The Columbia Partnership

Ministry in the Meantime

Interim as a Time of Transformation

A Travel Free Learning Article

By Gary Straub, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 502.320.4336, E-mail: GStraub@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Straub, Ministry in the Meantime, 8.23.11 Edition

Listen to the Travel Free Learning Dialogue with Gary Straub on this dialogue:

TFL Dialogue, Gary Straub on Ministry in the Meantime

If we define interim ministry narrowly as the time between two moving vans when one settled pastor leaves and the next one arrives, we may miss a prime opportunity for transforming congregations. Actually, aren’t we are all interims? Isn’t all ministry done in the meantime?

Having done a half dozen interims, here are two sets of observations. First, here’s a short list of some benefits, banalities and blessings of the interim season in a congregation’s life cycle. Second, is a brief look at some faulty assumptions about interim seasons that may need revisiting.

Moving Beyond Comfortable Leadership

The Price of Unsticking Stuck Churches

A Travel Free Learning Article

By Eddie Hammett. Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 828.458.8954, E-mail: EHammett@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Hammett, Moving Beyond Comfortable Leadership, 8.16.11 Edition

Listen to the Travel Free Learning Dialogue with Eddie talking about this article:

TFL Dialogue, Eddie Hammett on Moving Beyond Comfortable Leadership

Many organizations, people and churches are stuck these days. Stuck is living in created places with values and beliefs that make us feel secure. Stuck is about being primarily inward focused and narcissistic in concerns, use of resources, and attention. In churches stuck is probable after cycling programming and practices to preserve rather than impact. Being stuck also suggests a larger percentage of time and energy is focused on those already connected to the church rather than those beyond membership and walls. Stuck also emerges when leaders and churches are fearful of taking risks due to disappointing or agitating their base.

As I write this we are seeing this in the stalemate in our government. Neither political party wants to make a decision for fear of losing their base and possibly their jobs. Unfortunately or fortunately deadlines are around the corner. Seems they are willing to jeopardize the financial stability of our country just to preserve their identity and jobs. How scary and sad. Finally, many leaders and churches who are stuck often choose to be stuck. They choose to stay in their comfort zones, living in and with the familiar that creates a safe and secure spot to live.

Missional Banality

Is Being Missional Too Commonplace? 

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Bullard, Missional Banality, 8.9.11 Edition

Listen to the Travel Free Learning Recording of George Talking about This Article:

TFL Dialogue, George Bullard on Missional Banality

Ordinary. Bland. Flat. Mundane. Stale. Monotonous. Tame. Mediocre. Trite. Commonplace. Banal. These are not the set of words I would expect to be using to describe the word and concept of missional. Yet, they fit the characterization offered by Alan J. Roxburgh, a missional advocate, as quoted on page one of a recent book.

 

Here is the quote: “The word ‘missional’ seems to have traveled the remarkable path of going from obscurity to banality in only one decade.” [Quoted in The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation by Craig Van Gelder and Dwight J. Zscheile. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.]

The statement is provocative. Probably intentionally so. It certainly caused me to pause and reflect on it. Quickly I found that it fit my perspective on what has happened in the use and practice of the word and concept of missional.

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A Capital Idea

A Travel Free Learning Article

By Dick Hamm, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership 

Voice: 317.490.1968, E-mail: DHamm@TheColumiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Hamm, A Capital Idea, 8.2.11 Edition

Click on highlighted title below to listen to the Travel Free Dialogue with Dick about his article:

TCP Dialogue, Dick Hamm on A Capital Idea

Much of my coaching and consulting work is done with congregations who have been stuck or in decline, and are now trying to understand and move into God’s future for them. It is sobering to realize that many congregations die prematurely and by their own hand; by either making bad decisions or no decisions. Moving forward to greater health and effectiveness usually means: 1. Getting clear about the mission to which God is calling a particular congregation in its unique setting; 2. Developing a plan for how to get from here to there; and, 3. Living out the plan with faith and tenacity, while making mid-course corrections along the way.

 

In the 1950’s and 60’s, a time of social establishment in the U.S., the primary purpose of congregations was simply to become a stable, self-supporting institution. Once the church was established, the mission was simply to maintain itself as a viable congregation. The primary goal for most new congregations was to build out its physical plant as soon as possible so that it could fully serve the needs of the new members who would likely be coming from that church-friendly culture.