The Future of Ministry and the Church

Recently, my brother and I went back to visit Messiah Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. Our father founded Messiah in the 1950s as a mission developer for the Lutheran Church. The congregation had just celebrated its 60th anniversary and my brother and I were pleased to find that the church and the modest, well-tended neighborhood surrounding it looked much as it had during our childhood. After sixty years, property values held strong and the community continued to thrive.

Typical of most Lutheran churches, the service was printed in the bulletin, minus the hymns, and was easy to follow. At the opening hymn, less than fifty people lined the pews. The bulletin listed no program offerings for that week. And during announcements, the pastor asked the Church Council to meet in his office after the service to determine if there was enough interest to host Oktoberfest this year. By the end of the service, I leaned over to my brother and said, “This church won't live to celebrate its 70th anniversary.”

For generations, a person was either born or married into a church and remained a member for life, no matter where they moved. If a 1950s builder put up a 500-home subdivision, you could expect that 10% of the families who moved into that new community would be Lutheran. As soon as they unpacked their boxes, those families would look to join their local Lutheran church. The national church, in the meantime, would support a mission developer like my father to gather those Lutheran families together for worship at an existing local church while he oversaw the building of the new Lutheran church.

That model no longer works. Today, people choose their church for a combination of reasons. They look for a convenient location, programs that interest them, and a preaching style that speaks to them. The practice of choosing a church based on brand – whether Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, or Episcopalian – simply no longer holds.

Between 2001 and 2008, church attendance declined by 15% among Lutherans. Methodists saw a drop of 10% and Episcopalians, 17%. As the Baby Boomer generation now enters their 70s, mainline denominations anticipate losing one-third of their membership over the next fifteen years. America's oldest graduate seminary, Andover Newton, recently announced plans to sell its twenty-acre campus in Newton, Massachusetts, and relocate due to declining attendance and revenue. In an accompanying article, it projected that 80% of America's 100 mainline seminaries would face similar situations soon. A survey by the Pew Organization might explain this shift: While approximately 80% of the US population indicates some belief in God, 60% think of themselves as ‘spiritual, not religious’.

While the numbers of people attending church in general has decreased, the need for sacramental and social ceremony remains constant. People will always seek out the church when they marry, to baptize a child, or to mourn the death of a loved one. But when church leaders remain inside their churches, waiting for people to seek them out, their social relevance will continue to decline.

A bright spot in this grim picture comes from the Diocese of London, UK, which reports a 50% increase in donations and a 70% boost in membership since the year 2000. The Diocese recently announced a “Capital Vision 2020 campaign with a plan to plant 100 worshipping communities, double the number the young people involved in Christian communities, and to equip and commission 100,000 ambassadors representing Jesus Christ in daily life.”

But the difference in London was this: Instead of waiting for people to walk through their doors, churches went into their communities to ask the bigger questions: What did people need? What did they want from a church?

The London churches have taken a brave and crucial step. It's difficult enough for individuals to ask tough questions like: What is my purpose? But for a church, this level of soul-searching is exponentially more difficult. To disrupt the established religious order – the model that says we'll stay inside our churches and our congregations will turn up there on Sundays for worship – requires a profound degree of humility, open-heartedness, and faith.

Chicago's Bexley Seabury Seminary, for one, is taking note of London's successful model. The school recently began teaching community organizational skills to students and sending them to England to study the Diocese of London's model. I take this as a sign of hope.

As we explore the major changes occurring in the culture of today's church, it's helpful to look outside the church for guidance. “We are living in a time when one age is dying and the new age is not yet born,” Rollo May wrote in The Courage to Create (1972). He further commented: “We cannot doubt this as we look around to see the radical changes in sexual mores, in marriage styles, in family structures, in education, in religion, technology, and almost every other aspect of modern life. Behind it all is the threat of the atom bomb, which recedes into the distance but never disappears. To live with sensitivity in this age of limbo indeed requires courage.”

I began my career in ministry some fifty years ago, when May wrote those words. I was following in my Dad's footsteps when, after two years of classroom study, I began a year of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Memphis City Hospitals in 1968. It those early years, CPE programs were springing up in hospitals and psychiatric institutions across the country. The seminary curriculum for major denominations did not yet require a Basic Unit of clinical training. A teaching hospital, Memphis City paid chaplains the same salaries as medical interns. We were thrown into the hospital environment and expected to find our way.

It was an exciting time for a young seminarian and the beginning of major changes in medicine. With growing interest, I worked with a small dialysis unit that evaluated patients with failing kidneys to determine who would be treated and who would not, a decision with life-or-death consequences. We watched through a crude window over the operating room as two homeless men were given the first open-heart surgeries performed in Memphis. New medications meant fewer people died from pneumonia, once known as the ‘old man's friend’.

I returned from Memphis for my last year seminary with a sense of vocation. I wanted to refine those skills I'd honed through experiential learning and be part of this growing field that encompassed spirituality, psychological theory and insight, along with adult learning from life experience. I wrote a senior paper on medical ethics and set my sights on becoming certified as a CPE supervisor.

At that time, pastoral care fell into the column of ‘revenue generator’ on the hospital balance sheet. The accounting departments would tally the cost of a year's operating expenses, divide it by the number of beds in the facility, and use that figure to determine the rate charged to a patient's insurance company. The chaplain's department would be included in that rate. We brought money into the hospital.

By the 1980s, the business side of healthcare was changing. Small hospitals were being absorbed into larger systems and, when the state of New Jersey developed the Diagnostic Related Group (DRG), the compensation model shifted. The state took the average amount of money paid for a hospital service and rolled it out as the payment structure. If the average appendectomy cost $100, that's what a hospital could expect to receive for the service. If the hospital could trim that cost to $80, they profited. If their costs exceeded $100, they lost money on the procedure.

Suddenly the focus was on coding the diagnosis and treatment. Since you don't need a chaplain to remove an appendix, our services fell outside of the treatment column. With the advent of the DRG, pastoral care quickly went from being a revenue generator to an unwelcome expense. Not a good place to be.

In his book, Saving Capitalism For the Many, Not the Few (2015) economist Robert Reich observed that soldiers returning from World War II entered an expanding workforce. But by the late 1970s, that economic model was giving way to a top-heavy pay scale that saw chief executive officer compensation expand by 937% over thirty years, while worker pay lagged behind at 10.2%. With the 1980s, technology and globalization put businesses under pressure to increase stockholder profits and reduce labor costs. Companies shipped jobs overseas or automated tasks once performed by humans. As America shifted from manufacturing to a service economy, median household incomes stagnated.

The businesses that survived these economic shifts were those that adapted and changed. Those that dug in their heels and resisted fell behind, or failed. Why, then, would our churches and seminaries be any different? Although churches have been slower to feel the effects of the changes that impacted businesses, they now face the same pressure to adapt to a new and changing world. It is not unlike the invention of the printing press or the Reformation. For churches, businesses, and governments alike, external forces are a reality and the clock cannot be turned back.

So how do we move forward?

In his book Growing a Business (1987), Paul Hawken, entrepreneur and best-selling author wrote, “Imagine an ecosystem instead of an economy. Where two ecosystems meet, say the forest and the plains, is a small strip of terrain that conforms strictly to neither system, either in plant or animal life. This margin, an ecotone, as it is called contains marginal or edge species that cannot survive on either side, species of questionable value. They don't feed the grazing ruminants nor decay into humus on the forest floor. They live as it were, at the grace of the two larger systems. But, should one of the ecosystems change suddenly, devastated by disease, perhaps, or by some rapid change in climate, these edge species will provide the means by which the environment will establish a new equilibrium.”

I believe that those of us clergy who have worked in specialized ministry and grown ecumenical relationships across all religious belief lines are like Hawken's ‘edge species’. We have learned how to adapt to a business environment that demands accountability and economy. We have been creative in providing training and pastoral care in non-church settings like hospitals, factories, campuses, and military bases. We meet people's spiritual needs wherever they gather and wherever we are called. This puts us in a unique position to observe the current climate and suggest a call to action.

In my opinion, several things need to happen, for the church to remain relevant to the communities it serves.

First, the religious community on all fronts needs to ask serious questions about their reason for existence. Martin Luther, in his battle with the Roman Catholic Church over indulgences and authority, lead a movement from within the established church. The result became the reformed tradition. Among Protestants, numerous groups arose to address differences of viewpoint and leadership style.

Are those differences still relevant? Or is it time to look at creative realignment within the Protestant Church? Casting a wider net, is it time to renew conversation with the Roman and Greek Churches about the meaning of faith, sacraments, and the core beliefs of the Christian tradition? Beyond that, do these cross-communications among belief systems need to happen on a global level?

We share more reasons to unite to uphold human values, seek peace, and address injustice than we do in continuing to fight religious wars. We won't agree on everything. Questions of women in church leadership, sexual orientation, and the sanctity of life will remain major issues for discussion. But when the Pope speaks for peace and justice, he speaks for me. And I can celebrate that connection to a global church and, from there, unravel the question of who represents my core beliefs.

Secondly, as seminaries retool for the future they will have to face the need to reduce the three-year standard curriculum to the more appropriate two years that is consistent with other master's degrees. While the seminary still needs to teach the basic tools of ministry, homiletics, Biblical criticism, theological language and thinking, it is clear there is also a need for additional training in pastoral care and counseling, as well as in spirituality, mind–body meditation, and stress reduction techniques.

Pastors need training in business management and collaborative work with pastoral specialists and other clergy members. They would benefit from training in community organizing. Like other professionals, clergy must acknowledge the need for lifelong learning. They need to reinvent themselves every five years to keep pace with the changing trends and skills required to be effective in their chosen profession. Seminaries that survive will offer online courses for continuing education throughout the career of a clergy member, not just provide training at the outset.

As I noted earlier, a large number of people in our world consider their selves to be ‘spiritual’ and express a belief in some type of external power or god. Faith is not lost. What's changing, instead, is how people express that faith. The need for community is a part of the human DNA. Given the growing isolation in today's workforce and our disconnected and transient society; the church's role in meeting our need for connection will be increasingly important. To address this, churches are experimenting with new forms of community building, less focused on denominational brand and more on gathering people with mutual interests.

In Richmond, Virginia, for instance, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, has developed a Celtic service that meets on Sunday afternoons. The Gothic structure of the church, the liturgy, and lay involvement has resulted in growing attendance among people who are not necessarily members of the church. Other progressive congregations are offering Jazz concerts that combine music, liturgy and reflection at convenient times. The Diocese of London has grown its church participation by implementing the principles of community organizing theory: The church asks the neighborhood to share their perceived needs rather than imposing the church's expectations on the community.

In her book Grounded: Finding God in the World – A Spiritual Revolution (2015), Diana Butler Bass talks about the shift from a hierarchical model to a horizontal model. Instead of a ‘tall steeple’, top down approach, she talks about the need for leadership in community, meditation, and connection with a creative spirit. She joins a growing group of theological thinkers who see value in God's expression in various ways across denominational and even belief systems.

Third, while the need for pastoral care services will continue to exist, the traditional denominational infrastructures will no doubt change. Support from synod, diocese, or conference organizations will diminish. Clergy will need to learn how to develop ministries and to support their careers in ministry with work in other areas, tent-making style. Groups of clergy could join together in collectives that would offer pastoral services to a group of congregations.

Entrepreneurial Ministries of this type will require more sophisticated training in team-building and specialization. Clergy deserve appropriate compensation. Service-based economies are typically not well compensated. Chaplains will need to learn how to negotiate appropriate rates of pay for services that acknowledge their training and skills. Hospice organizations that exist today may be model organizations for clergy and for church organizations.

Fourth, with the significant transfer of wealth that is expected in the next 30 years the church needs to develop exciting models for a future in ministry that would attract endowed gifts. America is on the cusp of the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history. $36 trillion dollars could be passed down to heirs in the half century leading up to 2061. The Episcopal Church in the US has developed an organization that supports endowed churches and their leadership with training and oversight of significant gifts. Their organization could serve as a model for other pastoral-based groups. Chaplains and pastoral care providers need training in donor development, fundraising, and financial management.

Ongoing research supports what those of us in the field know from experience. We have learned that the brain continues to grow and change well into old age. Meditation, yoga, diet, exercise, sleep, and humor are all components of a healthy life. The work of Jon Kabat-zinn, Ph.D. and others in mindfulness-based stress reduction have proven results in pain management and provide measured increases in the quality of life. Functional magnetic resonance imaging has offered us new insights into personality and emotion. Now it can be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of pastoral care and the long term benefits of stress reduction and pain management.

Chaplains have traditionally been guests in someone else's house, that is, the doctor's hospital. New research proves that chaplains have a bigger role to play in the healing process. We can develop business models that not only demonstrate in clear terms what we bring to the process but models for compensation that are consistent with our training and experience.

Paul Hawken talks about new growth coming from the ‘edge or marginal species’. I have often thought of myself and my professional cohorts in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling as those ‘edge’ species in ministry. Our training introduced us to a variety of religious expression. We trained in groups that were ecumenical and included men and women, gay and straight. We were trained in psychological dynamics and in effective listening skills. We worked with patients who became our parishioners as we listened to them and helped them use their religious traditions to make sense of the various life crises they were facing. We worked collegially with other professionals including social workers and doctors, nurses other specialist in trying to better understand the patient and to include their families.

With the development of effective ways to measure the benefits of stress reduction, meditation, and life review, we can now show concrete evidence of the effective work we bring to the health care system. Those same skills have a great value for people who are increasingly cut off from community and are not practicing in any faith connection. Clergy in the general practice of ministry who often have been introduced to the clinical method of learning, to teamwork in ministry and in the use of psychological theory could greatly benefit from the skills we have to teach. I am hopeful about the future of the church, I have seen evidence of healthy congregations that gather people in helpful ways and who provide effective ways to meet and deal with the stress/celebrations of life.

Jeremy Rifkin, global economist and author of the book, The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis (2010) writes about the evolution of empathy and ends his book with this conclusion: The Empathic Civilization is emerging. We are fast extending our empathic embrace to the world of humanity and the vast project of life that envelops the planet. But our rush to universal empathic connectivity is running up against a rapidly accelerating entropic juggernaut in the form of climate change and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Can we reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avert planetary collapse?

His question is our challenge as pastors, chaplains, and theologically trained professionals who may be in the unique position to offer hope and direction to an emerging new age.