Innovating Successfully as a Small Church in a Small Town – Transcript
Jim Latimer
Welcome to Coaching for Interims. We are about empowerment for interim ministry, best practices and quick help – wisdom from the field. This is our collaborative Wisdom from the Field project featuring short interviews with transitional interim ministers and others with practical help and wisdom to offer those engaged in transitional ministry. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Wisdom from the Field.
My name is Reverend Jim Latimer. I’m your host. And today we have the pleasure of having with us Reverend Dawn Adams. And Dawn has done some really innovative and creative things in ministry. In a previous episode that we recorded earlier today, she spoke about how she started at her church as a 20 hour a week Designated Term pastor, and now it’s grown to 30 hours a week as a settled pastor over a period of 8 years.
But there are a number of things that she’s had to respond to that I think apply pretty broadly – generational things – where she said, There are now more people that are involved with our church, but Sunday attendance is less frequent per person. So, it’s required some innovations. And what she’s done really well is collaborating with other churches in her town – other communities of faith. So, Dawn, if you would, I’d love for you to share with us some of these innovations that you have done.
Dawn Adams
Yes, I think one of the challenges that I have experienced is that as we have fed and watered and fertilized the tree, the tree is growing. And that’s wonderful! But I’m not sure I’m a qualified arborist. Or, I don’t have, based on my covenant, all the time to offer to it, because we actually – it’ll surprise you – get vacations and sabbaticals and other things! So, how in a small town, does a solo pastor, pastor all the time? How do we find ways to work together?
And I’ve decided that that’s it – we work together. We are neither the smallest congregation that ever existed, nor are we a multi-staff congregation. I am a solo pastor that engages my congregation. But even that is challenging, because generations act differently. People don’t attend church every single week. It is a known fact. You can look up studies on it. People are attending less often. What’s interesting is that means in our church – because our attendance is decent between 50 and 70, and sometimes more pre-COVID, in person present – that doesn’t mean we have 50 or 70 human beings as part of our church. That means that number alone, even counting just the people in our pews, is really 150 to 200 people.
Well, if you had a 200-person or 300-person church, you would have multiple staff. And that becomes a challenge. And we are known as the church in town. So, I still run into people, eight years later, that if I asked them what church they go to, they go to my church. I have never seen them. I don’t know their names. They have never entered my church. But let me tell you, when they have a tragedy in their life, or a baby, or a wedding, they will come.
And so, how do we balance all that? How do I engage my congregation to respond? And how do I engage myself with other congregations to take some of the weight off. Because one of the things that I noticed is that many of our congregations are doing the exact same thing, all in little isolated silos.
And I was really energized. I’ve been talking to Reverend Liz McGill, who is doing this for small congregations and creating a collaborative. And ours aren’t the micro-congregations. Ours are more mid-size congregations. And so, two of my colleagues – they’re not actually in town, they’re a couple towns over – Southbridge is Elm Street, and Oxford, the UCC church in Oxford. So, Reverend Kathy and Reverend Karen and I decided to get together. It was much to the extent I had done some work with Marsha McPhee and part of her collaborative and the worship design, and was amazed and energized by what she offered. But I needed to do it a little closer, and have a little more control over what we were able to do.
And so, we started last Advent, and did our planning together. And when three people plan together – I’m a collaborative person – the bouncing off of ideas goes better, easier. And then we did it again for this Lent. We’re in the middle of working together, and this time we grew it. This time, we actually are doing a shared Bible study on Zoom. So, instead of me having to prepare all six bible studies, I prepare two. Pastor Karen does two. Pastor Kathy does two. Well, that took off a substantial amount of workload for me during Lent, and allows me to pivot and use it somewhere else. We’ve shared videos. Pastor Karen’s organist, Corbin, played in all of our churches, thanks to technology.
And so, these are things that we can do to help each other and move in ways that help each other. And we’re planning to do this coming Advent together, and perhaps even rotate our pulpits. The challenge is: how do you do that without getting into the worry of, Who’s getting paid what? And how does that work? And what arrangements? And I am blessed by two colleagues that like me, it doesn’t matter. How about let’s see what sticks, what works, what doesn’t work, before we enter into the technicalities, which can get you off track really fast. Where that will go? I don’t know.
But I know that the collaboration is not only helpful mentally and creatively. It also helps me legitimately figure out hours, know that I can count on other people. Two of us have had challenges during this particular Lent, where we’ve been able to lean on each other and say, Okay, you pick up this thing, and I’ll get that thing done. As a solo pastor, that’s not something you normally have to the degree that you might need it. And so, it’s a real blessing. And I think something that we are moving even more towards. And that’s a real change for a United Church of Christ pastor where our autonomy is everything.
Jim Latimer
So, the idea of collaborating with churches and things like that – lots of pastors will say, Sure. That’s a great idea. But then often, it doesn’t get beyond, That’s a great idea. Right? They get tangled up in details or working hours. Those are important, but what I heard you say is before you really talk about that in great detail, you find one colleague or two and you experiment, Let’s just let’s try something first, right? And see how it might go. And then based on that experimenting, we can then have some data, some experience, by which we could say, Okay, well, yeah, that does or doesn’t fit into my call agreement, or my availability or money or other things. Right? Experiment first. Is that what you’re saying?
Dawn Adams
Absolutely. And I think that’s true, both on the collaborative level of interchurch work, but it’s also been true within the church itself, is that I am finding that short stints of experimental time where people know something is going to stop and start, allows them to enter into it with a wider heart.
And then there’s going to be a period of reevaluation. And this certainly isn’t my own idea, this is advice that’s been offered to me by many other wiser minds. But I can tell you that for me, it has really been a truth. For example, screens in the sanctuary. The first screen that entered our sanctuary entered because the Boy Scouts were doing an event. We already were talking about screens, but didn’t know how to bring them in without a huge backlash. And well, but who wouldn’t let a Boy Scout to put it up because we were doing an ecumenical service? And it was there for that.
And then it disappeared. And then we used it for something else. And then it disappeared. And then one Christmas, we had a beautiful experiment, where one of our congregant’s son who was deployed and who we usually read for Christmas, read, and guess what? It showed on – that screen! And people were like, Wow, this opens up a whole new world – a whole new possibility. And now, because of COVID, and other things, there are two screens, which is still an experiment because they’re not the right size. They need to be bigger. We need to put them in more permanently. But we’re experimenting.
And yes, if this experiment fails, you need to stop and retract. And I can tell you as it pertains to collaboration with other congregations, especially in the United Church of Christ, part of it is just about match. You can have two great pastors and two great congregations but they just might see things differently in a way that doesn’t work. So, you have to be willing to try to match, and also to walk away at the same time.
Jim Latimer
That’s good. Those are two key things there in terms of collaboration partners for innovative things, because innovation is an essential aspect of helping a church move forward. One, is the willingness to experiment. And because sometimes when we pastors try something new, in our minds it might be an experiment, but we don’t say that frequently enough to other people. So, just let them know frequently, This is an experiment! We’re just going to try it. This is what it’s going to look like. Here’s when we’re going to start, and here’s where we’re going to end. And then we’ll reevaluate. So, we’re not committing completely. And that – as you said so beautifully – better enables them to participate with an open heart. And then finding a good match – somebody that’s easy to work with if it’s going to be someone outside of the congregation. Someone that’s easy to work with helps a lot.
Dawn Adams
Yes! Collaboration should make things easier, not harder. I don’t think I can say that enough. Collaboration should make it easier, not harder. I have been in both seats. And it is as important to say, Yes, as it sometimes is to say, Thank you, but no thank you right now.
Jim Latimer
That’s a beautiful way to know when to say yes to something and when to say no to something. And whether it’s a new idea, or a person to work with, or whatever it is, Is this going to make it easier, or is this going to make it harder? Especially if it’s collaboration, right? Because that’s part of the idea, that in the long run, it should make things easier for the various individuals involved.
Dawn Adams
And that’s a challenge for me. I am definitely an over functioner. Something that I’ve had to learn over the course of my life is, Where is that edge? How do I invite other people to work beside and with me? How do I turn things over? And that it’s okay to say, I appreciate what you’re doing, but my call has moved in this (other) direction. And I need to do this (other thing) right now. That’s been an important learning in my ministry career.
Jim Latimer
Yes. Dawn. That’s a perfect place to end, because that’s a boundary issue. That’s a self-awareness issue: Okay, I tend toward overwork. This is kind of how God made me. That’s okay. There are a lot of benefits to that. But there are some real downsides to it. Right? But because you’re able to see that about yourself, you can laugh at what you’re doing – you smile, and you laugh. Yeah. This is kind of how I am! Then you’re able to negotiate, because you know that about yourself, right? And you’re willing to say, No; not: No, go away. I don’t like you. But, No: this doesn’t work for me now. You’re willing to say that, and that helps keep the anxiety and the stress down and keeps the relationships clean going forward, which is really important. Dawn, thank you so much for your wisdom here. This was a fabulous segment. Thank you so much.