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Ministry Audit. Objective of Ministry Audit. Describe the synod Current state of Rocky Mountain Synod Identify strengths and areas for growth Assess whether current direction under VPA is still appropriate Assess impact of VPA & next steps Describe future Bishop What Bishop needs from us
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Objective of Ministry Audit • Describe the synod • Current state of Rocky Mountain Synod • Identify strengths and areas for growth • Assess whether current direction under VPA is still appropriate • Assess impact of VPA & next steps • Describe future Bishop • What Bishop needs from us • What we need in a bishop
Northeastern Pennsylvania 40,000 35,000 North Carolina 32,239 30,000 Rocky Mountain Grand Canyon 25,000 23,519 Southeastern 20,000 Western Iowa 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 * Does not include the Minneapolis Area Synod because of its disproportionate number of worship attendees. Change in Worship Attendance from 2000 to 2010
Change in Worship Attendance from 2000 to 2010 by Size of Congregation
Total Giving in congregations per Worship Attendee In RMS, giving per member increased 16% from 2004-2010
Total Receipts to Expense by Year for the Congregations in the RMS
Conference Gatherings Fall 2011
What is your congregation really good at? • Welcoming, nurturing, fellowship & hospitality • Social ministry in local community
Percent of Congregations Indicating the Program/Activity Was a Specialty of the Congregation
What new skills does your congregation need to develop? • Be open to new ways of doing ministry • Be more open to “outsiders” • Better at speaking about faith • Better at living out faith intentionally for the sake of others. • Have a bigger vision of the Church • Identify and use people’s spiritual gifts • Deeper faith development • Deal with conflict more productively • Use technology better • Better youth ministry • Stronger stewardship
Synod Goals (adopted by 2008 assembly) • Identity: We understand and articulate our Lutheran/Christian identity and have an intentional plan to live it out. • Discipleship: We have a transformed culture that considers faith formation and discipleship to be for all ages. • Evangelism: We have a transformed culture around evangelism that says: “We have something to share”. • Congregational Health: We are healthy and able to go through transition and conflict in ways that lead to positive growth. • Connections: We increase synodical capacity to do God’s work by strengthening connections between and within all expressions of our church.
Are the current synod emphasis the right ones? • Most lay people had not heard of the goals. Once they read them, they supported the goals and asked about training in areas of evangelism, discipleship and congregational health. • Most clergy also supported the goals but were unaware of or unaffected by them. • “There were a few who were less supportive of the goals.” (Don’t need synod wide goals – local context more important.) or synod goals seem “top-down”.
Impact of VPA to date? • “It is likely due to these (earlier) conversations that the VPA goals were embraced by the vast majority of participants in the 2011 Conference meetings.” • Change in how Synod Council functions- clear priorities and focus (e.g. budget, staffing, One Bread One Body videos) • Revised synod constitution in 2010= new ministry teams and structure • Initiatives use new more “network” model (Generosity project, Book of Faith, Linda Staats’ work)
What VPA has not yet done: • Continually engage a wide variety of people across congregations with each other. “The lay participants were largely unaware of steps already taken to engage congregations and they wondered why their pastor had not mentioned these activities or opportunities to become involved.” • Overtly affect people in the pews • Affect measurable changes to synodicalgoals
Issues raised by this review of VPA • Broad participatory planning processes do not significantly increase ownership or investment in the process or product (VPA). • Synod wide goals do not make sense to some. • It is very hard for congregations to change their behavior. • “VPA may have been implemented more effectively by providing clear ways for congregations to engage or work on VPA goals.” • “VPA may have been more successful if communication related to the initiative was consistently and persistently integrated into all the work of the synod.”
What Bishop should expect from us • Support from congregations: (e.g. prayer, $) • Congregations should be faithful in their ministries • Open honest communications from congregations to Bishop
Characteristics we seek • Approachable, empathetic, authentic, inner strength, sense of direction, self-awareness, non-anxious, faithful, visionary, bold leadership, interested in other people, humble, enthusiastic, and resourceful Skills we seek • Listen, communicate, foster communication, preach & teach, mentor, mediate, use technology for communicating, administration. • Extensive congregational ministry experience + connection to wider church. • Competent theologian, champion of word and sacrament, care deeply about congregations.
Two perspectives • Bishop as pastor for pastors & congregations • Bishop as visionary leader of synod & syndical ministries “These are all qualities of a good leader, but there are potentially contradictory expectations. A bishop who is a friend and pastor may sacrifice bold leadership while a bold leader may not always be a comforting friend.”
Conclusions: Synod • In RMS, ELCA Lutherans are small and shrinking minority. • Congregational expenses have exceeded total receipts since 2006.- Unsustainable • Lutheran message of Grace is not the most prevalent Christian message. • “Despite the fact that people struggled to see how the goals of VPA had impacted their congregations, when they described their needs, they described the needs that VPA is attempting to address.” • “The RMS has already done good work in identifying a purpose and in setting goals, but there is a way to go before the benefits of this good work are realized.”
Conclusions: Synod • “The church has never been just about congregations. It is also about the witness of one, apostolic church. Congregations, by virtue of being part of a wider church are called to support each other, to work together, for the sake of the Gospel. One important way of working together is to set common goals and to commit to achieving those goals. In this sense, working together is not an imposition, but an opportunity for a common witness.”
Conclusions: Bishop “ At times, and in certain places, the Conference meetings placed considerable emphasis on a bishop that functions primarily as a pastor to pastors. This is certainly an important role for the synod’s bishop, but it is not the exclusive role or even the most important role. A bishop is primarily responsible for the care and proclamation of the Gospel. Among many things, this means setting a Gospel vision and taking steps to encourage, challenge, motivate, and expect members and pastors, in their local settings, to serve the Gospel by proclaiming it, and making it clearly visible both to those within and outside the church.”
Now What? • We know what we need to do. How can we get it done? What does it take to impact the people in the pews? What has worked before? How can we make changes for the sake of the Gospel? • “If VPA type action is not appropriate for addressing the downward spiral of some congregations, then what makes more sense?” • What is the role all parties (lay/rostered, congregation/synod)? How could they work together differently? • What will you do?
