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Natural Birth for New Ministries
What it takes to deliver a healthy new church program.
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Our adult Sunday school was losing people through the cracks. We already had two kinds of classes: electives and age-graded classes. But some people -singles, international students, DINKS (double income, no kids), and folks like my husband and me who enjoy a diverse crowd - didn't feel at home in any of them. The DINKS didn't want so much talk about diapers and schools, and the singles felt uncomfortable with so much emphasis on family and home. The problem was, none of the categories of "misfits" contained enough people to start its own class. So a small group of us got together to ask the question, "What if … ?" That's where the common denominators of ministry and career arose. Perhaps we could try a new adult class that examined the concerns we shared. We proposed the idea to the pastor and our Christian education board. The fact that my husband and I had taught adult electives and served on the CE board didn't hurt our case. We received a green light to initiate the class as an experiment. Remembering who our constituency was, we tailored the class to build relationships and focus on our ministries both in the church and in our workplaces. We kept away from family subjects. Our job was to forge a united group out of many subsets of people. Through joint projects, progressive dinners, and socials, we worked to relabel as something good what some thought might divide us: our variety. It worked. Our class is going strong and feels cohesive. Probably the best indicator of that success is the comments we hear from time to time: "We finally fit!" "I've learned a different perspective from others in the group," "This group feels right for my needs," and "I don't feel like I've been put in a box." As a lay leader at least partly responsible for this and other innovations, I feel good about effecting positive change in the church. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for change. For some lay leaders, the sounds of consistency and dependability are as much music to their ears as the traditional organ. For instance, in a recent business meeting at one church, the no-change faction vetoed coffee and doughnuts in the Sunday school classrooms because it had never been done before. And the idea of putting a soft-drink machine in the church basement is blatant sacrilege. This group finds change discomforting, inappropriate, threatening. Even among those who want change, not everyone feels able to effect it. I know people still frustrated that they were outvoted regarding pews in the sanctuary. They were shut out again in a church name-change decision, and again in a verdict about two worship services. They never seem to get what they want. When you think the youth program needs revamping, how can you make your voice heard? When you feel as though you've brought up the need for a marriage and family focus for the twenty-ninth time and no one is listening, how can you break the sound barrier? Here are some of the strategies I've seen employed with success. |             |
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