'Groundwork' Evangelism Tools Readied for Second Year
Episcopal News Service. November 3, 2005 [110305-02]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
Following on last year's debut, "Groundwork: Digging Deeper for Change and Growth," is in the works for Lent 2006.
In an on-going effort to strengthen evangelism and mission in congregations, the book of resources and lesson plans is meant to assist individuals, congregations and their leaders in engaging Holy Scripture and the mission of God's Church. These activities till the ground of prayer, learning, reflection, and conversation so that people can learn together.
"Groundwork's" goal is to encourage personal and congregational transformation. It asks congregational members and leaders to dig deeply into the soil of their mission so that they may do serious and joyful learning about the Gospel and their community of faith.
Based on the Year B readings for the five Sunday in Lent, the 2005 edition invites congregations to reflect on how they invite people into their midst and into the Episcopal Church.
"Groundwork" will be mailed to all congregations by the end of November and posted on the church's website at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/groundwork
"It is a practical and theological resource for Lenten reflection and congregational development and transformation," said the Rev. James Lemler, director of mission for the Episcopal Church.
Considering congregational development as the basis for a Lenten series makes sense, Lemler said, because it is a natural time for gathering to learn and to pray.
"Lent is a time when, in the Episcopal Church, we take stock and go into a mode of reflection," he said.
While many people practice individual Lenten disciplines, such as giving something up or taking on some new activity, Lemler said it is essential for congregations to reflect together on their mission and evangelism efforts.
Each chapter of "Groundwork" begins by setting the theme of the Sunday's readings and then offers reflections from various voices on those readings. Activities based in three themes round out each Sunday's chapter. The theme tracks can either be used continuously or mixed and matched week by week as seems appropriate to the congregation and its context.
The tracks are:
* Track I – Welcome and Incorporation – offering processes for engaging the mission of evangelism. This is primarily material from "Groundwork" 2005 slightly re-cast so it may be used by congregations that were not able to use last year's resources.
* Track 2 – Congregational Advertising – providing materials for the design and implementation of an advertising strategy for the congregation.
* Track 3 – Covenant and Commitment – taking a new approach to congregational mission and vitality focusing on the covenants and commitments that people of faith fulfill for effectiveness and faithfulness.
The "Groundwork" effort continues a proactive strategy begun by General Convention in 2000 to strengthen local congregations. Last year's "Groundwork" series led the members of many congregations to on the meaning of the Gospel amongst them and in terms of how they relate to the world around them, Lemler reported.
"For some, it was the first time they had taken steps in intentional evangelism strategy," he said.
"Groundwork" 2006 is offered in an atmosphere of "urgency and hope," he said. It encourages congregations to engage with Scripture at this "important moment" in the life of the Episcopal Church when invitation and evangelism are essential, Lemler said. And "Groundwork" is rooted in "the hopeful reality" that "God is blessing us for mission" in this moment.
"Groundwork" continues a proactive strategy begun by General Convention in 2000 to strengthen local congregations and to counter membership declines experienced in recent years by all mainline denominations.
According to an analysis of the latest parochial reports released October 28, active baptized membership in the Episcopal Church during 2004 was 2,247,819, down 36,414 from 2003. Average Sunday attendance was 795,765, down 27,252 from 2003.
Plate and pledge giving increased in 2004 to $1.24 billion from $1.23 billion in the previous year. Unlike 2003, the 2004 increase of 1.3% did not exceed the 3.3% inflation rate.
Lemler said the results are not a surprise and had, in fact, been predicted and are part of a larger trend. "We are in a very broad cultural decline of mainline churches," he said.
"It is honestly a contextual reality" that the denominations must face, Lemler said.
Among the characteristics of that reality, according to Lemler, are demographic and sociological trends showing that traditional mainline communities are not growing.
According to other denominational sources:
* the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America reports that from 1997 to 2003, 46.1% of its congregations saw membership declines of more than 5%, 30.1% held steady or changed less than 5% and 23.9% grew more than 5%;
* the Presbyterian Church USA reports a loss of 43,175 members nationally in 2004 to a total of 2,362,136, down 1.8% from 2,405,311 in 2003;
* the United Methodist Church – which states that complete 2004 figures have not yet been released – reported that membership continues to decline, falling by a net figure of at least 71,518 people in 2004. In 2003, membership declined by 69,141 to a total of less than 8.2 million.
A recent article in the "Christian Century" magazine reported on a study that showed that while mainline churches could claim 60 percent of total Protestant congregants in 1900, their share fell to 40 percent in 1960.
The study done by three sociologists -- Michael Hout of the University of California-Berkley, Andrew Greeley of the University of Arizona, and Melissa Wilde of Indiana University – claimed that difference in fertility rates account for both the 70 percent of the decline in mainline Protestant churches between 1900 and 1975 and a simultaneous rise in church membership in other Protestant communities.
Lemler also attributed the trend to the post-modern state of the culture that means "the old assumptions about being the church have to be re-examined." Until recently, he said, the church assumed that the culture made Christians and the church gave them a home. It used to be, for instance, that retail businesses closed on Sundays to honor the Sabbath and children grew up singing hymns in public schools, for instance.
Now, the culture is more diverse and Christianity is "new and alien" to many people, Lemler said, but the church acts as if Christian cultural norms still dominate.
These changes "require response at every level of the church's life," Lemler said. Congregations must have intentional evangelism strategies and diocesan and national church offices must provide resources for congregational development and vitality.
Further information about congregational development in the Episcopal Church may be obtained online at www.episcopalchurch.org/congdev.