Church growth leaders are a different breed. They have been described as entrepreneurs in a bureaucratic church; motivators in a complacent denomination; systems analysts in a debate among single minded agendas; and visionaries for non-ideological and non-dogmatic religion. They are the voice of the 21st century. Their numbers among clergy and laity are growing. And they are very frustrated with the traditional denomination.

One of them shared a cartoon with me. Picture a church committee of four people sitting around a table. The Minister sits with hands folded, and a look of combined sadness and bewilderment on his face. With him are two women, and a man peering over half-glasses. The caption above the cartoon reads: "Pastor Bob submits his 'Vision for Our 21st Century Church' to his 20th century church board." Here are their reactions.

One of the women scratches her head with a pencil ("graphite technology") and exclaims accusingly: "This proposal is printed on beige paper!" Surely there is some hidden motive about the color choice! The man peers condescendingly over his glasses: "Wouldn't a staple be better than a paper clip?" Somehow the group process or the educational technique just isn't right. The other woman turns her back on the whole group and passionately addresses the empty room: "Why on earth is it double spaced?!" The wasted paper has escalated office expenses, and is no doubt symptomatic of the assault on the rain forests by the military-industrial complex.

They have all missed the point. During the next week they will all complain to the Personnel Committee that Pastor Bob should be spending 20 hours a week visiting nursing homes, 20 ours a week marching on picket lines, and 20 hours a week taking advanced courses on group process. They will also complain that Pastor Bob is never in the office when they drop by unannounced to explain their grievances. And they will further complain that Pastor Bob is a poor role model for his alcoholic teenage daughter. On Sunday morning, they will all wonder why their church is declining.

I will sketch for you three paradigm shifts which will largely determine whether or not the mainstream church dies or thrives in the 21st century. I need to explain that I am going to be talking about church growth and decline. Such talk troubles a good many folk in the power networks of traditional denominations. They think church growth is simply about membership and property development. They think its merely about statistics and bricks. They think its shallow.

Yet church growth is not, and never was, simply a matter of statistics and bricks. Church growth means that a congregation becomes so alive to the presence of Christ in their midst, that they increase the participation of the community in their congregational life, deepen their spirituality, expand their programs, and extend their outreach. In order to do all that they may well have to buy and sell property, or construct and tear down buildings, but they will do that with an enthusiasm and recklessness that is a joy to behold, and perhaps a near heart attack to the capital holding companies of the denomination.

Unfortunately, the church will wither away in the 21st century unless we make three paradigm shifts that abandon the past, and embrace the future. A "paradigm" is like a filter or lens with which you sort out or focus the realities of God and world. A "paradigm shift" happens when you change the filter or lens to sort out the realities of God and world differently. It is as if a person wearing glasses found she was tripping and stumbling and repeatedly falling on her face. She blames the world for going crazy, or she blames her partners' slovenly habits, or she blames it on old age and prepares to die. Then someone gives her a new pair of glasses. Suddenly she realizes it wasn't the world, but her perception of the world, that was at fault. It wasn't the Gospel, but her understanding of the Gospel; it wasn't the church, but her perspective on the church; and it wasn't Pastor Bob, but her expectations of Pastor Bob. Remove the glasses that were great for 30 years, put on new lenses, and suddenly instead of preparing to die, she is dancing down the street.<//font>

 

<big>Paradigm Shift in Leadership</big>

In the old paradigm, since society was a godless morass and the average citizen a selfish, unethical bum, the role of the Ordained Ministry has been either to take care of people, or to set them straight. The former has been called "pastoral care ministry", and the latter has been called "prophetic ministry", and together they form the leadership paradigm of "The Enabler". The Enabler works one to one with laity for comfort, counseling, nurture, and healing; or for challenge, criticism, accountability, and moral guidance. Each person is "enabled" to be healthier and happier, or to behave better and wiser.

The paradigm of enabling is what motivates Pastor Bob to visit, visit, visit until he drops dead with fatigue. It also motivates him to become a member of the Kiwanis and Rotary, sit on the Board of the community Counseling Center and 12 social agencies, attend every committee of the church in the evenings, picket environmentally suspect industries on Mondays, counsel every couple wanting to be married on weekends, and build "habitats for humanity" in his "spare" time. He was called to make people healthier and happier, and behave better and wiser, and by God! he's going to do it!

Unfortunately, what worked in the past will not work in the future.

First, the church can't afford it. One enabler can only effectively work with 100 people, but with rising personnel costs and declining discretionary income, each 100 people can no longer afford the salary of one full time enabler.

Second, the covenant relationship begins to deteriorate into co-dependency. The enabler is motivated by a need to be needed, and the people are motivated by a need for someone to hold their hand and tell them what to do.

Third, the enabling leadership that started out humble and caring, ends up presumptuous and arrogant. The cry to "take care of us" soon connects with the claim "I know what you need". The cry to "give us moral guidance" connects with the demand to "do what I tell you."

Finally, enabling leadership becomes bureaucratic leadership in its old age. Unable to bring health, happiness, and ethical behavior to individuals, they try doing it with governance. Standing committees, ad hoc groups, and levels of government multiply, and the enabler goes off to attend group process seminars.

In the old paradigm, an estimated 27-33% of clergy or their families become victims of substance abuse; the cycle of complaint, guilt, and anger leads to rampant clergy burnout; pastoral covenants are in perpetual crisis; litigation and malpractice insurance become key issues for a denomination; recruits for Ordained Ministry not surprisingly drop off; and church growth rarely exceeds 250 members, even though the community around the church more than tripled. Congregations become chaplaincies and agencies, rather than real churches.

The paradigm for leadership in the 21st century will not be "The Enabler", but "Visionary Motivator". Visionary, motivating leadership will not try to take care of everybody, or set everybody straight, but it will proclaim persuasively and dramatically from the "watchtower" the vision that awaits its time, and so motivate people that even when they are running they can still see it. It will not try to take care of the people, but equip the people to take care of themselves. It will not try to set people straight, but let God set people straight, and accept the resulting diversity.

Leadership in the 21st century will not try to get people to do anything, but to be something. Instead of aiming to change behavior, it will aim to change the heart. More time will be spent making worship a transformational event, than an informational event. More time will be spent equipping laity to do ministry, than doing ministry alone. The primary role of Ordained leadership in the future will be to point out the star, and shove people off. They may go east, west, north, or south; they may vote for any political party; they may pursue this cause or that cause. They may come down for environmental protection or job creation, and they may be pro-life or pro-choice. None of that is the clergy’s primary concern. Their concern is to help every person give birth to the potential for good that God has given them, and equip every Christian to follow the calling that Christ has offered them. Pastor Bob (or Pastor Roberta) is a midwife.

Remember Pastor Bob and the Church Board? Pastor Bob in the 21st century will be spending most of his time proclaiming the vision, sharing the vision, and building ownership for the vision. The pastoral care will get done, but it is equipped laity who will do it. The prophetic witness will get done, but it is equipped laity who will do that. All the visiting will be done, and all the community social agencies will be addressed, but not by Pastor Bob. He's not an enabler anymore. He's a visionary. He's not spending all his time among the churched implementing the vision; he's spending all his time among the unchurched, learning new futures for the vision.