Vitality

There are seven principles, or practices, defined in Discovering Hope, by David Poling-Goldenne and L. Shannon Jung. They are:

Prayer
Worship
Discipleship
Evangelism
Servanthood/Ministry
Leadership
Understanding Context

The final practice, Understanding Context, was the purpose of my last post. Therefore, I will not consider it here. However, I will spend some time reflecting on St. Matthew (and what I know about St. John), rural ministry, and these practices.

Prayer: Prayer is a primary practice among vital churches in all settings. In my worship class this past semester, my professor, Dr. Mark Bangert, suggested that we are the best answer to our prayers. Our prayers cause us to act. In all honesty, I did not see a lot of thoughtful prayer on this trip. I do not mean that as a criticism, but as a statement of fact. I ate a meal of leftovers one night and someone said "It's already been prayed over." Or, during the prayers of intercession, even in examples of worship services given to us at a conference, they were listed as coming from a worship resource instead of being written to suit the needs of the community. Lots of churches do that, but what are they loosing when they do so? Why isn't prayer a common practice? What effect is it having on the ministry in these areas? I am very curious to see a church with a strong prayer practice. Discovering Hope is full of examples, but I would really like to know how they practically work. What does a strong prayer ministry entail? How does a church decide what to focus on in its prayer ministry? What would be unique about that in a rural setting?

Worship: By far, the most exciting worship I went to on this trip was the worship at the Rural Ministry Conference on our second Saturday in Nebraska. It was geared toward our purpose. I also attended a workshop there on worship. It was taught by Pr. Nancy Nyland whose former congregation is outlined in Discovering Hope. She provided us with several examples of worship services she had done over the years. While I may not be brave enough to do the services in my own church, the strongest key to them was the fact that they were written for certain groups on specific days. For example, she had written a liturgy for Rogation Sunday, to commemorate the time for planting. Both Nancy and the book seem to emphasis doing things differently and creatively. However (and perhaps those things are a part of this), I think that vital worship is planned to suit the needs of the community while remaining open to newcomers. That does mean that it is important to create a level of comfort for worshippers. As Nancy pointed out, there does need to be some level of predictability, such as a familiar order to things. I think that if the congregation is comfortable with the worship service, they will be able to be more available to help visitors, they can participate with greater energy, and they can become more attune to the meaning of what is happening. I am not a proponent of doing things the same way every time, but, rather, or being aware of a congregation's needs and listening to them.

Discipleship: Discovering Hope thinks that learning is at the center of discipleship. They point out the importance of "Bible study and devotional reflection" (46). I never attended a Bible study at St. Matthew, but Marianna, my host mom, spoke glowingly of the Bible studies she attended. This does seem key. At the Rural ministry Conference, creative and thoughtful education through Sunday School and Confirmation ministries was the topic of two workshops. These things give congregants the tools to share with others what they have learned. Discovering Hope calls this "Disciples mak[ing] disciples" (47). I worry, however, that Bible studies may not be attended or at times readily available to everyone in the church body. More can be done to model behavior. Prs. Amalia and Eric at Long Branch Lutheran talked at length about how they struggled to model hospitality, leadership, and even family devotions for their congregation. Making disciples is not an easy task. One thing I thought that was frequently missing was the training of lay leaders to also participate in this modeling behavior.

Evangelism: I have a sneaking suspicion that what I have to say here will cause the greatest knee-jerk reaction among those who hosted us throughout our journey. While I am sure evangelism is happening among Nebraska's rural churches, I didn't see it on any explicit terms. These churches do do service, which puts their name out there, but I saw very little done to focus on bringing in new people. There seems to be an understanding that everyone knows the church is there, and anyone who wants to come, can. At the Rural Ministry Conference we talked about the importance of relationships in rural congregations (those of us on the trips really felt that this is a staple in ALL congregations) (I also think it is worth noting that "evangelism" was not mentioned, nor was it a "what's working workshop" topic). The congregations we met were pretty good at establishing relationships, but, at Salem, one member commented that even after several years she had still felt like an "outsider." The speaker at the Rural Ministry Conference talked about the importance of being people-centered instead of program-centered. I totally agree, but programs (ie, service projects, childcare, leadership retreats, bible studies, Sunday School, Confirmation - are these all not "programs") have a place in evangelism. They are places to invite people. They are places to encourage members to engage their neighbors. They are places were people can be on the same playing field, reducing the insider-outsider feel. I am not sure that I have the right answer, but I certainly feel that I still have a lot to learn about how successful evangelism works in rural areas.

Servanthood/ministry: Servanthood was something I saw everywhere I went in Johnson. People gladly giving up their time to help others. The rescue squad and fire department are volunteers! People whose children are grown are religiously at the basketball games to support the teams. Every church we went to made quilts for Lutheran World Relief. However, it seems that the churches limit their own ministries because they know of the many things their members already do. What effect does this have on the church members? What if they are not involved in these community service projects? What do they do then? Discovering Hope points out that these caring ministries must be oriented to the needs of the community in order to be successful and/or vital. I am not sure that I am able to answer the question I'm going to ask, but: what ministries might be started at St. Matthew/St. John to help meet the needs of the community?

Leadership: Here is a place where I saw some vitality. I met several strong pastors who are cornerstones of the community. I saw pastors who attempt to model the godly life for their congregants. Moreover, I met amazing lay leaders with genuine hopes and dreams for their congregation. They were storehouses of information, waiting to be taped. I think vital rural ministry will look inward at itself for ideas that can be used outward. I don't mean that they will be centered with themselves, but that it will listen to the needs expressed by their members. This is an excellent place to start when looking for ways to jump start any of the above ministries. This is where I saw the most success in Nebraska. First, look at all the leaders who were willing to host our group. We met people at the Sunday service who had stories to tell about what they had seen and are seeing happening in their areas. Many of the places we toured we places of employment for members of the area churches. They are the frontline of evangelists, whether or not they know it! The ladies went to Salem Lutheran and met lay leaders who were thoughtful and aware what was going on in their community, what was good at their church, and the places they were lacking. They were thoughtfully pondering where to go from where they are now. At the Rural Ministry Conference, there were many pastors, but there were just as many lay leaders. They had great ideas!


It may seems as though I am being harsh here. That is not my intent. Every congregation has room for improvement. As a non-member and an outsider, I am able to look more objectively at what is going on. On the other hand, I know that I am unaware of the full scope of a congregation's ministry. A good portion of my comments, I hope, will serve me well when I have my own congregation. I think the greatest key to ministry, in any of the areas above, is careful discernment of God's call. He is the most aware of the entire situation and can guide us in ways we never imagined.