12 min 10 s
Rev. Jeff MacDonald
- Characteristics of churches that thrive after moving to a part-time pastor;
- Highlights of how lay ministries benefit the congregation;
- Creating platforms for laypeople to share experiences of meaningful engagement;
- Barriers hindering lay people from using their gifts; Suggestions for how the pastor can help lay people to overcome barriers to using their gifts in ministry;
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14 min 10 s
Rev. Jeff MacDonald
- Being intentional rather than reactionary in the move to a part-time pastorate;
- Questions to help the laity get clear about their roles in the move to a part-time pastorate;
- Key questions to ask yourself to understand how your pastorate is structured now;
- Formal vs. unspoken expectations and their consequences;
- Allowing the laity to do what they’ve long been authorized to do but don’t realize it;
- Helping the laity to see that there’s actually very little that is doable only by the pastor;
- Seeing the pastor as a strategic resource to advance the mission of the congregation;
- Why being clear about the congregation’s mission is so essential to a successful part-time pastorate;
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14 min 30 s
Rev. Jeff MacDonald
- How the pastor can overcome resistance by the laity;
- How can a pastor help a congregation move beyond the resistance that just comes up when, when change is in the air;
- Being intentional rather than reactionary in the move to a part-time pastorate;
- Questions to help the laity get clear about their roles in the move to a part-time pastorate;
- Key questions to ask yourself to understand how your pastorate is structured now;
- Formal vs. unspoken expectations and their consequences;
- Allowing the laity to do what they’ve long been authorized to do but don’t realize it;
- Helping the laity to see that there’s actually very little that is doable only by the pastor;
- Seeing the pastor as a strategic resource to advance the mission of the congregation;
- Why being clear about the congregation’s mission is so essential to a successful part-time
14 min 03 s
Rev. Jeff MacDonald
- How a part-time pastorate can actually be more empowering for lay people;
- How part-time ministry can be a career boon for creative types who have other streams of income;
- How a part-time pastorate can be life-giving for both the pastor and the congregation;
- How a part-time pastorate can create a grounding and stable life for the creative gig worker;
12 min 30 s
Rev. Chris Mereschuk
- When is Designated Term appropriate?
- Designated Term puts everything on the table
- When serving as an interim pastor, what if calling a settled pastor next isn’t what’s really needed?
- Designated Term: you do have goals, but maybe not a specific outcome (like being ready to call a settled pastor)
- How Interim Pastors and Designated Pastors can work together
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16 min 36 s
Rev. Dr. Rochelle (Shelly) Stackhouse
- The book of Acts is an underutilized resource for discerning about the building
- There’s more than one way to solve the problem…
- Solutions to the building problem only surface by going deeply into discerning your relationship with the community around you
- What might you have to do to your physical space to make other people want to use it?
- Learning not to underestimate the beauty of our spaces… > Dealing with idolatry of the building
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10 min 43 s
Rev. Chris Mereschuk
- Key questions to build relationships with people at the beginning;
- How to avoid closed ended questions;
- Getting the congregation to think more deeply about their future when closure is a real possibility;
- Helping the congregation get to its “Why”
- Assessing the capacity of the congregation for ministry; Questions to help a declining congregation think realistically about its options;
- Questions to help a declining congregation think realistically about its options;
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17 min 03 s
Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman
- It was a white church with people of color in it, rather than a truly multiracial multicultural model.
- The message shifted from, You’re welcome if you come to, we want you here.
- Racial justice work and church vitality work are, in my approach, connected; they go together.
- Whatever town you are in, there are people of color there that you can build authentic relationships with, and you can do this work!
- You know the relationship is authentic when you’re inviting their stories and experiences to change you also. Granby Racial Reconciliation;
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15 min 33 s
Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman
- When the energy gets low, churches often don’t know there are other options to closing;
- Thoughts on various options: merger restart, adoption, consolidation, redevelopment…;
- Barrier for vitality is shame and blame;
- Avoiding the “Twin Titanic” model (throwing a rope from one sinking congregation to another);
- Key to church mergers: learn to love other things together;
- The challenge of trying to do vitality work and consolidation work at the same;
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15 min 33 s
Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman
- An inspiring story of a church that sold its building and joined the community;
- Shift from, “The church is falling apart,” to, “The church is falling open;”
- Wisdom about the twists and turns of a building sale;
- The shift from a downsizing to a restart;
- Selling a building is highly context dependent;
- Renovating the building without reconnecting with the community is futile;
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