MAINTENANCE OR MISSION?
1. In measuring the effectiveness, the maintenance congregation asks, "How
many pastoral visits are being made? The mission congregation asks, "How many disciples are being made?"
2. When contemplating some form of change, the maintenance congregation
says, "If this proves upsetting to any of our members, we won't do it." The
mission congregation says, "If this will help us reach someone on the outside,
we will take the risk and do it."
3. When thinking about change, the majority of members in a maintenance congregation ask, "How will this affect me?" The majority of members in the
mission congregation ask, "Will this increase our ability to reach those
outside?"
4. When thinking of its vision for ministry, the maintenance congregation
says, "We have to be faithful to our past." The mission congregation says, "We
have to be faithful to our future."
5. The pastor in the maintenance congregation says to the newcomer, "I'd
like to introduce you to some of our members." In the mission congregation the members say, "We'd like to introduce you to our pastor."
6. When confronted with a legitimate pastoral concern, the pastor in the
maintenance congregation asks, "How can I meet this need?" The pastor in the
mission congregation asks, "How can this need be met?"
7. The maintenance congregation seeks to avoid conflict at any cost (but rarely succeeds). The mission congregation understands that conflict is the
price of progress, and is willing to pay the price. It understands that it
cannot take everyone with it. This causes some grief, but it does not keep it from doing what needs to be done.
8. The leadership style in the maintenance congregation is primarily
managerial, where leaders try to keep everything in order and running
smoothly. The leadership style in a mission congregation is primarily
transformational, casting a vision of what can be, and marching off the map
in order to bring the vision into reality.
9. The maintenance congregation is concerned with their congregation, its
organizations and structure, its constitutions and committees. The mission congregation is concerned with the culture, with understanding how secular
people think and what makes them tick. It tries to determine their needs and
their points of accessibility to the Gospel.
10. When thinking about growth, the maintenance congregations asks, "How many Lutherans live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?" The mission congregation asks, "How many unchurched people live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?"
11. The maintenance congregation looks at the community and asks, "How can we get these people to support our congregation?" The mission congregation asks, "How can the Church support these people?"
12. The maintenance congregation thinks about how to save their
congregation. The mission congregation thinks about how to reach the world.
TOUCH IN CHURCH
What is all this touching in church?
It used to be a person could come to church and sit in the pew
and not be bothered by all this friendliness
and certainly not by touching.
I used to come to church and leave untouched.
Now I have to be nervous about what's expected of me.
I have to worry about responding to the person sitting next to me.
Oh, I wish it could be the way it used to be;
I could just ask the person next to me: How are you?
And the person could answer: Oh, just fine,
And we'd both go home strangers
who have known each other for twenty years.
But now the minister asks us to look at each other.
I'm worried about that hurt look I saw in that woman's eyes.
Now I'm concerned,
because when the minister asks us to pass the peace,
The man next to me held my hand so tightly
I wondered if he had been touched in years.
Now I'm upset because the lady next to me cried
and then apologized
And said it was because I was so kind and that she needed
A friend right now.
Now I have to get involved.
Now I have to suffer when this community suffers.
Now I have to be more than a person coming to observe a service.
That man last week told me I'd never know how much
I'd touched his life.
All I did was smile and tell him I understood what it was
to be lonely.
Lord, I'm not big enough to touch and be touched!
The stretching scares me.
What if I disappoint somebody?
What if I'm too pushy?
What if I cling too much?
What if somebody ignores me?
"Pass the peace."
"The peace of God be with you."
"And with you."
And mean it.
Lord, I can't resist meaning it!
I'm touched by it, I'm enveloped by it!
I find I do care about that person next to me!
I find I am involved!
And I'm scared.
O Lord, be here beside me.
You touch me, Lord, so that I can touch and be touched!
So that I can care and be cared for!
So that I can share my life with all those others that belong to you!
All this touching in church Lord, it's changing me!
by Brian Stoffregen
|
Home
