Vital Congregations

1 2 When the calendar flipped from 2020 to 2021 there was great hope the global pandemic would soon be over, and life would return to the way we prefer it. Clearly that is not what happened, and congregations

3 continued to have the opportunity to adapt and expand their ministry. Along the way the Vital

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Congregations ministries of the Upper New York have continued to work with leaders around the Conference. While it seems everything around us has changed, the mission of the church has remained; to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Further, the Conference has remained focused on living into this mission by discovering, developing, and deploying Christ following 8 transformational leaders so that local congregations can move toward greater vitality. 9 10 The ministry of Vital Congregations does not happen in isolation as many partners are needed to engage 11 this work. Significant time was spent in relationship with the Conference Leadership Team, the Bishop’s

12 Operational team a sub team of the Conference Leadership Team, the UNY Cabinet, Board of Ordained

13 14 15 16 17 18 Ministry, the three Regions, and all 12 districts. Through these partnerships, we have been able to hear the needs of congregations and leaders around the Conference, as well as develop strategies to come alongside leaders in a greater ways. Part of the work resulted in the affirmation of some definitions to guide the ministry we share. Following are the definitions used as investment is made to help congregations find greater vitality:

19 20 A Disciple of Jesus Christ is a person who: • Confesses faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

21 22 23 24 25 • Is continually transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit • Seeks accountability to grow spiritually and missionally • Boldly connects with the world around them while dismantling all forms of oppression and building up marginalized communities • Proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ

26 27 • Participates with God to make other disciples

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 A Transformational Leader is a disciple of Jesus Christ who leads transformation by: • Fostering a culture for people to be open and available to the work of the Holy Spirit • Understanding the gifts and needs of their ministry setting • Equipping a disciple-making culture • Discovering, developing, deploying, and leading new and existing leaders • Inspiring and equipping others for works of evangelism, justice, and mercy • Building a culture of transformation that will outlast the leader • Creating, leading, and empowering a system of accountability to the mission

A vital congregation is: • Inwardly transformed and outwardly focused • Spirit-filled, forward leaning communities of disciples • Grow, both numerically and spiritually over time • Welcome all people (Galatians 3.28) • Serve the world radically like Christ, through life-changing ministry and mission that build up the community of faith and transform lives and social conditions in the community and world (Micah 6:8 and Luke 4:17-21) • Joins God in the work that God is already doing • Have powerful stories, measurable fruitfulness, and life changing ministries

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Markers of a Vital Congregation • Inviting and inspiring worship • New and growing Disciples • Small group ministries • Engaged disciples in mission and outreach 6 • Generous giving 7 8 Working with those definitions the programmatic strategies and experiments moved forward. There 9 continued to be leadership incubators as well as the beginning of area teams. Area teams are gatherings 10 of leaders from a similar geographic area or affinity focus of ministry. The leaders, clergy and lay come 11 together to love, learn, and lead (L3) together to explore what God’s invitation would be for their ministry

12 in collaborative ways. If you have not heard about area teams it is because we are starting small in a few

13 areas and looking to grow in a more organic way rather than through a Conference initiative or edict. Be

14 15 watching for more opportunities to journey in area teams in the coming months.

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Along the way, work with individual congregations and Districts continues. This has meant coaching, consulting and being a resource as congregations navigate their next faithful steps toward greater vitality. In some situations, this has involved completing a ministry audit. The audit is a process by which the congregation is assisted by an outside team to do a health check-up. Through the process, recommendations are developed and congregations are given the opportunity to choose the next step for them.

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Not to be forgotten is the work of the Associate Director of Vital Congregations for Spiritual Life. Through her work, Nancy Dibelius has offered the gift of a video series of spiritual practices and disciplines. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the work being done to continue to develop the Spiritual life of the leaders in Upper New York through the ministry of Nancy. During this time the ministry of Tending the Soul has continued, albeit in an adapted form. Nancy has also worked on various projects for Districts and the Conference.

The ministry will continue to work to come alongside congregations and leaders to live into the mission. We will continue to develop leaders so that the local congregations can be vital and thrive. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve God and the church in this way.

In Christ Rev. Dr. Aaron Bouwens, Dir. of Vital Congregations