“Trusting in the Future” Setting targets for the sustainable projection of the LWF Lutheran member churches in Latin America Joint program of the LWF member churches in Latin America and the Lutheran World Federation for the 2007-2010 period.
Concept paper for discussion ______________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction The emeritus Bishop of the Methodist Church in Argentina (IEMA Spanish initials), the Rev. Federico Pagura framed in poetry the profound Christian conviction that the future of all creation is assured, thanks to God’s act of incarnation in Jesus Christ: “Because he entered into the world and into history…this is why we now trust in the future” This is also a valid hope for the Christian church, which forms part of the created world. Its existence, reason for Being and future revolve around the redeeming action of God. The basic support of the church is assured in this act of redemption and in God’s continuous creative act throughout time. It is based on this trust that men and women of all ages dare to take on their own role and responsibility in the diverse aspects of the life of the church, and in this way respond to God’s calling to form a new community (baptism), to build it and to participate as such in God’s mission, offering their own gifts for his work. However, this trust in often troubled by specific experiences that mark many of the Lutheran churches in the region. Although many may feel that they are in a period of stagnation (not only regarding the number of their members), others feel that they are in frank retrocession (not only in numbers). There are also Lutheran churches in the region that have been able to consolidate themselves and have even grown (not only number wise), but are concerned when they look towards the projection of this consolidation and growth into the future. Within this tension felt between the two extremes – the certainty that God sustains his church, and the real problems of sustainability that are being felt in practice – the churches have begun to open spaces for reflecting on their sustainability and future projection, and in doing so have brought to life a dimension often forgotten in institutional practice and that has to do with an appropriate stewardship of the gift of the community of faith. As God’s gift, the church calls for and demands a responsible stewardship! Only someone with a biased view could say that this effort is arrogance on 1
behalf of God’s people, and that by means of this reflection and their actions they attempt to snatch the church out of God’s hands and turn it into a merely human project. On the other hand, a deeper theological and confessional reflection would legitimize this responsibility taken on by God’s people as a theologically sound expression of the stewardship of God’s gifts, and as a concrete expression of a life based on the justification of faith alone. This human response is always inserted in the broader view of God’s action that creates and sustains his church, but which does not void human responsibility, but on the contrary, awakens, motivates, sustains it and makes it more feasible. Through the Department for Mission and Development, the LWF has observed this quest for sustainability and future projection that has been made be the churches in the region, and has also understood the urgency of this quest in light of the social, economical, political and religious contexts throughout the region that require the churches to have a strong standing regarding their own future projection. Capturing these observations and the urgency of this task, the LWF presented this challenge to the churches of the region in 2005, by means of a proposal directed to the Conference of Leaders (COL), for programmatically dealing with the subject of the sustainability of the churches and , where possible, to do so in a joint manner. With the endorsement received, the same conference set aside in the following year (2006) a space for some initial reflections to provide elements for a reference framework for this type of program. Also, an “facilitator team” was set up in charge of presenting a concrete plan of action to the churches for dealing with the proposed matters.
2. Conceptual framework of the program The facilitator team of the “sustainability” program gathered the elements provided by the collective reflection made during the Leadership Conference in 2006 and organized them during a meeting held in June of 2006 (Lima). They arrived at the conclusion that the implementation of a program dealing with sustainability should revolve around the following three central elements and their respective subtopics: I. Thinking and building the church - Pastoral model - Bi-vocationality - Church model - Quality of the community life - Comprehensive mission - Confessional identity II. Planning, monitoring and assessment - Self-administration in the churches - Planning and prevention culture - Strategic planning in the church - Planning culture in the church. III. Development of human and economic resources - Leadership training (including: leadership education and training, leadership ethics, confessional identity)
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- Christian administration (including: alternative resource seeking, resources generating projects, dependency reduction). - Ecumenical sharing of resources (including: ecumenical sharing, institutional relationships within the communion). The churches reacted positively to the work proposal, and affirmed in general terms the processing of the information received during the COL 2006 and the construction of the three thematic central elements. However, the churches raised some very focused questions which required a new look at the proposal, basically with the aim of making it even more defined. The questions raised can be grouped along the following concepts: - Local contexts and different ecclesiastical realities: How can this regional program correctly take into account the diversity of local contexts and concrete realities of each of the churches? How to guarantee the relevancy of the program and avoid imposition? -Lack of a clear process identification: the proposal did not clarify the type of process that it was attempting to deal with, nor the actors involved and the type of results being sought. What are the local churches and the parishes/communities going to do? What is the role of the facilitator team, and that of the LWF? -Lack of strategic options: the proposal did not specify which strategies would be chosen in the implementation of the program; at the same time, it was not completely clear what was the final objective. -Timeframes: the program is using some very demanding timeframes that are difficult to achieve. Along with these questions, other important details can be found when interpreting the churches´ responses. The first thing is that most likely the constituency of this “sustainability” program (at first sight) is too narrow. As pointed out in the previous paragraphs, the broader concern of the churches throughout the region has to do with their sustainable projection. This slight correction of the basic element of the program represents an important change of paradigm, since this means the target is shifted: the churches wish to tackle present realities with a future based approach. The program’s approach is not then aimed at “fixing” the current problems, but at opening spaces for a transformation within the churches, to strengthen their aptitude for the future in their respective contexts. The second important finding is that the churches consider that the issue of centrality in planning is a critical knot that must be addressed by the churches in order to project themselves in a sustainable manner. The third important finding based on the responses received is that the churches apparently expect a much more active program, with a longer time frame, and are expecting more broad based participation in this sustainable projection process. Finally, it is also obvious that the churches wish to avoid at all costs a merely technical rapprochement of the subject of sustainability, one exclusively governed by economic considerations. Rather, they wish that the program be firmly entrenched and linked to a theological, and particularly missiological and ecclesiogical reflection, that provides
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the parameters of ecclesiastical identity (such as background and horizon) around which to seek the establishment of a sustainable projection for the church. By anchoring the search for sustainability in this theological reflection, we can avoid speeches on technicalities, distortions and coarse achievement mentalities, all of which can unfortunately be found in the ecclesiastical panorama in Latin America. 3. Fine tuning the proposal With all the input offered, we are in a position to fine tune the proposal and visualize more concretely the implementation of the program. First of all, we are now able to propose a name which more adequately reflects the dynamic process we seek to implement. The following is suggested as a working title:
“Trusting in the future – setting targets for the sustainable projection of the Lutheran churches in Latin America” This working title backs up the conviction stated at the beginning of this document regarding the confidence with which the church can address this issue of setting targets based on their faith in God, who is the reason for all hope. It also backs up the future perspective that is to be adopted; highlighting the long term nature of the process that implicitly assumes that the church is “under construction” or in a more Lutheran terminology, in a constant process of reform (ecclesia semper reformanda). Secondly, we are currently in a position to now set (it wasn’t done before, specifically to allow the churches to set) a general objective for the program. Hereafter it is proposed to: “Motivate and nourish the reflection process and the actions that derive from the sustainable projection of the Lutheran member churches of the LWF in Latin America.” This objective shall be approached through the three central elements previously mentioned by the follow up group: - Thinking and building the church - Planning, monitoring and assessment - Development of human and economic resources Of these three, we suggest that the guiding element be that of planning, accompanied and shaped by a strong theological reflection process. With this definition, the concerns of the church are addressed with regard to the issue of centrality that they attribute to the fact of dealing with and generating a planning culture within the church. The specific objective of the program would then be: “To generate, promote or deepen a planning culture within the Lutheran churches in Latin America, based solidly on a theological reflection and oriented toward harnessing and managing their human and economic resources”.
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Strategies for implementing the program. Just as pointed out above, the strategic definitions for the implementation of the program were not very clear in the presentation of the first proposal by the facilitator group. Most likely, it was necessary to first submit the three thematic central elements and allow the ideas to mature as regards the implementation of the program, the public goal, the main actors or subjects, etc. Taking into consideration the comments and suggestions of the churches, the strategic definitions of the program will be the following: 1. The program will be implemented locally, in the LWF member churches. The strategic intention aims at the sphere of the local congregation (parishes) leaders, wherein the objective of “generating, promoting and deepening culture…” can be reached. The greater the participation of the lay congregation leaders and directors, the greater the chances of generating long term and sustainable processes in the local field: “the pastors move on, the directors, local councils and the congregations themselves remain.” 2. The role of the regional program is to: - motivate and build awareness and will to address planning in the local church leadership sphere; - boost the action taken by the churches on the local level by means of tools, reflections, materials and locally available contacts and resources (interconnect); - provide follow up to the local actions undertaken by the churches. 3. For purposes of implementing the program, each church shall name at least one contact person. These contact persons will act as a link between the facilitator group (see below) and their churches, and as local replicators (implementers). This group of contact persons will have their own space for facilitating, training, monitoring, planning and exchange (regional workshops, probably twice a year). 4. The facilitator group, along with the LWF/DMD/Latin America and the Caribbean shall be in charge of the general guidance of the program and, where necessary, generating work materials. For this latest task, they shall rely on the existing human resources within the churches. The facilitator group shall present reports to the Conference of Leaders. The financial aspects, including the reports, are located at the Desk for Latin America and the Caribbean of the DMD/LWF. 5. Where possible, the program will opt for work materials that use public education methodology. 6. So as to achieve the necessary consolidation of the desired results, the program shall be implemented during four consecutive years; 2007-2010. Implied assumptions. In order to achieve the objective set out by the proposed strategies, the program is based on the following assumptions: 1. The diversity of contexts and ecclesiastical realities do not impede the churches from, in their respective contexts, assuming a more deliberate planning attitude and from initiating local processes in coherence with the context and ecclesiastical reality. 2. The churches shall open spaces so that the program, its impulses and materials touch base with the churches through the appointed contact persons, who in turn, shall receive
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clear political back up and a facilitating attitude (spaces, resources, community access) from the churches. 3. The LWF and the follow up group will be able to maintain the efforts of motivating, nourishing, providing follow up and interconnection. Phases The program will progress through the following phases of implementation: 1. Program motivation and design: November 2006 through March 2007. 2. Program launching and political agreements regarding its implementation: April 2007-COL. 3. Church selection of contact persons, explanation of the program within the churches and agreements regarding its local implementation: May through July 2007. 4. Launching of the process with a first regional meeting of the local program contact persons: August or September 2007. 5. Implementation of a first phase in the local field: September 2007 through January 2008. Possible contents: - Is it possible to plan within the church? (awareness building, dialogue with questions, suspicions, resistance and hopes). - How to plan within the church? (appropriate methodology for planning within the church). - “If I could give a church to my children‌.â€? (biblical and theological tips for the collective church model design) 6. Second regional contact persons meeting: February 2008. (Assessment of the experience, detection of problems or obstacles, future planning). 7. Second phase of implementation: March through October 2008 (design of a strategic plan for a local community (communities)). Probable contents: - The reality that surrounds us (FODA) - Building goals and objectives - Stewardship; - other contents, in accordance with the result of the assessments and second planning meeting. 8. Third regional meeting of local contact persons: November 2008. (objectives similar to those of the second meeting). 9. Third phase of implementation: December 2008 through December 2009 (local replication (districts, regions) of the planning experience). 10. Fourth regional meeting of local contact persons: November 2009 (objectives similar to those of the third meeting). 11. Fourth phase of implementation: systematic organization of the experiences and the process carried out: December through April 2010. 12. Presentation and discussion of the systematic organization at the Conference of Leaders (COL): April 2010. 13. Fifth phase of implementation: program closure and future target setting: April through September.
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14. Fifth and last meeting of the local contact persons: October 2010. (affirmation of commitments, continuity). All these phases shall be accompanied by the production of materials and supplies, the email accompaniment of the contact persons by the facilitator group and the interconnection between the actors, resources, processes, etc. Expected results It is expected that by the end of the program: - each church shall have leaders aware of the need to plan systematically; - each church shall have available leaders provided with the technical tools to be able to carry out a planning process, or train others to do so; - each church shall have specific experiences of communities in the strategic planning process; - each church will have reach clarity and consensus about the ecclesiastical identity they wish to project into the future, and the way in which to do so; - the churches of the region shall be in the conscience process of consolidation and/or transformation needed so as to project themselves in a sustainable manner.
Schedule and flowchart (see separate annex)
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