This story of congregational rejuvenation is just one of many that we’re seeing as we develop intentionality through the Congregational Vitality Initiative. Does your church need this renewal? Contact Rev. Carole Barner, CVI Coordinator.

Testimonial from Rev. Michael Stephens, Southwood UCC, Raytown, MO

Get a Witness – Give a Witness!

Southwood UCC in Raytown Pastor Michael Stephens names a steady number of visitors since 6 months ago as a solid sign that becoming an Open and Affirming congregation witnesses good news to people in our time. New life is also evident in a newly-formed children’s choir, led by one of the newcomers to the congregation.

This past week, they celebrated the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service focused on the need to “Awake, My Child.” The service incorporated a variety of poems and prayers from around the world, along with scriptures naming the need for us to wake up. The Confirmands participated in the imposition of ashes, adding colorful paint to the ashes for signs of awakening and saying, “Awake, my child!”

Two weeks ago, the message on their sign began reading, “The living God does not endorse all the Bible says .” Amazing conversations (yes, including some hate messages) have ensued and continue to stimulate their growth in many ways. God is still speaking……are we awake enough to hear and respond?

Testimonial from Rev. Mary Albert, Epiphany UCC, St. Louis, MO

The vitality process has been good for us, but we are only halfway through.

Briefly, here is what we have done so far: We had one round of small group meetings in homes last fall to get better acquainted as individuals. (Out of 50 active members, half have come to the church in the last three years, so this was an important foundational building block for us.) Basically we shared faith journeys, how we got to Epiphany, why we came back once we got here and what "church" means to us.

The second round of home meetings in February was focused on the identity of Epiphany UCC. We talked about ways God has bless us through the ministry of Epiphany, what Epiphany does "best", how we describe Epiphany to those outside the church and what we see as exciting in the ministry of our congregation. Then we asked people to rate as "essential" or "optional" a list of 15 characteristics to try to arrive at our "core" identity characteristics.

Concurrent with this second round of home meetings I led a month-long adult Christian Education series I titled "WWJD: A Crash Course in Church Essentials.” We examined the gospel of Mark to look at the ministry of Jesus as a model for transformational leadership in the church.

So far, the gifts of the process have been a deepening of relationships within our congregation, an excitement about sharing invitations to join us on the journey, and a modeling of a process of listening with respect to others who may be very different in their background, orientation, outlook, theology, mental health, etc. etc.

I don't know how our process might unfold from here -- ideally, I'd like to see as many of us as possible to a retreat at (Camp) Mo-Val or somewhere where we can spend time praying and talking together about how we feel called to name and claim our ministry and how we might organize to support it.

Future plans for Congregational Vitality at Epiphany include “phase III -- prayer walks -- in which we will leave the building in small groups to observe, connect, and pray with our "communities." These may be our food pantry ministry, our neighborhood, the peace and justice community, the ONA community, the "green" movement folks in St. Louis, etc. On the walks the groups will ask themselves, "How is God's love embodied here?" "Where is God's love needed here?" "What gifts do we have to give/receive to/from this community?" Or something along those lines. We hope to culminate with an all-church retreat at Mo-Val or somewhere off site where we will gather up everything and try to arrive at a consensus on our identity and mission.”

Testimonial from Rev. Adrian McClean, St. Martin UCC, High Ridge, MO

St. Martin's UCC in High Ridge has experienced many kinds of growth in the last couple years, including numerical growth. In conversation with Rev. Adrian Mcclean regarding their evangelism and growth, the resource I heard Adrian most strongly recommend was the ABC of Personal Evangelism (by Ron Smith), and George Barna's Seven Faith Tribes. Adrian stressed the need for us to bear witness one on one...to share good news through presence, prayer, outreach. St. Martin's has an intentional evangelism team which travels door to door every Thursday evening to personally share the good news which St. Martin's offers through Christ. They invite folks to come and see. According to Rev. McClean, the majority of several dozen new members annually come directly from these contacts made door to door. Work? Yes. But, Adrian says, "If you don't do the work, you won't grow!" Truly, there must be investment before there can be a return on investment!

This seems to be in line with Martha Grace Reese's Unbinding the Gospel program - we need to get closer to God and share our stories, life and prayer with one another along the way. The Congregational Vitality Initiative Ready, Set, Grow Program names the need to know our congregations (Ready), our contexts (Set), and the intersection of the two in responding to our particular mission where we are (Grow).