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Study guide The economy and evolving church W


By Robert C. Blezard


e’re still feeling the after- shocks from the near melt- down of our financial system


in 2008. The economic storm has disrupted our way of life and dev- astated our institutions, including the church. Even before 2008, our denomination’s three expressions (churchwide, synod and congrega- tions) were facing slow decline. Now the downturn is forcing us to consider new ways of being and doing church.


Exercise 1: Your congregation’s trend


Have levels of giving and spend- ing in your congregation trended upward or downward over the last 15 years? (Annual reports or your congregation’s trend data available at www.elca.org may help.) How has your congregation coped? Has the congregation added or discontin- ued ministries? If trends continue, what is your congregation’s short- term future? What is its long-term future?


Blezard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Arendtsville, Pa. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston University and did subsequent study at the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.


Exercise 2: Mission support Looking at data from above, has your congregation’s mission support increased or decreased as a percent- age of the budget? Is there a con- nection between tight budgets and decreased mission support? If a congregation cuts mission support due to a budget shortfall, isn’t this just passing the problem along: the congrega- tion’s problem now becomes that of the other


expressions of the ELCA? What might be a better approach?


Exercise 3: Unemployment’s ripple What is the unemployment level in your community? In her article, Kim Beckmann showed how the loss of one income (hers) affected her church giving, which had a harmful ripple effect across our interdepen- dent church system. Has your con- gregation been affected by unem- ployment among the membership? How has that impacted its budget?


Exercise 4: Silo or network? Is your congregation more like a “silo” (a freestanding, isolated insti- tution) or a “network” (a vibrant organization with lots of connections to its community and beyond)? What evidence supports your position? Most congregations have charac-


teristics of both. How can your faith community be more of a network? What relationships do you have with other community organizations? What cooperative ventures or min- istries? How do these make you and your church stronger? How can you do more?


Exercise 5: The pastor’s role In many congregations, despite a clear job description of roles and duties, the pastor is the primary worker bee, responsible for anything and everything that happens. It can happen that the pastor is too busy with the day-to-day tasks of the con- gregation to do the important work of strategic leadership—includ- ing plans for mission, evangelism, growth and stewardship. Is this so at


your congregation? Are leadership duties adequately shared between pastor and membership? In what direction might your pas- tor need to lead the church in order to prepare for long-term mission, growth and survival? What effort would it take for leadership to “cut loose” the pastor to work in that direction?


Exercise 6: A church with purpose Thinking abstractly, why does the Christian church exist? What should be the goals of the Christian church in the world? What impact should it have on peoples’ lives? What impact should the Christian church have on the political, social and economic forces present in the world? What Bible passages support or guide your responses? What would be the marks of success for a church? Does the Christian church exist for itself alone?


Now ask the foregoing questions about your congregation. What did you learn?


Exercise 7: A mission church Without looking at any formal decla- rations your church has made on the subject, but rather only at what you see as your congregation’s current priorities and emphases, what is the mission of your church? Come up with a two-sentence statement. If your church has one, now look at its formal mission statement. Is the church living out that mission in all it does? Does it reflect the needs your congregation and community face today? If it were up to your study group, how would you rewrite it?


This study guide is offered as one example of the more than 300 that are currently available on The Lutheran’s website. Download guides—free to print and Web subscribers—at www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).


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