Discerning Authentic Ministry: Beyond Trend-Chasing

by

Local Church

Special to United Methodist Insight | Sept. 2, 2025

When I first moved to Wisconsin to serve a large suburban church outside of Milwaukee, I was a young, enthusiastic and quirky ministry leader. On my first Sunday, I was introduced to my church as, among other things, a “ukulele enthusiast,” which spurred an instant outpouring of youth wanting to learn ukulele from me.

In my first year in that position, I created a sign-up, ordered almost 20 new ukuleles from a wholesale distributor, created a beginning song book, reviewed all of my Music Education notes from college, and came up with a snappy acronym for our Youth Ukulele Ministry (YUM). We thrived, teaching youth an instrument, building relationships, bringing in new musicians into our ministry, and having an absurd amount of fun. It evolved, and we had a middle school group, high school group, youth parents’ group, and a seniors group partnering with the local senior center.

After I told this story at a conference I attended, a spirited older youth volunteer came up to me wanting to try to recreate what we did at her church. I was glad to share my experiences with her, inviting her to sit and chat. In that chat, I discovered that her congregation was a rural one, over 10 miles from the closest school, with no active youth, and that she didn’t play ukulele or have any musical experience. In fact, as she said, she was tone deaf. While she was willing and excited to minister to young people, she was latching on to the means of what our ministry accomplished to try to replicate our ends.

The congregation that was able to create my ukulele ministry was in a vibrant, arts-focused community, with almost 30 active youths when I started. I was a music education major in college who had previous experience playing ukulele. The ukulele, with its accessible charm and community-building potential, looked like a perfect fit. It could draw in young adults, create a space for intergenerational connection, and even lead to outreach opportunities through local performances.

In short, starting a ukelele ministry was our call in our context to reach our community in that moment. In contrast, it was very likely not the answer for the youth volunteer’s ministry, congregation, or community when she approached me at a conference.

In the stagnation and decline in many local churches, the temptation to chase the latest ministry trends is strong. We see a "successful" ukulele ministry at a church across town, or a thriving online gaming group somewhere else, and we jump, thinking “Let’s do that here!" But discerning God's call for our specific context is far more important than adopting a flashy, trendy ministry idea simply because it seems appealing. Ministry effectiveness is deeply contextual. What works in one setting may not translate to another. Discernment, therefore, is not about replicating someone else's success; it's about listening to God's unique call for your community. As you begin the process of working toward new ministries to connect with new people, consider the following process.

  1. Understand Your Context: Before launching any new ministry, deeply understand your community's demographics, needs, and interests. What are the unique challenges and opportunities in your area? What are the existing resources and networks? Each church’s context is uniquely theirs. To understand God’s call within it, you have to first understand the contextual parameters.
  2. Seek God's Heart: Prayerfully consider your church's mission and vision. What is God calling your congregation to do in this specific time and place? Ground your discernment in prayer and listening, seeking wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit. This and the previous step can and should be ongoing, since God should be an active leader in the direction your church is going, and your context is the key to understanding and interpreting your congregation’s call.
  3. Listen to Your Congregation: Engage your members in the discernment process. What are their passions, gifts, and concerns? What are the needs they see in the community? Perhaps the most common and profound mistake churches make in the congregational discernment process is not including the laity. God calls the entire church.
  4. Embrace Experimentation: Don't be afraid to try new things, but do so with intentionality and flexibility. Test programs, gather feedback, and be willing to adjust or pivot as needed. Take good notes, have leaders and participants reflect on the process, and refine. Nobody gets it perfect the first time out, so always be looking for ways to improve, grow, and become stronger.
  5. Focus on Relationships: Authentic ministry is built on genuine relationships. Prioritize creating spaces for connection, belonging, and spiritual growth, regardless of the specific program or activity. While ministries run their course, the relationships formed will be the backbone of your congregation for seasons to come.
  6. Measure Impact, Not Just Attendance: True success is not about numbers or popularity. Focus on the impact your ministries are having on individuals and the community. Are lives being transformed? Are relationships being restored? Create a usable metric for success so you can gauge what is amplifying the things you want to do and what is pulling focus and energy away from God’s call.

Ultimately, discerning God's call is more about cultivating a listening heart than finding the perfect program. It's about being present, attentive, and responsive to the needs of your community, guided by the Holy Spirit. The church is blessed right now with new, innovative church concepts and ministry faith expressions that are gaining success in their context more than trying to simply replicate others’ ideas. Instead of chasing that alluringly trendy idea, focus on building a church that is deeply rooted in its context, committed to its mission, and empowered by the Spirit. That's where you'll find true, lasting fruitfulness, whether it involves ukuleles or something entirely different.

Remember, the goal is not to be innovative for the sake of being innovative, but to be faithful to God's call, wherever that may lead. This is good discernment and is the responsibility of every church to be good stewards of their time, resources, and faith.

The Rev. Kellen Roggenbuck is a United Methodist pastor in Stoughton, Wis. For more information on leading congregational discernment, check out his book Called Out: Discerning God’s Plan For Your Church available through Abingdon Press.