Sample Chapter: Why Now?

Why Now? – The immediate need for effective lay leaders

While there has always been a need for effective lay leaders, especially at the congregational level, we are at a time and place in the Episcopal Church when this need is critical for our relevance, viability and even survival as an institution. Since that very first General Convention in 1785, the Episcopal Church has experienced significant internal and external challenges and threats to its existence including the logistics of apostolic succession, slavery, the Civil War, western migration, immigration, two world wars, the Great Depression, the struggle for civil rights, the introduction of the 1979 prayer book, women’s ordination and, more recently, a new awareness and articulation of the complexities of human sexuality.  While every generation believes that its problems are more serious than those of its predecessors, there appears to be a confluence of factors which make our current situation in the Episcopal Church appear more precarious than prior periods of upheaval and turmoil.

Numbers

First of all, like all mainline Christian denominations, the Episcopal Church is in numerical decline. Membership grew steadily from 1930 to the mid-1940s and then accelerated during the post-war “baby boom” years, peaking at about 3.6 million in 1966. The first year of decline was in 1967 with especially large losses in 1973 and 1974. As of 2008, the Episcopal Church had 2,057,292 active baptized members. (Episcopal Domestic Fast Facts: 2008)

While numbers do not necessarily reflect the health or vitality of any community of faith let alone an entire denomination, evidence of numerical decline does create anxiety and uncertainty as well as a perception of irrelevance and eventual demise. According to C. Kirk Hadaway, the Director of Research for the Episcopal Church Center in New York City, in his report Is the Episcopal Church Growing (or Declining)?, a sober look at the statistics reveals that the Episcopal Church has reached a plateau of sorts from which we can slide into a new decline or begin growing again.

The reasons for numerical decline in the Episcopal Church are complex. I do believe, however, that reversing this trend will require a deliberate and intentional commitment to the identification and empowerment of effective and transformational lay leaders.

According to research conducted by Hadaway in another report, Faith Communities Today, the strongest correlate of growth (when all controls were in effect) was the presence or absence of conflict. In other words, whether or not a congregation is involved in serious conflict is the number one predictor of congregational decline. While conflict cannot be avoided, it must be managed and eventually resolved requiring honed leadership skills on part of both the clergy and the laity.

The second most powerful correlate of growth, when controls were used, includes four highly related characteristics of the parish’s rector or vicar: (a) generates enthusiasm, (b) is a charismatic leader, (c) has a clear vision for the congregation and (d) knows how to get people to work together. Once again, these characteristics presuppose an effective leadership model involving the clergy in partnership with the laity to advance the mission and ministry of the congregation. Without trying to manipulate or reinterpret the data, I contend that effective lay leadership is the key to church growth just as its absence is a significant cause of decline.

Small Congregations

In addition to having fewer members, the Episcopal Church is also a denomination of small parishes. Hadaway's 2007 Parochial Report noted that half of Episcopal congregations (50.7%) are small or family-sized, where average worship attendance is 70 persons or fewer. Pastoral-sized congregations make up the next largest proportion of parishes and missions (28.8%). Corporate-sized congregations with 351 or more in worship represent only 3.5% of Episcopal congregations. The median Episcopal congregation has 69 persons in worship.

While congregations of all sizes need effective lay leadership, the need is often greater among smaller congregations which by nature do not have the staff resources necessary to run a parish and its programs, yet alone engage in meaningful evangelism or mission in the community. In small congregations, lay volunteers are often responsible for key aspects of parish life including property, outreach and even worship and Christian formation.

Furthermore, the responsibilities of the laity grow tremendously in those situations where there is no full-time priest. Smaller parishes are much less likely to have full-time paid clergy than larger parishes. Only about 34% of parishes with attendance of 70 or fewer have full-time clergy. Overall, 63% of Episcopal parishes have at least one full-time paid clergy. Another 25% are served by part-time clergy, unpaid clergy, retired priests or by seminary students. The remainder of congregations report having no clergy at all or that they are served by supply or interim priests.

Part-time Clergy

Although usually associated with the issue of decline, the growing trend of part-time rectors or priests-in-charge presents unique challenges and opportunities for lay leadership. Parishes with declining numbers often cannot afford the costs associated with maintaining a full-time priest, especially when factoring in not only salary but the other canonical requirements including pension, health insurance and housing allowance. Clearly, many of the reasons for part-time clergy are related to issues of evangelism, stewardship and community involvement suggesting that with necessary changes this trend may be reversed. For many parishes with part-time clergy, however, it is simply an economic and demographic reality that may be a permanent part of their ministry model.

In order for congregations with part-time clergy to be vital and vibrant, they need committed lay leaders not only to run the day-to-day operations of the parish, but to be full and equal partners with the clergy in advancing the mission and ministry of that community of faith. While I will address some of the current and developing ministry models that rely on lay leaders for their success, this growing trend is another reason why an intentional focus on lay leadership is absolutely critical at this time.

Aging Congregations

One additional demographic is also worth mentioning.  In addition to being a declining denomination with smaller congregations with fewer full-time clergy, we are also an aging church. A majority (53%) of Episcopal parishes and missions were founded before 1901. Only 4% of Episcopal congregations were founded from 1990 to 2007.

Furthermore, a majority (62%) of Episcopal parishes and missions report that more than half their members are age fifty and over. Episcopalians tend to be older than the general population. Overall, 27% of Episcopal members are age 65 and older as compared to only 13% of the U.S. population in 2008. Consequently, the Episcopal Church has proportionately fewer children, youth and younger adults.

Clearly, there are a many advantages to having aging baby boomers in a faith community, including ability and willingness to contribute time, talent and treasure to the work of ministry. Middle aged adults and retirees bring a wealth of experience, passion and energy to the entire not-for-profit sector, including the Church. Nevertheless, unless the more senior members of our congregations are eventually replaced with younger people, the membership statistics are only likely to get worse, further highlighting the need for lay leadership to help evangelize, transform and grow the Church.

Denominational Dissent

I have mentioned that conflict at the congregational level is a significant impediment to growth. We are also facing what sometimes appears to be insurmountable conflict at the denominational level, which only exacerbates the stresses and challenges at the local congregational level.

While there has always been conflict in the Episcopal Church, the nature and extent of the expressions of dissent have reached new and significant levels. Never before have there been efforts by diocesan conventions to secede from the Episcopal Church and affiliate with overseas Anglican provinces. As of May 1, 2009, four Episcopal dioceses have been reorganized and reconstituted because their former bishops, as well as a majority of their clergy and lay leaders, have established new diocesan organizations within the Anglican Communion and have attempted to take with them the real and personal property of local parishes as well as their membership.

These “dissenters” are also seeking recognition as a separate Anglican province. Even in the midst of the Civil War, during the General Convention in New York in 1862, the bishops and deputies from the dioceses of the Confederacy were merely marked “absent” as opposed to being considered to have “abandoned communion” with the Episcopal Church of the Union.

The actions of the 2009 General Convention in Anaheim, California and subsequent events may only exacerbate and elevate dissent both at home and abroad. By passing Resolution D025, which affirmed that the Church's ordination process is open to all the baptized, and, more recently, consenting to the election of the Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool, who is openly lesbian, as Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, it appears that the Episcopal Church will no longer exercise “restraint” in those areas around human sexuality that have been troublesome to the overwhelming number of the 38 Anglican provinces especially in the global south.

These issues of schism, separation and abandonment have been simmering for years and may be the natural culmination of irreconcilable differences in a Church that has long been considered a “big tent” and, for the most part, has pursued a more progressive agenda on both internal matters as well as broader societal concerns.

However, referring back to the work of Anne Rowthorn, is it fair to characterize some of the activity associated with the conflict, especially that of the four departing dioceses, as a dramatic illustration of the “oppression of the clerical minority?” Can we describe this dissent more as an illustration of bishops using their positions of authority to advance their personal theological and political points of view rather than a “grassroots” bottom-up movement of a more traditional expression of Anglican identity in the United States?

In other words, would these splits have actually occurred if there had been a deliberate attempt over the past 25 years to identify, empower and train effective lay leaders to help people in the pews deal with the conflicts and controversies in the wider Church? Is the lack of effective lay leadership rather than ideological/theological differences the real cause of schism in the Episcopal Church?

While there are no easy answers to these obviously controversial and provocative questions, the results of the magnitude of dissent are significant no matter what side of the theological/political spectrum you find yourself. If your bishop and diocese decide to leave the Episcopal Church but your parish decides to remain, you are faced with a host of complex issues ranging from frozen bank accounts and lawsuits over property to the challenges of recreating new diocesan infrastructures.

On the other hand, if you are a member of a more traditional parish in a progressive diocese, or vice versa, without a formal split with the Episcopal Church, you are still faced with issues of alienation, conflicting loyalties and massive confusion.

Clearly, these situations demand and require a high degree of focused and effective leadership at all levels. This is also one of those rare situations when average parish members realize that the people of God and not the clergy actually constitute “the Church.” As important as the clergy and hierarchy may be in times of realignment and renewal, these reorganized dioceses are simply not going to survive or thrive without the active participation of an empowered and emboldened laity and their leadership.

The Economy

The current economic situation and the developing realignment of the global economy further reinforce the need for effective lay leaders.

In times of financial stress and anxiety, people look to their faith communities for comfort, connection and stability. Whether we are actual victims of the economic crisis because of the loss of a job, a home, or the bulk of our retirement savings or merely part of the “worried well” who are anxious and stressed about the future, we all need the healing power of Christ as witnessed and experienced in our local congregations.

The clergy clearly play a key role in making sure that our local parishes are havens of loving support to our own members and the communities around us. Our lay leaders, however, also have a major responsibility to ensure that the parish has the internal and external resources to address these needs. The current economic situation is creating pastoral, outreach and mission opportunities which require effective and appropriate responses on part of all the leadership in the parish.

The Baptismal Covenant

Finally, in response to the question “why now?”, the answer goes back to the baptismal covenant and our God-given responsibility to proclaim the Good News. Since the harvest is great but the laborers are few, all of us must be ready, willing and able to help bring Christ to our broken world. This task is enormous, requiring a host of competent lay leaders who are filled with and inspired by the Holy Spirit. For all the reasons discussed above, clearly, the time is now.