And Are We Yet Alive?

In the wake of decades-long membership declines, the Council of Bishops and Connectional Table created the 16-member Call to Action Steering Team, which includes clergy and laity, to reorder the life of the church for greater effectiveness in the church’s mission to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Their recommendations?

“We must reduce the perceived distance between the general Church (including the general agencies), the annual conferences, and local congregations,” the report said. “We must refashion and strengthen our approaches in leadership development, deployment, and supervision. . . . In short, we must change our mindset so that our primary focus and commitment are on fostering and sustaining congregational vitality.”

Specifically . . .

• Starting in January 2011, make congregational vitality the church’s “true first priority” for at least a decade.

• Dramatically reform clergy leadership development, deployment, evaluation and accountability. This would include dismissing ineffective clergy and sanctioning under-performing bishops.

• Collect statistical information in consistent and uniform ways for the denomination to measure attendance, growth and engagement. “We should passionately care about results,” the group said.

• Reform the Council of Bishops, with the active bishops assuming responsibility for promoting congregational vitality and for establishing a new culture of accountability throughout the church.

• Consolidate general church agencies and align their work and resources with the priorities of the church and the decade-long commitment to build vital congregations. Also, the agencies should be reconstituted with smaller, competency-based boards.

In other words, rather than be the Body of Christ, willing to sacrifice our lives for the sake of others, we have to spend the next ten years . . . I'm not even sure what any of this means beyond getting people in to the pews.

What bothers me most is the whole "congregational vitality" bit. We're supposed to turn our focus as a denomination on what, exactly? What is congregational vitality? I have seen moribund congregations in the hundreds, and vital congregations that are barely out of the teens.

In other words, this sounds far more like "growth at any cost" than anything. As for getting rid of some clergy and bishops, well, sure. Based on the undefined, smarmy nonsense in this report, however? Not so much.

For the better part of a generation, the United Methodist Church has sought ways to stem the tide of membership loss. I have reached the point where I wonder, why? There is nothing, at least in the linked report from the United Methodist News Service, about being the church. If being the church brings people in, great. If others leave, then we should always be sure to let them know on the way out their spot will be left open for them. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else we can do.

As for the whole business about aligning our general agencies around the priorities of the Church, I kind of thought we did that already. You know, the General Board of Missions sends missionaries out, here and abroad, to do work in the name of the Gospel. The General Board of Church and Society witnesses to the Gospel as it applies to our political and social life. The Board of Discipleship provides resources for fostering the spiritual life of congregations, fulfilling our denominational mission statement, "Making disciples of Jesus Christ or the transformation of the world."

Is the status quo in the church tenable? That assumes that a denomination spread across all fifty states, comprised of many ethnic groups who speak a variety of languages, has a status that can be grasped through statistical analysis. Yes, the denomination is mostly white. Guess what? The country is mostly white! Yes, the denomination is growing older. Guess what? The country is, too! Furthermore, one area we are deficient is this - we do not present any cogent reasons for young people to remain within our ranks. Most churches are aging, with young people leaving, and this is reflected in the United Methodist Church no less than any others.

Based upon the summary here, I cannot find anything of any real value in this report. Least of all do I sense any understanding of that "vital piety" that John Wesley considered essential. Indeed, focusing on "congregational vitality" seems like the exact opposite.