`THE MIDDLE JUDICATORY AS A SYSTEM
OF
CONGREGATIONS CONNECTED TO THE REGIONAL OFFICE
Research Report
by
Adair T. Lummis
Foreword: This first conference report is in part an introduction to the similarities and differences experienced by middle judicatory leaders in working to strengthen the overall ministry of their regional jurisdiction and its individual congregations. Subsequent research reports for this Regional Leaders Web-Based Learning Community will focus more specifically on problematic issues and solutions being tried by regional leaders.
This report and the ones for future conferences in this series are based primarily on the responses to surveys and telephone interviews I conducted between 1999 and 2001 with regional leaders in seven denominations: the Assemblies of God, the Association of Vineyard Churches, The Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Missouri Synod, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. Given the diversity represented among these seven, regional leaders in other denominations will likely see some parallels to their own situations. We will welcome their reflections, insights and questions as well as those from regional leaders within the seven denominations named above.
Major Issue Query: How do you get congregations which are autonomous (or think they should be) to ALSO perceive they are partner in mission with other congregations, agencies and offices of their denomination, particularly those within their regional judicatory?
Prevalence: In response to an interview question, among over eighty regional leaders interviewed in 2000-2001 in seven denominations, most saw this query as an issue either for themselves or other regional leaders within their denomination. This query takes somewhat different shapes in those regional judicatories of denominations which have a more congregational polity than those which have a more connectional polity. In illustration:
Polity: more congregational
In the Assemblies of God, because congregations are autonomous, the congregations do have a strong voice.....Congregations want to have their own identity...I think this is very important.. It is also very important, not so much that we rule over them, but that we stay together and work together...because otherwise we lose our strength, our voice.
We have always said in the Vineyard that our association is relational ...There
definitely are some commonly held theological positions. that are essential and nonnegotiable, but we also desire to have. a lot of latitude.... We want the churches to be autonomous, but we also want them to be connected.
Being independent and autonomous as congregations is something strongly in the Lutheran Missouri Synod tradition....Not nearly so much sharing now.. as we did in the past. Congregations seem to want to do their own thing ..but the mission outreach we do, particularly in the training of pastors and teachers; we have to do together
In UCC there has always been autonomy for our congregations; precisely the freedom to live out their lives as they discern. But without the covenant, there is no UCC.
Congregational churches have always seen local autonomy as a really important thing. The harder part for them is what does it mean to be in covenant with other churches.
Polity: more connectional
We are and function as an Episcopal Church on one level but we function very much like a Congregational Church on another level. For instance, as bishop I cannot appoint rectors to parishes; only approve or not approve a priest. Parish vestries elect their rectors. . ..It is always a challenge in terms of reminding the parishes that the diocese is the basic unit where all the orders of ministers are together and not the parish church and they we need each other. We are part of a community.
In the Reformed Church, the classis can ordain people ..and has to approve a call before a church can call the minister....RCA churches are on the cultural swing to being congregationalist.... . In some classes, the classis leadership does a good job and doesnt let churches get away with it - but the tendency to think that way is part of our hard-wiring. .Americans are congregationalists, they just are. ...The sense of community and sharing among churches is not what it could be. (Their stance:). We know we are connectional, we are proud of being connectional, and so we grudgingly are connectional. But as far as really being spontaneously connectional - there really isnt a whole lot of that.
First of all, I think the congregationalism, the localism, we are experiencing in the United Methodist Church .is .part of the cultural phenomenon of states rights and localism in the political arena. ...Because of our appointment system, churches are guaranteed to have a pastor, and they see some other evidences that connectionalism does deliver for them. But certainly we in the UMC live in the same kind of tension as those people arguing for both localism and states rights...It is different than it was thirty yearsago when people were ... proclaiming connectionalism, but we have not forsaken it.
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Congregationalism (or creeping congregationalism as UMC leaders often put it) seems to be a combination of local churches wanting more and more autonomy at the same time as they also to withdraw from involvement with other churches, agencies and offices of their regional judicatory.
Query: In your jurisdiction, do those congregations which are most determined to make their own decisions on pastors, programs, property, and financial donations sent to the judicatory offices or national denominational agencies etc., also tend to be the same congregations which are resistant to engaging in joint programs or missions activities with other congregations? Or in your area are these more separate phenomenon? What kinds of churches are most likely to exhibit one or the other, or both?
General Polity and Practice: In most denominations, congregations actually have autonomy in many areas of their life. This generally means that the local church can govern itself without interference from the regional judicatory or national church, at least within certain parameters.
These parameters differ both by denominational polity and by the fiscal status of the congregation. The more control the regional judicatory office has over congregations, the more formal authority the regional leaders have to promote connectional bonds among congregations and with the judicatory. Exercising that authority effectively to enhance these ties within the judicatory is more problematic.
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The Episcopal, the Reformed Church, and the United Methodist regional judicatories have legal power (by at least church canons if not always state laws) to control their congregations real estate; making it difficult, but not impossible, for congregations to leave the denomination. In the other denominations, the individual churches which own their building and land and can dispose of it as they wish; unless the congregation has a legal deed or constitution saying that its property is to revert to the judicatory if the it closes or leaves the denomination. In United Methodist conferences, the cabinets appoint clergy to all churches. In the other denominations the churches are free to choose their own pastor, as long as these congregations are self-supporting and as long as the choice is approved by the appropriate regional leaders, and sometimes, even if disapproved. Regional leaders have and do exercise more veto power over the choice of pastor in the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Missouri Synod, than do regional leaders in the Assemblies of God, the Vineyard, Reformed Church in America , and the United Church of Christ. In these last four denominations, it is more possible for a church to call a pastor from another denomination without judicatory permission, who then may lead the church to dissolve its relationship with the judicatory.
In these seven denominations (and others), the regional judicatory control over its congregations is tightened or loosened depending on whether the particular congregation is financially supported by its judicatory or is more a major contributor to its coffers. In illustration, the Assemblies of God and the Episcopal Church have two formal categories of congregations: (1) the self-supporting churches which have high autonomy in making decisions on future directions and hiring clergy (2) and judicatory-supported churches whose affairs are supervised and whose clergy are appointed by the district or diocese (Assemblies:General Council vs District affiliated church; Episcopal:parish vs mission church). Megachurches and very wealthy moderate-sized churches have far more autonomy to make their own decisions than smaller, less financially robust churches in most judicatories of all denominations..
Whatever the official polity, regional leaders in these seven denominations and likely in all others, understand the central task of their judicatory office as to serve, strengthen, and keep their congregations within the denominational fold. To do this, it is important that congregations in their charge have some sense of connection or covenant or loyalty to at least their regional body. Without these immediate regional ties, what will stop a congregation from leaving the denomination? Further, if congregations withhold money from the judicatory because they do not feel connected, the mission and ministry of the judicatory and likely that of the national church will be diminished.
Regional leaders interviewed across denominations were very aware of the importance of there being some real sense of connection or covenant among their congregations with each other and with their judicatory offices. In reflecting on trends in inter-congregational and regional staff relationships they have observed, these judicatory executives often hypothesized various reasons for these trends.
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Reasons Proffered for Local Churches Moving Toward Greater Congregationalism AND/OR Less Covenanting
A substantial majority of the regional leaders interviewed, observed some increase among their congregations in the extent to which more of these churches seem determined to choose their own way, independent of their judicatory mission priorities, and often unconnected with their national churchs programs. In responding to a question on why this might be occurring, their reasons fall into four major broad categories. These categories of reasons given, nearly in order of frequency of mention, are: 1) contemporary cultural values; 2) social trends and mobility of members and churches; 3) worship wars and theological differences; 4) and the importance of pastors.
1. Contemporary Cultural Values
A high proportion of regional leaders interviewed spoke about the influence of broad cultural values and societal trends on their local churches. However, they differed on what aspect of contemporary culture they see as most salient for their congregations.
Many regional leaders who reported an increase in congregationalism in their judicatories, though they voiced their observations in a variety of terms,basically attributed this in part to the emphasis put on having self-determination and decision-making input, particularly among the Boomer generation. They see this value orientation as a major contributor to more church members wanting greater voice in determining mission objectives and budget allocations for their congregations, and sometimes as well for their regional judicatories and national church bodies. Some interviewed spoke further about what happens when such members are thwarted or ignored: these are the persons most apt to challenge authority of their clergy, regional or national level within their denomination. These disenchanted members are likely to indicate their displeasure by reducing their own financial support to the offending level. If they are lay leaders in their congregations, they be instrumental in getting their congregations to withhold funds from judicatory or national church agency.
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Emphasis on self-determination may also, several interviewed proposed, contribute to members greater localism and less interest in cooperating in projects with church bodies outside of their own congregation. This is most likely to arise if they feel they do not have sufficient input into arrangements with these external groups. Some regional leaders observed that on the congregational level, church localism is often accompanied by distrust of other congregations, resulting in church isolation. Church isolation and localism can easily extend to more distant denominational bodies, such as the regional judicatory and national church offices, driving some churches to a stance of anti-denominationalism. Anti-denominationalism among lay leaders can also be fueled by their general lack of confidence that any large organization or institution will make decisions for the common good of smaller groups in their purview, another value perspective attributed especially to the Boomer generation..
Consumerism, is the term used by several regional executives and senior staff to refer to a tendency noted by many interviewed, for congregational leaders themselves to care a great deal less for the common good than for what benefits their local church. This value orientation, also seen as characteristic of Boomers, is reflected in local churches resistance to or at least questioning of annual requests that they pay their fair share to regional coffers; What is our church getting for our bucks -- from our judicatory staff?
In illustration of one or more of these points, the following regional leaders in denominations with quite different polities comment:
Episcopal: Congregationalism I see as the over whelming change in our culture and the dominance of boomers in leading those congregations - where they are more inclined to say what does the denomination do for us to help us meet our mission.?There is increasing congregationalism in the sense in which all congregations are becoming more congregational, even Episcopal. Everybody under 55 years of age, all Boomers and Gen-Xers, share in common that they want to be part of the decision making process. So that is a shift towards a more participatory decisionmaking away from a more representative form.
Assemblies of God: I think that it is generational.. I think it kind of springs back to a loss of loyalty..I dont know whether that is good or bad... I am a WW2 baby so I probably belong to an older generation and loyalty was a key thing you were taught, so if your Dad drove a Chevy, you drove a Chevy kinda of thing. If you were raised in the Assemblies of God, you went to the Assemblies of God. I think the Boomers generation is more of a what fits my need; what works for me ..As far as the local setting goes, there is an allegiance to some degree to that body there because there are relationships. But because there is no relationship between that individual and the denomination or the headquarters, they dont really feel a loyalty there, if that makes sense to you.
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United Methodist: Most definitely there is a trend toward congregationalism...there could be multiple reasons for this. One, we live in a country where individualism has been part of our birthright, and I see that individualism increasing in many areas of our society today...I think two, in the religious arena there is more and more questioning about the polity sides of the hierarchies. Where are all our funds going? Ten and twenty years ago these questions seldom came up. I think there is another paradigm in our society in that loyalty between employer and employee are almost nonexistent. ...I would say another reason for the shift..is distrust of leadership, whether you are the President of the United States or the bishop of an annual conference. I am not saying that these reasons are all bad; there are good elements in all of them in a way. But I do feel there is a much greater questioning process today of leaders across the board. So therefore trends in more independent thought processes of our congregations are some of the results of that.
2. Social Trends, Geographical Mobility of Church Members
A social trend that definitely limits local churches being actively involved with other churches or judicatory programs is connected with employment. According to some interviewed in each denomination, in their regions there has been an continued increase in the proportion of both spouses employed outside the home, and more individuals commuting some distance to work. This makes it difficult to find volunteers for various church projects and arrange committee meetings on weekdays. On top of this people seem to be busier, or at least more involved in social, civic, and recreational activities unconnected with their church or denomination. In illustration, two regional leaders again from denominations with quite different polities comment:
Association of Vineyard Churches: (Congregationalism).. is easily the trend, just because of the business of schedules...the reality of time demands....The climb of working mothers is just increasing year after year. I think now nationwide over 60% of the families in America are two-parent working families; even just twenty years ago it was way under 50%. Time demands in the culture on the family are huge. Twenty years ago your most committed people would give four major blocks of time to the church a week, like a Sunday morning, Saturday night, now maybe two other nights during the week. Now your most committed people give you two blocks. The demands that people make on the church have increased, while the time they give has decreased. So it makes it a real trick to balance these things.