulletins looked when she was growing up, and this is the way she thought bulletins ought to still look today. She worked hard to make her excellent equipment turn out bulletins that looked like the ones she read in church in the 1950s.

While I think growth is equally possible in liberal, middle-of-the-road, and conservative congregations, I do not think ongoing conflicts like our current debate about sexual orientation help us, especially when we are so divided about the issue that we do not do a good job of interpreting it to the unchurched. Personally, I would rather be part of a denomination that wrestles with difficult questions, and I think some others out there in the unchurched part of the world would prefer this too.

We should explain to the world around us that our disagreements are healthy. We should proudly say that it is a good thing that United Methodists do not hid our heads in the sand, that we do not ducked the hard issues, and that we are not automatically closed to considering change. Without this kind of interpretation, the unchurched who read about church trials and such ask either, "How can Methodists be so backwards?" or else "How can Methodists be so freewheeling?" We do not (excuse the word) spin this story well. Lately, forces within United Methodism have become so intent on stopping even the talk about sexual orientation that church agencies and communication arms are now too intimidated to speak about the good aspects of being part of a denomination where we can disagree.

Yet, even our disagreements are relatively small matters compared to the other reasons I have listed. If our clergy aren't motivated and encouraged to grow their churches, if two or three laypersons are allowed to dominate church life destructively, if we are stuck in buildings that can not accommodate growth, if we are not starting new congregations, and if the quality of our worship, music, and programs is second rate, why should we expect to grow?

No comment

This information is taken from the United Methodist News Service's 2005 annual conference reports as of today:

North Central Jurisdiction

Dakotas Annual Conference June 8-11, Bismarck, N.D. Membership stands at 43,136, down 548 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 22,930, down 186.

Detroit Annual Conference May 20-22, 2005, Adrian, Mich. Membership stands at 101,917, down 2,751 (3 percent) from 2003. Worship attendance stands at 48,437, down 3,544, (7 percent) from 2003.

Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference June 9-12, Peoria, Ill. Attendance stands at 75,911, down 2 percent. Membership is at 152,116, down 1 percent.

Iowa Annual Conference June 9-12, Ames, Iowa Attendance is 194,307 (down 939); average worship attendance is: 69,301 (down 2,621).

Minnesota Annual Conference May 31 – June 3, 2005, St. Cloud, Minn. Membership stands at 83,966, down 4,618 from the previous year. Worship attendance is 41,777, down 1,713 from the previous year.

North Indiana Annual Conference June 2-4, West Lafayette, Ind. Membership stands at 99,349, a decrease from 101,267. Average Sunday worship attendance stands at 68,109, a 585 decrease from 68,694.

Northern Illinois Annual Conference June 8-11, St. Charles, Ill. Membership was 109,481 at the end of 2004, down 4,674 from 2003. Average worship attendance was 44,763 in 2004, down from 44,925 in 2003.

South Indiana Annual Conference June 9-11, Bloomington, Ind. Membership in 2004 was 113,374, a decrease of 2,343 from the previous year. ... Worship attendance in 2004 was 64,898, a decrease of 422 from the previous year.

West Michigan Annual Conference June 2-5, Grand Rapids Total membership at the end of 2004: 67,816, down 606. Average worship attendance 44,736, down 537. (These numbers may not be final.)

Notheastern Jurisdiction

Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference May 26-29, 2005, Baltimore Conference membership stands at 198,841, down 5,694, or 2.78 percent, from the previous year. Average worship attendance stands at 76,841, down 3,496, or 4.31 percent.

Central Pennsylvania Conference June 9-11, Grantham, Pa. Membership stands at 149,222, down 3,405 from the previous year. Average worship attendance stands at 71,233, up 471 from the previous year.

New York Annual Conference June 1-4, Hempstead, N.Y. Membership in the New York Conference stands at 126,746, down 2,950 from last year. Worship attendance is counted at 35,222, up 394 from the previous year.

North Central New York Annual Conference June 2-5, Liverpool, N.Y. Membership in 2004 stands at 79,049, down 834 from 2003. Average worship attendance is 24,406, down 504 from 2003.

West Virginia Conference June 9-12, 2005, Buckhannon, W. Va. Conference membership stands at 105,879, down 1,336 from the previous year. Average worship attendance stands at 52,871, down 415.

South Central Jurisdiction

Central Texas Conference June 5 - 8, Fort Worth, Texas Membership stands at 158,553, up 1,099 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 47,322, down 188.

Kansas West Conference May 25-28, Salina, Kan. Membership stands at 86,434, down 1,086 (1.2 percent) from 2003. Worship attendance stands at 36,772, down 415 (1.1 percent).

Louisiana Annual Conference June 5-8, Shreveport, La. Membership stands at 127,059, up 213 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 48,063, down 324.

Missouri Annual Conference June 3-6, 2005, Columbia, Mo. Membership of the conference stands at 176,022, down 229 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 84,872, up 478.

Nebraska Annual Conference June 8-11, 2005, Omaha Membership stands at 84,337, down from 86,260 the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 36,369, up from 33,279 in the previous year.

New Mexico Annual Conference June 1-4, 2005, Las Cruces, NM Membership stands at 39,865, down 788 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 17,581, down 195.

North Texas Annual Conference June 5-8, Wichita Falls, Texas Membership stands at 159,917, up 903 or .6 percent from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 62,638, up by 155 or .2 percent.

Northwest Texas Annual Conference June 8-11, Lubbock, Texas Membership is 67,131 down 885. Morning worship attendance is 23,037, down 861.

Oklahoma Conference report May 29 - June 2, Oklahoma City Church membership at the end of 2004 was 247,039, down 2,325 from the beginning of the year. Worship attendance averaged 62,575, an increase of 242.

Southwest Texas Annual Conference June 1-4, Corpus Christi, Texas Membership stands at 120,080, down 191 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 50,805, down 157.

Southeastern Jurisdiction

Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference June 5-8, Mobile, Ala. Membership stands at 147,613, up 800 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 69,215 up 1,591 from the previous year.

Florida Annual Conference June 2-5, Lakeland, Fla. Randy Casey-Rutland, Florida Conference statistician, reported conference membership stands at 325,609 down 3,409 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 161,038, down 337.

Kentucky Annual Conference June 6-9, Lexington, Ky. Membership stands at 152,130, up 222 from the previous year.

Mississippi Conference June 5-8, Jackson, Miss. Membership stands at 189,369, down 1,103. Worship attendance stands at 77,456, down 458.

North Alabama Annual Conference June 5-7, Birmingham, Ala. Membership stands at 155,683, down 2,179 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 72,961, down 1,105.

North Carolina Annual Conference June 8-11, 2005, Fayetteville, N.C. Membership stands at 235,565, up 1,509 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 88,820, down 1,130.

Red Bird Missionary Conference May 13-14, 2005, London, Ky. Membership stands at 1,385, up 18 from the previous year. Worship attendance is 748, down 48.

South Carolina Annual Conference May 29 - June 1, Spartanburg, SC Membership stands at 241,680, down 377 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 9,547, down 576.

South Georgia Annual Conference June 5-8, Macon, Ga. Membership stands at 139,127, down 790 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 53,388, down 149.

Western North Carolina Conference June 9-12, 2005 Lake Junaluska, N.C. Membership stands at 293,735 up 1,140 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 127,046 up 1,213.

Western Jurisdiction

Alaska Missionary Conference May 27-29, 2005, Anchorage, Ala. The Alaska Missionary Conference ended 2004 with 4,045 members, up 1 from 2003. Average attendance during 2004 was 2,609, up 15 from 2003.

Desert Southwest Conference June 9-12, Scottsdale, Ariz. Total membership at the end of 2004 was 43,979, down 814. Average worship attendance was 30,253, down 631.

Oregon-Idaho Conference June 8-11, 2005, Salem, Ore. Membership stands at 34,407, down 840 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 17,632, down 428.

Twenty-six annual conferences have not yet submitted reports.

(So, okay, I did comment anyway. See here.)