Church Planting
Image Courtesy of Ben Gosden
As noted in my last blog post, the split of The United Methodist Church is underway. Sure, General Conference has been postponed (again) until 2024. But legislation passed in 2019 creating a pathway that allows local churches to leave the denomination is now being executed across the connection.
Gosden Ident 2022
I won’t spend time in this post outlining my beliefs on how this process should be handled except to say that I hope it is fair, equitable, and as gracious as possible for all churches and pastors involved. Annual Conferences should not be in the businesses of holding churches hostage with guilt or enormous financial burdens.
Is There a Future of Church Development in a Post-Separation UMC?
The anxiety about a post-separation UMC has been ratcheted up across many annual conferences because, among other concerns, the financial fallout of churches exiting annual conferences has many conference officials worried about the future of ministry. These concerns are legitimate and should be prayerfully considered. But our prayers should lead us to surrender our anxiety, not the opportunity to seek God’s vision for an exciting future right now.
I recently asked a friend who has worked previously as his annual conference’s Director for Church Development – a position that, among other things, helps spearhead efforts to plant and revitalize local churches – about the future of church development. He basically said we’re entering a necessary period of hibernation, noting that annual conferences will have their hands tied until churches leave, the denomination splits, and we address the aftermath of it all.
It’s an idea worth pondering. It’s pragmatic and takes seriously the increased burdens annual conferences could take on once more and more churches leave.
But it’s also an idea I wholeheartedly reject. And here’s why…
Idea: (Re)Plant 2.0 Congregations
I serve in an annual conference where we could see upwards of 20% of our churches leave in the next 2 years. This means entire communities will be void of a United Methodist church by the end of 2024. That’s a hefty blow to places where the entire community has been touched by a UMC presence since the 1800s.
In some of these communities, we will need to regroup and make longer-term plans to plant new churches. Their current UMC churches will leave with 90+% of the church supporting the exit (you only need 66.7% to leave).
In other communities, the vote will be much closer and there will remain a sizeable group (maybe upwards of 20% or more of a local church) desiring to remain United Methodist. Those denominational refugees will have a choice – remain with their now former UMC church or join a new one. But what if there was a 3rd choice…What if annual conferences could strategically identify, organize, and help replant churches in the very communities where local churches are exiting our denomination?
What if offices for church development, bishops, and cabinets worked together to identify test communities that meet some version of the following criteria:
A sizeable group of people who wish to remain UMC at a church that votes to disaffiliate
A study that shows a UMC church has a chance to not only land current UMC members, but also new people for the sake of making disciples for the transformation of the world
An openness to a strategical plan for developing lay leadership, deploying retired clergy, and/or developing creative ways to become “____ UMC (2.0)” – a new local church with a familiar name doing ministry in new ways for the sake of the community
Case Study: 1st Church UMC
Let’s say there’s a county-seat town where the 2-3 UMC churches all vote to disaffiliate. At least one or more of the churches are of some significant size, ensuring you have a decent sized pot of people and resources left to replant as 1st Church UMC 2.0. And, even more, you have some retired clergy who live in the area and are willing to help do things like administer the sacraments.
If a church voted to disaffiliate with an 80% margin, that means 20% of those voting would have chosen a future in the UMC. Would it be possible to replant as 1st Church UMC in the same town with those 20%? If 1st Church UMC had a $1M annual budget, could that mean that a new UMC church could pledge close to $200K if 20% of the former church wanted to reorganize? Could lay leadership organize the church around small groups, families, and offering congregational care outside of worship? Could they form lay-led preaching teams? Or could some mix of lay and retired clergy lead the church until an appointment opportunity presented itself?
(NOTE: Replanting by the former name of the church would also ensure that people would not need to change their wills or plans for legacy giving to their local churches. Those gifts would continue to be directed to the UMC church people already have designated since the UMC name would be open after the former UMC church disaffiliates)
And could an annual conference come alongside these denominational refugees with money, time, and energy to help them re-establish themselves as a UMC church in their local community?
Easier Said Than Done
Easier said than done. And I don’t profess to have a full-proof plan for every annual conference across the connection. But, this is something all bishops, cabinets, and church development directors should be fleshing out as local churches disaffiliate. We simply cannot sit idly by for the next 2 years and miss the chance to creatively reorganize mission and ministry in our local communities for those who want to remain United Methodist and for those yet to be reached by God through a United Methodist congregation.
So I offer this working idea as a framework for those leaders who want to begin to imagine a future for church (re)planting in the post-separation UMC. These days of great change could also be our most exciting season for ministry yet. By God’s grace, I truly believe we can bless those who wish to leave, reorganize and regather those who wish to stay, and offer a United Methodist presence in our local communities for generations to come.
Your Turn…
What would you add or change? If you’re a Bishop, District Superintendent, or Director for Church Development, what challenges do you see on the horizon? And what excites you most about the future?