METRO CONFERENCE AREA STRATEGY MEETING
MAY 8, 2008
Sherwood Park Lutheran Church

WELCOME, DEVOTIONS

Bishop Elaine welcomed 55 people from 13 congregations in the Metro Conference to our evening discussions.
 
Pastor Larry Ulrich, Assistant to the Bishop led the group in devotions based on Acts. 11:1-18. In our small groups we were asked the following questions:
What did you hear God saying to you in this passage?
What do you hear God saying to the Metro Conference in this passage?

• Need to change; forget about our differences
• Listen, trust in and be open to the Holy Spirit working in our lives and others
• Equality is to be upheld
• Message needs to be taken out of our individual communities, to a wider place
• Need to be inclusive of others
• Forget about differences between Lutherans
• Acceptance of others and their practices
• What does it mean when we have so many buildings and so little people

Closed devotions with prayer together:
Tonight, O God, we gather to discern what you are calling us to do here in and as the Metro Conference faith communities. Infuse us with your Spirit and inspire us with your Wisdom so that together we might discover anew what you would have us do. Amen.

PURPOSE OF MEETING:

Bishop Elaine shared the purpose of the meetingt:

• To build on area strategy work that is already being done in the conference
• To capitalize on pastoral and leadership transitions that are currently occurring in the conference and will be in the future
• To deepen the conversation and partnership between congregations and Synod Office and other congregations outside of the Metro Conference
• To develop a stronger and more effective partnership with our sister congregations in light of our call from God to be community
• To evaluate our resources and discuss ways to effectively use these gifts God has given us.

AREA STRATEGY STEPS TAKEN:
Bishop Elaine shared the results of the survey questions from the 9 congregations who responded. The collation of those results is below as well as ones that were included in the powerpoint presentation to the group:

• Response from some congregations in regards to long term ministry plans and needs assessments (survey results)
• Identified congregations and initiatives where partnerships are already happening and could happen (survey results)
• Hold monthly Clergy cluster meetings for support, networking, planning for ministry, sharing of information
• JOINT CONFIRMATION PROGRAMMING, i.e. confirmation camps which gathers a large critical mass of students which is a visual reflection of the wider church; models shared leadership in ministry; reflects a wide variety of teaching models and styles; maximizes resources, both human and material
• INTERNSHIPS that model joint support for teaching purposes; that are a gift to the church of training sites for future ministers; allow the congregations who normally wouldn’t be able to participate in the wider church training of future leaders
• Combined Holy week services
• Trinity Food Bank support
• Financial and volunteer support for LUM
• Youth programming, i.e. Synod youth services
• Support to Chinese ministry
• Joint Marriage preparation classes
• Week of Prayer for Christian Unity events
• World Day of Prayer
• Women’s ministries, i.e. ELW
• Neighbourhood Vacation Bible Schools
• North End Sponsorship Team (NEST)
• Lutheran Volunteer Ministries
• Luther Home support
• Sage Creek and Waverly West discernment groups
• Charleswood Refugee Ecumenical Sponsorship Team (CREST)
• Winnipeg Harvest
• Habitat for Humanity
• Cameroon Companions program
• Men’s Breakfast groups
• Consecration Sunday Stewardship program with ACC congregations
• Pastoral pulpit exchanges
• Local ecumenical ministerialsNeighbourhood community resources groups and agencies, i.e. hospitals, seniors homes, independent living centres
• Special services, i.e. Blue Christmas, Advent Lessons and Carols
• Meals on Wheels
• Local Kairos programs
• Christmas Cheer campaign
• Families Forward Coalition
• Housing Action Coalition
• Luther Village, i.e. programming, adopt a cabin projects, camping scholarships
• Day care support, programs, sites
• National and synod programs and resources

REALITY CHECK:

Bishop Elaine shared a reality check of what is happening in the wider church that is affecting our local ministries:

There is a crisis in pastoral leadership in our church today (scarcity)

• Rise in interim ministry by retirees
• Lack of candidates for congregational calls
• Minimal candidates in training for ministry
• Lack of candidates with experience in larger congregations and multiple staffing
• Lack of candidates with rural experience

Congregations experiencing diminishing resources (financial; human)

• Lower benevolent dollars to meet rising costs of ministry
• Depopulation of some faith communities
• Not enough people to do the tasks of ministry-decline in volunteerism
• Decline in worship attendance

Changing needs and culture of communities that have affected ministries of congregations

• Aging population in congregations
• “Lost generation” of young people who do not participate in the life of the faith community
• Decreasing participation in scriptural study
• Many choices in leisure and family time
• Loss of excitement for and understanding of God’s mission in the world
• Ministry to the inner city

FUTURE PROFILES OF CONGREGATIONS:

Most congregations reported the following in terms of their future:

• Continuing to spread the God’s word and sacraments through music
• Continue to provide hospitality and services for its members and its communities
• Increased adult education growth
• Increased VBS attendance
• Initiatives at getting more people involved, i.e. ELW program, bring a friends, personal invitations, etc.
• More programs to reflect changing demographics of congregation and community
• Lack of space issues
• Expansion of staffing
• Intentional about outreach, youth ministry, continuing education
• Sharing of resources with others
• Internship sites
• Succession planning for retirement of pastoral leadership
• Foodbank support
• Increase in Sunday School participation
• Growing groups, i.e. ELW, Men’s group
• Increased rental use to outside groups
• Growth in service and in mission to others
• Union with ACC congregations, i.e. joint worships, space, activities
• Focus on children of families in new developments, i.e. Sunday School and Christian Education
• Change in pastoral leadership
• Newly renovated building to attract a larger worshipping community
• Greater connections to neighbourhood and community groups
• Diaconal ministry candidates serving in our congregation
• Maintaining an ongoing evaluation process for ministry in the congregation, i.e. five year planning
• Experiential, alternative worship services
• Reviving Partners in Faith emphasis
• Staffing for education and youth programs
• Ministry transition plans in place
• Growing from pastoral to programmatic church
• Moving from a mainly white, middle class, middle aged, middle-of- the- road cradle Lutheran congregation to diversity
• Deeper spiritual growth through bible study and prayer

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES:

Possibilities for Metro Conference’s future have two key factors working in favour of future development of resources and partnerships:

• 1.  The unique geographical location of  the conference provides for many options in leadership models, i.e. partner congregations; pastoral, diaconal, lay professional roles increased in the congregations
• 2.  There is respect for local communities and urban way of life

UNMET AND FUTURE NEEDS

There are some unmet or future needs identified by leadership in the congregations who responded to the survey:

• Volunteer coordination
• More Participation of membership
• Generating an interest in the community
• Adequate levels of adult education opportunities
• New membership follow up
• Leadership candidates  
• Internship placement sites
• Attracting associate or specialized leadership, i.e. Director of Music, youth ministry, etc.
• Increased outreach to the community
• Improved communication
• Meeting people’s spiritual needs
• Space in facilities
• Increased lay leadership
• Increased programming for single parents, seniors, retirees
• Reaching out to young adult population
• Increased small group ministries
• A Christian school
• A strategic plan that is actively used by council and congregation
• An administrative policy manual and implementation plan
• People taught, encouraged and pushed to be committed to the gospel in all areas of their lives- being God’s child is more than Sunday attendance at worship
• Advocacy on the part of those who are poor, disenfranchised, violated, ignored and treated unjustly
• Area youth ministry and young adult ministry
• Conference wide worship
• Leaving behind our own needs and looking to the needs of others, i.e. not what we get out of it but what benefits others
• Promotion of “green” ways of coming to the facility
• Develop lay leadership to its full potential
• Address the issue of a consumer driven church (we take and consume what we feel is ours and our lifestyle). Take up “lost generation” attitude of “DO”
• Live out partnership agreements – wherever we can partner with one another WE WILL!

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:

Small Group discussion centred on the following questions:

• What scares you about this information?

What excites you about this information?

If God has God’s way in the Metro Conference in the next five years, how will things be different and what will change? Where could you see future partnerships developed?

• City congregations relating to rural congregations
• Taking away barriers that block our neighbours from hearing the gospel
• Cultural differences in congregations
• Perceptions of our world would be different- we would rely on God to clarify
• Holy Spirit calls us to risk those things that we think define us
• Inclusive demographics in our churches- now we are old and white
• Willingness to work with other churches would increase
• Use of webinars for training
• Keep young adults in our churches
• Have alternate days for worship services
• Increased worship attendance
• Increase functionality of buildings and worship spaces
• Diversity in membership
• Youth gatherings for people over the age of 18
• Seniors gatherings- largest demographic in our church today
• Intentional Metro prayer network around mission goals
• Recognition that maybe God wants something to die
• Lutheran curling league
• Annual Metro Conference dance/social
• Have fun together
• VBS camp held jointly
• Organize a faith tour- like the city wide one in January 2008
• Church gets secular exposure
• Green church initiatives are followed through
• Enlightened spiritual community
• Leadership of Metro to help some of the above happen
• Focus on confirmation and retention- youth and campus pastor to young adults
• Various support groups- better communication about what is available in the church and in the community
• Increased lay training- Multiplying ministry, diaconal, parish nursing
• Metro conference gathering/training of musicians
• Network of Sunday school teachers
• Network of Youth ministers/leaders
• Community gardens
• Instead of competition/survival,  how about mission oriented groups?
• Entrepreneurial spirit evident- risk taking for sake of mission
• Intentional relationship building with our neighbours
• Increased Lutheran-ACC partnerships
• Address need for German/Chinese/Aborginal/French language ministries
• Synod office in a more accessible space, perhaps in a church setting
• Celebrating mission and faith stories with each other
• Clearer message and more effective methods in sharing the message of the gospel
• More candidates for rostered ministry
• More youth events at the Metro Conference level
• Sharing resources between congregations
• Lutheran school in the city
• Metro Conference Bible Study Guide, like Leisure guide which lists what studies are being offered, where, when and who is leading
• Increased aid to LUM/Rural parishes
• Unlimited financial giving
• Less worry about maintaining our parishes and more on mission of parishes
• Understanding our abundance rather than focusing in on our scarcity
• Common mission goals for our Metro Conference
• Joint worship event/ festival event for all congregations

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:
 

• Parish realignments
• Structure and provision for leadership: diaconal, pastoral, ecumenical;
• Others aspects such as spiritual growth, worship, education, fellowship, mission, etc.

WHAT COURAGEOUS CHOICES WOULD NEED TO TAKE PLACE TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN?

• Enlist a Metro Conference Spiritual Gifts Coordinator
• Recognize that we don’t have twelve months to do ministry in the city- often people are living out of the city on weekends from May to August
• Use technology to share ministry with rural congregations, shut ins, etc.
• Create a culture of “permission”, “freedom”, “empowerment”, “risk takers” with out leadership controls- encourage people to try new things in different ways
• Get out of our safe zone and get into the community
• Listen and respond to the community needs
• Create partnerships with other congregations where we create a critical mass to do new things
• Share the pastoral leadership around the synod- use diaconal or lay professionals while your pastor is doing sacramental and teaching ministry in other congregations- think about the leadership resources as shared resources

HOW WILL THIS INFORMATION BE REPORTED?
 
The above information will be posted on the synod website.
Representatives at this meeting should report this information to their congregations. A congregational response to any ideas or thoughts would be then sent to the synod office (Bishop Elaine) by Oct. 15. Bishop Elaine would report back the responses at the Metro Conference Convention.

Another strategy meeting will be held on Oct 30 at Messiah Lutheran. This group will work on common themes and ideas and help facilitate implementation of partnership ideas. Congregations would provide leadership at this meeting. ACTION plans will be expected and encouraged.

CLOSING PRAYER:
Gracious God, you call us to be builders of your kingdom. Let us remember that we do not do this alone. Use us to be instruments of your love and peace in the world. Send us forth in safety to be all you have called us to be. In Jesus name we pray. Amen