Vitality
in Small Packages
How
Rural Congregations Can Promote
New Life as We Begin to Reopen
We never
imagined that we would have to cancel Sunday morning services for something
like a virus. It was never on our radar and at least for me, it was a
terrifying proposition. We know how to be the church in traditional ways,
sometimes successfully and sometimes not. But this time of quarantine has
caused most pastors and church leaders to pause and think about how we can be
the church in better, more faithful ways.
What does
it look like to be a vital church? How can we recognize vitality and instill
new life in our traditions and in our practice? For once, we get to hit the
restart button. What should that look like for our congregations?
In some
places you can feel it the moment you walk through the church doors – a sense
of energy and enthusiasm and life. The
greetings are genuine, the people seem motivated, the worship is vibrant, and
the fellowship appears to be mutual. Most important, it doesn’t take long for
newcomers to be welcomed into the circle.
This is something you could get used to.
There are
other churches where the mood is less inviting. It doesn’t mean that you are
not greeted at the door and welcomed with a bulletin, but there is something
missing. People quietly filter in and
find their seats, but conversation is sporadic and subdued. Even when the preaching is decent, worship
often feels like a collection of unrelated elements without a central focus and
the hour seems to take much longer than sixty minutes. When the service is over, the members briefly
greet one another in the narthex and then exit without much opportunity for
fellowship, eager to beat the crowd to their favorite restaurant. You have been to this church before. And you are not excited about going back.
Vitality
is something that we all want for our congregations, but the results are often
mixed. It is hard to define specifically, however we seem to recognize it when
we see it. Unfortunately, there is no secret formula to achieve it and there is
no single strategy that will ensure success.
And very often achieving that sense of vibrancy and vitality depends on
different factors in each congregational context.
What gives
a church that special aura of vitality? Here are a few ideas to get the
conversation started.
Vitality begins with mission – Churches that have an extra
sense of life are motivated by more than just the desire to be together. Of course, basic to our Christian faith is an
underlying call to serve God through Jesus Christ. But within that rubric,
there are many things we can do to express our faith and share the good
news. Sometimes it happens though
worship, but often we find ourselves living out that purpose through a variety
of activities, some social, some educational, some missional. Churches that
exude a sense of excitement understand that there is a purpose to everything we
do together, and that ultimately reaching out to others in God’s name is an
important thing. It is what motivates
and encourages us and it is inviting to others who want to join our cause. Churches that are self-focused, where the
primary attention is on the care of the building or making the budget or having
meetings for their own sake do not share a sense of purpose that is appealing
to others outside the community.
Vital churches share leadership – Organizations are the strongest
when their members join together to share the work and the responsibility, and
churches are no exception. I have yet to see a congregation, large or small,
where there was not enough work to go around, but the big question is in how
the work is distributed. Too often our churches look like an inverted V, with
the pastor and a few select leaders at the bottom and the others along for the
ride. Members cannot expect their pastor
to carry the whole load. Those that do usually experience two things – that their
pastor will burn out, becoming less effective and eventually seeking a new
call, and that the church body will be unmotivated, since they are essentially
bystanders. On the other hand, the pastor must be willing to share
responsibility for leadership with the laity. We cannot try to do it all
ourselves. Too often in the past, members have been given jobs like Sunday
School teacher or choir director, while worship leadership, preaching, visitation,
and in some cases, decision making and administration, was left to the clergy.
Cultivating spiritual and administrative gifts and then allowing the freedom
for our members to exercise those gifts, is one of the primary things we can do
to encourage vitality in our churches. With that sense of confidence and
responsibility comes an attitude of shared ownership in the mission and a motivation
to serve God through the church.
Worship is an attitude, not an
activity - Too
often we think of worship and church and Sunday morning as being
synonymous. And while they do go
together, we are short changing ourselves if we limit our worship of God to one
hour on the weekend. We have certainly
learned that lesson recently as our churches have worked to deal with the
Covid-19 pandemic. We know that worship is no longer necessarily tied to a particular
place or a particular time.
In truth,
worship can be a part of our lives in a very wide-reaching and all-encompassing
way. And it doesn’t just happen in the
sanctuary. And it doesn’t have to be
limited to what we do together as a church.
Our spiritual lives are encouraged and fed by the time we spend together
in that place. But they are nurtured and
nourished when we take what we receive there and apply it to our lives each and
every day. Worship takes many forms….in
our prayers….in our devotions…in our scripture reading…in our service out in
the community…in the words we use around other people and most important of
all, in the way we demonstrate that we are people of God. Vitality happens when
worship becomes an irresistible expression of our faith and not just a rote
activity that happens every Sunday at 10:00.
Vital churches express hospitality – It may seem obvious, but the
church should be a welcoming place. And in many ways, our time together with
the Christian community should be an opportunity to take refuge from the rushed
existence of our culture. That is why so
often we find ourselves sharing together around the table, whether for a meal,
a cup of coffee, or even to experience the love of God through the Lord’s
Supper. We have said it before, but
hospitality is the language of rural life and food is its currency. Eating is
never an end in itself, but a means to a deeper kind of relationship. Food provides a bridge for conversation,
relationships, and even pastoral care. Many things have been shared over a
piece of pie that would have never been expressed in a phone call or an email.
But all of that takes time. When we
worry too much about our schedules and not enough about each other we miss out
on the rich opportunities that God has placed before us. Rushing in and out of a social setting, a
meeting, or even a worship service, is not only bad manners, but it is also bad
practice. Vital churches find the time to be in fellowship together, whether in
the coffee time after worship, a meal following a funeral, or even a special
night out with our fellow members. The
form that fellowship takes is less important than the rewards that it brings.
Activity in the church is
contagious – One
of my students once did a study of the churches in his area and came to
discover that churches where activity was present throughout the week were
perceived to be more vital than churches that locked their doors Monday through
Saturday. Even though worship is
considered the primary public act of the church, it was the perception of
activity that made the community feel that the church was a hopping place. It didn’t usually matter what the nature of
the activity was, as long as it was church related. The mere presence of cars, people, and kids
and the sight of the lights on in the building made many feel that this was a
church of action. And some who were
interviewed even expressed the opinion that they were more likely to attend
that church because it seemed to have a lot going on. Don’t get me wrong. Activity for activity’s
sake is never a good idea. But churches
that expressed their faith by getting together throughout the week increased
awareness of the church in the community, enhanced the possibility that others
would wander in the doors, and helped their members feel that they were a part
of something special.
Congregation size doesn’t really
matter – Vital
congregations come in all sizes, large and small, and express themselves in a
variety of interesting ways. What they
all have in common is a commitment to worship and serve Jesus Christ. Large churches have the benefit of an
abundance of resources, enough members to always have a critical mass at any
activity or gathering, and the ability to provide variety for many tastes,
whether in worship, service or fellowship.
On the other hand, small churches that have a strong sense of their
mission in the community can have vibrant worship, a significant sense of
purpose, and a feeling that what they do together really matters. The truth is that the size of the
congregation cannot be used as an excuse for a lack of vitality in worship or
community life.
Neither does worship style - The same is true for worship
style. Much has been made of the worship
wars, including the place of traditional or contemporary music, the use of a
standard ordo or a free flowing format, and even the place and timing of the services. But the truth is that we find strong churches
that fit in each of these categories.
Style does not determine vitality.
Far more important are the quality and integrity of the various elements
of the service, the faithfulness to God’s Word, and the perception that each
person was given the opportunity to truly encounter and worship and living God.
Inspired pastors influence vitality
– The attitude
that pastors and church leaders take into their work does make a difference. In
fact, it can be contagious. When church members see that their pastor is
excited about faith, they get the message that it matters. When the congregation sees that the pastor is
more than a master of ceremonies in worship, but is committed to encouraging an
encounter with the living God, they are more likely to be enthusiastic
themselves. When a family feels that an
emergency pastoral call in the middle of the night is an act of love and not an
obligation, they realize that faith is more than mere words. On the other hand,
when it feels like we are distracted, bored, or overworked (and we are letting
it show), they are more likely to bring the same attitudes to their own
spiritual lives and activities. Like it
or not, we set the tone in everything we do.
We establish the standard for the attitude of any gathering by the
attitude we present. Vital churches have
pastors who are inspired about their faith and are not afraid to share those
feelings in all that they do.
As we
enter this new era in the life of the Christian faith, it is important that
each of us has our eyes on ways that we can effectively cultivate vitality in
our churches. We cannot afford to be
complacent, inflexible, or worse yet, boring. But we must also be faithful to the
leading of the Spirit and to the Word of God as we re-imagine what the church
can be.
Keynote Speaker: The Rev. Dr. Tex Sample became pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri in July 2018. He previously served this congregation on an interim basis in 2014. Sample is the Robert B. And Kathleen Rogers Professor Emeritus of Church and Society at The Saint Paul School of Theology where he taught for 32 years. He holds a B.A. degree from Millsaps College, an M.Div. from the Boston University School of Theology, a Ph.D. from the Boston University Graduate School. and a D.D. from Coe College. Sample is a freelance lecturer and speaker in North America and overseas. He has published 14 books. His book, Blue Collar Ministry: Facing Economic and Social Realities of Working People, was named a “Judson Classic” by the Judson Press, and his book U.S. Lifestyles and Mainline Churches was the bestseller for Westminster/John Knox Press for over two years. His most recent books A Christian Justice for the Common Good and Working Class Rage: A Field Guide to White Anger and Pain, are both available from Abingdon Press. Sample has participated throughout his career in both the church and the community, with a focus on social, racial, and economic justice issues, community organizing, and interfaith movements. In 2016, he received the Invictus Award for Social Justice from the Liberty, Missouri, Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee at its celebration of MLK Day; later that year, he was given The Equality and Justice Award by The Greater Metropolitan the world meeting of his denomination.
Bible Study Leader: Rev. Dr. Richard J. Shaffer Jr.
Workshop Leader: Jennifer Prinz