Time to till, plant and water with VCI

8/14/2012

 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WMC) – “Inch by inch … a cinch!” that’s how Benton Heisler, Director of Connectional Ministry, described the Vital Church Initiative (VCI) in his recent column. Modeled on a program in Missouri Conference, VCI is now in its second year in West Michigan. And, as Benton remarked with enthusiasm, “Now, almost one in eight of every West Michigan congregations is taking their beginning steps.”  

All six districts in West Michigan are on board or coming on board. VCI takes a “Small Church Path” (SCP churches have under 80 in worship) and a “Large Church Path” (LCP over 80 in worship). To date,  the Albion District has completed the initial phase for SCP. A  Lansing District LCP and a SCP on the Heartland District are mid-way through the process. Large churches on the Grand Rapids, Grand Traverse, and Kalamazoo districts will soon be embarking on the VCI journey.
Called a “turn-around strategy,” what exactly is VCI?
4-phase plan
VCI first brings together learning communities of pastors and laity meeting monthly over 7-9 months. In the initial LCP and SCP, there’s peer sharing, in-depth reading and mutual support. Participants receive tools for training leaders in how to develop strategies and skills for transformation. The next level of VCI centers on intensive congregational consultation by a team of trained leaders that provides a prescription for change that leads to growth. The third phase works the plan with the support of coaching and peer mentoring. The final evaluative phase aims at enhancing the process.
The movement, according to Naomi Garcia, Conference Ministry Consultant (pictured above) and one of the primary organizers of VCI, is from “shared learning (as preparation for planning), action planning (with specifics on what, when, where, for whom, by whom and by when), external accountability to that action (facilitators, coaches, consultants and peer mentors) and evaluation (for more learning to better up the continuing cycle).”
 
VCI basics
VCI is founded on a number of assumptions which include: 1) the making of new disciples is central; 2) The United Methodist Church will change one congregation at a time; 3) no significant change happens without pain; and 4) any strategy for change must develop from the people who live it rather than being directed from outside.
Naomi  adds:
 “One of the VCI starting places is the biblical notion that the harvest is plentiful. The work of preparing the soil, planting the seeds and watering the seedlings is the work of faith community leaders. United Methodists in the Michigan Area have long neglected our biblical and disciplinary responsibilities to equip our faith community leaders to do just that.” 
Changing strategies
Naomi goes on to say that a change of strategy is essential … from a “strategy of negligence” to an “intentional plan rooted in shared faith journey.” She emphasizes that the VCI approach is a practical way to accomplish our mission . “The recruitment model of a ‘warm body’ is at the very least lazy and is definitely unfaithful,” she continues. “The common training practice of tossing a guidebook toward the new recruit with a cryptic blessing is equally inexcusable,” she says.
The purpose of the Vital Church Initiative is to “help congregational leaders to be co-creators with each other following The Maker’s lead to change their corner of the world,” Naomi asserts. “Once upon a time Wesley’s dream of a church on every corner was sufficient,” Naomi notes. “United Methodists have pretended that dream was relevant to changing the world for too long.” Her hope is that pastors and laity reject the comfort of the status quo to “engage their God-given imagination to be co-creators of God’s intent for themselves and their communities.”
Faces of VCI
Indeed, imaginative leaders have emerged during these first months of VCI training. Here is what they have to say about this co-creation process and how it has made a difference in their congregations  ...

Karin Orr (Centreville UMC/SCP Albion): “Naomi led us through a visioning process, which we did concurrently with SCI. She helped us articulate our core values, which turned out to be ‘faith,’ ‘hope,’ ‘love,’ and ‘justice.’  We used these as our themes for the four Sundays of Advent, with videos of members of the congregation talking about these values. We developed a new vision: ‘Centreville United Methodist Church--Called to Be Servants of God's Life-Changing Love.’  It ties in with our mission and our core values by explaining the who, what, why, and how. …   I think the whole process has given us a defined sense of purpose.  Our congregation truly understands that church is not a place where you come to sit.  You come to our church to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then your go out to serve.  SCI increased our understanding of whose we are!”

Bruce Kintigh (Battle Creek Trinity and Battle Creek Birchwood /SCP Albion): “We learned that you don’t have to find answers by traditional means. We also learned that the church needs to pay very close attention to what is happening within the community … learning to watch the community is an essential element to evangelism. Now that I am appointed at Birchwood as well, I can say they learned some very valuable lessons on how to work through the whole process.  They continue to meet and are actually getting Trinity Church back on track. For them diligence has been the key.  A lot of churches try things and then give up.  They are learning to follow through the whole process in order to define themselves as part of the larger body of Christ."

 Nancy Powers (Newton/SCP Albion): “Group members agreed that a big plus of VCI was the encouragement of being affirmed as small churches; you don’t have to be a mega-church to be faithful or effective. … It was helpful to hear people from other churches describe their challenges as well as the things that worked for them. That gave us perspective and ideas for dealing with our own situation. Sometimes the sharing provided accountability, helping us to celebrate successes and regroup to continue working on the challenges. ... I think it would have been helpful to spend more time involving the congregation as a whole in the SCP process. Our biggest frustration was trying to get more people to become invested in revitalizing our life together and our outreach to others.”

Robert Hundley (Lansing District Superintendent): “The most significant observation thus far is that the VCI process has seeded positive energy and enthusiasm among the laity for their faith, their church, and a commitment to explore models of ministry that can enrich and ignite the ministries of the local church.  There seems to be a new synergy of partnering between the clergy and laity.  This is brought about by fostering dialogue about books being read, strategic conversations, and intentional prayer for one another as well as the church.  For the churches that are participating in this pilot program, I am seeing hope in the process that may bear fruit in spiritual depth and growth within the local congregation.”

Rob Cook (Lansing Mt. Hope/LCP Lansing):  “I was glad Mount Hope had already signed on to VCI before I arrived in July this year.  There was some discussion whether to continue with the process during a pastoral transition, but we ended up deciding it was the perfect time to explore the church's long term vitality.  Pastors come and go, but it's the congregation's vision that matters most.  We're hoping the Vital Church Initiative will give us a vision to follow for many more years to come.”

Glenn Wagner (Holt UMC/LCP Lansing): “It really does help to have another set of eyes and ears to assist in sorting through pastoral issues. Significant changes in our church thus far include greater use of social media, establishing a unifying visual symbol, and meeting weekly to pray for the church. All great blessings.I am conducting my pastoral ministry and preaching with enhanced skills and greater focus. As we face the consultation and prescription phases of this process I confess to anxiety at the unknown.  Will we be willing to take the medicine that gets prescribed to us and do I have confidence in the wisdom, intentions, and expertise of the prescription writer’s who as yet are still unknown to us?  Overall I can report that we are happy at Holt with what we have seen so far in the content, the process, the knowledge, relationships, and direction that the Vital Church Initiative is leading us as a church.”

Want to learn more?
Congregations wanting to know more about the costs and all other aspects of the Vital Church Initiative, should contact the Rev. Gary Step, West Michigan’s Director of Congregational Transformation, or Naomi Garcia, Ministry Consultant.
VCI will be the theme of a Super Sunday event hosted by Holt UMC on November 11, 2:30-5:00 pm. The event is free of charge. Keynoter is Gary Step and multiple workshops are aimed at equipping leaders for vital ministry.
 “My hope is that VCI will help us re-discover the urgency of the Gospel,” Naomi concludes. “Today, this very moment, is the time to live like Christ.”

~reported by Kay DeMoss, Weekly News Senior Writer

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