Naming the Challenges, Facing the Fears

by Centre Staff

Here at the Centre, we are constantly on the alert for the questions people in active ministry are asking. Our belief is that if you know the question, there is some hope of finding the answer.

A program we facilitated at St. Stephen’s College gave us the opportunity to ask 14 professional parish staff for their input as to the crucial challenges for them as they work in their place of ministry, and for them personally. We arranged the responses in order of priority according to the number of times mentioned.

Crucial challenges in the place of ministry:

  1. Enabling the ministry of the laity. This includes developing training programs that equip laity to share their gifts, and nurturing the concept that everybody has a ministry.
  2. Building a common vision among members of the congregation. If there are some with a vision, enabling everyone to develop a sense of ownership and focus their energy on making that vision a reality.
  3. Responding to spiritual needs. The challenge is to find creative means of responding to the spiritual needs of a religiously illiterate wider community.
  4. Finances. Developing a sense of stewardship of gifts and finances.
  5. Growing a sense of community among congregation members.
  6. Balancing social care and soul care. Achieving a balance between the emphasis on social justice and individual spirituality.

Crucial challenges personally:

  1. Developing a leadership style which leads without falling into doing. Being a visionary leader. Giving reflective leadership. Developing new leadership in the congregation. Sharing power with the congregation.
  2. Maintaining a balance between responsibility to others and self, between ministries that use my gifts and doing work that needs to be done. Keeping family priorities, personal priorities and ministry priorities in balance. Choosing what not to do.
  3. Maintaining personal well-being, keeping "well" in ministry.
  4. Being an enabler for my congregation.
  5. Spiritual growth. Learning spiritual direction. Being a spiritual leader.
  6. Maintaining compassion and understanding in the presence of pettiness when it occurs.

When we go into a consultation, we try to be very conscious of the questions that are in the back of people’s minds. We have to keep reminding ourselves it is all important to do as Jesus did, namely meet the real needs of people.

Fears

What blocks people more than anything is fear. What are people afraid of? We asked 38 people representing 13 Regina churches to name the fears that are preventing the dreams they had for their congregation from becoming a reality. Here are the top ten:

  1. The fear of change. At the top of the list was fear of the new, not understanding change, a preference for the known status quo over an unknown future.
  2. Loss of financial support. Number two was the concern that any change would result in the loss of financial support.
  3. Burnout among the leadership. There is a fear that new initiatives will create too much work for too few people and increase leadership burnout.
  4. People who are different. A lot of people do not know how to be comfortable in a mixed ethnic situation—or an ethnically mixed congregation.
  5. The fear of failure. No one wants to start a task they cannot finish, or be blamed for a failure.
  6. Offending long-time members. Any change is going to mean a loss of members. Will we attract more than we lose is the question.
  7. Afraid to risk. Making a leap of faith is not easy.
  8. Loss of control. New initiatives mean the loss of control for some now in positions of authority.
  9. A question of faith. Will the needed change challenge long held beliefs and our Christian faith.
  10. Looking like pentecostals. Main-line modesty transfers into a fear of looking like we are bragging or being overly emotional.

An e-mail we received from Calgary underlined the fact that these are real issues. "The

challenge is that we have an older traditional congregation. They are reluctant to try new things, and I must admit my first thought is to make sure that anything new doesn’t offend."

We have dealt with some of these issues in previous newsletters—leadership style for example. More will follow. Only by meeting these challenge and fears head on can real congregational transformation happen.

From Newsletter 6.1

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