The Changing Landscape of Ministry

The Decline of Mainline Protestant Churches (MPC) The numbers of MPC in the US is down: 1950’s --- 80,000 today --- 72,000 Nearly 1 in 5 Americans claims NO Religion

The Decline of Mainline Protestant Churches (MPC) Membership in MPCs down by about 25% In the last 10 yrs --- a 22% drop in attendance by adults with children under the age of 18 More than 35% of MPC attendees are 60 or older

The Decline of Mainline Protestant Churches (MPC) Many MPCs are in rural communities that are shrinking due to fewer employment opportunities The sad truth—a re-growth of these small rural communities is not likely to occur

The Decline of Mainline Protestant Churches (MPC) Bottom line—our smaller country churches continue to get smaller This is the Changing Landscape of our Churches

The Options Turnaround Congregation Consolidation Merger Adoption Utilize Part-Time or Lay Pastor Yoking

Turnaround Congregation Requires an Intentional Turnaround Process Best accomplished with a “new” pastor Willingness to focus on spiritual development /discipleship. Develop an outward focus that emphasizes the needs of the local community. Willingness to change the church’s organizational structure, financial priorities and leadership.

Consolidation An Organic Union of Two Churches Consolidate all assets & share resources Move to a new location Develop a new sense of ministry & mission Start with a new church name

Merger When Two Churches Move Together into One of the Existing Buildings and Share Resources Share one pastor & pool resources Can end up with one church as the “Winner” and the other as “Loser” Power struggles can become an issue Can have detrimental long-term effects

Adoption Seeking a Larger Healthier Congregation to Take on the Smaller Church as a Satellite Church Smaller church gets to keep its building and presence in the community Larger church provides staffing, resources, and healthy energy Smaller church must adopt the larger church’s Vision and Mission Smaller church loses its identity and loses control over its destiny

Part-Time or Lay Pastor Opting for a Pastor who is Semi-Retired or Bi-Vocational Pastor may or may not be ordained Availability of the pastor may be an issue during times of need Difficult for the pastor to get to know the members of the congregation and the church culture

Yoking

Yoking Two Churches Maintain Existing Buildings and Ministries, but Share a Pastor Yoking can be between churches of the same or different denominations A Pastor’s time is divided between both Churches This option may be limited by the physical distance between churches

Yoking Two churches within a reasonable distance agree to share a full-time pastor Each church retains its denominational identity and relationship Each church keeps its existing buildings Each church keeps its existing ministries The churches enter into a contractual agreement concerning salary, benefits, etc., and the % of these each church will contribute

Yoking Members of both churches come together to form a pastor search committee responsible for seeking and calling a pastor Selection of pastor should be by prayerful discernment Both churches must agree upon their worship schedules for Sunday morning and special worship services

Yoking The prospective pastor must be voted on by each church body and both must agree to the call of that pastor Most helpful to have someone from either congregation who is adept at handling payroll, insurance, and tax issues Both congregations should be aware of the time-management difficulties the pastor faces when serving two churches

Yoking — an example: St. Paul’s UCC, Blackburn & St. Luke UCC, Grand Pass Two UCC churches 10 miles apart

Yoking — an example: St. Paul’s UCC, Blackburn founded 1884 at its peak, had an active church membership of ~200 or more St. Luke UCC, Grand Pass founded 1903 at its peak, had an active church membership of ~150 or more

Yoking — an example: Sunday Morning Worship 8:30 am—St. Luke 10:30 am—St. Paul’s Special Worship Services St. Luke—Pastor leads Easter Sunrise St. Paul’s—Children lead Easter Sunrise St. Paul’s—Pastor leads Easter 10:30

Yoking — an example: Special Shared Worship Services Ash Wednesday alternates between the two churches St. Paul’s—every Maundy Thursday St. Luke—every Good Friday

Current ACTIVE Church Members Yoking — an example: Current ACTIVE Church Members St. Paul’s UCC, Blackburn 75 adults (130 on the books) St. Luke UCC, Grand Pass 30 adults (45 on the books)

St. Paul’s UCC & St. Luke UCC Yoking — an example: In Dec 2010 St. Paul’s UCC & St. Luke UCC entered into a yoked agreement, which began officially in Feb 2011

Prior Pastoral Leadership: St. Paul’s UCC, Blackburn Had two interim part-time semi-retired pastors for 13 years St. Luke UCC, Grand Pass Had operated with pulpit-supply pastors for about 20 years

Prior Pastoral Leadership: St. Paul’s UCC, Blackburn More dependent upon Pastoral Leadership St. Luke UCC, Grand Pass A very self-sufficient congregation

Differences in Church Personalities: St. Paul’s UCC, Blackburn Worship style — formal Missions — mostly just local Theologically more conservative St. Luke UCC, Grand Pass Worship style — laid-back Missions—very globally involved Theologically less conservative

Pastoral Challenges: Honoring their differences— neither church is better than the other. They each have strengths and weaknesses. Respecting each congregation’s fear of losing its identity

Pastoral Challenges: Preparing two similar yet different worship services Writing one sermon while being mindful of the differences between congregations Accepting inherent limitations such as an inability to participate in Sunday School

Pastoral Challenges: Would like to see the two churches more involved with each other, but that may be asking too much

What is Working Willingness of the two choirs to come together and practice for special events Willingness of some members to participate in special study events, like, weekly Lenten studies

What is Working Have combined youth from both churches into one Confirmation Class The blessing of having at both churches many very helpful and patient members

Recommendations for Churches Considering becoming Yoked Think long and hard about the use of a parsonage. Closer proximity of the pastor to one church may cause resentment. Have a pastoral-relations committee which equally represents each church

Recommendations for Churches Considering becoming Yoked If neither church has someone who is very savvy concerning financial issues, hire someone. That expense will be well worth it in the long-run. Cultivate strong lay-leadership

Recommendations for Churches Considering becoming Yoked Find opportunities for bringing the two congregations together in worship and in fellowship

Recommendations for Churches Considering becoming Yoked Embrace the gift of continued service to God and neighbor that comes with being yoked with a fellow church, vs. death of your church and all you hold dear about it if you do not act on that possibility

Coming Full Circle In 1903, Rev. Albert Dreusieke, pastor of St. Paul’s Evangelical Church of Blackburn, organized a group of seven German immigrant families in Grand Pass to form the Evangelical Lucas Church (St. Luke). Until such time as St. Luke could afford their own pastor, they and St. Paul’s were yoked under Rev. Dreusieke.