Congregations have at least one ministry: worship. At the very least, a congregation worships together on a regular basis, be it once a week, twice a month, etc. Hopefully, congregations are doing more than just worshiping together; I hope they are practicing works of piety and mercy corporately. It could be a Sunday School (a term I despise, by the way - it's very antiquated; I prefer the term Christian formation, because that's what that time actually does), Bible studies, weekday children's ministries, youth mission trips, or Vacation Bible Schools. It could be soup suppers to raise money for mission, fellowship dinners, outings to the ballpark, or other activities.
The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. I believe that if a church wants to call itself a church, it has to fulfill that mission. Hopefully, worship fulfills the mission. From time to time, though, we need to prune our other ministries (and I use that term loosely) so that we refocus ourselves on the mission. I believe that church ministries can be divided into three categories: ones that actively make disciples, ones that secondarily make disciples, and ones that pay bills. The rub, for many people, is that the ministries that they hold near and dear ("sacred cows") are often ministries that exist to pay bills. The pancake breakfast that supports the trustees budget, the annual sale of nuts that sends money to third-world countries, or the rummage sale that pays for apportionments are all "ministries," but they exist primarily to pay bills.
Churches must ask themselves if they can transform these ministries so that they either primarily or secondarily make disciples. I'm of the opinion that, if a ministry can't be transformed, it needs to be pruned. Congregations expend too much time and energy on ministries that "pay the bills," instead of focusing on active works of piety and mercy.
My congregation annually assesses their ministry in this way, and we have done some major pruning in the past two years. Now, as I begin my third year with them, we are looking again at pruning another ministry - in fact, one that we transformed from "paying the bills" to "secondarily makes disciples" last year. Our annual pumpkin patch (which has occurred for the last five years) uses the funds raised to support camp scholarships, as well as youth ministry. We raise a decent amount of money, and the church gets some press and visibility in the community. Last year, we focused our preschool portion of the pumpkin patch to be faith-based (crafts and stories), and we intentionally handed out information about the church, sent written prayers home with each pumpkin sold, and extended radical hospitality to customers.
Sounds like it secondarily makes disciples, right? Well, it does, in a way, but mostly it helps those who are a part of the church grow in their faith as they serve. In five years, not one person has come to the church because of the pumpkin patch ministry; no one soul has been saved. This ministry does not actively make disciples. At the same time, it requires an enormous amount of concentrated energy and time from the congregation. In the end, we use so much energy and time, but we have not fulfilled the mission of the church. Is it time to prune?
When you look at the ministries of your church, which ones actively make disciples of Jesus Christ, both inside and outside the church? Which ones could do that if they were tweaked or re-focused? The greater question, though, is this: what ministries take the most time and energy of your congregation, but don't fulfill the church's mission.
Maintain focus; that's what the early church did. They did ministries that actively made disciples - worship, small groups, taking care of needs of people, study, and prayer. When churches get back to the basics and remove all of the extra "stuff" that distracts them, they grow. I am reminded of the rose bushes in front of the parsonage. This year, we planted new ones. Twice, they have been cut back, and they are now in the middle of their third round of blossoming. We don't produce fruit unless we prune; the time to prune is now!
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4 comments:
Excellent thoughts - there are a lot of churches that could prune some programs.
How do you know that not one soul was saved as a result of your pumpkin patch? They may not have come to you or to your church, but that's between them and God. . .not you and that person. . .be careful about making that assumption. If it's a ministry that helps people in your church further their relationships with each other and with Christ. . .that's a good thing too because that will lead to a stronger church who will go and make disciples. Also in the process of making disciples, I think the church has to be careful not to neglect the people who already are followers- a lot of people end up leaving the church because of this- that was me at one point in my life-sometimes we work so hard to make disciples that we forget about nurturing the disciples that are already there- and they lose their fire and leave the church. Pruning programs is good, but consider every aspect- sometimes there is more than what the eye sees- God works in mysterious ways- sometimes it's about what He wants and we don't understand it right away- trust isn't always about what our head says is right.
Jesus did remind us often that faith is both private and corporate. So the church has responsibility to help both those who are followers and those who are not to grow more deeply in Christ. Part of that responsibility is accountability to grow together. Jesus expected us to go and bear fruit - and I would personally like to invest more time in feeding the hungry (seeing tangible fruit) than to sell pumpkins (that may or may not bear any fruit).
Perhaps I should be clear about my assumptions about a disciple. I believe a disciple is a lifelong learner - a lifelong follower of Jesus. Therefore, when I talk of ministries that actively make disciples - worship, small groups, Bible study, caring for others, prayer, etc. - my assumption is that all of those activities both make and form disciples.
We prune ministries that do not help new or already engaged disciples grow and produce fruit. In the past five years that the pumpkin patch has been in existence, I have not heard one person say that they grew closer to others in the church or to God because of that "ministry." There has been no tangible fruit. While I understand that it takes time for fruit to germinate and grow (hence the reason why churches continue doing ministries for several years with ongoing evaluation), if at a certain point the ministry drains people of their time and does not engage their talents, and does not help them grow in their faith, why keep doing it? Why not put those resources to better use in an existing ministry or a new ministry that actively engages new and existing disciples in their faith?
My other assumption is that the process of pruning is surrounded by prayer. I, and the leadership of my congregation, don't take pruning lightly. We pray and seek God's guidance and direction for the church and its ministries constantly. We prune only when we feel God has called us to do so - just as we begin new ministries - because it is part of God's unfolding vision for us.
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