Ministry on the Plains
19/05/12 03:49
My teaching this weekend is designed for students who are working toward authorization as lay ministers in Nebraska. They have experienced a sense of call to the ministry and enrolled in a course of study designed to equip them for the ministry to which they have been called. My role is teaching a single class. They have many other classes in their curriculum that help them prepare for ministry.
There is nothing new bout lay ministers. They have been a part of the story of the church since the beginning. In a sense Jesus’ first disciples were all lay people. They had no institutional church to provide them with a salary or means of support. They came from a variety of secular jobs such as fishing and tax collecting. They became leaders in the church not because of academic preparation, but because of the call of Jesus and their life experiences. They were equipped not by taking classes, but by listening to Jesus.
Today’s lay ministers in the Upper Plains face a unique set of circumstances. The increasing urbanization of our society has left a visible sign on the plains. Towns are shrinking. This has been a long, slow process. Towns on the plains have been shrinking for 70 years. Some counties have been in population decline for more than a century. Along with the decrease in the size of town, the churches are also getting smaller. And smaller churches are less able to afford full-time ministers. Different solutions need to be found for the church’s need of leaders. Lay ministry programs are in full operation in all of the states that surround our home and in our state as well. I have taught in four different states, and continue to resource lay ministers as an educational consultant.
In the midst of the shrinking congregations of the plains, we are not immune to the sociological trends of the wider society. Less than half of Americans (42%) attend church regularly. Nebraska has slightly higher church attendance than the national average, with 53% claiming regular church attendance. Only 45% of South Dakotans claim regular church attendance. And the change in church attendance is most dramatic in the upper Midwest. In fact, South Dakota is leading the nation in the decline in church attendance at the rate of 3% per year.
The picture is not one of growing churches and increasing full-time jobs for ministers.
That does not, mean, however, that faithful congregations in small towns have to resign themselves to less than competent ministry. We have the resources to fully equip congregations for their mission and ministry. There are enough worship leaders to serve our congregation. God has continued to be faithful in providing the leadership that the church requires. What is required of us, however, is openness to new answers to our questions and new leaders for our congregations.
So many things in life are evaluated by counting. There is a myth of perpetual growth in our society. We often think that things have to get bigger in order to be better. Life in a community that isn’t growing and that isn’t going to grow anytime in the near future invites a new way of thinking. Christianity even offers opportunities to return to older ways of thinking.
Christianity did not start out as a mass movement. Jesus started with twelve disciples and they got to know one another very well. The early church was a persecuted minority who lived their faith in the midst of a world that offered many different religions, ways of thinking, styles of living and challenges to those who sought to follow Jesus. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus promises that “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” The practice of Christianity doesn’t require large numbers of people.
In fact, many of the trappings that we often associate with our faith can fall away to reveal the essence of that lies at the core of our beliefs. As a pastor, who has devoted his life to the Christian ministry, I sometimes get caught up in the model of churches being led by those who are theologically educated, who possess degrees, and who are ordained by the church. This is definitely a model of ministry, but it isn’t the only model. And, frankly, there have been drawbacks to this model. Ministers have fallen into secular ways of thinking about their careers. They can find themselves thinking about the next place, and make a less than complete commitment to a congregation. Pastors come and pastors go.
The lay ministry model understands that every Christian has a vocation. We are all called to ministry and the work of the church is not just the work of a professional who is paid to serve, but rather the work of all of the members of the church who are called to service in various places of their lives. When each member of a community discovers her or his ministry the community is supported in a wide variety of ways and faith is lived in a wide variety of settings. We can learn to be a faithful church without big budgets, fancy buildings and staff.
For more than a century churches on the plains have operated with imported leadership and a hierarchy of Associations and Conferences. We have assumed that the church requires different levels of administration in order to do its work. Our image of a small church pastor is one who serves more than one congregation at the same time, who comes for a short period of time and moves on. The emphasis on these ministers has been expensive in terms of money and time and it has sometimes diverted our attention from the real ministry that goes on in the day-to-day lives of the people who put down roots and remain in the community. They rarely earn their livings as professional clergy. They are the farmers and merchants and teachers who make their homes and find their lives in the midst of the towns.
It is a privilege to work with these lay ministers as they grow in their faith, explore their vocations and prepare for more ministries on the plains. They come together for times of learning and then go back to their homes to serve their neighbors and be stewards of their churches.
We will continue to see small churches that are forced to close their doors. The institution will be reshaped as time goes by. But faith is far from gone from the prairies. It is alive and well and exciting. I know. God continues to bless my life with times to meet those who serve in places where there are small numbers but great faith.
Today’s lay ministers in the Upper Plains face a unique set of circumstances. The increasing urbanization of our society has left a visible sign on the plains. Towns are shrinking. This has been a long, slow process. Towns on the plains have been shrinking for 70 years. Some counties have been in population decline for more than a century. Along with the decrease in the size of town, the churches are also getting smaller. And smaller churches are less able to afford full-time ministers. Different solutions need to be found for the church’s need of leaders. Lay ministry programs are in full operation in all of the states that surround our home and in our state as well. I have taught in four different states, and continue to resource lay ministers as an educational consultant.
In the midst of the shrinking congregations of the plains, we are not immune to the sociological trends of the wider society. Less than half of Americans (42%) attend church regularly. Nebraska has slightly higher church attendance than the national average, with 53% claiming regular church attendance. Only 45% of South Dakotans claim regular church attendance. And the change in church attendance is most dramatic in the upper Midwest. In fact, South Dakota is leading the nation in the decline in church attendance at the rate of 3% per year.
The picture is not one of growing churches and increasing full-time jobs for ministers.
That does not, mean, however, that faithful congregations in small towns have to resign themselves to less than competent ministry. We have the resources to fully equip congregations for their mission and ministry. There are enough worship leaders to serve our congregation. God has continued to be faithful in providing the leadership that the church requires. What is required of us, however, is openness to new answers to our questions and new leaders for our congregations.
So many things in life are evaluated by counting. There is a myth of perpetual growth in our society. We often think that things have to get bigger in order to be better. Life in a community that isn’t growing and that isn’t going to grow anytime in the near future invites a new way of thinking. Christianity even offers opportunities to return to older ways of thinking.
In fact, many of the trappings that we often associate with our faith can fall away to reveal the essence of that lies at the core of our beliefs. As a pastor, who has devoted his life to the Christian ministry, I sometimes get caught up in the model of churches being led by those who are theologically educated, who possess degrees, and who are ordained by the church. This is definitely a model of ministry, but it isn’t the only model. And, frankly, there have been drawbacks to this model. Ministers have fallen into secular ways of thinking about their careers. They can find themselves thinking about the next place, and make a less than complete commitment to a congregation. Pastors come and pastors go.
The lay ministry model understands that every Christian has a vocation. We are all called to ministry and the work of the church is not just the work of a professional who is paid to serve, but rather the work of all of the members of the church who are called to service in various places of their lives. When each member of a community discovers her or his ministry the community is supported in a wide variety of ways and faith is lived in a wide variety of settings. We can learn to be a faithful church without big budgets, fancy buildings and staff.
For more than a century churches on the plains have operated with imported leadership and a hierarchy of Associations and Conferences. We have assumed that the church requires different levels of administration in order to do its work. Our image of a small church pastor is one who serves more than one congregation at the same time, who comes for a short period of time and moves on. The emphasis on these ministers has been expensive in terms of money and time and it has sometimes diverted our attention from the real ministry that goes on in the day-to-day lives of the people who put down roots and remain in the community. They rarely earn their livings as professional clergy. They are the farmers and merchants and teachers who make their homes and find their lives in the midst of the towns.
We will continue to see small churches that are forced to close their doors. The institution will be reshaped as time goes by. But faith is far from gone from the prairies. It is alive and well and exciting. I know. God continues to bless my life with times to meet those who serve in places where there are small numbers but great faith.