Congregations today exist in an in-between, or liminal, time. The customary answers about what it means to be and do church and strategies for renewal based on those answers no longer work. But there is no certainty about the new answers. It is a time of searching-of letting go of the old and experimenting with the new. This means facing the reality of death, which may come as institutions die or as established ways are abandoned. This book addresses this reality while maintaining a constant focus on the Christian promise of resurrection. It offers three images that recognize the differing contexts of congregations and help them shape their future as they seek to discern God's work in their midst. Congregations shaped by each of the three images (remembering, letting go, and resurrecting) have the potential to faithfully engage in God's work in their setting. For each of the three there are suggestions for helping a congregation move toward an even more faithful expression of the image. The book includes Bible studies and other resources that congregations will find helpful in this process. Some congregations may continue in traditional ways, while others seek a new way of being church. But all can join in God's work in their time and place with a new and deeper understanding of the ministry that is theirs. This book helps them do that. Because a different kind of leadership is needed the book offers an approach to leadership that is grounded in a spiritual process of inward reflection and outward involvement.
Jeffrey D. Jones is the author of a number of books on congregational life and leadership, including: Traveling Together: A Guide for Disciple-Forming Congregations (Alban) and Facing Decline, Finding Hope (Rowman and Littlefield). He has served as the pastor of three churches, the interim pastor of two churches, and twice as a national staff person for the American Baptist Board of Educational Ministries. He retired as the Director of Ministerial Studies and Associate Professor of Ministerial Leadership from Andover Newton in 2015. David Fredrickson is a native Coloradan. He has served as the Assistant Rector to Trinity Church in Buckingham, Pennsylvania, Rector to the Church of the Good Shepherd in Wareham, Massachusetts, Rector to Christ Church Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and is currently the Priest-in-Charge to Zion Episcopal Church in Manchester Center, Vermont.
Contents Acknowledgements Introduction How to Read This Book Final Thoughts Before We Begin Chapter 1 - A Reality Check: Living in the In-Between A New Thing The End of Christendom The Parable of the Sower An In-Between Time Chapter 2 - Possibilities for the Future: Discerning an Image of the Congregation Discerning the Right Thing Three Images When the Images Combine Remembering - Main Street Church Letting Go - Trinity Church Resurrecting - Faith Church The Inevitability of Loss Chapter 3 - Remembering: A New Way of Seeing What Was Endings Paradox Addiction Chapter 4 - Letting Go: Insights from Hospice Chapter 5 - Resurrecting: Spirituality and Ethics Revisited The Parable of the Yeast A Tiny Part of the Whole Big Effects A Transforming/Corrupting Presence A Time-Consuming Process of Change Nurturing Spirituality The Examen Prayer The Rule of Life Spiritual Direction Claiming the Ethic of Jesus Chapter 6 - A New Model of Leadership: Inwardly Directed and Outwardly Focused A New Model of Leadership Envision the Productive Community Look Within Embrace the Hypocritical Self Transcend Fear Embody a Vision of the New Community Disturb the System Surrender to the Emergent Process Entice Through Moral Power Strength, Sensitivity and Faith Conclusion Index About the Authors
