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CD: Church Assessment

 
Congregational Development

Church Assessment




There are many ways of assessing the potential or viability of a local congregation.  We believe that each congregation is unique in its gifts and calling, but that we all share in Christ's mission to make disciples and transform the world.  Ultimately, congregations are assessed by God according to their fruitfulness.  This church assessment for potential and viability is our connectional process for exploring and developing fruitfulness in our local churches.

Download a .pdf of this information: Church Future Possiblity Process Guide


What this guide is for:

If you are reading this process guide with any level of interest, then it shouldn't come as a big surprise that there might be some questions about the future viability of your local United Methodist church.  This guide is meant to help inform and shape your involvement in a larger conversation about the possible future of your church.  It relies extensively on the processes outlined in The Discipline of the United Methodist Church as well as some resources, rules and guidelines that are specific to The New England Conference, of which your church is a part.  Paragraph numbers throughout this document refer to the 2004 Discipline.

 

Please note that at no point does this guide supersede or impose direction upon your District Superintendent and their guidance of this process.  Your District Superintendent is your primary resource for this process, and she or he is the primary decision-making authority on these matters.  District Superintendents have been appointed to a special ministry of helping churches in times of transition, and they can provide excellent and informed assistance.

 

Some assumptions:

  • We are people guided first and solely by God's direction on our personal and congregational lives. We don't seek our own gain, power or needs, but rather seek God's will.
  • The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This mission is at the heart of our biblical faith (Matthew 28:19-20) and United Methodist identity (�120).
  • Local churches are the primary agency through which God's eternal mission is enacted; however they are temporal institutions that are born, live and die with the passing of time. Churches have tremendous potential to serve their communities and world, and we must work to find ways of releasing this God-given potential.
  • United Methodists are a connected people, with investment and interest in the ministries of our individual churches shared by all of the churches of our Conference. Important decisions, such as those on the future viability of a local church, are never made in isolation but in cooperation with other United Methodist churches, leaders, and those appointed to special ministries of connecting and supervising our work together.
  • Sometimes we will disagree about what we think is the right decision, but we will never disagree about God's imperative to love and care for one another. Every person is beloved of God and no one will be treated with distain, disrespect or dishonor at any point in our relationships. Those who cross this line forfeit their opportunity to fully participate in the decisions of our Christian community.
  • Not all of the decisions that we make will fully represent God's will for our own lives or for our churches. This includes decisions of local church leaders, pastors, District Superintendents, Conference Staff and Bishops. We all need the forgiveness of God and one another for intentional and unintentional missteps. Because God has loved us, despite our mistakes, we can work together in a Christian community of mutual forgiveness toward God's future.

Who's who:

Because we are a connectional church, there are many people interested in the future viability of your church.  Some of the people who may be involved in this decision include:

  • Charge Conference - the meeting of the leaders and/or members of your congregation to make decisions for the whole of your church
  • Pastor in Charge - the pastor appointed with responsibility for caring for and administering the life of your church
  • District Superintendent - a pastor appointed to a special ministry of overseeing and connecting the ministries of local churches in a region
  • District Board on Church Location and Building - a regional committee charged with the responsibility of caring for church properties and locations
  • District Committee on Congregational Development (where formed) - a regional committee charged with helping churches begin, grow and thrive
  • Conference Local Church Transformation Team - a conference-wide team responsible for helping existing churches develop transformational ministries
  • Conference Committee on Congregational Development - a conference-wide committee that assists new and existing local churches
  • Conference Director of Congregational Development - a conference staff member who works to help churches begin, grow and thrive
  • Conference Board of Trustees - a conference-wide board with responsibility for all properties of the conference, including all properties held in trust by local congregations such as church buildings, parsonages and endowments
  • Annual Conference Meeting - annual gathering of clergy and lay members who make decisions for all of the United Methodist churches in an area
  • Cabinet - regular meeting of all District Superintendents and Bishop
  • Bishop - a pastor elected and appointed to the work of overseeing the ministries of United Methodist clergy, laity and congregations in a conference area

What troubles churches:

 

Questions about the future viability of local churches usually arise out of an awareness that the church might be in some kind of trouble.  Some of the common indicators of trouble might be:

  • Significant and prolonged loss of participation, attendance and membership
  • Decline in number and quality of ministries to congregation and community
  • Decline in support of regional, national and international missions
  • Decline in willingness and enthusiasm of church leadership
  • Continued pattern of conflict and strife with leaders, pastor or congregation
  • Loss of spiritual focus, energy and direction
  • Disconnection with God's mission and purpose for the church
  • Progressive movement from full-time, to half-time, to less than half-time support of pastoral appointment
  • Continued decline in number of people financially supporting church
  • Continued and prolonged pattern of non-payment of church's part of mission shares, health insurance or building insurance
  • Significant financial crisis, such as the inability to repay debt or salaries
  • Significant facilities crisis, such as building decay or destruction
  • Significant leadership crisis, such as frequent and repeated pastoral changes
  • Significant community crisis, such as radical cultural change or natural disaster

Whether you identify with any of these common troubles or not, you probably have a sense that your church is not doing everything that it can to live out God's call to serve your community.  This assessment process is about taking a realistic look at the troubles, researching the options, marshalling some support systems, and calling on God for help.  The outcome of this process is an informed discernment of God's will for your church.

 

Initiating the Process:

 

The process of assessing the potential and future viability of a local church can be initiated by the congregation itself or at the discretion of the District Superintendent.  In either case, the process begins with the District Superintendent calling an orientation meeting in the local church.  The District Superintendent or their designee will inform and orient the church to the viability process and seek their input on involvement in the local church assessment task force.  This meeting may or may not necessarily be an official Charge Conference meeting, and no other business will be on its agenda.  This process guide may be presented and given to participants at this initial meeting.

 

Great care will be taken to make sure to include everyone present in discussion of the church's past, present and potential future.  Sensitivity will be exercised by everyone participating to the church's history, culture, fears, feelings of loss and grief, and other feelings.  Everyone will invest the time and respect to hear each other and their stories as they share together about the ministries of their church.

 

This meeting will conclude with the agreement of at least one layperson from the congregation to serve on the local church assessment task force and a reasonable date set for the reception of the task force's report to the congregation.

 

The work of the Task Force:

 

The District Superintendent shall appoint a task force to research and assess the future viability of a local church.  This local church assessment task force shall include an equal number of lay and clergy and include persons from the congregation being studied (as directed in �213).  This task force will be given a time-line for their work and a specific length of service.  Care will be taken to include lay and clergy leaders familiar with the congregation and region, and if possible should include representatives from the District Board of Church Location and Building, District Committee on Congregational Development, and the Conference Congregational Development Committee.  The District Superintendent shall convene and lead this task force or shall appoint a leader.  In either case, the District Superintendent shall provide significant input and guidance throughout the task force's research and reporting.

 

The task force will do an extensive study of the past, present and potential ministry of the local church.  The study will include, but not be limited to:

  1. unique missional opportunities and needs of the community;
  2. present ministries of the congregation;
  3. number of leaders and style of leadership;
  4. growth potential of the surrounding community;
  5. fiscal and facilities needs;
  6. distance from other United Methodist churches;
  7. number and size of churches of other denominations in the community;
  8. other items that may impact the church's ability to fulfill the mission of the Church.

The task force will also assess the spiritual health of the congregational and its commitment to engage in the mission of the Church.  This study will be surrounded in prayer and continually seek God's guidance for the future ministry of the local church.

 

After completing its study, the task force will produce a report and a series of recommendations as to how best to fulfill the local church's call to ministry and to optimize the stewardship of the ministry resources available.  The recommendations shall explore options for serving the community with nurture, outreach, and witness ministries as an organized church or cooperative parish ministries or ecumenical shared ministries; or give special attention to redevelopment, relocation, or discontinuance. This report will include:

  1. location(s) of ministry site(s)
  2. purpose of ministry
  3. methods and timeline of ministry development
  4. descriptions and plans for securing necessary resources in leadership, finances, training, facility, or Spirit
  5. benchmarks for evaluation of effectiveness of ministry
  6. evaluation process, including feedback to District Congregational Development Committee, District Board of Church Location and Building, and District Superintendent

This report may include suggestions for funding from different committees or agencies of the United Methodist church, but being mentioned in the report will not construe the approval of these committees or agencies to spend these resources.  The report will take into account the various funding and grant request timelines and procedures.  If the report includes recommendation about the church property, the Conference Board of Trustees will be consulted before the report is finalized.  This report may also describe a set of gifts and skills desired in clergy leadership, which may be taken under advisement by the Bishop and Cabinet.  The District Superintendent must review and approve the final draft of the report and recommendations.

 

Reporting and Decision Making:

 

The report and recommendations of the local church assessment task force will be published and presented to the congregation for consideration and discernment. Those invited to the presentation shall include:
the members

  • members of the congregation
  • the pastor(s)
  • the District Superintendent
  • members of the District Board of Church Location and Building

Invitations may be extended to members of the District Committee on Congregational Development, Conference Director of Congregational Development, and other United Methodist clergy and lay leaders in the area or involved in related ministries.  This meeting shall be for information and presentation, but it may be immediately followed by a meeting of the Charge Conference of the local church to act on the report and recommendations.

 

Upon receiving the task force's report, the members of the local church shall consider the recommendations and adopt a response to them.  This response may include adopting all or some of the recommendations.  Great care should be taken by the congregation to sincerely and honestly seek God's will for them and their church.  Partial, or even full, adoption of the recommendations may not preclude a District Superintendent recommending discontinuing a local church (2548.2); however, full adoption and vigorous implementation of revitalization recommendations will be an excellent sign of congregational health and commitment.

 

The District Superintendent shall report the results of the study and the congregation's response to the District Committee on Church Location and Building, the District Committee on Congregational Development, and the Cabinet for approval of the Bishop and majority of District Superintendents, with recommendations for the allocation of conference staff, resourcing, financial support, or other resources needed to undergird the congregation's efforts to reach its recommended potential.  Any committees or agencies mentioned in the report shall also receive a copy of the report with strong encouragement from the Cabinet to give priority to any grant or resource requests that they may receive the local church.  Such annual conference support shall be committed no longer than three years (¶213).

 

Deciding to Discontinue a Local Church:

 

One possible recommendation of the local church assessment task force may be to discontinue a local church.  This is a decision of last resort, and priority should be given to revitalized ministries, cooperative ministries, merged ministries or other creative solutions.  However, sometimes discontinuance is the most reasonable and responsible option for stewardship of the gifts, resources and people of a local congregation.

 

This decision can be taken by the Charge Conference of a local church at an appropriately called meeting or it can be taken by the Annual Conference with the consent of the Bishop, a majority of the District Superintendents, and the District Board of Church Location and Building.  When a church closes, our Annual Conference has directed that its remaining assets be reinvested in developing new and existing congregations within that church's region or city.  Beyond that, the Discipline mandates that proceeds from the discontinuance of churches in urban centers with more than 50,000 in population must be used for new and/or existing ministries within that urban center (�2548.7).

 

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congregational development office      978-682-8055 ext 210      curtis@neumc.org