By Dr. Don Nations

What is a vital congregation?  Is it a church in which income meets expenses, the building is maintained, the apportionments are paid, the people are relatively happy, and pastors stick around for more than just a few years?  This situation certainly would be better than the reality in many congregations but is this really what we mean by a "vital congregation?"

Allow me to pose another answer to the question.  It is a community of faith in which God's grace is extended in tangible ways, people are encountering Jesus in life-changing ways, an increasing number of people are engaging in corporate worship, everyone has the opportunity to be personally involved in mission that positively changes the future for others, risk-taking is accepted as normal, and nothing is allowed to get in the way of the congregation walking in the mission field with Jesus.

Imagine the excitement of being a part of that kind of church!  Worship would both leave you changed and help you change the world.  Our primary attachment would be to Jesus, not buildings, property, history, how things have always been done, or our preferences.

Let me share with you some stories of churches that have taken significant steps towards transformation. As you read them, listen deeply for what God is saying to you about your church. What bold, daring, risky, uncomfortable thing are you being called to do in order to become a vital congregation? Remember, the call of God is almost always to go outside of our comfort zone . . . and sometimes to abandon all.

Trinity is a church located in a rural county seat town. It has been around for a long time and, like many churches, has experienced an aging congregation and decline in worship attendance.  A new pastor was appointed to the church and he helped the congregation wrestle with what they might do to reach their community. They decided to offer a free lunch twice per week to anyone who wanted it. The people from the church prepare an amazing meal and serve it with warm hospitality. Music and a brief devotional is part of the program but people are not forced to participate. The church is growing now. Many of the new members are people who were so impressed with the feeding program that they decided to volunteer to help with it. Most of the others come from the pastor's belief that he is responsible for reaching out to the community and bringing in two new families per month simply from his efforts. The feeding program takes a lot of time and money but it is making a difference in people's lives so the church continues to find a way to make it happen.

First Church is a classic downtown church in a mid-size city near the US-Mexico border. The congregation was stalled in growth and unsuccessful at reaching the people who lived around the church. A decision was made to start a new worship service in a different location with a different leadership team. The new service was not defined by the language used but by embracing the culture of the community. The music did not look like the services at the downtown campus, the sermons did not sound like the ones at the downtown campus and those attending did not look like the ones at the downtown campus. Over 100 new people were in worship, however, so the church considered this to be a good investment of funds. And yes, there were some people in the church who never understood why another service was needed or why the church had to invest so much money in it.

The five year old church is located in a mid-size city which already has 100 other churches. When it was two years old there were about 30 people in worship, the pastor was part-time and the future was uncertain. The church embraced Servant Evangelism (http://www.servantevangelism.com) with great passion. Those 30 people made 10,000 personal contacts with people over the next 12 months. The church grew from 30 to 60 in worship in one year. The next year it grew from 60 to 120. And the next year it grew from 120-240! Was it easy? No. Did people work constantly? Yes. Did some of the funding come out of individual's pockets? Yes. Did everyone like the changes? No. The church grew because people embraced sharing God's love in practical ways with the community. The church also made the difficult decision to change a staff person during this time. Small groups were added and all leaders were expected to be in one. Together, these changes allowed the church to grow and thrive.

First was a classic downtown First church in a good size community.  With seating for 1200, the building dwarfed the current congregation-just 250 at the largest service. The church was not clear about its purpose or its target audience. The congregation embraced a tool titled "Congregational DNA Formation" (a DNA Coaching resource)-a tool designed to help congregations discover their values, beliefs, target audience, signature ministry, mission, and vision. The church invested over a year working through the resource and put some of their sharpest leaders on the team. Now they are clear about their purpose, focused in their work, invested in advertising, embracing of social media, and doing great things.

Your church can be the next success story. Perhaps it will participate in a missional merger, become part of a mission-driven cooperative parish, start a new worship service, offer to be part of a strategic re-start, sell the building, relocate, or become a satellite of a stronger congregation, make use of video venues, make Servant Evangelism a core part of your church, conduct a ministry fund campaign to raise money for staffing and new ministry, or something else. Be creative. Be faithful. Be a missional outpost of the Kingdom of God!