Reviving the Congregation

Pastoral Leadership in a Changing Context

Michael W. Foss

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781451482881
• eBook ISBN: 9781451489712
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Pastoral leadership has always been challenging, but clergy and parish leaders today face unprecedented challenges, many of which simply didn't exist a generation ago. The questions of ministry and leadership in the church today range broadly across the financial and the managerial, the spiritual and the interpersonal.

In such a time, a wise mentor who can articulate a way forward for others is an immeasurable help. In Reviving the Congregation, Michael W. Foss, best-selling author of Power Surge, steps forward as that mentor.

Bringing decades of experience in congregational life and leadership and a winsome style to the work, Foss offers a compelling introduction to the new context in which we lead, and the personal and congregational strategies that will offer a way forward.

Reviving the Congregation is rooted in Foss's own experience, but it is open to all through questions for reflection, space for notes and journaling, and an extended bibliography for further reading.

2

The Pastor’s Soul: Leaning on Grace

Faith that is put into practice is a living faith. The life of discipleship begins in the mind and heart of the leader, and then becomes the foundation upon which ministry is built. In this chapter, I will identify and demonstrate the practices of discipleship. This is not a complete explication of the many ways they can be practiced. Rather, I invite the reader into the inner journey of the soul. This is the invitation of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. This is also the “inside-out” leadership that will stand the test of time.

I hope the reader will see this chapter as an invitation to the circle of faith formation instead of a list to be checked off. In my experience, there are times when one practice is stronger than another; one expression of faith more easily accessed than another. The invitation is to spiritual growth and depth. Facing the present challenges requires an inner strength and focus that is best nurtured in private practice and within the community of the local congregation.

Imperfect Faith

The wonderful thing about faith is that it is imperfect.

A father brought his son to be healed of a demon that would seize the boy and throw him into a fit. At times the boy would be thrown into the fire. Jesus, up on the Mount of Transfiguration, came down to find his disciples arguing since no one could free the child. The boy’s father approached Jesus and explained the situation, saying that the demon had tormented the boy since childhood. “It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” The father cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief.” And Mark records that Jesus cast the demon out and healed the child (Mark 9:14-29).

There are few events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth that express the dynamic of faith like this one. The father, desperate to save his boy, has brought him to Jesus’ disciples in the hope—the faith!—that his child could be made well. The disciples were in over their heads. Jesus challenges the father to trust in God. The father, at his wit’s end, expresses the cry of so many of us: “How much more faith must I have? Help me, O Lord, to have that much faith.”

Pastors are no longer called to be the public ideal of faith. Instead, the twenty-first-century church leader is called to stand authentically beside the people of God as they struggle with faith. The distance between the ideal and the real is no longer acceptable—if it ever was! People of the church need to know that their pastor believes in God as revealed in Jesus Christ. They also need to know that he or she understands the imperfection of faith. The truth is that we do not believe as we should. We all believe as we are able. And the gospel is that God, in Jesus Christ, meets us there—just as the Savior met that father so long ago. This fundamental grace of God is the source of the pastor’s continued service—whether preaching or teaching; serving communion or saying the prayers of commendation for the dying; baptizing a child in the bloom of new life or officiating at the memorial service. Pastors, like that father, lean on grace: the accepting, loving presence of the Savior Jesus.

Personal Practices of Faith

When pastors accept that imperfection is the nature of faith, then we can begin to grow in our confidence with God and before the people of God. Our ministry is no longer based solely upon our abilities but is founded on the God who works through imperfect people to accomplish the perfect work of faith. Faith is God’s work, not ours. At best, we can point toward it. That is our task, to point and say, “See here . . . or there? That is the living power of God’s love for imperfect people. And I am first among them.”

We cannot give what we do not have. None of us has a perfect faith. Faith begins with our imperfection, and then the Holy Spirit meets us in the perfect love of God. We, at best, give imperfect witness to God’s perfect will—even when we do not understand it. Then we call others to seek and find this God-man Jesus. The pastor’s practices of faith both ground and strengthen this calling. We dare to trust that in our imperfect words and deeds the perfect love of God can become present to others through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Years ago, I formed an acrostic to guide my personal practices of faith and to equip others for their journey into discipleship: POWER SURGE. The vowels drop off, leaving the first letters of the practices described below: PWRSRG. Over the past few years, this acrostic has proven helpful to many congregations, pastors, and lay leaders. For a more in-depth treatment, see my book Power Surge: Six Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church.

Pray Daily

Prayer is the beginning of our task. These are not the prayers we pray in our official capacity. Instead, these are our own private and personal prayers. Sometimes they take the form of the historic church and are formal. In these instances, it is as if the believers of long past express the longings of our souls. In the twists and turns of ministry, I have found historic prayer to have a depth of meaning unmatched by my paltry pleadings with God.

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (ELW, pg. 304)

When I pray this prayer, I am reminded that I cannot control tomorrow. I do not know what challenges and joys will meet me because I will follow paths unknown to me. But I can trust the God of my journey. There are prayers in our traditional worship services that seem dry as dust, relics of our liturgical past. But there are other formal prayers that seem to embody the faith and point to our Lord Jesus in ways that defy language. These are the prayers of worship that are the heart-felt prayers of the worship leader.

Then there are the deeply personal prayers of the pastor that will never be heard by anyone other than our God. These embody our struggles of faith; they give expression to the groans of our hearts in the face of tragedy; they storm the gates of heaven on behalf of a critical need in the life of the pastor or another. They can be as silent as the dusk or as loud as a widow’s wail. Like the prayer of the father in Mark’s Gospel, they are always at the intersection of a faith that dares to believe and circumstances that assert the absence of God—not just our God, but any god at all.

* * *

When Jennifer could not stand in worship for the opening hymn, she quietly sat down. As our worship continued, she became aware of her growing weakness and dizziness. Then, when communion was being served, she realized she could not go forward. That’s when her daughter called 911. As the final hymn was being sung, the EMTs arrived. During the final verse, they put Jennifer on the gurney and exited the worship space.

Over the next few days, one of our lay ministers remained with Jennifer and her family members. I, as pastor on call, visited with her in support. Then, as I arrived at about 3:30 one afternoon, a closed door to Jennifer’s hospital room stopped me. Two hospital technicians explained that the doctor was in the room, had been for quite awhile, and would surely soon be out. When her physician came out of her room, he closed the door. “I’m her pastor,” I said. “Can I go in?” “Please do,” he responded, and opened the door.

I entered a scene of shock. She had just heard that what had appeared to be a simple problem with blood pressure was in fact a cancerous tumor putting pressure on her aortal artery and kidneys. After a lengthy time of listening and caring, I prayed and left.

All the way back to the church, I kept picturing Jennifer kindly serving at church, watering the plants, stuffing the bulletins, hosting events. How could this happen to such a wonderful person? I asked. And I pictured the Savior gently telling the woman with a twelve-year hemorrhage that she would be well. In the face of daunting news, with no prognosis available, I dared to claim such a healing for her. Then, realizing that prayer is not control over God but access to God’s love, I simply entrusted her into his care. “I believe; help my unbelief.”

These ongoing conversations with God often constitute the lifeblood of faith for the pastoral leader. The nearness of our holy God brings with it the trust that this God is the one who loves us and, like a loving parent, wants to hear our heartfelt desires—not just what we think we ought to pray for. And if we can have such an active relationship with God, then we know that others can as well. We speak of what we know: the Lord Jesus Christ meets us where we are, not where we ought to be. Real faith is imperfect.

The various prayers of the pastor will, sooner or later, become the deeds of faith. To pray is to eventually do. An example of this came one year when we celebrated Christmas in October. Our congregation had been walking through the compact Bible entitled The Story, and we transitioned from the Old Testament to the birth of the Messiah in the fall. As we reflected on the Savior’s birth, I challenged us all to not only receive the gift of the Babe of Bethlehem but to become the gift of God’s love in the world through surprising acts of kindness.

Soon after, I turned into the drive-through at my favorite Starbucks, inadvertently cutting off another vehicle I hadn’t seen coming. As I ordered, I thought of the sermon—as well as the woman’s surprised and unhappy face as I cut her off—and prayed that I might surprise her with grace, if not a concrete apology. So I paid the barista for her order.

Prayer can sometimes take concrete form—like buying coffee for a stranger. I wanted to “be the gift” and, at the same time, apologize. I do not know whether these goals were accomplished, but whether my prayer would be turned into action was within my power to determine.

As another example, sometimes when I am out for a jog, I’ll think of someone I know who cannot run—and I turn my run into a prayer. “Lord Jesus,” I will pray, “let every step I take be a prayer for somebody that they may be blessed and know the healing power of your love.” Sound silly? No more so than the habit of using prayer beads for praying. And the benefit to me is the awareness of the presence of God and the desire to extend it to someone else.

Worship Weekly

Actions become prayers when we consciously offer them to God—which is, of course, the basis for Christian worship. “Liturgy” comes from two Greek words: laos, meaning people, and ergon, meaning work. So liturgy is “the work of the people.” Yet for most of us as pastors (as well as some of our key lay leaders), it is our work. We take responsibility to see that the preparations are done well, that the participants all know their role and are capable of them, that the music will work with the theme of the message or liturgical day, and that we have done our work. Then we shepherd the service. The problem is that our work frequently excludes the possibility that we might actually worship!

Christian leadership is doing the right thing at the right time. This is no truer than in worship. That means there are times when we will have to exercise a hands-on approach to leading worship. We are all too familiar with the soloist who didn’t sufficiently rehearse or the children’s program that disintegrates in front of us. The pastor will need to intervene—if possible!—or, at the least, learn from such experiences how to better ensure that they will not happen again. And there have been times when pastors will need to interrupt for the sake of the worshipers.

I’ll never forget watching a volunteer consistently undermine the flow of our worship by changing our worship slides late. At St. Mark we have a lovely sanctuary in which a large screen is placed above and behind the altar. This allows our worshipers to see the words of our prayers as well as our contemporary hymns. But this Sunday, our volunteer would wait for the last word of any given slide to be said before changing to the next one. This meant a delay as we continued—again and again.

Between the services, I went upstairs to our media center and asked the volunteer to please move to the next slide while we said the second to the last word on the slide before us. It worked—until Monday morning, when I received a very angry phone call telling me that I had ruined the experience of that volunteer. In retrospect, perhaps I could have used gentler language—frankly, I couldn’t remember exactly what I had said. On the other hand, the experience of the worship for the next two services improved significantly.

Doing the right thing at the right time may require intervention. On the other hand, sometimes it means letting go and worshiping. I have come to believe that the first and best thing worship leaders can do is to enter into worship themselves. What we do is so often what we can give. When we are able to worship, we can authentically invite others into worship. Whenever possible, I will pray before our worship services: “Lord Jesus, help us do the very best we can so that we can get out of your way to do what only you can do.” Worship may be the work of the people, but it is only possible by the presence and touch of the Holy Spirit. The discipline of worship leadership also includes the inner focus of worship for the leader.

There are those moments when I am lifted out of my concerns and vigilance in worship. As mentioned earlier, I do not choose the hymns or contemporary songs of praise for our worship. Instead, I trust our worship leaders to make those decisions. We all are committed to working together so that the single focal point of our worship services is upheld in word and song. As a result, I often find myself surprised by what has been selected. Whether it is a traditional hymn or a contemporary song of praise, my surprise will delight me, drive me inward and I will lose myself in worship. When that happens, everything changes about the service for me. Now I know it has moved from being our work to becoming the work of the Holy Spirit.

I believe worship leaders long for such moments. I have never met a pastor who became a pastor without experiencing them. Yet I have heard many pastors lament that they cannot worship on Sunday with the people they are serving. This is both tragic and unnecessary. Let the pastor do her work, equip those who are serving in worship to do theirs, and then relax and trust the working of the Holy Spirit. Let worship surprise us with God’s grace! Look and plan for those moments of delight or the humbling of the soul. Leading worship means worshiping—not just working.

This is why I attend church while I’m on vacation. I believe that God has created humankind for worship; that is, with a space deeply within each of us that can only be touched and satisfied by our worshiping. And when I worship, I try to come with an open mind and spirit. Most of the time, I am able to hear the word spoken, prayed, and sung in such a way that my soul is fed. When I can’t keep an open mind and spirit, on that rare occasion that the pastor struggles with his message, I pray for the minister and the congregation. And I look for those elements in the service that can touch me with God’s grace.

A number of years ago, I attended a service where the pastor was doing a fine job of preaching. The topic and presentation were interesting and engaging. Then she said something that I just couldn’t agree with. I found myself arguing with her in my mind. After worship, my wife asked what I thought of the sermon and, after complimenting the pastor on her topic and presentation, I shared with my wife that I just couldn’t agree with a statement she had made. My wife laughed and said she knew that would get me. Then she told me some of the other things that pastor had gone on to say that my wife found to be delightful—a real blessing. That’s when I realized I hadn’t heard anything after that one sentence—I had become derailed and hadn’t heard much of anything after that.

I was embarrassed, and I felt cheated. That’s when I decided I’d try to set aside those things that I disagreed with in a colleague’s sermon in order to hear her out. I keep working at it so that I can worship—which, of course, is the point.

Read the Bible Daily

When I announced at St. Mark that I wanted to put Bibles in the racks of our pews and chairs so that anyone who wanted a new Bible could take one, I was pleasantly surprised by the response. When I said that we didn’t have the money in the budget so I was looking for generous gifts to cover the cost, I was even more surprised by the generous response. We have used these Bibles in our worship and have given so many away that we have had to repl...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Additional Praise for Reviving the Congregation
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table Of Contents
• Collision of Perspectives
• The Pastor’s Soul: Leaning on Grace
• The Pastor’s Vision
• The Church’s Environment
• The Ministry of the People
• Three Keys to Effective Ministry
• Culture Change: The Value of Persistence
• List of Works Cited