Transitions: Leading Churches through Change -- Review
TRANSITIONS: Leading Churches through Change. Edited by David N. Mosser. Foreword by Robert Schnase. Louisville:
WJK Press, 2011. Xv +248 pp.
There is no shortage of books dealing with the idea that change
is taking place within the church, but despite the plethora of resources there
is still room for more contributions. The
fact is, even though change is constant, and the pace seems to be growing
exponentially every year, none of us, no matter our age, is truly comfortable
with the pace of change. Just the other
day, when Facebook issued another set of changes – pretty major ones – it seemed
as if everyone, young and old, was upset.
How dare Mark Zuckerberg change Facebook. Of course, it wasn’t so long ago that MySpace
was the talk of the town, but it didn’t adapt and got left in the dust. So, even if we don’t always like the changes
that come our way, more often than not the only choice we have is to
adapt.
Like the rest of the world these changing times affect
the church, and it either adapts or dies.
Some churches have jumped into the chaos of our contemporary realities
with both feet, and then look to see where the whirlpool will take them. Others build walls, seeking to protect the
faithful from the effects of the age, and this adaptation works, at least for a
time. We see this form of adaptation in significant
number of Americans who reject the scientific theory of evolution, preferring
to hold to the biblical storyline, despite the fact that this storyline is
pre-scientific. How long this adaption
holds remains to be seen.
However
we seek to approach this season of constant change, those who are called to
preach have been entrusted with the job of leading the churches through this
era of transition. In a volume entitled Transitions, we find a series of essays
and sermons edited by United Methodist pastor David Mosser. Mosser notes in his introduction that while
change is inevitable, and will impact the church, “too often ‘new and improved’
fails to deliver what it at one time had so hopefully promised” (p. xv).
Preachers, therefore, are called upon to deal with the fears and the
grief that comes with change, including their own. They will have to help the church discern
when to adapt and how to adapt. With
this task in mind, Mosser brings together the thoughts of preachers,
professors, pastors and consultants to help we who are preachers to “think
through how the church and our faith can help us in our times of high anxiety”
(p. xv). Some of the contributors are likely well-known
to many clergy – people such David Buttrick, Thomas Long, Ronald Allen, and
Thomas Troeger. Other contributors are
not nearly as well known, but each contributor speaks to this most important
topic facing the church and its leaders.
Mosser’s
volume is composed of twenty-six chapters divided into four parts. Part 1 covers the topic “The Clergy in
Chaos.” Eight chapters explore the
complexity and realities of our time. In seven chapters, essayists and preachers
explore the realities that congregants face in adapting to change. Topics include preaching to the elderly
(something most of us do on a regular basis), divorce, death, and change
itself. Part three addresses the
congregation in crisis (chapters 16-21), and finally in part 4, five chapters
look at the community in transition.
Thus, preachers are guided through a process that begins with looking at
themselves, moves to the congregants, and then on to congregation, with the
community bringing the journey to a close.
As
with any volume like this different parts of the book will speak to different
people. I’ll mention a few that stuck
out to me. The first essay is a must
read for all clergy facing transitions either out of a parish or into one. E. Carver McGriff and his successor at St.
Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Kent Millard have written about
the nature of their transition. How
often have we seen pastorates undermined by the actions of one’s predecessors? Theirs is the story of a successful
transition, but not all stories are quite as successful. McGriff writes that to make such a successful
transition one must “lay down your life for your successor.” It can be devastating to see loyalties
transferred to someone else, but without this happening “your successor may
fail, and so you will have failed” (p. 6).
Although there are differences of opinion on this matter, McGriff is
likely correct in stating that “when you move away, stay away. Stay away unless and until the person who
follows you invites you back” (p. 7). As
for the new pastor, Millard notes that it is beneficial to all if one offers
appreciation for the history and the ministry that has led to this opportunity.
Buttrick’s
essay on preaching to the elderly is another important contribution. The future may rest with the younger
generations, but if your congregation is like mine, you will have a significant
number of members over sixty-five. Many
are strong leaders and givers. They may
have long histories with the congregation, and their spiritual needs are
important as well. The word that
Buttrick offers the preacher is that the elderly deserve to hear the gospel and
not just therapeutic words. If Jesus’
message was one of God’s new social order, do we preach this message to the
elderly, or do we simply preach death and resurrection, promising them heavenly
sunshine? Buttrick answers –
absolutely. That’s because Jesus’ new
world coming offers the elderly a future.
Ron
Allen, who is a friend, writes helpfully about using one’s own story in helping
congregations deal with transition. I
must say that I still struggle with this – I’m a fairly private person (despite
my public persona) and my family is even more so. And yet Allen is correct in noting that
members benefit with knowing how we deal with change – both our successes and
failures. June Alliman Yoder speaks to a
different aspect of the preachers task, and that is persuasion. She asks a good question: “What is the point of a sermon that doesn’t
try to do anything, a sermon that is a speech about a religious topic rather
than a powerful proclamation of the desire of God to make us into a new people?
(p. 112). In other words, though God can
use our words in ways we may not expect, it doesn’t all fall on God’s
shoulders. One of the reasons for our
problem with accomplishing a purpose is that many have abandoned the idea that
preaching should persuade. It is true,
she notes, that preachers can manipulate, but how can we serve as catalysts for
change if we abandon this calling and just tell stories or inform people about
the content of scripture? And so she
calls for the redemption of persuasion.
Robert
Reid offers an essay dealing with ways in which the preacher can respond to
resistance during the process of transition and change. He notes that while reason has its place,
it’s unlikely that logic will win the day.
Thus, the preacher must appeal to the heart, do the research necessary
to explain one’s reason for change, and their call for change must resonate
with the majority of the constituency. It’s
not easy work, but change happens when leaders become vision bearers.
The
final essay I’ll mention is written by Mary Alice Mulligan, who speaks to the
task that many of us struggle with, and that is finding a way to embrace
transitioning neighborhoods. Many
churches find themselves in neighborhoods that are changing dramatically. But, if the congregation ignores its
neighborhood it will die, and many are dying as a result. She speaks of acknowledging from the pulpit
that God is in the neighborhood, offers ideas for lay leadership, and then
offers a suggested sermon series rooted in Jeremiah that might help prepare a
congregation for being present in a redemptive way in the neighborhood. She writes prophetically:
In all the changes our congregations and communities face, by trusting that God can bring life in all circumstances, we can preach messages of embracing the transitions. When the surrounding neighborhood is deteriorating, with God’s holy power, we engage in ministry with the neighbors, for we are co-responsible for the welfare of the community surrounding our church building. In fact, we are part of the community. (p. 217).
Mulligan speaks primarily
here to congregations finding themselves in urban and perhaps rural situations
where change is happening that challenge the church. I would add that there significant changes
and challenges facing churches (like mine) that are present in the suburbs. Are we ready to address the changes happening
there, especially as economic instability hits these bastions of middle class
life?
In closing this review, I’d like to give heed to Wesley
Allen’s point that we as preachers will fail in our calling if we do not
connect the story of Jesus with our own stories of change. He writes that “the hermeneutical move we
preachers must make is to resist always stressing the unique aspects of the
story of the Christ event” (p. 242). If
we take the idea of incarnation seriously, Jesus lived a real life that can
connect to ours, and like us, he faced the realities of change, and out of his
life and his message there is a word of hope.
This is a book for preachers, and preachers would be wise
to give attention to its contents. One
can read it from cover to cover or dip into areas of interest. It will be, however, a helpful resource for
all who pick it up.
And to purchase a copy, check Amazon here:
And to purchase a copy, check Amazon here:
Comments
So if the doctrine you espouse is wrong then your church should shut down and your faith life should be discontinued as well?
Will you agree that God and God's workings are a mystery? Would you agree that humans are inherently deficient in their ability to grasp and God's ways and that the divine mysteries can only be known through the operation of the Holy Spirit within us, helping us to overcome our human defects so that we can understand scripture and the working of God in the world around us in the way God wills us to?
Those others with whom you disagree also believe their understandings are as close to the truth as the Holy Spirit working within them can bring them. I would guess that you would also claim that your beliefs are likewise as true as the Holy Spirit working within you can bring you.
Would you agree that the quality which makes your beliefs more likely to be true is the depth of your personal conviction and faith? The Holy Spirit has also convicted me. But in so doing the Holy Spirit has also informed me that God speaks to each human being in a language, idiom and cultural context which will be understood by each person - "each in their own language".
We cannot know the totality of God but only those parts
which God chooses to disclose to us, and God may choose to disclose different aspects of God and of God's truths to different people.
For example, to you has been disclosed God's wrathful side, the side that hates untruth, that hates lies and that feels compelled to mete out just punishments and rewards to the deserving. To me has been revealed the side of God which repents of God's vengeful intentions out of a deep and abiding love for the sinner, a love which was made known in the Incarnation, who laid down his life for the sinners among us.
So we both have a significant part of the truth of God, and yet neither has the whole of it. Should we both give up on our faith life or should we both continue to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling?
Along this line, how would your define the admonition to theologize in an attitude of "fear and trembling"?
If people are believing and teaching things that contradict the Bible, then it would be better not to be doing that. A heretical church would bring more glory to God by shutting its doors than by continuing in heresy and apostasy.
What we should believe and practice is laid out for us in the New Testament. So no one has the excuse that they did not know, or could not know what Christian doctrine is. The problem is that people refuse to believe the Bible and do what God said to do.
Thanks for your thoughts. I have tried to be more personal in recent sermons, but there seems to be a fine line we must walk. Because neither my wife nor son like to be used as sermon illustrations, I have to be extremely careful what I say.
I agree that there is a place for humanizing ourselves, but again there is a fine line between self-deprecation and demeaning one's self.
I was just reading somewhere else today that in sharing stories we not make our selves the hero.