       Effective Ministry in the New RealityNear the end of 2011, a roundtable panel of six ministers in the Church of the Nazarene sat down with General Superintendent Jesse Middendorf to talk frankly about “Effective Ministry in the New Reality.” The meeting was convened by Grace and Peace Magazine and hosted by Bob Broadbooks, USA/Canada Regional Director.... Panel discusses what is meant by the new realitySocial, economic, and cultural forces have turned the religious landscape upside down and have redefined our notion of church, prompting some to describe this phenomenon as a “new reality.” Panel discusses doing church differently in the new realityIn October 2011, a panel of six experienced Nazarene pastors and church leaders met to share how they re-tooled and re-focused their churches in the midst of sweeping change and created new earmarks for measuring ministry success. This segment focuses on doing church differently in the “new reality.” The New Normal: Rethinking Ministry and Finance in the Local ChurchThe recent financial downturn has forced pastors and their congregations to cope with changes both large and small. These “new normals” have resulted in lower incomes, spending cuts, and reductions in staff and volunteers... One Sacrament, Many MeaningsIn the Communion liturgy, we hear the words that Christ spoke to his disciples at the Last Supper: “Do this in remembrance (anamnesis) of me.” The particulars of a Communion service can vary widely, yet these words will remain the same—whether with a handful of people or a crowd of thousands... The Art of Ministry in a Technological AgeSeveral decades ago, a Christian philosopher in Canada, named George Parkin Grant, began to notice a trend in our world: we were becoming technological. It wasn’t just that we were technological because we were using things like cars and computers, but it was something larger...  ARTICLE: Effective Ministry in the New Reality  VIDEO: Panel discusses what is meant by the new reality  VIDEO: Panel discusses doing church differently in the new reality  ARTICLE: The New Normal: Rethinking Ministry and Finance in the Local Church  ARTICLE: One Sacrament, Many Meanings  ARTICLE: The Art of Ministry in a Technological Age |
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In 1997, the Board of General Superintendents declared the United States and Canada “mission fields.” They understood that the cultural role and social value of the church was changing in the face of increasing secularization, and that along with immigration and the growth of multicultural groups, these transitions would dramatically affect how ministry would be understood and accomplished in the future.
I am old enough to remember dial phones, carbon paper, vinyl records, and hand-crank car windows. After school, I played sandlot baseball until dark. Today, many of these neighborhood diamonds sit empty while kids stare mesmerized into video game screens. When I was a kid, the service station attendant ran out to meet you at the pump, washed your windows and filled your car with gas, all for free. Times have changed.
It may surprise you that 37% of Nazarene pastors described their church’s financial health as either good or excellent in the Faith Communities Today survey conducted in the summer of 2011.* Yet, that still leaves almost two out of every three churches whose finances are—at best—tight, but manageable, or—at worst—in serious difficulty
I... beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:1-6).
All kingdom work is rooted in worship. Or, to put it the other way around, worshipping the God we see at work in Jesus is the most politically charged act we can ever perform. Christian worship declares that Jesus is Lord and that therefore, by strong implication, nobody else is. What’s more, it doesn’t just declare it as something to be believed, like the fact that the sun is hot or the sea wet.
The future of the Church lies in reproducing disciples, and a proven method is the multiplication of churches. These new church plants may or may not look like the “traditional” church. I have three decades of experience pastoring and planting “traditional” churches—if we can still call them that. The advice I offer here comes from that experience, yet I have great interest in missional models.
It is often observed that starting new congregations with a missional imagination and posture is easier than reorienting existing ones. This is so in part because the process of planting a new church is inherently missiological and open ended.1 Leaders of new congregations must ask the key missional questions of identity and purpose that existing congregations often take for granted.
Every pastor has a funny funeral story but won’t admit it--at least not to the laity. However, when the clergy get together at the café on Monday mornings, drinking strong black coffee, trying to re-group from Sunday, we start talking. Well, it’s Monday morning as I write this column and my coffeedrinking clergy buddies are out of town; therefore, I will confess to you.
Panel of pastors and church leaders discuss what is meant by the “new reality”
Lenten Devotional Resource by Roger Hahn| |
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A conference sponsored by the USA/Canada Region, Church of the Nazarene |
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