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Celebrate mission this October Hundreds of Presbyterians passionate about mission will gather in Cincinnati October 22-24 for the World Mission Celebration '09. Meeting under the theme "Branches of the Same Vine," the conference will seek to connect Presbyterians with others who have similar mission interests, enable mission learning through presentations and mutual sharing among attendees, and send participants forth to embrace their calling to mission service and support, says Lis Valle, Presbyterian World Mission's associate for equipping the church for mission involvement. Online registration for the event is available. Like the John 15 passage on which its theme is based, the conference will center on a common life and mission in Christ, says planning team chair Don Dawson, director of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Seminary and the New Wilmington Mission Conference. "It's coming together around the One who gives us life and power and enables us to bear fruit. There is diversity, there are many branches, but those branches are powerless without Jesus." Each of five plenary sessions will focus on Presbyterian mission in a different region of the world. The topics include health and development in Africa; primary, secondary and higher education in Asia; evangelism and theological education in the Americas; partnership in evangelism in Europe; and advocacy and interfaith dialogue in the Middle East. In addition, about 35 workshops will be offered. The event's leadoff speaker will be Hunter Farrell, director of Presbyterian World Mission, who will speak on "Going Deeper: The Power of Presbyterian Mission in Jesus' Way." Other presenters will include mission personnel, global mission partners, World Mission staff, and mission initiators from congregations. Many of the mission workers who will be itinerating in the World Mission Challenge, in September and October will be participating in the Celebration, some leading workshops and/or plenary sessions. Mary Mikhail, president of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon, will preach during the closing worship service. Several mission groups will meet in Cincinnati in conjunction with the Celebration. They include about 20 mission networks, the Association of Presbyterian Mission Pastors, a newly formed Young Adult Volunteer alumni group, the continuation committee from the Dallas mission consultation, and a group of presbytery executives who want to work more closely with World Mission. The Celebration's registration fee, which includes six meals, is $225 prior to Sept. 15 (after Sept. 15 the fee will be $275).

A Place that Offers Lifeby Daniel P. Smith , Mary K. Sellon

"Finances are tight, and our numbers are dwindling. The congregation is looking to me to turnthings around. So is my denomination—that's exactly what I was told when I was appointedhere. And, frankly, that's my expectation too. Isn't that my job?" says a pastor of acongregation that has been experiencing decline for many years, voicing the belief of manycongregations, denominations, and pastors that when a congregation is declining, it is thepastor's job to fix it.

Here's the hard truth. If you're a layperson in a congregation that's experiencing decline,whether the congregation thrives is ultimately up to you and the other members. Your pastorcan teach, guide, lead, support, inspire, even cajole. But in the end, congregational health is afunction of how people in the congregation relate to one another, to God, and to theircommunity. A congregation is a microcosm of the greater church, a local embodiment of thebody of Christ. In John's Gospel, Jesus says, "I came that they may have life, and have itabundantly" (John 10:10). We believe this is one of the primary messages that a healthycongregation embodies for its members and its surrounding community.

A congregation that is truly being church brings people into a loving, life-giving relationship withGod and others that is transformational. This is the nature of the kin-dom of God, wherecovenant relationships model the best aspects of family. People find hope. They experiencebelonging; they extend and receive forgiveness. They discover a sense of purpose anddirection. They learn to live with appreciation and joy no matter what the circumstances.Although a pastor can preach and teach this message, the message has power only to theextent that the people in the congregation live it and practice it with one another. Practicingloving, life-giving relationships transforms congregation members. Witnessing such benefitsdraws others who want something similar for themselves and their families.

Businesses are based on the premise of offering something of value—goods or services—to acustomer in exchange for money. Successful businesses "give value for money." Gimmicksand fancy features may bring people through the door, but people won't buy unless they believethey'll receive something of worth. And they'll return and recommend the business to othersonly if they receive something of value. Congregations are not businesses, yet they can fall intoa similar trap of thinking that it's the features and the gimmicks that people want. Acongregation's greatest asset, the unique gift it offers, is the people who make up thecongregation and the possibilities for transformation they embody.

When we talk about congregational renewal, we mean a renewal of the people's ability to noticeand experience God in their midst, a renewal of the congregation's desire to partner with God inachieving God's aims for the world. The term renewal implies that the congregation knew howto do this at one time and that the work is a reclaiming of a lost skill. We find that's not alwaysthe case. Some congregations we've worked with have no memory of ever having been achurch that talked openly about God and matters of faith. The people have no memory of thecongregation's ever having had an evangelistic bent. However, we have yet to encounter acongregation that, when asked to recall moments when its church was really "being church,"couldn't name sacred moments when God seemed present and people found healing and hope.

The church-growth movement is often blamed for leading congregations down the path ofthinking that bigger is better and that increased numbers equal health and growth. Thatmovement did, however, help raise the question of how to measure congregational health. Ifthe measure is not dollars in the bank or people in the pews, what is it? We hear congregationsand pastors wrestling with questions that weren't on the table twenty years ago. "What's the

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fundamental purpose of church? What difference is a congregation supposed to make in thelives of its members and in its surrounding community? What does it mean to be a follower ofJesus? What does it mean to be spiritual? What difference do spiritual practices make?"

These challenging questions are the foundation of renewal, the building blocks of a new future.They are not, however, the point at which most congregations start. Fear of having to close thechurch or to reduce the services offered to members typically prompts a congregation's desirefor renewal: "We need to do something now, if we're going to still be open a decade from now."This desire to avoid death drives many renewal efforts, and it certainly provides energy. But ifthe congregation itself doesn't ultimately trade its fear of death for a longing for life, the effortswill end as soon as the danger has passed.

The aim of renewal is not a bigger building or high-tech worship or a slew of professionalprograms but a new way of looking at church, the work of a congregation, and what it has tooffer the world. Congregational renewal is a renewal of the people's understanding of theirrelationship with God, their relationship with their community, and their calling. In the mostfundamental sense, congregational renewal happens through "people renewal." What'srenewed in congregational renewal is the people's understanding of their relationship with God,their relationship with their community, and their sense of calling.

No pastor, no program, no resource can make renewal happen. On the other hand, almost anypastor, program, or resource can help renewal unfold when the people of a congregation deeplydesire a new and better life and are willing to do what it takes to get there. The hard part can bedeveloping that desire. As long as life together is satisfactory, there is little impetus for change.

Over and over we hear congregations wishing that the people in the community would becomeactive in their church. What drives that desire is revealed in their response to the question"Why?" Any time a significant number of people answer, "To keep our programs running andour doors open," we know that the congregation is in trouble. It has moved to the point at whichthe people beyond its doors are valued primarily for what they can bring to the church. Peoplein the community are seen as the congregation's salvation, rather than the other way around.

Attempting to lure the new population group, the congregational leaders add programs andmake changes they imagine will appeal to the people. Surprised and frustrated when theirchanges show little result, they redouble their efforts to find the right program. This work ismisdirected. The congregation is not declining because the community around it has changed,or even primarily because the church's form of ministry and worship feels foreign to those in theneighborhood. The real and deeper issue is that the congregation has lost connection with aChristian church's basic mission: helping people experience God and connect with the gospelmessage of life and hope.

Declining congregations have lost connection with the Christian church's basic mission ofhelping people experience God and live the gospel message of life and hope.

Without this sense of mission to keep the congregation focused beyond the doors of the church,the congregation turns inward and loses connection with its community. Before others will turnto a congregation as a life-giving resource in their lives, the congregation has to be a place thatoffers life. When traveling by plane, passengers are reminded that in the event of anemergency they should put on their own oxygen masks before helping others. Incongregational renewal, a congregation reminds itself of and intentionally engages in the basicpractices of Christianity. It realigns itself with the basic outward-focused mission of church.

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Adapted from Pathway to Renewal: Practical Steps for Congregations by Daniel P. Smith and Mary K. Sellon, copyright © 2008 bythe Alban Institute. All rights reserved.

FEATURED RESOURCES

Pathway to Renewal: Practical Steps for Congregations by Daniel P. Smith and Mary K. SellonPathway to Renewal offers pastors and congregational leaders a framework for understanding andaddressing the deep cultural shift facing the people of a congregation during congregational renewal.This book will help leaders make sense of where their congregation could get stuck and guide them inthinking through what needs to be addressed next as a congregation seeks renewal. The realigning of acongregation's heart and sense of purpose can be a long process, but one that ultimately allcongregations must experience in order to fully live out the world-transforming mission that God has giventhem to do.

Practicing Right Relationship: Skills for Deepening Purpose, Finding Fulfillment, and IncreasingEffectiveness in Your Congregation by Daniel P. Smith and Mary K. SellonIn a book that is both profound and practical, Mary Sellon and Daniel Smith make the case that the healthof churches and synagogues depends on congregations learning how to live out love in "rightrelationships." Practicing Right Relationship offers theories, stories, and tools that will help congregationsand their leaders learn how to build and maintain the loving relationships that provide the medium forGod's transforming work.

Redeveloping the Congregation: A How-to for Lasting Change by Daniel P. Smith, Mary K. Sellon, andGail F. GrossmanWhat makes it possible for a church to reverse course from decline or stagnation into long-lasting vitality?The three authors of this book address this and other questions by building on an eight-step frameworkfor lasting change developed by John P. Kotter, noted former professor of organizational behavior atHarvard Business School. His work on organizational change is heralded in the secular world asfoundational, and Smith, Sellon, and Grossman have found that his findings hold true for congregationsas well.

In Dying We Are Born: The Challenge and the Hope for Congregations by Peter BushDeeply ingrained in Western culture, and in the minds of most church leaders, is the belief that there is asolution to every problem. Peter Bush offers a powerful challenge to this approach, arguing that for newlife, energy, and passion to arise in congregations, they must die—die to one way of being the church inorder that a new way may rise. All congregations, even ones that see themselves as healthy, need to beprepared to die, to take up their cross, so God can make them alive.

Copyright © 2009, the Alban Institute. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share articles from the Alban Weekly with yourcongregation. We gladly allow permission to reprint articles from the Alban Weekly for one-time use by congregations and theirleaders when the material is offered free of charge. All we ask is that you write to us at weekly@alban.org and let us know how theAlban Weekly is making an impact in your congregation. If you would like to use any other Alban material, or if your intended use ofthe Alban Weekly does not fall within this scope, please submit our reprint permission request form.

Alban Weekly, 2009-07-13Number 259