Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 10, 1994                   TAG: 9407120074
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CLARK MORPHEW KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHURCHES NEED TO START PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

But that's all the more reason to start planning for the future and sticking to the prescription for the years ahead.

Obviously, every congregation is different. St. John's by the Duck Pond may be growing and prospering just down the street, but that doesn't mean that your congregation will do the same. Sometimes congregations are doomed by their location, and the only solution will be moving to a growing area. And there are congregations so unfriendly they would drive Jesus from the sanctuary on the first Sunday he showed up.

One mark of health is a congregation that looks to the future, refusing to let the past determine what it will do in the present.

For instance, over at St. John's by the Duck Pond, youth ministry is hot, and young people flock to the events set up by a very savvy youth team. But 20 years ago, a youth minister was accused of pilfering funds and was given the left foot of fellowship. In other words, he was kicked out and told never to darken the doors of the church again.

So the congregational leaders got together to decide what to do with the scandal that ensued. Of course, both young people and parents were devastated by the dismissal. And everyone blamed either the clergy or the lay leadership.

It would have been easy for the leadership to disband the youth ministry and take a recess from dealing with young people. But that would have been foolhardy because it ignores the future. So the leaders decided they would double their efforts. They hired two youth pastors who worked together to revise and expand the ministry.

That was the event that set St. John's by the Duck Pond on a mission of growth. And it was such a profound experience for the congregation that it has been a future-oriented church ever since.

But you must be careful to do your planning in short increments, never longer than five years down the road.

Here's an example of one church's long-range planning process. St. Kevin's congregation (yes, there really is a St. Kevin) was dwindling in size. The membership consisted of only 60 family units, many of them elderly single people. If the trend continued, it would be impossible to hire a full-time pastor within a year. In two years, the congregation wouldn't be able to afford heat for the church. Something had to be done.

Pastor Fellows did a quick demographic study of the community with the help of city planners and discovered that the neighborhood had stabilized, with the average age hovering between 50 and 55 years. He also discovered that in the past 10 years, 200 members had moved to Pleasant Hills, a nearby suburb. Half the current members drove in from Pleasant Hills to attend worship, and those people were the youngest parishioners.

At the next meeting of church leaders, Pastor Fellows presented some of his findings to the parish council and asked for comment. At the same time, he outlined the growing financial crisis and previewed what the congregation would look like in three years: membership at 40 families, attendance down 10 percent and the offering cut by one-third.

The pastor then asked the vital question. ``Is our ministry in this neighborhood finished?'' The inquiry was met with stunned silence.'' Finally, one wise woman who had been a member at St. Kevin's for 50 years said, ``Pastor, that just might be true, but we have to have more opinions. I will volunteer to go with one other person to visit the bishop and get her opinion.''

By the next meeting, they had an answer. ``Yes,'' the bishop said, ``I believe your ministry there is over. Further, I want a congregation established in Pleasant Hills, and I will help you move to that new location. But we have to move quickly.''

The bishop sent one of her staff to help with parish-council and congregational meetings. Suddenly the future came alive. The congregation mapped out everything from choirs to volleyball teams for the next five-year period. The members planned a neighborhood canvass with brochures and special invitations.

And across the congregation, smiles returned, eyes lit up with hope and people greeted each other with enthusiasm because the future had returned. And it all began with one question: What will we do with tomorrow?

Clark Morphew an ordained clergyman and a writer for the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press.