How to Explore Collaboration
Start with faith-building
ChurchFuture strongly recommends that congregations incorporate faith-building
measures into the collaboration process Pick a good
book or develop a top-notch Bible study and get all
your leaders involved in the discussion. Weave your study theme into
sermons and newsletter articles and Christian education to expose
the entire congregation. This can be a good time to use short-term
small groups. Church consultant Linnea Nilsen Capshaw recommends
that the cluster team prepare a "spiritual support plan" to
integrated faith building into the process. Your objective is to move people from “what I want for
me and my church” into asking what God wants his congregation to
become.
Congregation-wide visioning
ChurchFuture also recommends that you engage your entire
congrega
tion in thinking about why their church exists and what it
might become. We use a “Town
Hall Meeting" technique to get members talking and sharing
in an open but well-structured process. An outside facilitator and
objective process is necessary to get an honest picture of
congregational attitudes. After you have identified a prospective partner,
ask that church to conduct the same visioning so you can see how the
congregations compare in their sense of purpose and their vision for
the future. Visioning leads to better decisions and it shows members that
the leaders are listening to them. It often starts a sense of excitement
about collaboration.
Be honest about where you
are
Atonement Lutheran Church
was a small, older urban congregation that was doing OK. Its
energetic young pastor attracted new families to replace older
members as they died. Bills were paid on time, attendance was
stable, and the building was decently maintained although it was
inadequate and out of date. Atonement decided to form a strategic planning team
to look at its future. The outcome of the team’s
effort was a comprehensive plan to revitalize the church and
re-engage with the community. There was one flaw, however. Atonement
did not have either the financial or the people resources to
implement its ambitious plan.
Atonement’s team then looked at several options for securing more resources. Consolidation seemed to have the most potential. There were two other Lutheran Churches, Bethel and Calvary, within about a mile that could be potential partners in a consolidation. Bethel's situation was similar to Atonement's except that Bethel was slowly declining and experiencing big budget deficits. Calvary was aging and declining at a faster pace. It had some very dedicated members but could not afford a pastor and was unlikely to last more than two or three years.
Both Bethel and Calvary found it difficult to admit their plights. Declining churches are often in denial, hoping that God will save them or that next year will somehow be better. A small group of Atonement leaders set up informal coffee shop meetings with Bethel and Calvary leaders. Atonement talked frankly about its needs and shortcomings, which prompted the other leaders to recognize the grim circumstances of their churches. More importantly, Atonement shared its vision for a revived mission and this vision energized the Bethel and Calvary leaders. This combination of self-honesty and vision formed a foundation that led to a new blended congregation about 18 months later.
Get the facts about
prospective church partners
If you haven't already identified a prospective partner, list the nearby churches that might be candidates. Don’t exclude those of other denominations—some of the most successful partnerships are ecumenical. Look for both similarities and complementary differences. Quietly gather some basic facts about each church, especially their membership and attendance trends. Denominational offices and web sites and often have this data available. Assign leaders to visit each prospective partner church during worship to get an impression of the church’s values and culture. Get as much information as you can, because you don't want negative surprises about a partner after you are well along in the process.
Look objectively at
collaboration options
Get your leadership
involved in studying the various options for collaboration. Be sure
to include the option of not collaborating in your list of options.
Identify the pros and cons of each option as it fits your
circumstance and the situation of prospective partner churches. It can be smart to
keep two or even three partnership options on the table at this
stage before you approach other churches so that your prospective
partners can be involved in the options process too.
Talk with the leaders of
prospective partner churches
Churches often send out
letters at this stage, but we’ve found that face-to-face meetings
are much better. Have the president of your church call the
president of the prospective partner. Arrange an informal meeting
with a few key leaders from each church or arrange for the church
councils to meet together. At the same time your pastor should meet
with the prospect’s pastor. Explain why you are looking at some form
of partnership, describe the two or three options that seem to make
the most sense, and invite the other church to explore possibilities
with your church.
Form a team
If one or more other churches are interested, ask each council to appoint members to a joint team to explore collaboration in depth. We have found that 4 members from each church is the best number. Make sure that team members represent different constituencies in the congregation. It is very helpful to have team members with strong personal faith commitments. We recommend that the pastors attend all the team meetings and participate but not vote.
It is very
helpful to bring in an outside facilitator at this point. (See the
Resources page.) Set some guiding
principles for your deliberations and guard that leaders
from one church don’t end up dominating. Spend some time educating
yourselves on the options and assemble key information about each
church. Talk frankly about your objectives. Do you prefer to carry
on pretty much the way you are, or are you willing to change for the
goal of revitalization? Set a target date—maybe six meetings over
three months—to make a report and recommendation to the councils and
members of each of the congregations. It this report calls for
collaboration talks to continue it is very smart to bring the
recommendation to a vote in each church. At that point it is also important to engage
your denominational officials, if you haven’t done so already.
Three critical rules
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Church leaders often assume that the members know what is going on or that they don’t care. Neither assumption is useful. Keep your congregation up to date with the team’s progress, even when there is not a lot to report. Often the recommended collaboration will require dramatic change on the part of congregation members, and they will accept the change easier if they feel like they are in the loop from the beginning. Use a variety of communication methods: newsletter articles, announcements, temple talks, special meetings, and informal conversations. ChurchFuture has found that a web site specifically for the collaboration effort can be invaluable as both a communication tool and a paranoia reducer. Post your meeting notes and handouts on the site and include information about each of the church’s involved.