Why I serve on the Great Commission Committee

By Rick Wright

 Serving on a church committee: several different reactions come to my mind. The first, to be honest, can be serving out of a sense of duty because the actual committee meeting is not exactly exciting. Another reaction is that the people on the committee can be really nice and enjoyable, so in spite of the content the time can be enjoyable. Worst case scenario is a committee that has a lot of politics and conflict, which is awful. However, sometimes the committee has both wonderful people and meaningful, exciting content, which is the best of both worlds. 

That is why I continue to serve on the Great Commission Committee (GCC). I have more than enough responsibilities in my role as an associate pastor at a large church, so I am not in need of another committee/board to serve on. I serve on the GCC because, as far as a committee goes, it is the best of both worlds. The people on the GCC all love Jesus Christ, are thoroughly committed to serving Him and the Church, love the lost and want the Gospel to be heard by them, and are just really interesting people. I have known some of them for years, and am getting to know the newer members.  So the time of fellowship and conversations are great. 

But the content, our mission and ministry, is all wrapped in why I am a Christian and a pastor. We are all about Jesus, His Kingdom, spreading the good news of the Gospel, and caring for those in our churches. At our GCC monthly meetings we spend our time talking, praying and working to planting churches and support our existing congregations. We do this with an eye on individual people; church planters, people who do not know Christ in cities and towns in our Diocese, and our brothers and sisters in fellow diocesan congregations. So we are not ‘institutional’ in our thinking and praying, but Jesus and people centered. Which makes it very personal and rewarding.

My interest and involvement in church planting started about eleven years ago. When we left The Episcopal Church we were able to start engaging in church planting at The Falls Church Anglican. Not that it was a deliberate, well thought out plan. Our first church plant of this new era was David Glade, who after serving as a ‘Rector in Training’ for three years said he felt called to plant a church in Alexandria. We hadn’t expected or planned that, the Lord spoke to David about it, and off he, and we went. 

Over the next ten years, The Falls Church was able to train, equip and deploy a number of wonderful young men who have planted churches within our Diocese. The fruit of their ministries has been remarkable and wonderful to see. It has also been life giving to the parish. We have had many members leave the ‘mother church’ to plant these new churches, and they have been excited and happy to be part of the Lord’s new work in their community.  I, and the parish, have seen the Kingdom of God growing in very tangible ways, which is very rewarding.

In addition to working with such amazing people and the reward of participating in meaningful ministry, being engaged in church planting and the serving on the GCC is also very interesting intellectually. There is the theological side of these discussions and work, which I have always enjoyed. Then the people side also has the capacity of infinite complexity and change. Church planting is all about the church planter, which involves recruiting, selection, training, and deployment; those components all must be facilitated with discernment, wisdom and skill. For the practically minded parking, finances, and ‘getting the word out’ all come to the fore. So it is a fascinating blend of theology, pastoral care and emotional intelligence, teaching and coaching, demographics, etc. If you ever get the opportunity to serve on the GCC I would encourage to seriously pray about it!

The Rev. Rick Wright is Director of Congregational Care at The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, VA.

50 new churches—really?

By Tom Herrick

What began as an outrageous idea at the Great Commission Committee’s planning retreat last year has grown into a full-fledged plan to plant 50 new churches in the next 10 years. God challenged us that day to dream big dreams (see my February 2017 Messenger article “Dream Big Dreams”), and the result is the Vision for 50 campaign. It’s so much more than our big, hairy, audacious, goal. It’s a promise from God, and, if we will believe him to act and step out in faith to partner with him, he will send us the church planters and the necessary resources to see these 50 new churches come into being.

But, really—50 new churches? Why not a reasonable 5 or an overachieving 10? Why 50?

The biggest reason is our belief that God is asking this of us. It’s hard to argue with somebody when he says that sort of thing, but, truly, that is the primary reason. Granted, it’s a goal we could never pull off in our own strength. So, that’s a good beginning point. But, our sense is that there are a number of really good reasons for giving us this number. For starters, we believe that planting new churches is a biblical mandate. Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, claims, “Jesus’ essential call was to plant churches. Virtually all the great evangelistic challenges of the New Testament are basically calls to plant churches, not simply to share the faith.” He bases this statement on the fact that when Jesus gave the Great Commission in Mt 28:18-20, his directive was not simply to perform the sacrament of baptism. Rather, baptism meant incorporating believers into a worshipping community where their newfound faith could be strengthened and grow to maturity, as we see in Acts 2:41-47. Keller goes on to explain that “decisions for Christ” often fizzle and disappear like New Year’s resolutions if they are not nurtured into transformed lives within the Body of Christ, the local church. For that reason, St. Paul was determined to plant churches in every city (Titus 1:5) and left Titus, Timothy, and his other disciples detailed instructions for selecting and commissioning the leaders who would plant these new churches. His vision, and that of others like St. Patrick, St. Columba, and John Wesley to name a few, led to large-scale church planting movements. These movements changed the course of entire nations as the churches they planted transformed the lives of their members into testimonies for Christ.

Another compelling reason for 50 is the sheer need for new churches. Researchers estimate that an average of 3700 churches close every year in this country. For years following World War II, the number of new churches being planted annually was less than the number closing, but in recent years, plants have exceeded closings and we are now averaging 4000 per year. While this net growth of 300 churches is cause for rejoicing, we must put this in the context of the dramatic growth of our population. In order to keep pace and maintain the current ratio of one church for every 1000 people, we need to net 1900 new churches each year (recent study by the SEND Institute). In other words, we need to think bigger. 

As we have prayed into the Vision for 50 the past 18 months, God has steadily helped us to focus on the systems we need in place to attain our goal. This includes developing partnerships with those congregations who will become “church planting churches.” We now have 7 congregations who are committed to being “Incubators” that will regularly plant new churches. As part of this strategy, we are also placing an increased emphasis on reaching colleges and universities. This requires that we develop our leadership pipeline, such that we can offer sufficient support and encouragement to emerging young leaders as they grow in their faith. Funding for internships and residencies is also a part of this effort to see more young people become leaders on the missional journey. 

Another reason for the large goal is the hope that we can create a culture of multiplication within our diocese where church planting becomes the norm for us. That is exactly what is already happening, and it’s taking a number of different forms. Several congregations are planting second campuses, such as Holy Spirit, Leesburg (at Ashby Ponds) Church of the Apostles (at George Mason University) and Restoration (in South Arlington). We’re also seeing a number of “Fresh Expressions,” such as the work being done by The Rev. Matt Hemsley in the Mosaic District with Truro, the Rev. Jessica Fulton Lee in Virginia Beach and Maura Hampton in Newport News. And it can also be a typical church plant such as Church of the Ascension (with Holy Spirit, Leesburg), which launched on Palm Sunday in Kearneysville, WV. However it happens, it is a work for all of us to be a part of and to celebrate together. So, yes, God really is asking us to plant 50 new churches. And these “first fruits” of that harvest are just the beginning. 

The Rev. Canon Tom Herrick is Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

A New Anglican Church in Arlington, VA

By Nathan Dickerson

In the Fall of 2014, as our congregation, Restoration Anglican Church, moved into our new facility that is located just north of the Ballston Metro stop in Arlington, we began to dream about what it would look like to help plant other new Anglican churches inside the Beltway. That desire led to lots of conversations, strategy sessions, times of prayer, and listening to the insights of our members. Out of this emerged a vision to plant a new work in South Arlington. 

A few key leaders stepped forward to help direct this effort – Rev. Liz Gray (associate rector at Restoration), the Rev. Morgan Reed (a newly ordained priest in our diocese), and Amy Rowe (a key lay leader and a postulant in our diocese). They are now in the process of gathering a launch team to help plant this new work, which will be called Incarnation Anglican Church.

This is an interview I had with this team to let you know more about this emerging work.
Tell us how you were drawn to plant this new congregation in South Arlington:

Amy: My husband and I have felt a call to cross-cultural ministry since we were in college. We always anticipated that this would mean a move overseas at some point. But instead, when we moved to South Arlington, we discovered that God had brought people from all over the world to our doorstep. We love living in such a vibrant, cross-cultural neighborhood, where we are more likely to hear Arabic than English on the playground, and the gas station on the corner sells freshly made injera. Almost since the day we moved into our house here, we have been asking God to send us people who would join us in befriending and praying for our neighbors. So, when Restoration announced its church planting efforts here, it felt like a clear answer to our prayers. 

Morgan: My wife, Ashley, and I moved to south Arlington back in 2012 because we wanted to live in Virginia and needed an “inexpensive” place to live while I did graduate work at the Catholic University of America. After beginning the ordination process, Bishop John reminded me of the importance of a priest getting to know his or her neighbors. We took that exhortation seriously and began getting to know our neighbors’ names and being a part of their lives. Because this had become a normal rhythm of life for Ashley and I, when we heard that Restoration wanted to plant in our zip code, God seemed to make it clear that this is exactly what he equipped me for. My academic studies and upbringing have made me a bridge between several different Christian communities and I long to see a church that bridges not only ethnic communities, but partners with local churches to see the Holy Spirit transform neighborhoods.

Liz: In my outreach role at Restoration I have had the huge privilege of working cross culturally in many different countries over many years, and with church planters in many global contexts. When Restoration began exploring church planting in South Arlington I was immediately intrigued by the fact that all the nations of the world were gathered on our doorstep! Did you know 150+ languages are spoken along Columbia Pike? So, I have jumped in - My husband and I have sold our North Arlington home, and we are now moved into a local community in South Arlington. We are curious as to whether our new neighbors already know Jesus, and praying that if they don’t we can be a part of their journey to know him.

What excites you about serving in this particular community? What is unique about this place?

Amy: I love the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of this neighborhood. A few weeks ago, my kids and I were playing in a neighborhood park which has a stream that runs under a bike path. A big family of immigrants was splashing in the stream; the kids were playing while the mother beat wet clothes against a rock, presumably doing her washing. Meanwhile, cyclists in expensive gear whizzed past overhead. What would it look like for these people to worship Jesus together? In planting a church in this context, I see an opportunity to grow a community that reflects God’s ministry of reconciliation and the rich diversity of heaven.

Morgan: There is a beautiful diversity in these neighborhoods that is complemented by a desire to create healthy neighborhoods. In some of our prayer walks throughout South Arlington, we discovered that some families have lived in their home for generations (a rarity for the DC-Metro area). Several times a year, one of the civic associations organizes food-truck gatherings with a host of cuisines and live music. These neighborhoods care about healthy relationships and quality of life. When I grill in the public park, it seems like every table around me is speaking a different language and this kind of diversity excites me for what God might do when we build relational bridges.

Liz: Somehow it actually reminds me of home - well all my homes, both South Africa and London. I love the mix of races, languages, cultures...

How have you seen God at work as you have begun to lay the groundwork for this new church?

Amy: This preliminary work is slow and sometimes discouraging, as the task ahead of us is far too big for us to accomplish in our own strength. But God has provided steady reassurance from his Word, his Spirit, and the well-timed encouragement of others all along the way. And there have been some very specific, incredible answers to prayer that re-energize me. I’ll share one story: One evening, I was feeling discouraged because one family who had shown initial enthusiasm was no longer interested in joining the church plant. I cynically texted our team, wondering whether anyone would come to this church at all, when an Ethiopian woman knocked on my front door and started up a conversation in halting English. Thirty minutes later, she shared that she was looking for a church home in South Arlington! It seemed that God was gently reminding me that of course people would come to this church; just not necessarily the people I had envisioned. 

Liz: I have another story to add: Amy and I were looking at potential worship space properties with a realtor. In one particular property, the rental space was downstairs while the owners lived upstairs. Before we even fully understood what was happening, the realtor had brought us upstairs to meet the owners. We found ourselves sitting around the kitchen table with the property owner, an older Iranian woman who fed us cookies and teared up as she talked about her husband’s illness (he was asleep in the bedroom) and her distant grandchildren. We offered to pray with her, and she told us a story of a dramatic encounter with Jesus in a vision earlier in life, and professed that she had loved Jesus since that day. We prayed with her in the name of Jesus and prayed a blessing over her home. It was not at all what we expected from that realtor appointment, but exactly what God had in mind for us in that space at that time. It reminded us that God has already gone ahead of us to work in the hearts of people in this neighborhood.

Morgan: One day during the summer we worked with several local churches to give away back-to-school supplies to the surrounding neighborhoods. God provided us someone in the launch team who is nearly a professional balloon modeler (i.e. he’s great at making balloon animals). Families were lining up on both sides of the sidewalk so that kids could come and get their balloon puppies or balloon swords. He taught me how to make a sword as well, and so standing there in my collar behind the table, I made sword after sword. This was a very incarnational moment as I reflected on who we are as Anglicans (having a formal grounded-ness) and who we are as Incarnation (approachable, thoughtful, caring). After we finished with all our balloons, we had a chance to pass out cards to people and offer prayer. The response that people of various ethnic communities had was that they were excited we were there to love and serve them, and one gentleman that I spoke with found comfort in knowing that I only lived two blocks from him. Moving forward, God keeps reminding me that I might be the priest wearing an alb in the sanctuary and having a balloon hat on my head during the coffee hour...and I love that!

What challenges or potential obstacles are you facing right now?

Amy: Worship space is a big one. Although our particular corner of Arlington is comprised of many working-class families, the cost of living is still high, and rental space is at a premium. Balancing our competing needs for strategic location and financial feasibility is challenging. Another challenge has been what feels like heightened spiritual attack. Some of this has been in the form of health issues in ourselves and our families. Physical and spiritual weariness is intense at times. And finally, being bi-vocational is stretching and challenging for all of us. Liz works full-time at Restoration; Morgan and I both work part-time; all three of us are students; and we all have families who need and deserve our attention. We want to plant a community that is restful and balanced, but to do so, we must embody healthy rhythms of work and rest in our own lives.  

Liz: I would agree with Amy—finding boundaries of time and space for rest! Also, knowing exactly where to worship as we begin.

How can others in the diocese pray for you or support you?

Amy: It sounds like a cliché, but prayer is really what we need most. We face spiritual opposition as well as limited time and resources. We need God to go ahead of us and clear the path. And of course, we need financial support (particularly as we anticipate a working- class congregation). And if anyone has a spare communion table and liturgical supplies lying around, we’ll gratefully take those too. :)

Morgan: Prayers for guidance. We want to allow enough time for the Holy Spirit to form us according to the very specific needs of South Arlington. Personally, I would love prayers for productivity in my dissertation. Sometimes I am embattled by the discouragement of trying to fuse my generalist/pastoral calling with my specialist/academic calling. I invite prayers against that discouragement and invite creative input on how others have done this in their setting.

Liz: Prayers - yes! Please! If anyone would like to get more specific prayer requests please email me, liz@incarnationanglican.org  And pray for us for clarity, wisdom, godly intuition and much joy in the process of finding where God is working and leaping in to join Him!

How to stay connected with Incarnation:

We are diligently working on the website (incarnationanglican.org), but until it is finished, you can keep up-to-date with what is happening on our Facebook page or send Morgan an email (morgan@incarnationanglican.org) in order to be added to our prayer letter.

The Rev. Nathan Dickerson is the Associate Rector at Restoration Anglican Church in Arlington, VA.

Hearing and following the call to plant churches

By Pamela Meeks

EDITOR's NOTE: This is the next installment in our "Into Harvest Series" where we are meeting and getting to know members of the Great Commission Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, learning more about who they are and why they are committed to the mission of church planting. 

In the 1990’s, my husband and I heard a call to live and minister in Turkey before we even met each other. When we did meet and our hearts were joined together, we knew that God had some special calling for us in this new country. We were newlyweds when we arrived in Istanbul to begin language learning and culture learning. But the truth is: we did not have a clear sense of what God had prepared for us to do with any specificity. Perhaps that sounds unusual given the finances we had to raise and the plans that we had to make to get us to this point in ministry, but this is actually not so uncommon.

By no means everyone, but some of us arrived in another country with a vision that was ready to evolve. My husband and I had a clear call to be involved in evangelism and discipleship but it wasn’t obvious how we were to proceed. Our reasons for some vagueness were on purpose. We knew that people and their ideas change when they are in another country. Our own views and vision needed to be fleshed out with the realities on the ground. We were there to discover more specifically how we were to be used by God. Actually being in the country with some flexibility allowed us a chance to approach ministry with some humility and in a learner posture. Although flexibility and humility can set people on the path of being cooperative with others, it is a clear drag on folks like me who like to plan ahead!

Our early years were set aside for learning the language and learning the culture. We always had the goal in mind that we would want to attain a level of Turkish mastery to be able to preach in Turkish. The goal of cultural adjustment was equally important. As we spent time, and were involved in modest evangelistic and discipling relationships, we had a growing conviction that church planting was the specificity that we were looking for. Individuals might be converted, but without the church, someone would not be able to grow and thrive in the long term. We decided to move to a city on the coast of the Mediterranean to meet together with others interested in starting a new church.

As we worked together with another teammate from Germany, we began to learn the ropes of church planting. Our team had many decisions to make, and some of them were significant and consequential. We were always weighing different options. At the time we were not confirmed in a denomination so we were working with those from a non-denominational background. Our little church met in a home and we were deeply involved in people’s lives.

Our hearts for Turkish believers grew exponentially and this little fellowship lasted 8 or so years before they decided to fold into a larger church in the city. We did run into some problems as we looked at the role of women in the church and it was then that our family pulled up roots and moved to a city on the Black Sea. We helped join together a church planting team with local believers. We took our experiences, confidence and convictions with us to this new endeavor. This time we put ourselves under the authority of a Turkish pastor in another city and that was definitely a good decision. Like many church plants, this little fellowship weathered some difficult relational issues and in the end we only spent three years in this new city.

After we came back to the United States and finished degrees in seminary at Trinity School for Ministry, we moved to Northern Virginia. I was ordained an Anglican priest in January  2010. Naturally, I was drawn to church planting again and enjoyed serving with Rev. Jack Grubbs at Potomac Falls Anglican. In 2009 I was asked to join the GCC where I have continued to enjoy being a part of new work that is begun around the diocese.

The Rev. Pamela Meeks is the Associate Rector of Church of the Epiphany Anglican in Herndon, VA. She also serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee. 

Meet Desiree Barker of the Great Commission Committee

By Desiree Barker

EDITOR's NOTE: This is the next installment in our "Into Harvest Series" where we are meeting and getting to know members of the Great Commission Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, learning more about who they are and why they are committed to the mission of church planting. Photo: Desiree Barker (on right) gathers with her family.

My name is Desiree Barker and I am a member of All Saints' in Woodbridge, VA, and a member of the Great Commission Committee. My husband, Steve, and I have been at All Saints’ since the early 1990’s. We have one daughter who lives in Charlottesville with her husband and our two active grandsons. I have been a lay ministry leader for more than 25 years. During that time, I have served as a member of the church staff, as a spiritual director and most recently as the Resource Director at The Titus Institute for Church Planting.

When I started with The Titus Institute several years ago, one of my responsibilities as the Executive Assistant for our Canon, Tom Herrick, was to provide administrative support for the GCC. This allowed me to sit with the committee at their meetings and to provide various kinds of support at events sponsored by the GCC. It was during this season that I learned about the vital work the committee seeks to encourage and support. Last year, when I transitioned to the position as Resource Director for Titus, and the Rev. Tim Howe became Tom’s Executive Assistant, he took over the administrative support and I was invited to join the committee as a voting member. It is my passion to see people formed spiritually that has shaped my ministry and my role on the GCC. As a lay member with a background in discipleship, evangelism and spiritual formation, I provide a slightly different perspective on the mission we seek to carry out. 

As a diocesan committee, one of our canonical responsibilities is to help plant new churches. These fledgling churches and those who plant them need various kinds of support. Some of that support is practical and tangible but, often, the most important support we can supply are things like coaching or training—things that strengthen the planter so that they can lead and grow a new church. The project I am working on at The Titus Institute, in partnership with Passion for Planting, is a computer application designed especially for Anglican church planters. It will bring together multiple church planting resources in one easy to access place for our planters. The idea is to break the process of planting a new Anglican church down into smaller steps that can completed by the planter or delegated to the planter’s team. By having the steps and the resources like teaching, web links, and team exercises all in one place, the app is designed to make it easier to keep track of the details and put vital resources right into the planter’s hand. The goal is to free the planter to do the relational and spiritual work of growing a team and a congregation. The application is due to be Beta tested later this fall and available to DOMA planters early in 2018. You can learn more about Anglican Planter Plan here: https://vimeo.com/222640015 

In addition to my work at The Titus Institute, I provide spiritual direction and it is often leaders who seek me out. In the process of listening with them, God has given me a heart for the burden leaders carry in their everyday responsibilities. As a spiritual director, I often provide a safe place for them to explore their own faith journeys in the context of the pressures and challenges of ministry. And it is from this kind of listening that I glean how much our clergy and leaders sometimes need the kind of support the GCC can offer. We have some really gifted leaders in our diocese and they are doing amazing Kingdom work! As the GCC supports the work God has called them to, through equipping, coaching or training events, we fulfill the mission God and the diocese has called us to. 

The last thing I would like to share is an upcoming opportunity. For the past few years, the GCC has been offering a pre-Synod workshop open to anyone in the diocese. The first year we offered a workshop on various types of evangelism. Last year the topic was multi-cultural ministry. And this year the focus will be on various types of discipleship. The workshop is offered on the Friday afternoon before Synod starts on Friday night. This year it will be on Friday, November 17, 2017. If the last two years are any indication, and you are interested in discipleship, this is an event you won’t want to miss! 

Desiree Barker is a member of All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA. She also serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee. 

Part Two: Finding Mission on our Doorstep

By Alex Leighton

EDITOR's NOTE: This is the next installment in our "Into Harvest Series" where we are meeting and getting to know members of the Great Commission Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, learning more about who they are and why they are committed to the mission of church planting. The Rev. Alex Leighton continues with the second part of a two-part article on neighborhood evangelism.

 As a follow up to an article in last month’s Messenger, I've been asked to share the story of how God has led our family into our neighborhood, building relationships with neighbors, ministering to them, and seeing some respond to the Gospel. 

When we first moved to Virginia, we felt called to a certain neighborhood. As we learned more about where other folks from All Saints’ Church (Woodbridge, VA) lived, we saw that it was a neighborhood that wasn’t heavily populated with our members. We loved the opportunities that we were given as we were invited into our neighbors’ lives. And they were there with us as our third and fourth children were born. We hosted Community Vacation Bible School (CVBS) in our house there and our next-door neighbors committed their lives to Christ during that time. What an incredible joy! I can remember saying to my wife, Rebecca, that it could have been for that reason alone that we were called to that house. 

But as our situation changed and grew, we were finding our financial situation more difficult. The rent was becoming too high; we prayed and asked God for a solution. He led us to some parishioners who were moving away from All Saints’. They agreed to rent the house to us that they were leaving for something that better fit our budget. They had also prayed about it, and their children got a picture of us living in their house. It seemed like the Lord was leading us and yet we longed for the things we had experienced in our previous neighborhood.

We've been in this second house for three years now and God continues to bless us in amazing ways. We began hosting CVBS the first summer we were in it. One student hadn’t heard about Jesus, and she gave her life to him during that week. She wrote a thank you note to Rebecca, who led the Bible time, entitled “Thank you for telling me about Jesus.” We still have it as a reminder of God’s faithfulness. 

Our neighborhood is a double cul-de-sac, and is always full of kids playing ball, riding bikes, and having nerf gun battles. With all of those interactions there are inevitably some squabbles; one of our children found his way into one of these squabbles. We tried to help him see his part in it, and to own up to it; and both sets of parents were committed to seeing the kids reconcile. They were able to say their “I’m sorrys”. This same neighbor then came to CVBS at our house a few weeks later. He gave his life to the Lord and his mother sent us a picture of him reading the Bible we gave him. She said he couldn’t put it down! What a gift from God to see him at work in these relationships—we are praying for more!

The Rev. Alex Leighton is Associate Rector of All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA. He serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee.

How to be disciples making disciples

In my busy world, trying to balance many competing demands, I often struggle with “keeping the main thing the main thing.” Again and again, I ask myself, “What is really important?” and “How can I stay focused on that?” 

In my busy world, trying to balance many competing demands, I often struggle with “keeping the main thing the main thing.” Again and again, I ask myself, “What is really important?” and “How can I stay focused on that?” As I’ve reflected on those questions, I keep coming back to Jesus’ biblical mandate, expressed so succinctly in the Great Commission:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20, ESV)

As far as Jesus is concerned, the main thing is disciple-making. The health, growth, and reproduction of the Church rises or falls on this one charge. When we are doing this well, everything else falls into place. But, what exactly does it mean to be a disciple? 

Jim Putman addresses this question in his book, Real-life Discipleship by examining Jesus’ invitation to Simon Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4:19: “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people” (NRSV). Discipleship, he says, is composed of three elements and begins with following Jesus. We make a conscious decision to walk with him, that is, to live our lives with him, allowing him to lead us. This involves the recognition of who Jesus is, not only as our Savior, but also as our Lord. Discipleship then evolves into a daily conversation with him (through his Word, his Spirit, and his people) that becomes life-changing. Who we are is being redefined and shaped by Jesus as we follow him. St. Paul talks in vivid terms about the struggle this can be as we “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:5, ESV). This transformation process from the inside out culminates in our taking on a new purpose in life - to carry out Jesus’ mission in the world. Putman puts it this way, “Jesus was going to address their beliefs (head), their attitudes (heart or character), and actions (hands) as he shaped them into messengers who would deliver the good news to the world” (p. 30).

Understanding discipleship in the context of head, heart, and hands can be somewhat sobering. For many of us, our discipleship has been focused in a lopsided fashion on the head. We have learned all about being a disciple by absorbing the material presented to us in classes, Bible studies, and sermons. But, how much of that has truly impacted our heart and our hands? Some would say that Jesus took a huge risk entrusting his mission to a small group of uneducated people that he only discipled for three short years. Yet, in his expert care, that group experienced a life transformation so powerful that it equipped them to become disciple-makers of the first order and truly carry out the Great Commission. 

There is a challenge in this for us. Understanding discipleship in the way that Jesus modeled it will cause us to re-examine much of what we are doing. It sets the bar in a completely different place, forcing us to recalibrate. More than just doing good programs (which are helpful, but not sufficient), we begin investing in the lives of others like a parent does with a child. We become accountable to each other to do more than simply learn about Jesus. Instead, our learning is a life process that changes not only us, but is then multiplied in the lives of others. 

As the Great Commission Committee has pondered the true meaning of discipleship, we felt it would be worthwhile for all of us to look more intentionally at the way Jesus modeled it. We are sponsoring a workshop called “Disciple-making Disciples” on the Friday afternoon before Synod (November 17, 2017) to explore this in more depth. We’ll hear from a number of our churches who are making disciples and experiencing the joy of sending their new laborers into the harvest field. Plan to join us (even if you are not a Synod delegate) by signing up here. We believe that by focusing on this vitally important aspect of our ministry, we can become better disciples ourselves and reach more people with the Gospel, moving from an occasional conversion to consistent growth. 

St. Paul challenged his disciple Timothy, “what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well” (2 Timothy 2:2, NRSV). If we are to reach those in the Mid-Atlantic region with the Good News, we’ll need to become disciple-makers who are settling for nothing less than life transformation, reproduction, and multiplication of the Gospel. This is a tall order, but one that is much more in sync with what Jesus intends. Together we can learn how to move from making Christians (GOOD) to making disciple-making disciples (GREAT).

The Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick is Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

The Rev. Jay Baylor: "I never expected to end up in the city.”

I never expected to end up in the city. I’m the son of farmers and truck drivers from Central Pennsylvania. In 2006, I was challenged by Heidi Baker’s testimony to “go where only the Gospel could make a difference.” I felt the Lord guide us into East Baltimore, one of the most challenged neighborhoods in our region. 

My friends and I spent several years doing church in our house just outside the city line, while doing outreach into East Baltimore and learning about the city. We have done many prayer walks and block parties. We still go each week to a methadone clinic to give away coffee or iced tea and water and pray for folks coming for treatment for addiction.

We made some friends and built some trust in the neighborhood. One of those friends is Pastor Carletta Wright. She’s African-American and she grew up in East Baltimore, has lived most of her life there and most of her family lives there. She’s like a spiritual grandmother to the community. If there is a death in the community and they need a pastor, they call Carletta. If there’s a desperate need, they call Carletta. She became my person of peace in East Baltimore, connecting me to the community.

In 2014, Pastor Carletta Wright and I felt that the Lord was leading us to plant a church together. We wondered if we could establish a church that brought together people who are very different from one another to worship the Lord and work together to bring the light and love of the Gospel to our city with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.  Could we tear down walls that separate people? Could we erase the lines that have divided and wounded our city? We found a beautiful old church building in a strategic neighborhood right on the old lines between historically white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods. 

We want to live out the Gospel of Jesus that is for everyone, everywhere in a real and tangible way. We wanted to see if we could plant a church that looked as diverse as Baltimore, as beautiful and rich as the Kingdom of God. We wanted to bring together—rich and middle class and poor, employed and unemployed, black and white, Pentecostal, Charismatic and Anglican. We want our worship to honor and host the presence of God in all that we do-—in our singing, reading and preaching of the Word, in our prayers and intercessions and in our celebration of the Eucharist together. The power of the Holy Spirit and the operation of the gifts of the Spirit among the people is also essential for us. We expect the prophetic gift to flow, we ask for words of knowledge and we see physical and inner healing in our church regularly.

After nearly three years at this, we have much to celebrate. Our worship is multiethnic, coming from very different parts of the city.  We are still small—averaging around 25 on most Sundays, but we are full of hope and we’re learning to love each other better. A few families have felt called to move to Baltimore to join us and more are on the way! The Lord has sent us dynamic top-quality worship leaders.  We have been able to live out our care for the poor by collecting and giving away school supplies, coats and Thanksgiving meals to families in need at Collington Square Elementary School in East Baltimore. One of the things that has consistently given me the most joy is praying for people on the streets-—we are always welcomed, people almost always welcome prayer and we see the Lord do miracles all the time!  

We would welcome your prayers in several areas. We are praying for more support of every kind—we need more money, people and prayer support. We have favor in the schools, so we would love to have a children’s pastor to come and reach the children and families of our neighborhoods with the Gospel. As a missional church, we desire to establish Missional Communities to reach deeply into our neighborhoods, so we are praying for leaders to be raised up, developed and sent to establish and lead MC’s.  Perhaps the Lord is speaking to you about moving. Would you consider moving to Baltimore to join what God is doing here? Would you like to come visit and experience the power of God moving through you in salvation, healing, or the prophetic out on the streets? Come for a day, the weekend, a week or the rest of your life. We would welcome you!

I’m honored to serve on the Great Commission Committee for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and I am committed to the Kingdom work of planting churches that plant churches. Our God is a God of mission and He is inviting us to join Him in declaring salvation to all creation. We have been rescued from our rebellion and failing so that we can become rescued rescuers. We have been healed and restored so that we can become healed healers. We have been reconciled with our Father through Christ Jesus and now we can serve as reconcilers, bringing others back into right relationship Him. We have been redeemed and restored as sons and daughters of the King of Kings and now we can take our place as co-heirs with Christ.

The Rev. Jay Baylor is vicar of Church of the Apostles in the City, Baltimore, MD. He serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee.

Part One: Church Planting is a major focus at Assembly 2017

By Alex Leighton

EDITOR's NOTE: This is the next installment in our "Into Harvest Series" where we are meeting and getting to know members of the Great Commission Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, learning more about who they are and why they are committed to the mission of church planting. The Rev. Alex Leighton is featured in this issue and in addition to his ministry at All Saints' Church and the Great Commission Committee, he also attended Assembly 2017 and writes of his experience.

Greetings and blessings in Jesus' Name! My name is Alex Leighton and I'm the Associate Rector at All Saints' in Woodbridge, VA. My wife, Rebecca, and I have been married for 11 years, and we have four children, Ezekiel, 9, Sydney, 7, Titus, 6, and Violet, 3. We have a full life (I've stopped using the word "busy") with ministry, Rebecca's growing home business, and our family life. As a family, we recently had the joy of hosting Community Vacation Bible School in our yard, and 27 students joined us for five days of fun-filled discovery of the God of the universe. It was such a gift to be able to minister together as a family, as we saw young people, and especially our neighbors profess faith in Jesus. 

Our family ministry began years ago, as we were part of a church plant in Westchester County, NY, beginning in 2007. We were starting a family and a church at the same time—not for the faint of heart! And while that time was full of joys and challenges, we saw God's hand in that whole experience. We loved the opportunities we had to be on mission outside the walls of the church, to share the gospel, and to see people respond. In 2011, when All Saints' and Dan Morgan were looking for a third priest, they extended a call to us and the timing was right for us to join in that new mission. While the last six years I have been on staff at All Saints', the love of evangelism and church-planting continues. I loving being a part of the Great Commission Committee as we get to encourage evangelism and church-planting on the diocesan level.  

My most recent experience with the Great Commission Committee came at the ACNA's Provincial Assembly in Wheaton, IL. I was part of the Always Forward track, the team equipping our province for church planting. Being among church planters and church-planting leaders was such an encouragement. I'd love to share a couple of highlights from that time. Canon Dan Alger, who leads Always Forward, began the teaching time and he immediately challenged our preconceived notions of what it meant to plant churches. So often we jump to the "How?" of church planting before we deal with the "Who?", the "What?", and the "Why?" According to Dan, Anglican church planting is a work of submission; of leaders who are submitted to the Lord and to local authorities, not "hero entrepreneurs" bent on gaining a name for themselves. We are called as Anglican church planters to engage in the pursuit of holiness, both personal and corporate.  

Building on what Dan Alger shared to open our time, Bishop Stewart Ruch taught on the architecture and the engineering of the church. The architecture he took from Acts 2:42-47, calling us to be like the early church, a church that was scriptural, sacramental, spirit-filled, sacrificial, and salvation-oriented. In Anglican circles, we often talk of the three streams of the Anglo-Catholic, the Evangelical, and the Charismatic. Bishop Ruch said that was incomplete and could lead us to the danger of becoming a "cul-de-sac church", where people come to visit and have their personal tastes appealed to, but that we don't continue to head out in mission. The sacrificial piece and the salvation-oriented piece lead us out to fulfill both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Bishop Ruch also taught on the engineering of the church from Ephesians 4. We are called into the catalytic offices of apostle, prophet, and evangelist, and to the building offices of shepherd/pastor, and teacher, he said. We need all of those fully functioning to be a five-fold church. For me personally, this teaching really found a home in my heart and I've been processing it since my time there. I do pray for our movement, that we won't be a "boutique" church, or just a destination for other Christians who haven't found all their needs met elsewhere, but that we would indeed be fully engaged in God's mission, recognizing the mission at our doorstep and beyond.

The Rev. Alex Leighton is Associate Rector of All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA. He serves as a member of the Great Commission Committee.

Interview with Tom Herrick: The Mission & Ministry of the Great Commission Committee

Editor's Note: We're kicking off a special series over the next several months in the Mid-Atlantic Messenger where we'll be focusing on the mission and ministry of church planting and church health in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. This work is led by the Great Commission Committee (GCC) of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. To launch the series we asked Tom Herrick, Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and chair of the GCC, to give us some background on the formation of the Great Commission Committee, its mission and goals as well as introducing us to the members of the GCC team. We will be hearing more from the GCC team over the next few months as they share their testimonies, mission stories, and lessons they've learned in their own ministry as part of the Into the Harvest Series in the Mid-Atlantic Messenger.

Here are the members of the Great Commission Committee:

• The Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick, Chair (Canon for Church Planting)

• The Rev. Rick Wright, Vice Chair (Director, Congregational Care, The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, VA)

• The Rev. Joe Acanfora (Rector, Church of the Apostles, Fairfax, VA)

• The Rev. Jay Baylor (Vicar, Church of the Apostes in the City, Baltimore, MD)

• Desiree Barker (Resource Director, The Titus Institute, Centreville, VA)

• The Rev. Alex Leighton (Associate Rector, All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA)

• The Rev. Nathan Dickerson (Associate Rector, Restoration Anglican Church, Arlington, VA)

• The Rev. Pamela Meeks (Associate Rector, Church of the Epiphany Anglican, Herndon, VA)

• The Rev. Clancy Nixon (Rector, Church of the Holy Spirit, Leesburgh, VA)

• The Rev. Tim Howe, Executive Assistant (Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic)

What are the origins of the Great Commission Committee—how did it get started and what is its mission?

A group began to meet monthly in the early nineties to study together, learn from others about church planting, and begin to plant churches. This group started by planting a church every few years and progressed to planting three to four churches each year. During those early years, we became convinced that God was asking us to make a deep commitment to this work. We came to believe that God was using church planting to renew the culture of the church and make it more evangelistic and missional in nature. As we deepened our commitment to this work, God blessed it and expanded it. Over the past 25 years, God has sent some of our group to other places and brought new members join the work. 

The GCC has four canonical responsibilities:

1. Plant new churches;

2. Strengthen and revitalize existing missions and congregations;

3. Raise up and equip lay leaders; and

4. Provide oversight and stewardship of the funds made available to the GCC through the diocesan budget to accomplish their mission.  

What gifts and experience do the members of the GCC bring to the table?

The team members of the GCC are a diverse group composed of clergy and lay members of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. Some are planters, some are rectors or associate rectors of established congregations. All are leaders. Here are some of the gifts that are present in this talented and committed group:

• Evangelism: Jay 

• Pastoral Care: Rick

• Spiritual Formation: Desiree

• Cross Cultural Evangelism & Missions: Pamela, Joe, Jay

• Finance and Organization: Tim

• Strategic Planning: Nathan

• ReMissioning: Joe

• Healing & Prayer: Alex

• Vision: Tom

What are the priorities of the GCC?

The GCC begins every new year with a day-long retreat with Bishop John Guernsey to pray, evaluate our work in the year just concluded, and dream together about what God is asking of us in the year to come. We set goals and establish priorities for the year to come and design strategies to accomplish those goals. For 2017, we have 3 primary goals:

1. To establish a diocesan-wide leadership pipeline to provide a pathway for new leaders to emerge and receive training and equipping for ministry;

2. To establish a group of Incubator churches who will work together to consistently plant daughter churches throughout the diocese in strategic locations; and

3. Establish a separate fund to provide the capital to plant 50 churches by 2027.

How can we pray for the work of the GCC?

We would love for people to pray for the work of the Great Commission Committee! Here are five areas to support in prayer:

• For the growth and development of all of our new and young church plants and missions;

• God to send us church planters who will plant new churches;

• God to send us donors who will provide the funding we need to plant new churches;

• God to send us new members of the GCC who will help us to expand our work; and

• Existing churches to become Incubators for daughter churches.

Part Two: What you didn't learn in seminary—and why it matters

Editor's Note: This is the conclusion of a two-part series.

Three components of self-awareness

• The first aspect is understanding how we have been uniquely created—our particular bent if you will. Some people have called this the Element. Others term it our ‘sweet spot.’ Still others call it are unique talent pool or our Hedgehog Principle. We call it your Intentional Difference. Whatever you call it, it involves the hardwiring internal to each of us that makes us uniquely who we are.

• The second aspect that is critical is our own personal story. Each of us has come from a particular background. We grew up in a family. In that family we were a particular gender and occupied a particular birth order. Our parents exhibited certain traits, habits and behaviors towards us and the world. We grew up in a community that had a special DNA, and that community molded us in certain ways.  We had seminal events that occurred in our lives, with special people entering our lives at critical moments. The sum total of all of these life events I call our unique story or narrative out of which each of us now live. We use this unique story as a ‘pair of glasses’ to give us perspective on everyone and all that is going on around us. It is from this story that our Red Zone emerges.

• The third aspect is the culture that surrounds us. As stated above, our present community (home, church, town, state, country) has a particular DNA or what we call Code, that shapes us into its own image.

These three aspects of our selves shape who we are and affect our thoughts, emotions, and ultimately our behaviors. 

The problem is always in the room—and begins with me! Conflict raises anxiety, and once anxiety is raised, the focus becomes reducing the anxiety (even when the anxiety is helpful in moving people in more useful directions). One sure-fire way to reduce anxiety is to focus on issues outside of the room (such as a problem person within the congregation). 

This allows us to avoid the present conflict unfolding between us, and focus on something/one who is not present. Another way to reduce anxiety is to marginalize those in the room who bring up conflicted topics that demand resolution. Unfortunately, this runs completely counter to good leadership, which always protects the voice of dissent, knowing that dissenting opinion often ripens the conversation, bringing in different perspectives that have been overlooked. It must be noted that not everyone is adept at dissenting in an effective manner. But no matter, differing opinions are critical to effective conversations.

By the way, avoiding conflict means that there will always be an ‘elephant in the room,’ that unspoken, unprocessed something that continues to gum up the works. If we could talk about it, we could figure out how to resolve it. But we can’t talk about it, so it just simmers there gaining more power within the organization simply because it has never been discussed.

We only grow when we are uncomfortable. That’s right, life is about pain, though we live in a culture that avoids pain at all costs, and always seeks the win-win happy place (which is the immature place noted above). Hopefully this white paper is currently making you uncomfortable, as you begin to see some of your own shortcomings. That discomfort is not a bad thing (though you will experience it as anxiety, and intuitive think to turn away from this paper and not consider its merits). 

Your job with the congregation (as in parenting) is to work yourself out of a job. If you are leading a consumer congregation, and being well-supported for not upsetting the apple cart by raising anxiety too high, then you rest firmly within the majority of clergy. But you may have been reading all of that literature about how to be missional and how to see effective ministry as community-focused, not pastor-focused (where often the most dependent members of your organization set the agendas, thus moving leadership toward weakness rather than strength, and leveraging power to the recalcitrant, the passive-aggressive, and the most anxious members of the institution rather than toward the energetic, the visionary, the imaginative, and the most creatively motivated). This literature is dangerous, for it will stimulate you to begin the transformative work of changing paradigms, which will of course raise congregational anxiety, which will provoke push-back and therefore raise your own anxiety. 

Why not just leave well enough alone? The congregation is content with you in the role of paid Christian who runs all over the place doing the ‘real’ ministry while everyone settles back and watches you sweat. Well, you say, I just can’t. This laissez-faire way of ministering just doesn’t seem to square with what Jesus had in mind, and the way he operated. Just remember, when the status quo is upset, people feel a sense of profound loss and dashed expectations. Then they exert inordinate amounts of pressure on the powers that be (i.e. you) to return things to the status quo.

Transformational Leadership
You decide to change the culture of your congregation, to begin to make them aware that authentic ministry is a community pursuit—not a one person professional Christian pursuit, that every member is uniquely gifted to build up the body and make it healthy. First, understand that you have just stepped into the transformational arena of leadership. That means that simple technical answers (such as having a class after worship that teaches everyone what their responsibilities are, or having everyone read a book) won’t work. 

You are going to have to become very adept at transformational leadership (which involves a number of skills you can find in The Leadership Triangle). You’re going to have to manage your own anxiety as those around you become more anxious (“What? I’m going to have to now exercise my gifts and become an intentional part of this ministry? I didn’t bargain for that. I’m leaving!).  And you’re going to need a game plan. An excellent place to look is the movie Moneyball (with Brad Pitt). This movie explains how Billy Beane, GM of the Oakland A’s baseball team, went about changing the whole paradigm of how baseball is understood, beginning with how players are selected. It also shows the ups and downs he experienced along the way.

You absolutely cannot go it alone, even if you’ve been a Lone Ranger in ministry for many years. As mentioned, I coach and have coached dozens of ministers in many different traditions around the country and in Canada. Over and over I discover these ministers to be isolated in their ministries. And this isolation brings with it a whole host of problems and dysfunctions. Folks, get a clue! You’re on the front lines! You’re taking all manner of incoming fire. How can you possibly be effective, maintain your sanity, uphold clear boundaries, and lead effectively if you’re doing this completely alone? 

You need the support of people who are in the same position as you. (Be advised that people who have not experienced being in ministry have no idea as to the pressures you face, none!). Within your communities undoubtedly there are minister gatherings where you can find understanding and guidance as you navigate the troubled waters of ministry. 

Dr. Jim Osterhaus, Ph.D, is a Senior Partner with TAG Consulting. He also serves as Vice President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and is a member of Truro Anglican Church in Fairfax, VA.

Part One: What you didn't learn in seminary—and why it matters

By Jim Osterhaus

Editor's Note: The is the first part of a two-part series.

Seminaries in every religious tradition operate across this country and across the globe. Their stated objective is to raise up men and women who can effectively move forward those respective traditions while ministering to the needs – both spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical – of the audiences to whom they have been called.

Over the centuries, seminaries have crafted curricula that religious organizational leaders have judged to contain the essential elements for effective ministry – theology, hermeneutics, homiletics. More recently, courses in human psychology, counseling, culture, and organizational processes have crept into syllabuses to round out a core preparation. Even more recently, seminaries have begun to offer courses in leadership.

And yet, as I coach ministers across this country and across the traditional spectrum, I hear again and again the complaint that these pastors have been ill-prepared to face the realities that day-to-day ministering. And this inadequacy often appears when the newly minted minister first sits down in the church board meeting (whether it be elder, session, vestry, council, or what have you). Often the fearful thought emerges, I’m the leader. What do I do now? What’s important? What’s not? This is intensified the moment conflict begins to develop. And panic often ensues when that conflict devolves on the pastor.

David Gortner, the director of the doctor of ministry program at Virginia Theological Seminary, conducted a 15 year study of students transitioning from students to pastors. He writes: "I have found a consistent pattern among Episcopal clergy of what my colleagues and I call “talented but tenuous”: highly creative people nonetheless lacking in self-confidence and decisiveness, who can come up with wonderful ideas but have neither the skill nor the will (nor feel the permission) to help communities bring ideas to fruition. They are kind, dedicated, and full of ideal visions of what the church could be; but they are also conflict-averse, uncertain how to manage their own anxiety, and unclear about the nature of human systems and organizations."

Added to this is the fact that the vast majority of Christian churches focus ministry on the pastor rather than the community. This sets up the church in the consumer mentality, where congregants come to be ‘entertained,’ and when they feel they can get more entertainment in some over venue, they merely pull up stakes and move on the next venue. The pastor turns into an overworked functionary who bounces from one meeting to another because, “It doesn’t count if you’re not there.”

So let’s consider several lessons that should be essential to any seminary curriculum, but will undoubtedly be absent in the near future.

Lessons

Leadership isn’t a noun, it’s a verb. It’s not a person, it’s an activity. When people talk about “born leaders,” they are typically describing a particular style of leadership that takes on a command and control character. People feel most comfortable when a strong leader of this genre steps up and takes responsibility to lead people in some prescribed direction. These leaders clarify direction and are good at mobilizing people to move in that clarified direction. This activity of leadership, what we often describe as true leadership, is merely one activity that is effective in certain situations (e.g. when there is an emergency), and horrible in other situations (when the community must take responsibility to navigate tricky transitions).

Unfortunately, all too often people in positions of leadership have only one leadership activity in their minds. This brings up the old adage, If you only have a hammer in your toolbox, everything looks like a nail. Applying the same failed activity over and over in the wrong situation will only lead to failure and disillusionment. 

Effective leaders have learned to wield several key leadership activities, depending on the demands of the situation. A very helpful book with regards to what we consider the three different activities of leadership is The Leadership Triangle. The book details the three situations demanding leadership: Tactical, Strategic, and Transformational. Each of these situations demands a different response and posture in order that the leader be effective.

Conflict is absolutely necessary to healthy church functioning, and it will always bring anxiety with it. We’re not saying that all conflict is healthy and constructive. Quite the contrary. Much of conflict is destructive. And learning the difference between healthy (Blue Zone) and unhealthy (Red Zone) conflict is critical. But understanding conflict, and how it affects and provokes issues resident within myself is key to its successful management and utilization. That brings us to the issue of self-awareness.

Your greatest resource is yourself.  You may have already scanned the above points, and said to yourself, There’s no way I can do these things, especially the one about conflict. I’m totally conflict averse, and entertaining and nurturing conflict runs completely contrary to my nature. If you thought that, you’ve taken the first step to becoming more effective, i.e. knowing yourself. At least, at this point, you have a sense of what causes anxiety for you (conflict).

Keep in mind that the threats to your ministry are not external, but internal. It is our tendency to adapt to the surrounding immaturity we find everywhere. It is this immaturity that currently permeates our culture and virtually all its institutions that is so apparent and so destructive of progress forward. In the church, it is expressed by “Feed me! Nurture me! Take responsibility for me! (What Paul addresses in the first letter he writes to the messed up church in Corinth). This kind of emotional climate can only be dissipated by clear, decisive, well-defined leadership.

Dr. Jim Osterhaus, Ph.D, is a Senior Partner with TAG Consulting. He also serves as Vice President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and is a member of Truro Anglican Church in Fairfax, VA.

Part Two: Why do churches reach a growth ceiling?

By Dr. Jim Osterhaus

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part series. Read Part One here.

 Pain and Resistance

One of the hardest concepts to grasp for those who wish to grow is that fact that growth will bring about pain, pain from the loss of important things valued by the pastor and the congregation. What losses are you talking about? you might ask. Growth looks like a good thing, right?.

The first loss for the pastor is the loss of her/his role as the sole minister in the congregation’s life. Pastors of small churches are jacks of all trades. Their responsibilities extend from administration, to public speaking, to hospital visitation. They are the go-to people for practically everything. And many ministers truly cherish this go-to aspect of their lives. In addition to this, having all of these functions gives the pastor a great deal of control, control that often is hard to relinquish. But failing to relinquish this can-do-everything role means the pastor becomes the bottleneck to growth. 

But there’s not only pain for the pastor. There’s pain for the whole congregation, pain from the loss of a small, tight community, and pain from the loss of their familiar role as a congregant as they have known it.

Pain, or the anticipation of pain, causes anxiety. And anxiety creates resistance. I don’t want the pain, so I’ll resist what is creating the pain, which in this case is change.

Here’s an important concept to keep in mind. Resistance is not a foe, but an ally, an ally because it’s giving you information, nothing more, nothing less. But it also tends to screw up plans for moving forward, so most people don’t think of it as an ally.

However, a better way to understand it is merely the forces that exist within each of us that resist change and the pain that change creates. Our brains are structured in such a way as to feel most comfortable during steady state, when nothing is altered. Introduce the hint of change, and our brains tend to react and resist.

The first signal resistance sends is, I don’t like this change. In fact, I don’t like any change.  The second thing resistance signals is, Okay, I can tolerate some change, but you’re going too fast! When the signal inside of us, or from our mentees or direct reports activates, it is up to us to figure out what the signal means. The same as when your smoke detector goes off in your house late at night. You can say to yourself, ‘Damn smoke detector’ while you rip it off the wall and destroy it. Or you can try to figure out what the detector is signaling to you. If there’s a fire, you sure want to know about it.

Competing Values: How I continually manufacture non-change

Because the pastor becomes a facilitator when the issue is transformational, don’t think that the pastor is unimportant. The key element in growth still defaults to the pastor. The leadership role changes depending on the demands of the situation, but he is still the leader, and central to success. And probably the most important characteristic of any successful leader is self-awareness. The self-aware leader is one who understands his own hard-wired personality (those elements that are God-given) and his/her own story (those people and factors that molded him/her as s/he grew up) and the surrounding culture and how it impacts thoughts and behaviors. This self-aware leader is able then to regulate her/his own anxiety as situations become disquieting. 

Let’s start with how we in fact resist change – how we ourselves tend to resist the very changes we ourselves say we want to make. To do this, we need to turn to a discussion of values. Remember, values are those things that matter most to us. Most of us would hope that our values are always aligned and consistent. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. Life in general, and organizational life in particular, has a nasty habit of offering up choices based on values that aren’t always aligned.

Every organization – business, government agency, church, club – holds numerous challenges as these go about conducting their missions. That will always be true. But what is it within myself that these myriad challenges elicit? It may be nearly impossible for us to bring about any important change in an organization without first understand, then changing ourselves.

Notice that much of what we’ve talked about involves delegation (aka empowerment). Delegation is extremely important for pastors. However, so many pastors get into micro-managing. There is undoubtedly a competing value at work inside of these pastors, unless they simply believe that micro-managing is the absolute best way to do kingdom work and lead their people (which flies in the face of all best management practices, much less kingdom values).

It’s important for you to begin to see how one value, i.e. delegation, gets trumped by another value (competence). Think for a moment of what that competing value inside of the micro-managing pastor is. There’s a good chance that her/his need to be competent may be the competing value. What happens when you delegate? You cede quality control. You know how you would perform, but what about your congregants? Will they do an equally good job? The only way to know is to constantly look over their shoulder.

You might want to fill in the below chart for yourself to see where you might be defeating yourself because of internal competing values.

What do I want to see occur in my church (what do I value)

E.g. I want to see my church grow. This requires distributing leadershipduties to others.

What am I doing/not doing that defeats column one from occurring?

E.g. Whenever I try to turn over leadership, I become anxious and jump in and take back leadership

What competing values drive my actions in column two?

E.g. I must do everything perfectly, and ceding leadership to others is too uncertain as to quality.

This exercise will give you a good start in understanding your own internal inconsistencies that may be sabotaging your best intentions.

Now What? Leading Change

For an excellent look at how an organizational culture can change, take a look at the movie Moneyball. In this movie (based on the true story of the Oakland As ball team in the early 1990s), Billie Beane (the General Manager of the As) comes to a harsh reality. We have no money to buy quality players to win against the big money cities, so we must fundamentally rethink how we go about selecting players. Sound familiar? How can we compete against the mega-church when it’s nearly impossible to close the gap between us?

With the help of Pete James, who has looked at the game and its statistics from a very different paradigm, he begins to rethink how he should do baseball. And the first thing he gets from his scouts, then his manager, then is players, is massive resistance. They realize immediately the losses they will suffer personally if they are to implement this new program. Their anxiety peaks, and they push back, hard.

But Beane continues his program, first getting a few early adaptors, then demonstrating that his plan can work (though the pushback remains fierce). The church world is no different. If you decide that you want to break the 200 barrier and grow, the pushback will be massive. The stakeholders (congregation) will need to wrestle through the implications. The journey will be difficult. But if you stick to it, the results can be rewarding.

I think John Kotter’s work will be helpful. He says that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time. Skipping the below steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces satisfactory results. Making critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains. So let’s look at the stages:

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency.

2. Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition.

3. Create a Vision.

4. Communicate that Vision.

5. Empower Others to Act on the Vision.

6. Plan for and Create Short Term Wins.

7. Make Improvements and Keep the Momentum for Change Moving.

8. Institutionalize the New Approaches.

 We won’t delineate each of these steps in detail here. You can get Kotter’s book and see what he says. What is critical for you the pastor to understand is that you yourself may in fact be the single most critical impediment to change. If this is the case, it will require a great deal of soul-searching on your part to begin the change process within yourself. And this process almost never occurs in a vacuum. In other words, you need other pastors in whom you trust and with whom you can take this journey. The ability of each of us to deceive ourselves while our own competing values run rampant is unlimited.

Dr. Jim Osterhaus, Ph.D, is a Senior Partner with TAG Consulting. He also serves as Vice President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and is a member of Truro Anglican Church in Fairfax, VA. Read Part One of this two-part series here.

Part One: Why do churches reach a growth ceiling?

By Dr. Jim Osterhaus

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series.

 "How come my church has reached a numerical number, and we are unable to increase that number?" This is a central question we have found with small churches everywhere. Studies have shown that numbers plateau rather predictably – 200, 500, 1000, etc. The most important plateau, and the one that is the biggest barrier, is the 200 plateau (some will put the number at 150).

The average church in the United States has 66 people in Sunday School attendance. They have 87 in worship attendance. That's across the board out of the 350,000 churches in America. That means if you run more than 87 on Sunday morning you're already above average in America. Eighty-five percent of all churches in America average less than 200 in worship attendance. If you run more than 200 in worship attendance you are in the top 15% of churches in the United States. 

Why is it that churches reach this critical plateau, and so often are unable to exceed it? 
The answer is simple, with very complex implications. Breaking the 200 plateau requires a very different way of doing church. And a different way of doing church requires a different way of doing leadership -- The role of the pastor must change as the role of the congregation changes. 

A pastor of a small church, and the congregation that makes up the small church, have a settled sense of what church life should be all about. In these small churches, the pastor personally ministers to virtually everyone in the congregation. And that is precisely the reason that 200 is the magic number. It is the number of people that one pastor can reasonably pastor.

So what’s the usual pattern? The pastor, or someone(s) in the church starts talking about growth. “We need to grow in order to fulfill the great commission.” A committee is then formed with those who seem interested, and suggestions are generated as to next steps. Possibly a standard outreach program is adopted. The committee excites certain members of the congregation who are gung-ho for about six months, when everyone begins to sense that nothing important is really occurring. And the church settles back into its usual patterns with all the same suspects.

This is a common pattern, so let’s take a closer look, beginning with the pastor.

The Starting Point: The Role Must Change From Minister to Leader. 
People go into the ministry because they want to be helpful to people. They don’t necessarily see themselves as leading large congregations, or managing complex multi-functional staffs. As they begin their ministries (either by planting churches, or taking over smaller churches, or serving on staffs of larger churches), their energies usually focus on ministering to people.

More often than not they have had little or no training in best practices of leadership. Problems and issues arise within their congregations, and they go about handling them in an intuitive manner. Unfortunately, intuitive actions are often the wrong actions. Intuitive actions are almost universally tactical actions

As an example, a pastor sees how much is being spent on printed bulletins each week. S/he googles the cost of power point projection systems and realizes s/he can recoup the cost in a year by discontinuing printed bulletins. When s/he offers this to the congregation, people become angry and push back, startling him. Another pastor notes that the young couples’ Sunday School class attendance now exceeds the seniors class attendance. The only problem, the seniors are in a bigger classroom. The next Sunday the pastor announces to the senior and couples classes that they will switch rooms next week. The seniors are outraged. Both pastors take the tactical, intuitive action. Both meet with strong resistance, much to their dismay.

Congregational issues that arise within a church require quite different responses from the pastor – his role must change depending on what is being faced. Unfortunately, most pastors (and leaders generally) have no idea when the situation has actually changed, let alone what new role must be assumed because of it. But as the saying goes, "If you only have a hammer in your toolbox, everything looks like a nail."

Consider this graph taken from The Leadership Triangle

When the problem is tactical
When the problem is tactical, the leader’s role is that of an expert or an expert-finder. His/her tone is confident – “we can apply our current base of knowledge to solve this”. The key question he raises is “What’s wrong here?” and the evident problems are to be solved. As s/he interacts with her/his people s/he functions as a trainer, bringing knowledge to bear. And s/he functions in the present tense – “how can we solve this problem right away so that our today can be better”. A tactical issue: It snowed last night, and someone needs to remove it from the church sidewalks and parking lot.

Unfortunately, we all like to function in the role of expert. We like people to turn to us for answers, and worst of all, we’re more than happy to fuel that belief that we are the go-to people in everything dealing with the church. 

When the problem is strategic
When the problem is strategic, the leader’s role is that of a synthesizer, bringing together knowledge of the internal organization, the external constituency, and the broader climate. His/her tone is that of casting vision, introducing an inspiring picture of the future that takes advantage of and confronts the changing landscape. Her/his key question is “what should be our focus?” and s/he realizes that the key way to tackle problems is through innovation and integration. His/her interaction with his/her followers is best described as inspirational and s/he focuses on the future tense-- the imagined and aspired-to results of careful adherence to a clearly articulated strategy. Strategic issues involve the future direction of the church, and resource allocation that must follow.

When the problem is transformational 
When the problem is transformational (adaptive), the leader’s role is that of a facilitator, inviting dialogue and discovery, particularly in the areas of values and beliefs. The tone s/he strikes is one of creativity– whether in problem-solving or in conflict! S/he knows that the key question now is itself “What’s the question?” and that problems are not so much to be solved or planned for as much as re-framed – considered in an entirely new way. S/he knows that group interaction at this level of leadership needs to be free-flowing and robust – everything on the table – and that his focus is not only on the present but also on the past and the future. Transformational challenges are the very stuff of leadership and require a leader operating at full creative capacity. In the above two examples, of the power point replacing printed bulletins and the switching of classrooms, both issues appear on the surface to be purely tactical. But judging from the reaction of the congregations (both examples actually happened), there’s a great deal of transformational material in the two responses.

Take the issue of growing beyond the 200 plateau. If the pastor is operating as a transformational leader, he will call a town meeting and say something like, 

Several in leadership in the church, along with myself, have considered a concerted effort to reach out into our community and grow our numbers. The value of reaching out is clear to all of us I believe. But competing with that reaching out value is the competing value of maintaining a solid community here at the church, which will inevitably be disrupted as new people enter our doors. My role as your pastor will also need to change. I will no longer be available to do hospital visits, etc. when the need arises. That means that you all will need to more intentionally exercise your various gifts. And that will be exciting and disruptive, all at the same time. So I’ve called you together to discuss this. I can’t make this decision alone. It will affect all of us, so let’s discuss this.

The pastor becomes a facilitator
This can be very difficult for some ministers, because they want to direct the conversation and supply the answers. But the conversation must take on a life of its own as the stakeholders wrestle with the implications of growth, and what they need to do. It should be noted that as the pastor moves into the facilitator role when s/he recognizes the issue to be transformational, there will also be substantial pushback from many in the congregation. The demand will be for the pastor to “take charge” and do the hard decision-making (“Isn’t that your job?”). But the pastor then must realize that transformational work is the work of the stakeholders who will have to navigate the conflicting values and ultimately live with the resultant conclusions.

During this discussion, anxiety will usually grow (the pastor must carefully regulate this). As anxiety grows, there will be an effort on the part of the congregation to have the pastor step in and ‘apply strong leadership,’ and tell them what to do. This seduction must be resisted because the work must be carried on by the congregation. They must wrestle with the implications, even though the struggle is painful.

The pastor must also realize that s/he cannot solve this problem. In fact, no one can solve this problem. It can only be navigated. It will be an ongoing problem (as it is for all churches), the problem of growth vs. building strong community.

Read Part Two in the next issue of the Mid-Atlantic Messenger.

Dr. Jim Osterhaus, Ph.D, is a Senior Partner with TAG Consulting. He also serves as Vice President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic and is a member of Truro Anglican Church in Fairfax, VA.

Reflecting on the miracle of new life

Whenever I look at my 16-month old granddaughter, I am filled with an awe and wonder that I cannot explain. It was the same feeling I had whenever I looked at her father, my son, Nick, and his sister, Angie when they were little. There is a mystery to creating a new life that is indescribable. That may be why I am so drawn to starting new churches. I love to experience that joy and deep sense of participating in something so much bigger than I am. I realize that my part in this is only a fraction of the whole, but what a privilege it is to partner with God in this way.

For many years I’ve made the case that every church can become a parent. I realize that many congregations think it is beyond them, something only the bigger churches can do, but I flatly do not believe this. I am convinced that God has designed everything in the natural world to reproduce itself. When all systems are in place and that organism is healthy and functioning normally, it reproduces. The Church is no different. I will concede that it complicates life to become a parent. Giving birth is not for the faint of heart – just ask any woman who has done it! But, for all the drama and messiness, the bond you have with your children and grandchildren is an amazing and unparalleled gift. I believe God wants every church to experience this same joy.

One important thing to note is that there are many ways of becoming a parent church. Historically, our larger churches have given birth to “high birth-weight babies” - daughter churches that start their life with an associate minister and a number of families from the mother church. This takes a serious commitment of financial and people resources but is very effective. More recently, we’ve begun to explore other models that are also very effective, but less costly to the mother church. Fresh Expressions, Missional Communities, and Satellite Campuses are all effective ways to touch communities that are not being reached by the congregation’s current ministry. These models have the added benefits of activating the multiplication gene in a congregation’s DNA and may also be a better fit for the congregations who are smaller in size and capability. 

This summer, seven churches in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic formed a learning community to explore what it means to become a multiplying church. These New Church Incubators have agreed to meet 2-3 times a year for fellowship, lunch, and a group study of books and other resources. Together they will hear guest speakers share their testimonies and best practices, develop strategies for multiplication and funding of new churches, and pray for God’s guidance and wisdom. As a learning community, they are developing a conceptual framework and vocabulary for multiplication, including the biblical and theological foundations of church multiplication and a philosophy of ministry that is consistent with our Anglican polity. My great hope and expectation is that this initiative will assist us in developing our own internal “farm system,” i.e. a leadership pipeline that consistently identifies, enlists, raises up, and deploys new leaders into the harvest field. The DOMA Internship and Residency programs will also be instrumental in this effort, helping to provide training and coaching for our emerging leaders. I see this as a collaborative effort between all members of the learning community and our diocese. My role will be to convene the group, coordinate our activities, provide training and coaching, and lend some organizational leadership to our efforts. 

To help kick off this initiative, many of us attended Becoming Five, a regional conference sponsored by the Exponential Network at New Life Church in Chantilly on September 12-13. We also began reading the book Becoming a Level 5 Multiplying Church Field Guide by my good friends, Todd Wilson and Dave Ferguson, who lead the Exponential Network and have done much to stimulate church multiplication in North America. 

I invite every church in DOMA to join us on this journey as we say ‘yes’ to God’s invitation to participate in the miracle of new life.  I believe this initiative will be critical for the long-term health and growth of our congregations and our diocese, as we explore new ways of reaching our communities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick is Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.