October 11, 2010

CHICAGO – Cindy Redman was baptized, confirmed and married at Christ Lutheran Church in Catonsville, Md., and so were her children. So the reality of the 102-year-old church closing its doors is "just too sad to think about," said Redman. She and the other 137 members of Christ Lutheran are working hard to prevent that reality from happening.

Christ Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with declining membership, diminishing worship attendance and dwindling funds.

"But, we believe that we can turn these trends around," said Redman. The congregation has already experienced some success this year.

Christ Lutheran is among 159 congregations approved for 2011 grants to renew their mission and ministries strategically. Each congregation will develop its own renewal plan with support from its synod and the ELCA churchwide organization.

The ELCA has authorized more than $2.48 million to help congregations with their plans and to support ethnic-specific ministry strategies and specialized areas such as prison ministry, ministry among people living with disabilities and ministry with the poor. The ELCA review table that considered proposals from congregations and others seeking to strategically revitalize their ministries was comprised of synod bishops, seminary presidents and other church leaders.

According to the Rev. Neil P. Harrison, the ELCA is not only committed to starting new congregations but deeply dedicated to the renewal of existing congregations. Harrison is director for renewed evangelizing congregations, ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission.

"A primary objective of the ELCA renewal process is to guide congregations in discerning their purpose and developing a new mission plan so that they can help meet the needs, hopes and dreams of their communities," said Harrison.

To help guide congregations in the process a new resource – "Re-Rooting in God's Mission: Transformational Ministry 2.0" – is scheduled to be rolled out later this fall.

The Rev. Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane, bishop of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod, Baltimore, said the renewal process is one intentional way that congregations "can turn around and get new life, particularly in a church that has been declining."

Herz-Lane said every renewal plan should have five components – worship and hospitality, outreach and evangelism, leadership development, stewardship and resource development, and prayer and Bible study. "We don't do anything without prayer and Bible study," he said.

Herz-Lane was installed bishop of the synod in September. Prior to his new call, Herz-Lane served as director for evangelical mission in the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod and worked closely with members of Christ Lutheran.

"When Wolfgang met with us 14 months ago to (consult) with us about the option of redevelopment, we just knew that we had to take the chance," said Redman. "It is our hope and our prayer that we will be able to call a pastor or deacon who has specific training in mission redevelopment," she said. The congregation will also maintain its nursery school, which is successfully serving the community.

"Our neighbors are a diverse mix socioeconomically and racially, as is our worshiping congregation," she said. Christ Lutheran's renewal plan will be about "sharing God's work in the community."

Information about the ELCA "Renewal of Congregations" work is at http://www.ELCA.org/Growing-In-Faith/Discipleship/Renewing-Congregations.aspx, on the ELCA's website.

ELCA News Service