Churches in Mission

Complete the Discernment Checklist if you are convinced the next chapter in your church’s mission is local. Consider applying if your church or community has experienced a change in the last decade. Those changes could include:

1. A change in literal landscape (farms have been developed into suburbs / floods have driven people out of their homes)
2. A change in economic landscape (employers have moved in or out of the neighborhood)
3. A change in social landscape (your community experiences a large influx of seasonal workers or students)
4. Another significant change – you tell us!

We would love for you to view the application as the first step in paying attention, listening well, and preparing for something new. After applications are submitted, the churches moving forward in the process will be invited to an interview. Invitations to the Churches in Mission cohort will be made in early February, 2021 and a 15-month learning journey will begin in April, 2021. Help us know who you are and in what ways your congregation and neighborhood are ready for transformative collaboration.

Each church team, composed of five people, will participate in 3 multi-day training events, receive monthly coaching, share in acts of gratitude and story-telling, and build relationships with fellow ministry leaders. Along the way, we will also be asking how the practices of faith (prayer, baptism, eucharist, and Scripture) form, prepare, and sustain us to participate in God’s mission.

If your congregation is accepted, you will:

Confirm your participation with a one-time $750 contribution. Additional costs for the multi-day virtual events, coaching, training, and additional resources are funded by a generous gift from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Identify a team leader and four additional team members to invest in the journey. Team members must include a pastor or minister of the church, a lay leadership team member (consistory, session, board, etc.), and three additional congregants. Ideally, these people will represent a variety of age groups and perspectives. An effective team includes at least one person who:

• Brings energy and has influence
• Who is a teen or young adult
• Who lives in the neighborhood or attends a local school
• Who loves to talk to people and hear their stories
• Who is not afraid to ask difficult questions
• Who can help name and celebrate the work of your team
• Who knows how to organize work, assign tasks, and get things done

Commit the team leader to 20 hours of project engagement per month. This time will include participating in group and team lead coaching calls, organizing the team, and communicating with members of the congregation as the project unfolds.

Commit the four additional team members to 5-10 hours of project engagement per month. This time will include interviewing neighbors, exploring the community, and participating in group coaching calls.

Commit all team members to participate in each of the on-campus or digital gatherings.

Attend Three Virtual Gatherings Hosted by Western Theological Seminary

• April 16-17, 2021: Foster connections, clarify the process, and learn to listen well.
• October 5-8, 2021: Interpret what you have heard and consider possibilities for ministry experiments.
• June 2022 (date TBD): Celebrate with a collective story-sharing festival focused on what we have learned and how we will continue to move forward.

Participate in a Listening and Gratitude Process
We will train, coach, and accompany you and your team to interview congregants and neighbors in a discovery process. You will learn from a cohort of churches and receive personalized coaching on specific questions related to your church and neighborhood. You will also thank and celebrate your neighbors who have helped you to partner with your neighborhood.

Learn from Other Churches
You will have the chance to hear stories of congregations who are doing phenomenal work in local mission. You will learn from the way they articulate who their neighbor is and how they leverage their assets, including their people, finances, neighborhood, and facilities. As we learn from them, we will imagine new questions and latent possibilities.

Journey with Other Churches
You will receive valuable insight and learning as you engage and listen with other congregations around similar questions. As often as possible, we will put churches in affinity groups around areas of common interest.

Extend Your Engagement
At the end of the 15-month process, you will have a chance to apply for six months of additional coaching and mission engagement along with a visioning trip to a teaching congregation. Preference will be given to churches who have clearly discerned how they plan to engage in local mission. Additional fees may apply.