March 29, 2008
Dear Friends:
Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The Risen Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to enliven the mission of his disciples. Evangelism or "the presentation of Jesus Christ in such ways that people are led to receive him as Savior and follow him as Lord in the fellowship of the church" is a crucial part of the Church's mission.
Evangelism
At the most recent meeting of the Diocesan Council, the Evangelism & Church Planting Committee presented recommendations to help us engage in the mission of evangelism in the Diocese of North Dakota. They are as follows:
- Inviting all Congregations to a Period of Discernment and Commitment
Each congregation has to take a careful look at its current reality and make plans for a preferred future. There would be three phases to this process:
1. Congregational Discernment of Present Reality and Commitment to New Future
2. Preparation of New Future Vision and Commitment to Plan of Action
3. Implementation of Plan Toward New Future
The diocese will provide a facilitator to guide each parish through this process.
In addition, the Bishop (esp. during his visitations) and others will provide ongoing accountability in this area for all parishes.
- Challenging Every Congregation to Identify a Need in Their Community and
Begin a Ministry to Help Meet That Need
Growing congregations are ones that are visible in the community and help meet a particular need.
Smaller congregations in particular are better served by finding one "signature" ministry to dedicate their efforts toward, instead of trying to engage in several different ministries.
The congregational discernment process recommended above would include discernment of a particular outreach ministry for each congregation.
- Growth in Christian Discipleship and Episcopal/Anglican Identity
To grow and reach others we must first be changed ourselves by the message of faith in Christ. To help with this growth process, training programs and experiences should be provided on discipleship and Episcopal/Anglican identity.
These learning/discipleship opportunities should be provided regionally, but also should be made available to any individual congregation.
- Improving Sunday Worship Experience of All Congregations
Worship is the doorway by which people will come to know Christ and grow in faith in Christ. To support improvement in local worship experiences the diocesan should seek to provide:
1. training in leading worship in small places
2. making digital/CD worship music available for those congregations not having musicians
3. resources for preaching to include training/materials for dialogue preaching and even exploring the use of video for preaching in those places where live preaching does not exist
4. encouraging congregations to add additional worship services to reach new groups of people
- Continued Focus on Youth, Children, and Campus Ministry
I have requested Priests in Charge of congregations and Senior Wardens to present these recommendations to their Vestries or Congregational Meetings in the hopes that each congregation might choose one or two to try to explore further.
Pastoral Care of Clergy
Who pastors the pastors? Dean Steve Sellers recently shared some startling statistics about clergy wellness. According to the Barna Group, "1,500 pastors (of all denominations) leave the ministry each month due to moral collapse, spiritual burnout, or congregational disturbances%u202670 percent of pastors admit they regularly fight depression%u202680 percent of clergy spouses think their spouse is overworked, and almost 90 percent wish their spouse could do some other line of work" and so on.
A diocese can only be as well as its clergy. Therefore, I am appointing a team of priests to focus on clergy wellness and pastoral care. They are: Jamie Parsley (Coordinator), Jim Shannon, Jackie Bernacchi, Marianne Ell, John Floberg and Steve Sellers (Chaplain to Retired Clergy). I'm grateful to them for their assistance in this important ministry.
State of the Church
Thank you to all who called, wrote or shared words of encouragement and prayers during the media incident during Holy Week. I am deeply saddened by the division and rancor these days in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Sometimes it strikes very close to home. To stand in the "middle" of the Far Left and Far Right in these culture and theological wars is a stressful, uncomfortable place to be. One takes hits from both sides.
I remain convinced, however, that the way of reconciliation is possible for those who desire it. We've been given a roadmap, if we choose to use it, in the Windsor process and an Anglican Covenant. Please continue to pray for all involved.
May God, during this Easter season, grant you abundant blessings and renewed hope in what he is doing in our lives and in the world. I am,
Yours in Christ,
+Michael
