Understanding Vocation and God's Call PDF

 6HQVLQJWKH&DOO We begin this chapter, and indeed this entire book, in the place where we will end. We begin and end in the knowledge that we, all of us, are known and loved by God. We begin and end in the knowledge that God summons us into relationship, invites us to share in his divine life, a...

 6HQVLQJWKH&DOO We begin this chapter, and indeed this entire book, in the place where we will end. We begin and end in the knowledge that we, all of us, are known and loved by God. We begin and end in the knowledge that God summons us into relationship, invites us to share in his divine life, and calls us to ministry in the world. How we hear and respond to that call is the topic of this first chapter and sets the stage for the unfolding of this text. This famous prayer of Thomas Merton (1915–1968) acknowledges the challenge and difficulty, as well as the hope and promise, of all who make this journey: God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.1 Thus we set out to explore what it means to be called by God. How do we hear that call? How do we know it is a call from God? What could following that call mean for our everyday lives? What is the role of the community in discerning a sense of calling? How do we prepare ourselves and open ourselves to perceive and respond? Even to begin to answer these important questions requires some definition of terms as well as a common understanding of the nature of discernment, neither of which is simple or easy. 7KRPDV0HUWRQ Thomas Merton was born in 1915 and perhaps is the most influential American Roman Catholic writer on spirituality. In 1941 he became a Trappist monk and, while a Trappist, he became a strong advocate of civil rights. Later in life, he became interested in other religious traditions, especially Zen Buddhism. Thomas Merton died in Bangkok in 1968. His legacy is a significant range of publications of which his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948, Harcourt Brace and Company), is one of the best known. &DOODQG9RFDWLRQ Part of the confusion is that words like call and vocation are often used interchangeably. This is understandable since the word vocation comes from the Latin vocare, which literally translated means “to call.” The confusion comes in the application of these terms. The word vocation can be rightly understood in a number of different ways. The dictionary offers three standard definitions: one being a summons to perform a certain function or career, especially a religious one; another refers to a function or career to which one believes he or she is called; and a third refers to any career, profession, or occupation.2 Notice that there are both religious and secular meanings implied in each of these definitions. For our purposes, writing from a mainline perspective, we will follow the pattern established in what has become a classic text in Christian discernment, Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community. In this book, the term vocation is used in the broadest sense, while the term call is reserved for something more specific. For instance, someone might have a vocation as a choral director and yet respond to a call to serve a particular choir at a particular time in a particular place.3 The title of this book is derived from the Judeo-Christian understanding that the heart is more than flesh; it is the very core of being, the hub of mind, body, and spirit. It is in the heart where we enter into communion with God and one another, and it is the place where we struggle to understand our vocation and God's call.4 The premise of this text is that God's call involves obedience, God's call involves some form of ministry, and God's call involves community. Pointing to the origins of the word obedience, from the Latin, audire, which means, “to listen,” the authors of this book contend that every true call is a call to obey.5 Obedience refers to the deep listening of the heart, which requires a response. For people of faith, that response is ministry. In this sense, ministry is not simply the doing of good deeds, but more specifically refers to “something that Christ does in us and through us and that we do in and through Christ.”6 Christian vocation, therefore, involves our striving to hear and respond to God's call in ways that conform to a living and active partnership with Christ. According to this understanding, being obedient, or listening for God's call to ministry, requires discernment. This term, which is so crucial to our understanding of vocation and call, comes from the Latin discernere, and means “to separate,” “to distinguish,” or “to sort out.” In the realm of classical spirituality, discernment has to do with identifying what spirit is at work in a specific situation. In this sense, discernment helps one to determine the source of a call, helps one to determine to whom a call is directed, and helps one to determine an appropriate response. It also helps one to determine if one is being deaf or blind to a call, rejecting or ignoring a call, or resisting or avoiding a call. Discernment itself is a gift from God and is a matter of both hard work and a generous amount of grace. This is particularly true since we are bombarded by any number of voices. The voices of ego and pride, of culture and career, of success and self-interest, can compete with, and drown out, the voice of God. How, then, are we to differentiate these voices, sort out the spirits, and discriminate between our will and God's will?7 Unfortunately there are no rules and no definitive answers, and the rules that do exist, even the most sincere and well intentioned, are imperfect and incomplete. For example, we can look to the experience of a sect of early Quakers who were convinced that God's “true” call was always contrary to one's own will. The assumption was that any “cross” to one's personal will provided an opportunity to take up the cross of Christ. This line of thinking produced some rather absurd results when some Quaker Friends were discovered walking naked through the streets of their community simply because it was clearly “contrary to their own will and inclination” and therefore was most certainly an action taken in “obedience to the Lord.”8 Another definitive test or rule regarding the true call of God, far less dramatic than the last, yet often far more problematic, is the reliance on particular passages of Scripture to determine God's call and will. “Frequently, however, this meant (and can still mean) merely choosing some biblical passages and ignoring others to confirm a pre-charted course.”9 Therefore, Christian discernment cannot be reduced to a set of rules or formulated answers, but rather develops in a relationship with God; that is, our hearts being rooted and grounded in the heart of God. To that end, discernment is better understood as “apprehension rather than comprehension.”10 Using the analogy of driving a car at night, discernment is like the light that is cast only far enough ahead to see the next bit of road. Discernment involves taking risks, it involves making mistakes, it involves having faith in God, and it involves trusting that more discernment will come.11 This is precisely why the role of the community is so important and why a life lived in community is so central to the Christian faith. Paul aptly uses the metaphor of the Body of Christ to describe the mutuality and interconnectedness of members. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it (1 Corinthians 12:26, New Revised Standard Version, NRSV).” Given this reality, something incredibly important happens when we consult one another within the Christian community. “God calls us each individually but as individuals we see only partially.”12 Other members of the community can have the ability to open our eyes to see things that we might not have seen and open our ears to hear what we might not have been able to hear on our own. Even a person who feels absolutely certain about a call may be mistaken in how it is applied. Because God often reveals part of the picture to one person and another part to another person, it is  prudent to consult one another to discern God's counsel, guidance, and direction, even if there is no apparent reason to do so. While circumstances sometime require us to act without consulting others, the danger of arrogance and error in proceeding on our own can be great.13 So vocation and call require obedient listening, a response that takes the form of ministry, and community discernment. Vocation and call require risk and the possibility of making mistakes. Vocation and call require trust that even when we act in error, more discernment will follow. Central to this understanding of call and vocation is the basic idea that God has called each one of us to do something with our lives, and in the doing of that something our lives will have meaning and purpose. The pages of Holy Scripture abound with stories of call, and in practically every instance there is a corresponding story of how the call from God is at least initially resisted. In almost every case there is an immediate sense of inadequacy on the part of those being summoned. This is typically followed by a litany of reasons why this particular call is bad idea, which is then typically followed by the suggestion that God would do far better to choose someone else. The classic call stories of the great prophets Moses, Jeremiah, and Isaiah all fit this pattern. Moses, for instance, refuses God's call no less than five times (Exodus 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10 and 13); he also complains that he does not know God's name, is not a person of consequence, has no credibility, and is not a public speaker. Jeremiah famously complains that he is just a boy and does not even know how to speak (Jeremiah 1:6), and Isaiah opines that he is a person of unclean lips who dwells among a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5).14 And yet, in spite of an overwhelming and sometimes crippling sense of unworthiness, in each story, by the grace and power of God, the call is ultimately heard and heeded. These stories offer both consolation and inspiration as we grapple with similar issues in our own lives. Practically every book, article, or lecture on the topic of Christian vocation in recent times includes quotes from one or all of the three Bs: Frederick Buechner, Walter Brueggemann, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Buechner, clearly the most quoted on the subject, sees call and vocation as the intersection of personal passion and the needs of the larger community, or in his words, vocation is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.” Notice how his thinking begins with self-understanding and moves outward to the world.15 Similarly, Brueggemann places vocation at the intersection of personal will and divine will, or in his words, vocation is “finding a purpose for your life that is part of the purposes of God.”16And lastly, Bonhoeffer emphasizes that the very process of obedient listening and responding faithfully to our vocation as disciples requires change and transformation. It means that we are drawn toward something different to our current situation. Echoing the call of the disciples, who immediately left their nets to follow Jesus, he points out that when Christ is done with us, we will not be the same people we were when we started. On the contrary, we may well be at odds with former beliefs, former understandings, and former lifestyles.17 For Bonhoeffer, to be called as a disciple of Christ is to be changed fundamentally. So for the three Bs vocation has to do with passion, purpose, and the possibility of transformation. Notice that all three interpretations have a public dimension (a movement beyond self) and a future orientation (a movement beyond the present). 3DUNHU3DOPHU Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak is a key manual to those persons entering into a discernment process. It is personal, reflective, and ultimately instructive as to how one may listen to where God may be leading. Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks – we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.18 0DUWLQ/XWKHURQ9RFDWLRQDQGWKH0LQLVWU\RI WKH%DSWL]HG It is a vast understatement to say that the reformed traditions of mainline Christianity owe a great debt to the brilliant theological mind of Martin Luther (1483–1546). We are particularly indebted for his recovery of the idea of the “priesthood of all believers,” which provides the theological groundwork for our modern understanding of vocation. When he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg in 1517 he was protesting Church abuses that he knew firsthand. Living a privileged monastic life he grew increasingly uncomfortable with the growing wealth of the Church and the growing poverty of the general populace.19 Philipp Melanchthon, a contemporary of Luther and fellow reformer, described the monastic life in this way: Everyone knows how much hypocrisy, ambition, and greed there is in monasteries; how ignorant and cruel those illiterate men are; how vain they are in their sermons and in thinking up new ways of making money. There are other vices, too, which we would rather not talk about. Though once upon a time they were schools of Christian instruction, they have degenerated as from a golden age to an iron age, or as the Platonic cube degenerates into bad harmonies which, Plato says, cause destruction. Some of the richest monasteries just feed a lazy crowd that gorges itself on the public alms of the church.20 It is against this backdrop that Luther sets out to be an agent of change. He railed against monastic life and promoted a Christian life returned to the fundamental principles of the love of God and the love of neighbor. He believed that a true Christian should have no other thought than the needs and concerns of his neighbor. This basic notion is the driving force behind his developing theology and the foundation for his emerging understanding of vocation.21 As previously discussed, today we appreciate both the secular and religious understandings of the word vocation, yet in Luther's day there was no such distinction. On the contrary, it was understood that only those in religious orders received the gift of vocation. Luther thought differently. He believed and championed the radical notion that all Christians had a calling in life. In particular, he felt that every Christian was called to live a life that consisted of faith in God and love of neighbor. Vocation for Luther was simply a function of Christian love. This, he believed, was true regardless of station, status, class, or office. For Luther, vocation was not simply understood as an occupation, but as relationship. Even more far-reaching and controversial, Luther would come to believe that even the most common and lowly work of society was equal to, if not greater than, the work of the religious orders of the day.22 It is little wonder that Luther found himself in such trouble with the established Church when he wrote words such as these: However numerous, sacred and arduous they (vows of monkery and priesthood) may be, these works in God's sight are in no way whatever superior to a farmer laboring in a field, or a woman looking after a home. Rather all are measured by him by faith alone. … Indeed it occurs quite frequently that the common work of serving man or maid is more acceptable than all fastings and other works of monks and priests where faith is lacking.23 For Luther, it is through baptism that we receive our religious vocation, our ordination for ministry, and our welcome into the priesthood of believers. The calling of all the baptized is then to spread the love of God through Christ in all that they do, whether in religious order in the Church or in daily work in the world. Therefore, both vocations – the Ministry, and the vocations of secular life which serve love to one's neighbour, spring from the same source and arise out of the same Gospel. Since the ministries which serve faith and those which serve love take their origin in the same source, they possess the same dignity and are different aspects of the same priesthood.24 Again, Luther in his own words, “As many of us as have been baptized are all priests without distinction. … For thus it is written in I Peter 2, ‘Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a priestly kingdom.’ Therefore we are all priests, as many of us as are Christians.”25 It is this legacy that lives on today in the denominations of the mainline; all in one way or another have been shaped and formed by the premise that all are called to ministry through baptism. The question for mainline Christians therefore, is not “Have I been called to ministry?” but instead, “To what ministry am I being called?”26 It is critical to note at this point that Luther did not advocate for an end to ordination, nor did he wish to abolish the role of clergy, but rather wanted to make certain that a call to serve in this capacity stood in the shadow of baptism and not apart from it. 'HQRPLQDWLRQDO3HUVSHFWLYHV It is this fundamental shift in the understanding of vocation that has been inherited by mainline Christianity. At this point we will now explore the manner in which various denominations have dealt with the distinction between the ministry of all the people of God and the representative ministry of the clergy. We will begin with The Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church USA that states: All ministry in the church is a gift from Jesus Christ. Members and officers alike serve mutually under the mandate of Christ who is chief minister of all. … One responsibility of membership in the church is the election of officers who are ordained to fulfill particular functions. The existence of these offices in no way diminishes the importance of all members to the total ministry of the church. These ordained officers differ from other members in function only … when women and men, by God's providence and gracious gifts, are called by the church to undertake particular forms of ministry, the church shall help them to interpret their call and to be sensitive to the judgments and needs of others.27,28 The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, the book of law for this denomination, offers a similar statement: Ministry in the Christian Church is derived from the ministry of Christ, who calls all persons to receive God's gift of salvation and follow in the way of love and service. The whole church receives and  accepts this call, and all Christians participate in this continuing ministry. Within the church community, there are persons whose gifts, evidence of God's grace, and promise of future usefulness are affirmed by the community, and who respond to God's call by offering themselves in leadership as ordained ministers.29 The candidacy manual for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offers the following: It is by Christ's gift that all baptized persons are called to ministry. Every baptized believer is given gifts and abilities for ministry. Every baptized believer is called to ministry in daily life. Some are given gifts and abilities which equip them to provide leadership in one of the rostered ministries of this church.30 Quite similarly, the canons of the Episcopal Church state that every diocese of that denomination shall: make provision for the affirmation and development of the ministry of all baptized persons, including: (a) Assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to minister in Christ's name, to identify their gifts with the help of the Church and to serve Christ's mission at all times and in all places. (b) Assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to sustain their ministries through commitment to life-long Christian formation.31 The Episcopal Church's “Outline of the Faith” also affirms that, “the ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons.”32 A closer look at denominational literature reveals that each denomination has its own unique review process for helping the Church to determine which ministry best suits those who present themselves seeking such discernment. For those seeking ordination there are a few general assumptions that seem to permeate all of the literature: (i) there is an assumption within each denomination that the gifts necessary for ordination will be readily apparent to the Church; (ii) there is an assumption that candidates for ordination will be supported by their home congregations in pursuing the call to ordination; (iii) there is an assumption that this support is operative for at least 6 months before moving forward; (iv) there is an assumption that a local congregational process occurs prior to judicatory level process; (v) there is an assumption that this discernment and these series of interviews happen over an extended period of time; and lastly (vi) there is an assumption that it is the work of the church to decide who is suitable for ordained ministry and who is not. The corollary to the last item is the assumption by all mainline denominations that not everyone who senses a call to ordination should, in fact, be ordained. Generally speaking, the candidate's desire to be ordained is not a deciding factor. Therefore, in mainline denominations it is either explicit or implicit that community discernment (at the local and judicatory levels) is integral to the vocational process, with each church reserving the right to discriminate.33 In the United Methodist tradition, the historic questions asked of all candidates for ordained ministry are found in The Book of Discipline. These questions contain John Wesley's own standards for pastoral leadership and have been in use since he first asked them in 1746: 1. Do they know God as a pardoning God? Have they the love of God abiding in them? Do they desire nothing but God? Are they holy in all manner of conversation? 2. Have they the gifts, as well as evidence of God's grace, for the work? Have they a clear, sound understanding; a right judgment in the things of God; a just conception of salvation by faith? Do they speak justly, readily, clearly? 3. Have they fruit? Have any been truly convinced of sin and converted to God, and are believers edified by their service? As long as these marks concur in them, we believe they are called of God to service. These we receive as sufficient proof that they are moved by the Holy Spirit.34 Aside from the implicit assumption that not all persons seeking ordination would be found suitable, these questions do expect that candidates would have a high level of commitment and would also exhibit a certain degree of spiritual maturity. These questions also strongly suggest that those candidates who do possess these particular gifts will be readily apparent to the Church. Those whom the Church ordains shall be conscious of God's call to ordained ministry, and their call shall be acknowledged and authenticated by the Church. God's call has many manifestations, and the Church cannot structure a single test of authenticity. Nevertheless, the experience of the Church and the needs of its ministry require certain qualities of faith, life, and practice from those who seek ordination.35 One final example is found in The Evangelical Lutheran Candidacy Manual: Candidacy Committees have the responsibility to determine which form of ministry is most appropriate for the individual's gifts and abilities. When an individual's gifts are not suited for rostered ministry it is the responsibility of the committee to clearly indicate that and direct the individual to the important ministry of the baptized. When an individual does possess those characteristics which enable a person to serve in rostered ministry the committee will need to affirm and support the candidate in the process of preparation and formation.36 All of these examples point to the reality that a call to ordination in the mainline is not solely a matter of a personal sense of call, or simply the affirmation of the local congregation, but also requires the official approval of the larger denominational body.37 In the mainline, a call to ordination is a multi-layered, multi-faceted, and deeply interconnected process that requires prayerful discernment at all of those levels. $&RPSHOOLQJ$OWHUQDWLYH9LHZ Returning now to the broader topic of call and vocation as it relates to the ministry of all of the baptized, and not just those seeking ordination, we conclude this first chapter by offering a slightly different perspective. This alternative view, while not diametrically opposed to the traditional overview that we have provided, is a reaction against the large and popular strand of contemporary evangelical theology that emphasizes that one finds one's call and vocation by searching for and finding God's will. In his article, “No secret plan: Why you don't have to find God's will for your life,” Philip Cary criticizes this thinking not only as anxiety producing and unhelpful, but also as profoundly unbiblical. Rather than embracing the idea that God's will is elusive – something out there waiting to be found – he contends that God's will is unambiguous, revealed in Scripture, and is right in front of us. Rather than praying that we find God's will in every moment and every decision (from whom we will marry, to what career we will choose, to what we will have for dinner) he suggests that we pray for wisdom and understanding to make these, and all decisions, as responsible and faithful moral agents. Citing the prophet Micah's admonition that we are to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8), Cary also echoes the 10 commandments and Jesus' summary of those commandments, which compel us toward love of God and love of neighbor. Cary suggests that this is the will of God, this is what God asks us to do, and that nothing more is required of us. All we have to do is apply it. “Anyone who tells you that you need to do more in order to be ‘in the will of God’ is teaching falsehood.”38 This understanding of vocation and call fits well with Brueggemann's idea of locating our purpose within the purposes of God. Understanding God's will, revealed in the whole Word of God, does not tell us what to do in every situation we encounter, and Cary believes this leaves the door wide open for mischief on the part of those who would look for formulas, simple answers, or foolproof methods for making these decisions. Rather, Cary contends that there are no recipes; there is only wisdom. He defines wisdom as the heart's ability to discern: the ability to discern what is good and what is evil, the ability to discern between a positive choice and a negative choice, the ability to discern constructive decisions from destructive ones. The heart's intelligence is “not a method or formula you can apply to a particular situation simply by applying the rules, but a habit of the heart developed through personal experience that includes making mistakes.”39 Any attempt to follow a prescribed method in search of a short cut, or as a guarantee against failure, disrupts the arduous task of acquiring wisdom. Referring to the “Parable of Talents” (Matthew 25:14–30), Cary says that the work of the steward begins as soon as the master leaves town. In the parable, the steward has been entrusted with talents, has been commanded to do business with them, and is expected to make good investments. What have not been given to the steward are specific, step-by-step instructions about which investments to make and which to avoid. Those decisions are left to the steward. While it is conceivable that the steward could invest using a formula or method, it is more likely that the master expects the steward to employ the virtues of wisdom. It is clear that when it comes to proficiency in this work, there is no substitute for practice. The task is to learn in our own hearts how to carry on God's work in the world, thus acquiring the virtue of wisdom and becoming a co-worker with God. In the parable, the steward, who refuses to decide, refuses to invest, refuses to risk failure, and buries the talents, is deemed not only disobedient and slothful, but even wicked.40 In summary, Cary believes that the frenzied search for God's will in every moment of our lives is misguided. He suggests that our time, energy, and resources, as stewards of the master, as God's co-workers, as individual moral agents, would be better spent praying for the ability to discern. “For we already know God's will for our lives, he wants us to discern good from bad which includes making good investments for His kingdom.”41 In this process of taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from them, our hearts are remade into hearts of wisdom. It takes time and much effort for this to happen, and “the Lord does not short-circuit the process by making our decisions for us.”42 We believe Cary's view, while alternative to a popular strand of contemporary evangelism, is in fact consistent with the traditions of the mainline. And so we end where we began, setting out on a journey not fully knowing where the road will lead, or what might happen along the way. We walk by faith and trust, knowing that we are loved and known by God, invited into relationship and community, and called to serve. We strive to locate our passion within the needs of the world, we strive to find our purpose within the purposes of God, and we strive to discover our truest selves within the transforming love of Jesus. Our vocation and call, with all their challenges and difficulties, with all their hope and promise, are rooted in the heart of the One who summons us and promises to be with us to the close of the age. 1RWHV 1. Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude (New York: Image Books, 1958), 81. 2. Virginia Samuel Cetuk, What to Expect in Seminary: Theological Education and Spiritual Formation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998), 57. 3. Suzanne G. Farnham, Joseph Gill, R. Taylor McLean, Susan M. Ward, Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community (20th Anniversary Edition) (New York and Harrisonburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2011), 103. 4. Ibid., 2. 5. Ibid., 13–14. 6. Ibid., 17. 7. Ibid., 23. 8. Ibid., 24. 9. Ibid., 25. 10. Ibid., 26. 11. Ibid., 27. 12. Ibid., 55. 13. Ibid. 14. Ibid., 14–15. 15. Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000), 16. 16. Joyce Ann Mercer, “Call forwarding: Putting vocation in the present tense with youth,” Compass Points: Navigating Vocation (Princeton, NJ: Institute for Youth Ministry, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2002), 29. 17. Cetuk, What to Expect in Seminary, 49. 18. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak, 16. 19. Cetuk, What to Expect in Seminary, 56. 20. Ibid. 21. Ibid., 57. 22. Ibid. 23. Ibid., 58. 24. Ibid. 25. Ibid., 60. 26. Ibid. 27. Ibid., 59. 28. The Presbyterian Church, USA (PCUSA) now uses the title “teaching elders” for what were previously called “ministers of the word and sacrament.” There are therefore both “teaching elders” and “ruling elders.” 29. Ibid., 59–60. 30. Ibid., 60. 31. Canon III.1.a, b, in Constitution and Canons for the Government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America: Otherwise Known as the Episcopal Church (adopted in General Conventions 1789–2012 together with the rules of order revised by  the Convention) (New York: Church Publishing, 2013), 67. 32. “Outline of the faith: Commonly called the Catechism,” in The Book of Common Prayer (New York: Seabury Press, 1979), 855. 33. Cetuk, What to Expect in Seminary, 60–61. 34. Ibid., 61–62. 35. Ibid., 62. 36. Ibid. 37. Ibid., 63. 38. Philip Cary, “No secret plan: Why you don't have to find God's will for your life,” Christian Century 127, No. 20 (October 5, 2010), 21. 39. Ibid. 40. Ibid. 41. Ibid., 23. 42. Ibid. $QQRWDWHG%LEOLRJUDSK\ Badcock, Gary D., The Way of Life: A Theology of Christian Vocation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). Moving away from the idea of vocation as occupation, the author analyzes the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin origins and meanings of the word and provides a survey of various histories and theologies of vocation. Cary, Philip, “No secret plan: Why you don't have to find God's will for your life,” Christian Century 127, No. 20 (October 5, 2010), 20–23. This article counters the popular notion that we are to seek God's will in our lives, or in a particular situation, by arguing that we are to focus more on the task of acquiring wisdom (the ability to discern what is good and what is bad). Using the Parable of the Talents, the author emphasizes that we are given talents with the expectation of the master that they be invested in the kingdom, but without specific details about how to do the investing. Therefore, the wise steward is a co-worker with the master. Cetuk, Virginia Samuel, What to Expect in Seminary: Theological Education and Spiritual Formation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998). While this primer to entering seminary is focused primarily on the academic, spiritual, and communal expectations with respect to leadership training, Cetuk (a professor at Drew Theological Seminary) sets the context for discussions on discernment and calling. In one chapter, she also includes a brief survey of the discernment processes in various mainline denominations. Countryman, L. William, Living on the Border of the Holy (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1999). This work is viewed as a classic in the exploration of faith, calling, community, and the priesthood of all believers. He defines “priest” from the beginning as one who inhabits the “borderlands” of our experiences and encounters with God. Farnham, Suzanne G., Gill, Joseph P., McLean, R. Taylor and Ward, Susan M., Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community (20th Anniversary Edition) (New York and Harrisonburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2011). For over 20 years this book has served as one of the key manuals for those who are sensing a call to ministry. The primary author, a Quaker, helps frame the questions about major life choices as they relate to the will of God, and suggests how one can listen to the community's affirmation in this process. Gallagher, Nora, Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment, and Moments of Grace (New York: A.A. Knopf, 2003). This moving story narrates the personal discernment of the author through recognizing a calling, discerning God's will as a member of her Episcopal congregation, and then navigating the inevitable polity and mechanics of discernment committees and Commissions on Ministry. Throughout the process she returns to prayer and soul-searching as her compass. Grinenko Baker, Dori and Mercer, Joyce Ann, Lives to Offer: Accompanying Youth on their Vocational Quests (Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2007). This entry in the Youth Ministry Alternatives Series focuses on the calling of youth to ministry. Chapter 8 is a key to this text, entitled “Whose Calling? Who's calling?”, which is a distinction that is entirely appropriate in those sensing God's call at any age. Mercer, Joyce Ann, “Call forwarding: Putting vocation in the present tense with youth” (lecture given as part of the 2002 Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry). This lecture explores the various changes in the understanding of vocation within Christian theology, with particular emphasis on the implications of these shifts with regard to youth and young adults. Palmer, Parker, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000). Essential reading for a person preparing for a discernment process in ministry of any kind, Palmer's book has been referenced and reflected upon by many others when writing on the topic of call and discernment. Placher, William C., ed., Callings: Twenty Centuries of Christian Wisdom on Vocation (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005). Placher edits together a compendium of writings, passages, and resources from myriad theologians and writers about vocation, calling, and the inspirations of the Spirit. This book provides an excellent resource for looking at the Christian tradition on the subject of call and discernment. Roscher, Ellie, ed., Keeping the Faith in Seminary (Minneapolis, MN: Avenida Books, 2012). This anthology about particular seminary experiences from various mainline writers contains some valuable testimonials about calling and vocation in Protestant Churches. Schuurman, Douglas, J., Vocation: Discerning our Callings in Life (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004). A discussion of calling may be best understood as an exploration of vocation. This book is a look at the Protestant understanding of vocation from a contemporary perspective. Soughers, Tara, Fleeing God: Fear, Call and the Book of Jonah (Lanham, MD: Cowley Publications, 2007). Soughers, an Episcopal priest, presents the Book of Jonah through the prism of her own discernment process, and offers some powerful thoughts and reflections on calling.  7KH,PSHUDWLYHRI7UDLQLQJ Any important role in society needs training. If you want to be a doctor, then you need a 4-year undergraduate degree, a further 4 years of medical education, and then 3–7 years in a residency program. To be responsible for the lives of men and women and make sure that they survive and thrive under your supervision requires an extensive and long training. There are many forms of ministry in the Church. Some feel called to chaplaincy; some to a form of lay ministry; some are simply called to live out their baptismal vows in the context of regular secular employment. However, the focus of this chapter will be on the leadership of congregations (both lay and ordained). Leadership of congregations is a major responsibility. You are going to be responsible for inviting the loving God who created the cosmos to intersect with the lives of those in the congregation. You will be the person who stands by the bedside of someone as she dies and has to handle the loss and pain of the grieving family. You will be responsible for taking a person and helping him to commit to a volunteer outreach ministry. You are the person who will have to explain the complexities of the doctrine of the Trinity (in as far as one is able). You are the person who will have to manage this volunteer organization and deal with budget and staffing issues. This is not easy work. And mistakes, as serious as the ones doctors may commit, can happen and when they do, the damage is significant. The best ecumenical statement about the nature of ministry was the highly regarded statement produced by the World Council of Churches in the early 1980s. It was called Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry. The text explains that ministry is grounded in the “whole people of God,” to whom the Spirit of God has given a range of different gifts. The text recognizes the threefold pattern of ministry – bishop, presbyter, and deacon. And at the same time it notes that modified versions of that pattern are emerging as the Church adapts to the changing nature of society. For our purpose, the text describes the conditions for ordination and writes: Candidates for the ordained ministry need appropriate preparation through study of scripture and theology, prayer and spirituality, and through acquaintance with the social and human realities of the contemporary world. In some situations, this preparation may take a form other than that of prolonged academic study. The period of training will be one in which the candidate's call is tested, fostered and confirmed, or its understanding modified.1 7KH:RUOG&RXQFLORI&KXUFKHV In the early part of the twentieth century, it was clear that various denominations of Christendom had splintered over theological issues. A movement to reconcile these denominations began, and dialogue between churches was initiated in what is now called the “ecumenical movement.” In 1948, the first World Council of Churches (WCC) convened in Amsterdam featuring representatives of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Today, the WCC boasts the participation of 349 global churches, falling under the guidance of this mission statement: The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfill together their common calling to the glory of the one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.2 Training for ministry is important and difficult. It needs to include both spirituality and the social sciences. In addition, there is a tension between the skills necessary to understand the tradition we are in and the skills necessary for managing and caring for the congregation. There is also an expectation that the person trained is an appropriate grace-filled vessel. If one's doctor is greedy, one can still trust the doctor's judgment in matters of health; if the priest is greedy, then he or she is not reflecting the values of the Gospel. So it is not surprising that every mainline denomination in the United States sets out a necessary process for training. 3URFHVVHVLQWKH0DLQOLQH Getting accepted into the ordination process and getting trained are difficult. All the mainline denominations are very concerned with attracting the most able and training them as effectively as possible. Many start the process and a significant number are finally told that “no call is recognized.” This can be painful and difficult. It is hard to offer yourself to the Church only to find that the Church does not think this is your vocation. However, this selection process is important. The Church needs to be confident that the gifts and skill sets of an individual are suitable for ministry. Most Christians are called to serve God in a vast variety of professions. The task of leading a congregation is neither better nor worse than these other callings. It is different. And the Church has a responsibility (however painful it sometimes is) to recognize (and encourage) the call in some and to explain that God's call lies elsewhere for others. Acceptance into the process is not necessarily a promise of ordination. Training takes time. And the Church has a responsibility to make sure that the person in the process is still suitable for ordination. So there are a variety of stages in the process. Ordination is never sure until the hands are laid on a person's head. This means that the process is both time-consuming and unsettling. Time-consuming because the training is extensive, and unsettling because one is never sure that ordination will happen (despite all this training). Although this uncertainty is necessary, we do take the view that it would be good if all the mainline denominations could ensure that after a rigorous examination of the candidate, once he or she is in the process, then the outcome is likely to be successful. It is not right that as membership of a committee changes or a new bishop arrives there is suddenly a reexamination of applicants who are already in the process. Churches need to be thorough, but they don't need to be cruel. In addition, there is some evidence that two types of applicants for ministry can be seriously disadvantaged by the process. The first is applicants from ethnic minorities. When progress through society is made difficult because of racism, it is hard to cope with a system of interrogation and suspicion. The second type is the most able applicants. For example, if a person graduates from an elite school and has the choice of a high-paying position in finance (where she is being offered a signing bonus) or struggling through the process towards ordination. When the initial enquiry is met with a lack of encouragement, it is not surprising that some of the most able opt out of the ordination process. There are some applicants who might find it difficult to enter the process. For the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, some in the mainline will welcome and others will discourage. The United Methodist Church, for example, continues to affirm the historic Christian line that confines sexual intimacy to heterosexual marriage. This means that an openly gay applicant will not be received into the process. Even in a denomination that officially welcomes gay applicants, there are localities that are more conservative and might hesitate to take the applicant forward. In addition, there are some parts of the Church that are nervous about ordaining women. Although all the mainline affirm the ordination of women, there are localities within the different denominations that are more hesitant. The processes are different in each denomination. These are brief descriptions of the five traditions we are focusing on in this book. 7KH8QLWHG0HWKRGLVW&KXUFK There are a number of different options in the United Methodist Church. The first is the elder. Elders are called to preach and teach the Word of God, administer the sacraments, organize the Church for its mission and service, and administer the discipline of the Church.3 The second is a deacon, “called to lead in service, word, compassion, and justice and equip others for this ministry through teaching, proclamation, and worship and who assist elders in the administration of the sacraments.”4 Both elders and deacons complete 2–3 years of provisional membership to clergy orders, depending on the location and annual conference expectations. The Book of Discipline says those who are “not ordained as elders who are appointed to preach and conduct divine worship and perform the duties of a pastor shall have a license for pastoral ministry.” This may include provisional elders who have been commissioned by the annual conference, local pastors, associate members, deacons in full connection who are seeking to qualify for ordination as an elder, and licensed or ordained clergy from other denominations who have a training equivalent to the studies for license as a local pastor but do not meet the requirements for provisional membership. Those licensed for pastoral ministry may perform the duties of pastors but only while appointed to a particular charge or extension ministry. And the third is the locally ordained pastor (who may be part-time). The locally ordained pastor may be elected to associate membership in the Conference after serving for at least 4 years and meeting additional requirements of training. However, in all three cases, there is an expectation of significant initial training. The process starts with the pastor in a congregation. It is important the pastor is supportive of the candidate starting the process. There is an assigned text called The Christian as Minister: An Exploration Into the Meaning of God's Call, which potential candidates for ministry are encouraged to read, in addition to Understanding God's Call: A Ministry Inquiry Process. The precise nature of this training is prescribed by The United Methodist Book of Discipline and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Certain seminaries are approved by the United Methodist Church to be a place for training – this includes the United Methodist seminaries (such as the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and Duke Divinity School), as well as other ecumenical institutions such as Harvard Divinity School and Yale Divinity School. For those who are feeling called to local ministry or a licensed pastoral ministry, there is a Five-Year Basic Course of Study. This covers all the basics and can be delivered in a variety of ways. As with all mainline denominations, one does need to have the call recognized by the Church. The district superintendent is a key person: he or she will invite the candidate into, and help oversee, the process. The Clergy Session of the Annual Conferences needs to elect the candidate into provisional membership; and a bishop needs to commission and finally ordain you. This process can be demanding and difficult. Like all the mainline denominations the Methodists strive to discern whether there is an authentic call and whether the training has been adequate. 7KH3UHVE\WHULDQ&KXUFK 86$ A key theme for Presbyterians is the idea of a “covenant relationship.” So the relationship to God is important, along with the relationship with each other. There are three partners in the covenant relationship. These are the “individual under care,” the session of the congregation (this is the leadership team of the congregation), and the presbytery to which the congregation belongs (presbytery is the group of local elders and ministers in that area). Normally, the presbytery will delegate its responsibility to a committee or ministry team, which is called the Committee on Preparation for Ministry. The ultimate decision-making responsibility resides with the presbytery. The Handbook on Ministry explains: The session will make recommendations about whether the person should be enrolled as an inquirer, and may be asked to share what it is discerning about the individual's sense of call and developing ministry gifts during the process. It will continue to provide pastoral care and support to the person as it does to all its congregational members. But it is the presbytery that has the responsibilities for oversight of the person's preparation, to make a decision about suitability for ministry, and finally to assess readiness to seek a call to ministry that would require ordination as a teaching elder.5 The focus of the training is on five key areas. These are: first, education for ministry, which normally takes place at a seminary and results in a Masters of Divinity degree; second, spiritual development, which is aided by a required unit of clinical pastoral education; third, interpersonal relationships; fourth, personal growth; and fifth, professional development. The language of covenant continues to shape the process. So there are covenant agreements that set out the progress that is needed in any particular area. At the end of the training process, the candidate is then “certified.” This means that subject to a call to a congregation, the process recognizes that the candidate is ready for ordination. 7KH8QLWHG&KXUFKRI&KULVW The United Church of Christ (UCC) has a strong congregational polity. This means that local congregations are self-governing, so the process must start within a local UCC congregation. This congregation will be part of an association. The candidate should be received as “a Student in Care of Association.”6 The two committees that are formed for the student focus on examining the “applicant with respect to fitness, aptitudes, Christian experience, and commitment.”7 Along with the other mainline denominations, the expectation for the full-time minister is a bachelor's degree and a Masters of Divinity degree from a theological seminary. As with the Presbyterians, the association is responsible for organizing the ordination service, which representatives of the different Churches should attend. 7KH(SLVFRSDO&KXUFK The Episcopal Church process starts in a congregation. A discernment committee is formed to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of a call. If approved, the aspirant then moves to the diocese (the regional organization of various congregations under the control of a bishop). Normally the bishop delegates authority to a commission, which will oversee both the discernment and the training. Typically training in the Episcopal Church involves seminary training. The type of seminary is at the discretion of the bishop. There are some local ordained options for those who cannot relocate. Increasingly, dioceses and groups of dioceses are organizing regional (and unaccredited) training. The standing committee of the diocese is responsible for finally recommending a candidate to the bishop for ordination. This is normally done after all the training and just before the ordination to the diaconate. All priests in the Episcopal Church are first required to be “transitional” deacons (of course some people are called just to be deacons and their training is less onerous and normally the work is unpaid), before being ordained as priests by the bishop. 7KH/XWKHUDQ&KXUFK There are four steps to the process in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). The Church talks of four rostered ministries, which are: (i) a commissioned associate in ministry of Word and service; (ii) a consecrated diaconal minister of Word, witness, and service; (iii) a consecrated deaconess of Word and service; and (iv) an ordained minister of Word and sacrament (this is a pastor). Focusing on the “candidacy process” for a pastor, there are four steps. These are: first, entrance/candidacy. The person interested in ordination works with the local congregation and a synodically based candidacy committee to explore his or her call to ministry. There is an application and all the normal checks (background check and psychological evaluation). The second step is endorsement. This often happens while in seminary. The idea here is for the synod and seminary to check in on the progress to date. The third step is approval. Once again this involves the seminary and the synod. This is the crucial step where a person will be approved for ordination. Finally, the last step is assignment. This is the moment when one can be assigned to one of the nine regions of the ELCA and then ultimately to a synod. The norm for a pastor is a 4-year Masters of Divinity – 3 years of academic study and a 4th year of internship, although like much of the mainline second career applicants receive a more abridged training. In addition, clinical and pastoral education is also required. 5HVLGHQWLDOYV1RQUHVLGHQWLDO6HPLQDULHV Increasingly, persons who are seeking ministerial leadership positions in mainline churches need to consider how to undergo their training. For centuries, the pattern meant a student enrolled in a graduate program (such as a Masters of Divinity) at a “residential” seminary – a fully enclosed academic campus in which seminarians live, worship, and study as they complete their degree. In the past couple of decades, prospective ministers have looked toward “bi-vocational” ministries, and similarly, non- residential education. Today, many seminarians across many denominations may partake in part-time studies while maintaining their existing careers or jobs. But this is not to say that residential seminaries have gone the way of the dinosaur – many denominations have seminaries that provide the resources for a full intensive education that encompasses residency on or adjacent to a full-time academic campus. Figure 2.1 Virginia Theological Seminary Source: Courtesy of Virginia Theological Seminary,  www.vts.edu.H\)HDWXUHVRI7UDLQLQJ For all mainline traditions, it is important that the clergy person be well formed in the Christian tradition. So the key features are: a good grounding in Scripture (one needs to know the Bible and be able to interpret the Bible intelligently), theologically literate (know the key theologians of the Church), historically sensitive (understand the journey of faith over the years), ethically aware (understand how the tradition calls us to live lives of love rather than egotism), congregationally effective (understand the world of worship and know how to preach), and pastorally sensitive (able to be there when there is a need). In this book, we have chapters on these areas. They form the basis of a good academic foundation. Naturally, there are many other areas that are considered important. So, for example, it is helpful to have an understanding of the arts, or of other religions, or of the challenge of distinctively missional context (a diverse urban setting for ministry is quite different from a more homogeneous rural setting). One important discovery that one makes as one starts the training is that there is always more to know. No program of training can cover everything. As a clergy person in the making, one needs to anticipate that the training will last a lifetime. One entirely distinctive part of the training is the need for personal integrity and spiritual depth. The word normally used in theological education is “formation.” One needs to be formed to be ready to serve. It is grounded in that beautiful biblical image of the potter and the clay (Isaiah 64:8): God needs to shape us into beautiful pots appropriate for the work of ministry. Now this is where training gets tricky. In the end, one can trust the medical judgment of a doctor or the legal judgment of lawyer, even if they do not pray. The graduate training of a doctor or a lawyer need not include expectations around prayer. However, with a clergy person it is vitally important that the person be authentic. One needs to be a person of prayer; one needs a disciplined internal life; one needs to have integrity in one's relationships; and one must have a sense of God and a joy in living the Christian life. Naturally, clergy are not immune from the struggles, temptations, and brokenness of all human life. So there are moments when it can be so hard. And we need to bring our brokenness as part of our authenticity to our ministry, but one should always be a work in progress. We need to give God the space to transform us so we are ever more effective as ministers of the Gospel. )RUPDWLRQ The place to start with formation is discipline. The work of giving God the space for our lives to be transformed is a work of discipline. One must clear time every day for prayer and study. This must be a priority; the busier you are the more important it is to keep the time for devotions intact. Different traditions have different forms of devotions. For the Lutherans and Episcopalians, it is an expectation that one observes the “daily office” (short liturgies that involve certain prayers, canticles, and readings); for the Methodists, UCC, and Presbyterians, there is more flexibility. Naturally there are a whole of host of aids for Bible study and prayer, some of which are listed at the end of this chapter. Another important part of formation is spiritual direction. Accountability is important in formation. It is very easy for patterns to emerge in a life that betray the Gospel. So finding a “prayer partner” or a “spiritual director” (the terminology depends on which tradition you are in) is vitally important. Ideally a clergy person should aim to meet up with them every 4–6 weeks or so (any more often and there is nothing to say, and any less the accountability is less effective). It should be a time where the challenges of ministry and of one's own personal journey are shared. The conversation should range widely, discussing worries around relationships and children, as well as those moments when doubts and fears are real. Naturally, the conversations should be kept in the strictest confidence. Such sharing is serious and holy work. These two features – dedicated daily time with God coupled with spiritual direction – form the pillars of formation. Other aspects include searching out opportunities for collegiality and retreats. Collegiality in a clergy group is important because it ensures we remain sensitive to the spectrum of God's work in the world. Part of formation is learning to live with people who hold different opinions from you. So finding a good clergy group with whom you can discuss differences of polity and faith is healthy. Increasingly, there are clergy groups who are forming co-ed soccer teams, which then combine exercise and collegiality with a witness. Wellness is an important part of formation. We are called by God to love our neighbors as ourselves. This means that the commandments include “love of self.” To give, give, give to others with no self-care is very unwise. Studies show that lack of self-care is a key factor in clergy misconduct.8 In addition, the Episcopal Church discovered that clergy who exercise and take care of themselves are much more likely to lead a growing church. So a good diet, regular exercise, and taking a vacation are all-important ingredients in a well-formed clergy person. 1HZ0RGHOVRI7UDLQLQJ Earlier in the chapter we looked at the mainline emphasis on a graduate degree from a seminary. This expectation has its roots in the ideal of a “learned clergy.” Gregory Jones and Kevin R. Armstrong muse on the roots of this concept when they write: This ideal has been built partly on the image of the pastor as a professional, but it is rooted also in an emphasis on the pastor as preacher and teacher. Many of the earliest colleges and universities were founded in order to cultivate a learned clergy. The founders of Harvard College, for example, sought to avoid leaving “an illiterate Ministry to the Churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.” … When the time came that the colleges felt a need for a more focused studies for future clergy, they endowed professorships of divinity, formed departments around them, and eventually established the divinity schools whose work it was, and is, to create a learned clergy for the church.9 Jones and Armstrong go on to reflect on the challenge that the concept of the learned clergy has posed for American Christianity. They want excellence grounded in a wider set of skills. However, an additional challenge to the learned clergy has come from a more practical and logistical place. A graduate degree is difficult for many people to obtain. It is not so much the raw intellectual ability, but the challenge of finding the time for such sustained training. Many mainline congregations are very small. Often the size of the congregation reflects the small town. If the town has a population of 5000 people, then it is not surprising that the congregation in the local mainline church is small. Raising up leadership for these congregations is difficult. The congregation cannot afford a full-time clergy person. So the position will have to be part time or even voluntary. To require a 3-year graduate degree (with all the inevitable debt) is unreasonable. As a result many mainline denominations are developing alternatives. Using books such as this, they are working to design a curriculum that can facilitate appropriate and sufficient training to lead the small congregation effectively. One can now train online or in weekend and week-long intensive programs. These options are opening up theological education in an important and effective way. The other important trend is around the form the training takes. Even with the 3-year graduate degree, there are many different types. Some are delivered in partnership with congregations (a major feature of the training for the Lutheran Church); others have a focus on chaplaincy as a ministry setting (for the military, prisons, hospitals, and schools); and others strive to be aggressively missional in approach. Lance R. Barker and B. Edmon Martins have collected some excellent examples of alternative models for theological education. The “mutual ministry” model, which is aimed at small rural congregations, involves “localized, corporate learning … that seeks to engage – over a period of time – a majority of the members of the congregation.”10 The Southern Conference Ordination Preparation Education (SCOPE) is aimed at African Americans in the UCC who need a distinctive program that recognizes the cultural and historical experience of African Americans. The Theology Among the People (TAP) program is another UCC program that focuses on both lay and ordained education in small groups. The United Methodist Church developed the Course of Study Schools, which operates in partnership with the seminaries, but offers a more flexible residence experience in preparation for licensed pastoral ministry. The Presbyterian Church has a program for “Commissioned Ruling Elders” to engage in a modified course of study, which includes online study. The idea here is to provide a training where a person can assist and serve when a teaching elder is not available. All of these programs stress the need for training, but do so in more gentle ways than the traditional 3-year graduate degree. &RQFOXVLRQ There is an imperative to the trained. Ministry is difficult and demanding work. As one discerns a call, it is often the case that one imagines that the simple combination of a love for Jesus coupled with energy is all that needed. It is commonplace to resent the demands around training that the process to ordination puts on the future clergy person. However, once in the world of training, almost everyone then understands why it matters so much. There is just so much to learn. It is good to learn Greek or Hebrew or, preferably, both. It is important to understand the different ways in which the Church has understood the Trinity. Learning how to preach well is essential. Relating well to the young as well as the old is hard; yet some of the basics can be taught. Managing a volunteer organization is difficult. Time is needed to learn how to be a personnel manager and a financial specialist. Congregational dynamics are tricky, so conflict management skills are important. And, of course, it is vitally important to learn how to be present with a person in need. Perhaps the most important part of training is the work of formation. We are called to live the Gospel we preach. This is fundamental. And we need the years to give God the space to make that true of us. Training takes time; it is best not to resent it, but to love every moment of it. 1RWHV 1. Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper No. 111 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1982) as found in William H. Willimon, Pastor: A Reader for Ordained Ministry (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002), 45. 2. “About us,” World Council of Churches, http://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us (accessed May 28, 2015).3 The United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2012, 303.2. 3. The United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2012, 303.2. 4. Ibid. 5. Advisory Handbook on the Preparation for Ministry, 32, as found at http://www.pghpresbytery.org/forms/pdfs/cpm/CPM_Advisory_H (accessed June 18, 2015). 6. United Church of Christ Manual on Ministry, produced by the Parish Life and Leadership Ministry Team. Section 2: Student in Care of Association, 5 as found at http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/unitedchurchofchrist/legac 2002–20student-1.pdf?1418424768 (accessed May 28, 2015). 7. Ibid., 5. 8. see Nils Friberg and Mark R. Laase, Before the Fall: Preventing Pastoral Sexual Abuse (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998). 9. Gregory Jones and Kevin R. Armstrong, Resurrecting Excellence: Shaping Faithful Christian Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), 111. The quotation from Harvard College comes from a 1643 pamphlet called New England's First Fruits by the president, Henry Dunster. 10. Lance R. Barker and B. Edmon Martin,eds, Multiple Paths to Ministry: New Models for Theological Education (Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2004), 36. $QQRWDWHG%LEOLRJUDSK\ Barker, Lance R. and Edmon Martin, B., eds, Multiple Paths to Ministry: New Models for Theological Education (Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2004). Thanks to the Lilly Foundation, this is a useful survey of some of the more innovative programs that have started to emerge for training. Calian, Carnegie Samuel, The Ideal Seminary: Pursuing Excellence in Theological Education (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002). The then-president of Pittsburg Theological Seminary sets out the case for why training at a seminary is so important. Foster, Charles R, Dahill, Lisa E., Golemon, Lawrence A., and Wang Tolentino, Barbara, Educating Clergy: Teaching Practices and Pastoral Imagination (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2006). Sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, this book has become the classic in respect to theological education. A masterful survey and discussion. Jenkins, Davod O. and Rogers, P. Alice, eds, Equipping the Saints (Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2010). An important collection of essays that describes the best practices in ministry formation. Jones, Gregory and Armstrong, Kevin R., Resurrecting Excellence: Shaping Faithful Christian Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006). An important text that stresses the centrality of learning the practices of ministry. The theme is the importance of living as faithful disciples of the Gospel. Willimon, William H., Pastor: A Reader for Ordained Ministry (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002). A really helpful reader that sets out the primary ecumenical texts around the nature and purpose of ordained ministry. 5HVRXUFHVIRU'DLO\'HYRWLRQV Barnhill, Carla, The Green Bible Devotional (New York: Harper Collins, 2009). An environment-focused devotional built on daily scripture readings. There are many specific daily devotionals written like this one focused on care for creation. Clairborne, Shane, Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan and Okoro, Enuma, Common Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A popular book of daily prayer particularly in US “New Monastic” movements. Nouwen, J.M., Bread for the Journey (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997). Three hundred and sixty-five devotional readings by spiritual writer Henri Nouwen. Northumbria Community, Celtic Daily Prayer (San Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 2002). There are many books for daily prayer in the Celtic Tradition. This book of daily prayers follows the morning and evening offices of the Northumbria Community, an ecumenical Christian community in Northumbria, UK. Taizé, Prayer for Each Day (Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, 1998). A book of ecumenical daily prayer based on the Taizé community following the liturgical seasons. The One Year Bible: Arranged in 365 Daily Readings (Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers, 1991). Read the NRSV in 1 year. There are many daily devotions available for access online or to be sent to your email. In addition, each denomination provides their own daily devotion online and/or in the form of daily prayer or the daily office. $OWHUQDWLYH5HVRXUFHVIRU7UDLQLQJ Asbury Theological Seminary Extended Learning. You can complete two thirds of your Masters of Divinity through Asbury's extended learning program. The Lutheran Theological Seminary and Lancaster Theological Seminary have teamed up to provide a Distance Learning Collaborative Program. It allows you to take courses online staying in your location. University of Dubuque's Theological Seminary's Christian Leadership Program. A distance education technology recommended by the Presbyterian Church and open to those training for leadership in other Christian denominations.  &KXUFK'\QDPLFV([SORULQJ &RQJUHJDWLRQDO&XOWXUH From bookshelves to blogs, there is no shortage of published material devoted to the renewal of the mainline Church. All seem to agree on the urgent need for change, yet there is no consensus on the form, direction, or shape that change should take, nor is there a consistent understanding of what constitutes a renewed Church. With these issues in mind, we offer an overview of congregational dynamics. These dynamics help to explain the present state of the Church and also offer a glimpse of what the Church can become. While we agree that there is a need to change, we also believe that the elements of renewal are found not from outside the institution, but rather from within the mainline tradition itself. Rather than the wholesale replacement of beliefs, customs, and structures, we contend that the future of the mainline rests in the rediscovery of the best and most fundamental qualities and characteristics of the reformed experience. We believe that our renewal rests on our being more of ourselves and not less so. We believe that our renewal rests on claiming our truest identity rather than becoming something we are not. We believe that our renewal rests on mining the unique gifts and treasures of our tradition rather than discarding them. Thus the change that we are suggesting is not a shift in belief (adapting the theology of the mega- church movement), not a shift in program (acquiring the latest Church growth strategy), and not a shift in structure (organizing our way into a new future). The change that is required is the transformation of congregational culture. The corollary to this change is the leadership required to guide that transformation. In this chapter we will explore congregational dynamics from a number of perspectives. We begin with a review of the elements of the Church culture and a brief history of the discipline of congregational studies. We will then look at some of the theoretical tools used to help analyze, assess, and understand the complexities of congregational life, and lastly delve into congregational transformation and leadership based on the reclaiming of the theology of mission that is the foundation of mainline Christianity. -DPHV+RSHZHOO Broadly recognized at the founder of the discipline of congregational studies, James Hopewell (1929–1984) was a missionary in West Africa, trained in the field of comparative religion, and over the course of his ministry became fascinated with the nature, culture, and life of local congregations. He was particularly interested in understanding the resilience of congregations and the application of the rapidly developing world of social sciences to the life of the Church. +RSHZHOODQGWKH)LHOGRI&RQJUHJDWLRQDO 6WXGLHV Any review of the development of congregational studies as a distinct field of academic pursuit must include the pioneering work of James Hopewell. Broadly recognized as the founder of the discipline of congregation studies, Hopewell was, in his early career, a missionary in West Africa. He was trained in the field of comparative religion, focused on Islamic studies, and over the course of his ministry became increasingly fascinated with the nature, culture, and life of local congregations. He was interested in both the challenges facing local congregations and their amazing resilience. He set out to learn more and read widely on the subject, only to find the existing literature incomplete and unsatisfying. What fascinated Hopewell was the ability of congregations to hold together in the face of seemingly overwhelming pressure, and he found little accounting for this in the congregational literature of the day. He also found that the field of congregational studies, like the literature, was fragmented and failed to account for the subtleties and nuances of congregational life. He would come to believe that any critical understanding of congregational life would require systematic analysis, and that analysis would require tools of theory.1 Before beginning our examination of congregational analysis, some critical background and context will be helpful. Congregational studies emerged in the early twentieth century, in the shadow of the rapidly developing world of the social sciences. Often viewed as a weak application of the largely secular principles used to study other social institutions, it would take decades for the field of congregational studies to be acknowledged and recognized as a respected area of study in its own right. Eventually the field was established squarely within the discipline of what is known as “qualitative” research as opposed to the more traditional “quantitative” approach to research. That is, rather than exploring congregational life using strictly statistical surveys, questionnaires, and other rigidly quantifiable analysis, the goal would be to search for deeper meaning, and a richer understanding of congregational life, utilizing more flexible tools of assessment.2 Early practitioners also had to define the scope of their work and distinguish between whether or not the goal for their findings were to be of “extrinsic” or “intrinsic” value to the Church. Extrinsic study would be undertaken with the hope that the research could contribute in some meaningful way to the wider Church, that the findings would be applicable on a more global, macro-level. An intrinsic approach has no such goal and would be undertaken simply to foster understanding and for the benefit of the community being studied.3 It is within this framework that the discipline of congregational studies would emerge. Generally speaking, this field of exploration, within the American mainline Church experience, tended toward qualitative and extrinsic research. The goal was the discovery of deep common understandings and meaning that could be applied more universally to the larger Church. It is in this context that James Hopewell began his groundbreaking work, which would become known at “ecclesial ethnography.” His classic book, Congregation, was published in 1987 posthumously, and remains a standard text for those who study congregations. He begins this work with an observation made by the theologian Wade Clark Roof, that in congregations, theological doctrines are always filtered through the social and cultural experiences of the people. The result is what Roof referred to as the “operant religion” of the congregation, which might differ dramatically from the more “formal religion” of the historic creeds. Hopewell believed that it was in understanding the operant religion of a congregation that one could begin to see how belief systems function in people's everyday lives.4 Utilizing his experience as a missionary and his skill and training as a social scientist entering an alien culture, Hopewell observed, interviewed, and immersed himself in the life of a congregation with the goal of understanding its unique history and how that history informed its current role and self-understanding. Hopewell began to see congregational life as an unfolding narrative, and found that a storytelling approach was far more effective in exploring people's fundamental beliefs than direct questioning. He found that if he asked directly about a specific theological belief, people would either be embarrassed or uncomfortable in their response, or resort to the language of formal religion and give him the answers that they thought he wanted to hear. He learned that it was more important to learn the language of the operant religion of the congregation, which is the language of story. He found that in a local congregation, members participate in religion far more easily than they can explain it. He believed that it was here, at the intersection of participation and explanation, that the organized and official doctrines of the Church produce a particular slant that becomes the operative religion which forms the basis of personal belief, and shape the unique culture of the congregation.5 As time went on Hopewell arrived at the brilliant insight that forms the heart of his thinking and the heart of the seminal book. He would contend that congregations can only be understood and fully appreciated on the basis of narrative; that is, the stories that members tell about themselves and their community is they struggle not only for survival, but also for meaning. Put another way, congregational culture is a unified system based on narrative. His basic theory is that:  [C]ongregational culture is not an accidental accumulation of symbolic elements but a coherent system whose structural logic is narrative. As congregations first come into being, he argued, they construct a narrative that accounts for their nascent identity. They attract to their fellowship those who want to participate in the unique local drama enacted there. They maintain their integrity against incursions by reiterating their distinct local history. And they encounter the world by identifying similarities between its stories and their own.6 The rest of his work is an elaboration on this theory about the power of narrative in shaping and sustaining congregational life and his contention that anyone working within congregations must be aware of this dynamic. Building upon this foundational work, the field of congregational studies has continued to grow and develop. Yet two of Hopewell's fundamental approaches and practices remain. The first is to draw on the insights of the broader perspectives of the social sciences (anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc.); and the second, to enter every local congregation as one would enter a foreign country or culture. The discipline continues to be shaped and defined as the quest to interpret the unique history, narrative, and culture of a congregation. A more contemporary definition of congregational studies, which echoes these same themes, is from Jackson W. Carroll in his Handbook for Congregational Studies. He contends that the goal of congregational studies is to study: seriously and appreciatively, through disciplined understanding, their present being – the good and precious qualities that are within them – as a means of grace themselves that enable the transformation of congregations into what it is possible for them to become.7 At this point, it is also important to offer a word of caution. Humility is the hallmark of this work, and yet the dangers of arrogance are an ever-present hazard in the work of congregational studies. To speak of “discovering” congregational culture may sound a bit  presumptuous. After all, religious leaders have been confronting distinctive congregational cultures for centuries. Think of how immigrant congregations fought over changing the liturgy to English, or of the battles that took place when Irish clergy were sent to serve Polish parishes. And we are familiar at another level with the skirmishes that have taken place over church dinners – do we use fine china or paper plates – and building designs – Gothic or modern? Such clashes are not trivial. Ways of life and basic self- understandings are at stake in such controversies. Clearly, cultural differences have been facts of life in our congregations for as long as we can remember.8 One example of how Church ethnographers veered off course occurred in the 1960s when a prominent group of sociologists and theologians became preoccupied with the idea of religion's role as a “tottering sacred canopy over the whole American culture.”9 They fretted about the blandness of American congregations, the suburban captivity of the Church, their increasing homogeneity, and their growing irrelevance to public life. According to this perspective, congregations seemed to have made a deal with the dominant culture: “churches could have Sunday morning, nice buildings and tax exemption, but they had to stay away from corporate boardrooms, executive suites, smoke-filled rooms and other places central to the nine-to-five world.”10 While not completely unfounded, this perspective “obscured the generative and nurturing role that congregations played at the local or subcultural level.”11 What they failed to see was the amazing resilience and adaptive capabilities of congregations that prompted Hopewell's interests. What they failed to see was that congregations built structures of value and belief that incorporated their own historical narrative as well as larger cultural events. These discoveries helped to “bring into view the distinctive character of the congregation and challenge us to stop taking these institutions for granted.”12 5HDGLQJD&RQJUHJDWLRQ Learning to appreciate the local congregation, speak its narrative, and become part of its life is essential for those who would also seek to lead that congregation. Yet there are many who believe that congregational leaders are, too often, not adequately prepared for the task. At the seminary, students learn distinct styles of worship, varieties of biblical hermeneutics, modes of theologizing, approaches to pastoral care and models of leadership. Some observers of theological education are so disillusioned by the depths of this enculturation and its lack of fit with the cultures of local congregations that they conclude that the only thing the seminary equips students to do is to attend seminary.13 While this is an extreme position, it does point to the importance of equipping people with the skills to “read” the local congregation that they seek to serve. Sadly, even when attempts are made to prepare potential leaders, they are taught a variety of methods and practices that are to be applied generically, as if every congregation is the same.14 These explorations of congregational culture also challenge those who lead these institutions, and those who seek to shape their leaders, to learn to read a new kind of text: a congregation. The discovery of congregational culture poses an interpretive challenge as sizable as that presented by the scriptures themselves. Think of how much we invest in preparing people to read the scriptures. We need to make an equal investment in preparing people to interpret congregational life.15 And yet, the ability to “read” a congregation is only part of the task. Once the text of the congregation is read as a whole, the next challenge is to navigate the cultural divides that exist within congregations. With intermarriage, denominational switching, higher education, career mobility and the complex spiritual pilgrimages taken by so many church members, one cannot assume that members and leaders share a worldview. In addition to learning to identify who and what is in the room with us, we need to learn to work with cultural diversity, to negotiate differences, to bring to the surface hidden values, and to turn congregations into places of healthy  cultural exchange. Decisions about hymns, sermon illustrations, church suppers and mission priorities are occasions where church leaders can help or hinder people in passing on, transforming and creating a local culture that can give meaning and value to their lives.16 Abundant grace and humility are required to traverse this varied and ever-changing landscape, along with a deep sense of awareness that none of us is culture-free. We each bring our own perspectives, world view, and biases along with us. Yet the complex and complicated web of relationships and connections that constitutes the local congregation is at the same time the very place that helps to provide strength and stability amid external chaos and confusion, is a deep reservoir of belief and value amid societal skepticism, and contains institutions that foster meaning and purpose amid a larger culture of relativism and apathy. It is the local congregation that bears within it the creative imagination and ability to bring people together in such a way that they can embrace a new reality which can bring both life and hope to the world beyond its doors. Returning briefly to Hopewell, the key to congregational transformation rests in the ability to tap into the local narrative and connect that narrative to the challenges being faced by the congregation. Acquiring such critical understanding, Hopewell believed, requires critical analysis, and critical analysis requires the tools of theory.17 Our next section is an overview of various tools of theory that can be used for assessment and analysis, but note at the outset, that all are vehicles, in one way or another, of connecting to the congregational narrative. 7RROVRI$VVHVVPHQWDQG$QDO\VLV There are a number of ways to observe the dynamics of congregational life, as well as a number of resources available to Church leaders to engage in a process of observation, assessment, and analysis. These are essentially tools that provide various frameworks and perspectives of congregational dynamics. The hope is that they might lead to deeper understanding. We will review four resources: congregation size, congregational life cycle, appreciative inquiry, and contextual assessment. &RQJUHJDWLRQDOVL]H This theoretical framework, the work of Arlin Rothauge, is one of the earliest, and remains one of the most important frameworks for understanding church dynamics. Based on his extensive research, Dr Rothauge concluded that size was the major determining factor in the culture and behavior of congregations. In his original framework, American congregations were divided into four categories. He was quick to add that his theory intended no judgment about congregations based on their size, there was no optimal size, but rather focused on the defining characteristics of each category, and eventually led to more research about the particular dynamics when a congregation transitioned from one category to another. Each transition was filled with its own unique opportunities and challenges.18 Dr Rothauge's four categories based on congregational size are: 1. Family size. This category has an average Sunday attendance of 50 or less. This size is aptly named, because the dynamics of these congregations are like those of a family. There is usually a matriarch or patriarch and typically one or two actual blood-related families. The clergy tend to function as “chaplain” to the family. More recently different models of sacramental and pastoral leadership have been developed to serve smaller congregations. These include a mix of lay and ordained leaders, bi-vocational clergy, and clergy serving multiple congregations as part of a team. 2. Pastoral size. This category has an average Sunday attendance of between 50 and 100. The pastor is truly at the center of the dynamics of this congregation. He or she is responsible for most of the programming, teaching, preaching, and direction. Congregants want to know their pastor and attribute much accountability to that person and role. The pastor is also a primary conduit for welcoming newcomers and for their incorporation into the community. 3. Program size. This category has an average Sunday attendance of  between 150 and 350. Programs dominate the dynamics of the life of this size congregation. People become part of its life through participation in one of these programs, or small ministry, or fellowship groups. This size congregation is often served by a staff of multiple lay and ordained professionals. One of the most difficult points of growth in this category is encountered when the average Sunday attendance reaches about 200. 4. Resource size. This category has an average Sunday attendance of more than 350 worshippers. These congregations are the most complex in terms of organizational dynamics. There are more programs and groups, and often subsidiary organizations (schools, foundations, community organizations). They will usually have many human and financial resources for mission.19 &RQJUHJDWLRQDOOLIHF\FOH It is the same Arlin Rothauge who also provided this framework for exploring congregational dynamics. Uniting the study of organizational dynamics and the human life cycle and applying them to congregations, Dr Rothauge believed that local churches experienced the breadth of the life cycle from birth, to growth and development, to stability, to decline, and sometimes even to death. His premise is that every congregation like every human institution, and every living organism, is somewhere on the life cycle continuum. He also believed that there were two imperatives for congregational leaders. The first was to know where a congregation currently resides on the continuum, and the second was to address that knowledge in an appropriate, intentional, and strategic way. He used what he called the three “Rs” to describe the appropriate intervention: redefinition (shifting the mission), redevelopment (growing in a new direction), and resurrection (death and rebirth). The focus of any intervention is the essential reengagement with mission and the creation of a strategic plan for health, growth, and renewal.20 $SSUHFLDWLYHLQTXLU\ A more recent framework for congregation assessment comes directly from the field of organizational development and is called appreciative inquiry. As the name suggests, this framework focuses on helping organizations, in this case congregations, identify their peculiar strengths and the patterns of strength that are reflected in the life of the congregation.21 One of the great benefits of this approach is that it is, by design, positive and affirming. Starting with assessing strengths and assets helps the community to recognize that these corporate attributes do exist and that alone has the effect of being hopeful and encouraging. Rather than focusing on shortcomings and weakness, this approach seeks to build on strength.22 &RQWH[WXDODVVHVVPHQW Based on the recognition that no congregation exists in a vacuum, this approach focuses on researching and gathering information about the wider context in which the church exists, its neighborhood and community. This can be as simple as intentional neighborhood walks to more formal engagement. One way to gather information is to invite community leaders and neighbors into the church for conversation and discussion of local issues. Another way is to conduct a survey of the neighborhood, local businesses, civic association, or perhaps equip church members to make personal visits. Still another way is to research the many public documents available that provide information about the local community, from census data to tax records. There are also professional services available to congregations. One such resource is MissionInsite,23 an organization that can provide up-to-date, useful, and relevant information about congregations and local demographics. This group has the capability to produce a snapshot portrait of the local community. This kind of information is invaluable when discussing ways to engage the neighborhood and the world beyond the church.24 All of these analytical tools are designed to raise awareness of congregational dynamics, to surface resources within the congregation, and to draw upon the powerful and potentially transforming narrative that exists at the heart of congregations. Such transformation is never easy. &XOWXUDO&KDQJH'HPRJUDSKLFV  The USA Today Diversity Index shows diversity has surged in the last 50 years and is expected to continue rising. The US index rose from 20 in 1960 to 55 in 2010. Driven by changing attitudes and a record wave of immigration, the pace of change varies widely, sometimes even in adjacent counties. Figure 3.1 Mapping the United States' diversity, 1960–2060 Source: “Mapping the USA's diversity, 1960–2060,” from Marisol Bello and Paul Overberg, “Growing pains: Multicultural explosion rattles residents,” USA Today, November 10, 2014. Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/longform/news/nation/2014/11/10/no virginia-diversity-race/18079525 (accessed May 28, 2015). Map: Paul Overberg, USA Today, Amanda Astey, Sarah Frostenson, Anthony DeBarros and Gannett Digital. Data: USA Today, analysis of data from Census Bureau, NHGIS, and ProximityOne. &XOWXUDO&KDQJH The kind of congregational transformation we are referring to is not a change in Church polity or structure, nor is it a change in programming, nor is it a change in worship style, although all of these might well be affected. Rather, what we are suggesting is much more basic and fundamental, and difficult. We are suggesting the transformation of congregational culture, and we are suggesting that such a transformation takes place within the context of the wider culture. We live in a nation and exist in a society that is brimming with diversity, and yet our congregations rarely reflect that diversity. This is not a new phenomenon and has been the historical norm in America since the colonial era. This is true in spite of the fact that the United States has become home to a broadly diverse population. This is also true in spite of the fact that “our patterns of ethnic specific religious interaction continued in the US even as people learned to speak English and adapted to the dominant culture.”25 There are three prevailing theories of American cultural interaction. The first is the idea of “Anglo-conformity,” which implies that any new ethnic group becomes completely assimilated into American culture, which itself remains unchanged. The second is the “melting pot” theory, which implies that any new ethnic group becomes completely assimilated as the cultures meld together to form a new dominant culture. The third is the theory of “cultural pluralism,” which implies that any new ethnic group coexists alongside the dominant culture with neither being changed in the interaction. While all three of these ideas exist, in theory, none has become the norm. The reality could be more aptly described as “structural pluralism,” which acknowledges that there is a large amount of conformity and acculturation on the part of new ethnic groups, while at the same time there is still a large amount of separation. This is particularly true in local congregations.26 “Without God's initiatives that transform us personally and as groups, our behaviors tend to be limited by cultural and human habits. Encounters with those who were different often led people to withdraw and to protect what was familiar.”27 For congregational transformation to happen, leaders not only have to be adept at “reading” the congregation they are called to serve, they also have to recognize and appreciate the existing congregational culture, while at the same time developing the ability to reach across multicultural contexts and create an environment whereby God's reconciling action becomes evident in the life of the Church and its missional engagement.28 In the next section we take up the topic of transformational leadership from the perspective of mission. /HDGHUVKLSDQG0LVVLRQ Two themes undergird this chapter on Church dynamics and culture: the first is that congregational change cannot happen without leadership; the second is that congregational transformation cannot happen apart from mission. In his exceptional book, Transfo