Congregational Ministry: Moving from Maintenance to Mission – Jennifer Thomas

Each congregation is a mission post. Each doorstep and the surrounding area is the mission field. Mission fields are no longer around the world. The people we are called to reach are our neighbors, our co-workers, our children, our family, and our friends. “Love God and your neighbor as yourself,” is not an abstract idea. Love your neighbor is your Christian calling. You know her name.

I have been a pastor over the last fifteen years; my ministry has been to lead and accompany two congregations to reach their neighbors with the good news of Jesus Christ. I was prepared for the twenty-first century ministry well by my seminary education. I took the core courses in preaching, teaching, pastoral care, worship leadership, theology and church history. I also immersed myself in urban ministry, missional leadership, evangelism and other newly emerging courses at the time.

In both course work and field work, I recognized that for the congregation to be effective at reaching new people, they would have to embrace new ways of being community. Change would have to be embraced. While the congregants valued the ministry and the legacy of the past, many recognized that they would experience loss of their own. New people might not cherish the organ music or the psalmody the way they did. They might not cherish the guitar music or the screens the way they do. But both could learn to appreciate the gifts of the other and blend the styles to become a new community.

Another reality of the difficulty in a maintenance-to-mission transition in a congregation is turning dialogue and ideas into action.  Church people are human beings, and they love a lot of ideas, but when ideas are put into actions, and change is created, some have knee-jerk reactions. In one congregation I served, we said publically we welcome all people including people of all sexual orientations. Key leaders were the strongest advocates of that position, but then those same key leaders took issue with the baptism of a baby girl, because her parents were two women. The key leaders left the congregation and the moms and their burgeoning family stayed and became even more involved. While they welcomed all people, some weren’t willing to affirm the lifestyle; but the congregation was ready.

In another congregation, I hosted a forum regarding access to affordable health care for all people with partners in the congregation and the community. Over 200 people from across the metro area attended, including members of the congregation. I’d presented background material on the denomination’s social statement on health care, demonstrating that our social teachings were reflected in the advocacy we engaged. Yet, for a vocal minority the congregation, we were meddling where we didn’t belong. They firmly held to the separation of church and government. Yet, others were thrilled that their church was finally acting on issues that affected their lives.

Regrettably, seminary didn’t prepare me for the backlash I would receive as a missional leader in a congregation. Some folks prefer a maintenance model of ministry, where the pastor is called primarily to care for the flock, to maintain the traditions, and preach in ways that comfort and inspire people. I was prepared to send people out after gathering them around the Word and the Meal. I expected that people who were marked with the cross of Christ in their baptism would be excited to participate in God’s mission in the world. I expected that many would be as excited for the future of the church and its role as a change agent in the world as I am – and many were and are.  But in some corners of the church, I have encountered people who are afraid of the changing culture, the changing church, and the marginalization of Christianity, rather than feeling God’s power transforming the church and calling us out from the tomb.

I’m going to continue to live out my own missional calling that I received in my baptism, as I pray that others will be caught up in the love and mercy of God. I do not know what God’s promised future holds for me, but I know that God has promised abundant life through Jesus Christ. I want to be a disciple of Jesus. I am going to continue to pray, worship, read scriptures, serve, give, invite and encourage others in their faith. I know and I believe that God is up to something, and I want to participate.

The Rev. Jennifer J. Thomas is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a mom, and a spouse. She enjoys missional church leadership, full inclusivity for all people, and social justice advocacy as a person of faith. Previous Call(s): Immanuel Lutheran Church, Kansas City, MO, 2007-2014  and Lake Park Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI, 1998-2007. Jennifer has served as a member of the Greater Milwaukee Synod Council and Executive Committee (2000-2004); ELCA Church Council (2003-2007), Finance Committee of the Council, and Blue Ribbon Committee on Mission Funding (2006). She has served as Dean of Area Ministry 7 in Central States Synod since 2010. She has also been part of the Kansas City Mission table, a committee committed to furthering new starts, ethnic specific ministries, and redevelopments. Jennifer’s service in the community is composed of involvement in congregation based organizing in Milwaukee and in Kansas City. In Milwaukee, Jennifer was Chair of the Clergy Caucus of MICAH, a Gamaliel Foundation affiliate. In Kansas City, Jennifer has served as chair of the clergy round table for CCO (Communities Creating Opportunity) a PICO affiliate. She currently is the Vice President of Missouri Faith Voices, a state-wide organization. In her capacity as a community leader, she also helped launch the Kansas Interfaith Round Table in Topeka, KS. As a leader in local efforts, she has also had the opportunity to speak in national venues about ending the usury of pay day loans.