Part III: Integration of Leadership and Theology
Briefly describe a specific incident or event that might occur in the contextual situation you have envisioned in which you might be called upon to exercise ministry leadership.
For example: a council, committee or congregational meeting surfaces a specific issue related to the contextual situation you have described; an event occurs that brings, in a new way, some aspect of the contextual situation to the attention of the people among whom you serve; a question or decision prompts controversy related to the contextual situation.
The ministry context that I’m envisioning has a huge potential for conflict and division. I think it would work best in a congregation that realizes the old model of growth and evangelism is not working and is willing to reach out in a new way. Even with that, there will probably be some resistance, especially once the second service/community reaches a certain size. One place I could see major conflict come forward would be when one of these new members was elected to church council. The real challenge in a situation like that is suddenly the new program that the congregation started is actually fully a part of the congregation. New members can no longer be considered “long term visitors” by the old guard, but need to be treated the same as lifelong members.
Following your description, write an essay that describes how you would exercise leadership in that situation. What might you do in the case study you’ve described, and why? What challenges or opportunities do you perceive in the case you’ve described? What theological concerns do you perceive to be at stake?
The root of conflict around something like this is really grief. Specifically, it is grief at losing the possibility of restoring the congregation to “the way things used to be”. Many people have oriented their vision of the church toward an idealized past, and have a difficult time accepting a different vision. Even when that new vision is full of hope and new life for the congregation, it can be very difficult to accept something that looks different.
The first thing that needs to be done in a situation like this is to admit the reality of the division, name the potential for conflict. When I have shared my vision with other pastors their response is often “wouldn’t that create two congregations?”. The answer is “yes”. But I believe this already is true every time a congregation experiences rapid growth. I would be open about this from the beginning, and work constantly toward integrating the two groups into one community. This would primarily be through forming social groups connected to the church, a knitting club, quilters, etc. Another idea would be to ask each older member to “adopt” one of the new younger members and invite them over for a home cooked meal. It is much more difficult to have an “us and them” mentality when you have personal connections with the other group.
Even with all of that, I expect there will be some conflict. Hopefully, the individuals involved would come to me privately. I find that it is much easier to have a frank and open conversation one on one rather than in front of a large group. I think every complaint and every complainer should be taken seriously. Their complaints may seem frivolous but the root of the complaint is never frivolous. In my experience, many older people are simply written off and ignored, which can lead to a very negative and pessimistic attitude. At very least that feeling of being disrespected and the overly negative attitude should be taken seriously. I also think that many legitimate complaints may arise. If there was a conflict between two individuals, I would try to talk about it to each of them privately, and talk with them together if necessary.
Another possible point of division would be the lifelong Lutherans being concerned that the new members were somehow not “really” Lutheran because they don’t follow the traditional worship style, etc. I think this would be a great opportunity to talk about the heart of our faith, and what it means to be Lutheran. To me, the chief point of Lutheran doctrine is about the righteousness of faith and God’s grace. “The righteousness of faith is the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and our adoption as God’s children only on account of the obedience of Christ, which through faith alone, out of pure grace, is imputed for righteousness to all true believers, and on account of it they are absolved from all their unrighteousness.” In terms of disagreements over practice and doctrine, I agree with Martin Luther “If this only article [concerning justification by faith] remains pure on the battlefield, the Christian Church also remains pure” (FCSD 3.6)
