Brown Street United Methodist Church

CONSULTATION REPORT

September 17, 2013

Introduction

We, the Fruitful Congregation Journey (FCJ) consultation team, would like to thank Rev. Barb Marshall, staff, lay leadership and congregation of Brown Street United Methodist Church for the invitation to consult with this body of Christ. The observations and prescriptions are the result of this team studying the following information: a) Brown Street UMC’s self-study document provided by its leaders, b) Brown Street UMC’s members completing the FCJ survey, c) the report from the Mystery Guest Worshippers provided by Faith Perceptions, d) interviews with the pastor, staff and ministry team leaders, e) a focus group with members of the congregation, f) a meeting with the ChurchBoard, g) a MissionInsite demographic report of the area’s population, and h) input from Tuesday’s congregational workshop.

Our prayer is that God will use this assessment experience and consultation report to help Brown Street UMC effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the community and the world.

Strengths

Brown Street UMC’s greatest strengths are as follows:

1. WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO FRIENDSHIP:

The people of Brown Street UMC are openly welcoming and friendly. Leaders interviewed by the consultation team named the warm, caring nature of the people of Brown Street UMC as one of the congregation’s best assets. Guest worshippers indicated they were warmly welcomed before and during worship. The congregation’s welcoming was consistently rated as the best part of their worship experience.

2.WELL-MAINTAINED AND ATTRACTIVE FACILITIES:

Brown Street UMC is strategically located in the heart of Lafayette. The condition of the facility reflects the congregation’s commitment to excellence. The continued refurbishing and renovation of the facilities exemplifies this commitment. Furthermore, Brown Street has a history of acquiring, caring for, and updating its facilities. From installing a pipe organ in 1909 to digging a basement under the church that houses the fellowship hall in the late 1940s to acquiring the house that is now “The Annex” to acquiring land next to it to recent remodeling of the parsonage the people of Brown Street UMC are good stewards of God’s properties with which they have been entrusted.

3.ENGAGING IN LOCATION SPECIFIC AND CULTURALLY RELEVENT WORSHIP

AND MINISTRY.

Brown Street UMC has a willingness to engage in out of the box thinking and implementation of culturally relevant worship services and ministries, such as its embrace of the current Hispanic Congregation (Hispanic Centro Cristiana Familia)for worship, fellowship, and membership at Brown Street UMC. Shalom, a GLBT worship service of a few years ago, provided a Saturday evening worship service for the targeted populationalong with people who prefer a Saturday evening worship experience. Over the years, the congregation has also purchased property next to the church to expand its witness to the neighborhood and increase parking.Leading a Bible Study at Jefferson Centre Apartments(a senior adult apartment building across the street from the church),a history of fully supporting the Family Promise ministry and continuing to be in ministry with Church Women United’s Food Pantry, plus numerous other outreach and ministries activities, continues to engage the people of Brown Street UMC with their community.

Concerns

Brown Street UMC’s greatest areas of concern are as follows:

1.LACK OF CLEAR VISION BASED ON THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH.

Brown Street UMC is a church with much activity within the walls of the church and throughout the community. However, these activities lack a clear mission and focused vision. A lack of clarity and alignment around the mission and vision of the church prevents targeting outreach areas, developing relationships vital to those living in neighborhoods adjacent to the church, and achieving accountable results. In essence, the congregation has no clear direction to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

2. DECLINING ATTENDANCE & AGING CONGREGATION.

The consult team clearly heard both a concern over the congregation’s shrinking size and a real desire to grow. Over the past three years, the community’s population (2-mile radius) has grown by approximately 1.3%, yetBrown Street UMC’s average weekly worship attendance decreased 19% (from 49 to 40).

The consult team also heard that the Brown Street UMC congregation doesn’t reflect those living in the church’s neighborhood, nor is it comfortable in reaching out to them. The community’s average age is 32 years old, while the Brown Street UMC congregation’s average age is 58 years (according to the self study). The neighborhood is ethnically more diverse, and nearly 50% of households with children are led by a single parent. Some in the congregation expressed a concern for their safety when considering neighborhood ministry.

3. LACK OF A DISCIPLESHIP PATH

Brown Street UMC does not have a strategic process to move people through stages of spiritual growth. While there is a Sunday morning small group ministry (Sunday school) for children, an adult class recently disbanded due to declining participation. There need to be additional opportunities that encourage present church members to strengthen relationships with Christ and others. No clear path exists to help newcomers or regular attendees in becoming disciples who reproduce new disciples.

Prescriptions

In order to address the above concerns, Brown Street UMC must implement the following prescriptions:

1. DEVELOP A CLEAR, FOCUSED, AND SHARED VISION.

The date these prescriptions are adopted, should that be the case, Brown Street UMC will embrace the mission of every United Methodist Church stated in the UM Book of Discipline: “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

The congregation will have a day of prayer, repentance and healing during a Sunday worship service. The purpose of this day is to embrace God breaking open the hearts of the congregation for the local un-churched, and prepare them for the Lord’s vision for the future. To accommodate this, the pastor will contact Catherine Turcotte () to lead the service. The day of prayer will be held no later than November 30, 2013.

The Coach will conduct a Values Workshop and a Visioning Workshop by February 28, 2014 to assist the congregation in beginning to clarify and provide a more focused vision to guide Brown Street UMC into the future. The consultation team heard from members of the congregation that the window of opportunity is closing and they don’t want to see the church, founded in 1851, to close on their watch. The Vision Workshop will explore the idea of “going for broke trusting God” by utilizing the church’s significant financial resources that could be aligned with the vision.

The consultation team believes that it is not too late and that there are steps that could be taken to radically change the direction of Brown Street UMC. A full range of options should be considered as part of the church’s vital purpose such as exploring a vital merger, becoming an outpost of another congregation, embracing the Hispanic Centro Cristiana Familia, and intentionally connecting with and discipling the neighborhood as described Prescription 2. This is a time for the church to find the way God wants it to best serve its community and start embracing its vital future.

The days between the Day of Prayer and the Vision Workshop will be utilized by the people of the congregation as a call to prayer and fasting for this vision. The vision will be presented to the Church Council by March 31, 2014. Upon approval, this vision will be communicated to the congregation as the future direction of the church.

The Church Council will conduct a ministry review to align the church’s ministries and ministry activities with the vision by September 31, 2014. Ministries will be evaluated by their faithfulness to the mission and vision and their fruitfulness (results). Any ministries not faithful and fruitful will be given up to one year to align with the vision. If they are still not faithful to the mission and vision they will be dissolved. All continuing ministries will set goals and objectives in alignment with the mission and vision.

2. CONNECTING AND DISCIPLING THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

It is the conviction of the consult team that God calls Brown Street UMC to focus on its mission to make disciples and to transform its community, including its neighborhood, rather than to focus on attracting people to their church to increase their worship attendance. The consult team believes, however, that if the church focuses on its mission, attendance will ultimately increase. In order to do this, the church will do the following.

The pastor and Evangelism Work Area, in consultation with the coach, will develop a strategy to reach and disciple those living within the church’s neighborhood. This strategy will include the following:

  • A clearly delineated target area (e.g. 5 block by 5 block area around the church) that will become the primary focus of the church’s outreach/discipling effort.
  • An initial assessment of this target area’s assets, needs, and dreams. This will be discerned through using tools such as leadership interviews (e.g. police who patrol the area, teachers at local schools, etc.), prayer walking, windshield tours (guides provided during the Visioning Workshop), as well as focus groups or one-to-one interviews with those presently being reached from this area (e.g. VBS families, Brown Street UMC attenders who live in the target area, Jefferson Centre Apartment Bible study participants, turkey dinner attendees, probation office clients, etc.)
  • Identifying bridges the church has already made into this target area, how these could be strengthened and/or expanded (e.g. Jefferson Centre Apartment Bible study, the probation officeclients that use the church’s space, turkey dinner attendees, VBS families, etc.)
  • Identify gifts the church could provide on an on-going basis (e.g. praying for individuals/families, sharing a meal with individuals/families, serving as a “grandparent” for a single-parent family, providing extravagant generosity/hospitality that meets the needs of the families in the target area)
  • Identify the gifts and graces of those living in the target area and providing an opportunity for them to share their gifts and graces to the people of Brown Street UMC and their neighbors. (a resource person who has implemented this is Rev. Mike Mather of Indianapolis Broadway UMC)
  • Identify “persons of peace” (like Lydia), persons with influence in the community that God raises up and connects with the church
  • Utilize the discipleship pathway (see Prescription 3) to engage those reached
  • Specific measurable next-step goals that are based on the above

This strategy will be presented to the Church Board for its affirmation and support by April 30, 2014. Then it will be implemented.

3. DEVELOP AN INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP PATH

The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will schedule and present a Discipleship Pathway workshop by May 31, 2014. This workshop will allow church leadership to understand and create a process so that all ages and levels of spiritual maturity will have the opportunity to connect, move, and grow along a discipleship path.

The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will develop a task force to create a clear discipleship path for moving people from where they are on their spiritual journey to becoming a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ by June 30, 2014. This discipleship path will be a lifelong process designed for all ages that includes new believers and disciples maturing in faith. The discipleship path will align with the mission and vision and encourage all persons to:

  • connect and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ,
  • be transformed through passionate worship, the study of biblical truths, and the principles of the Christian faith,
  • connect with other believers for prayer, support, and accountability,
  • be involved in service to others for the purpose of the mission, and
  • annual recommitment of church membership vows.

Any ministry program that is done in the name of Brown Street UMC is an opportunity to connect someone or move someone onto the pathway. Therefore, the team will review, explore, and/or create:

  • Curriculum and resources for Sunday school classes and small groups, including linking to pastor’s sermon;
  • Alternative times for classes and fellowship (other than Sundays);
  • Alternative locations for classes (such as in homes in the targeted areas—see Prescription 2)
  • New small groups;
  • Opportunities for continuous short-term (6-,8-,12-week) studies;
  • Newcomer connection and follow-up;
  • Attendance tracking and follow-up;
  • Membership class;
  • Exploration of spiritual gifts and passion of all members.

The results of this team’s study will be completed on or before November 15, 2014.

A new discipleship path in its entirety will be adopted and implemented in the life of Brown Street UMC at all ministry levels (children, youth and adults) no later than March 15, 2015. The staff and leaders will commit to communicating discipleship growth as an expectation of all members and will continually evaluate if programming relates to the discipling process.

Conclusion

We, the consultation team, want to thank you for the opportunity to serve your congregation through this Fruitful Congregation Journey assessment process. Our prayer and hope for your congregation is that God will use this process to help your church become more effective and fruitful. May God give you courage and strength as you move forward.

CONSULTATION TEAM

Rev. Kathy Miller, lead consultant

Mark Eutsler, coach

Ed Fenstermacher, consultant

Town Hall Meeting Dates:

October 15, 2013 at 12:00pm and second date TBD.

Church Conference Date:

November 3, 2013 at 11:30am