Director of Equipping Vital Congregations
Many of the members of the Susquehanna Conference have heard about the initiative of Impact! Harrisburg. Unfortunately, some information has come second or third hand. We thought it might be helpful to offer some clarification for this exciting initiative that we are in the midst of as we speak.
The Vision for the New Faith Community: A dynamic creative city-wide movement to be a multi-site diverse community of believers who meet the physical and spiritual needs of our neighbors, invest in the lives of our neighbors, and offer hope to our neighbors.
The Vision for the Preparation of a New Faith Community: As the current individual congregations of The United Methodist Church, in and around Harrisburg, we will unite in faith, community and collaboration so that we may have a God-sized impact in and around the city of Harrisburg.
Why was IMPACT! Harrisburg launched?
1. As Jesus proclaimed in the Great Commission, our congregations are to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Our congregations are struggling to live out this core purpose of the church.2. Collectively, these ten (now nine as one has closed in the process) congregations are worshiping an average of 359 people. In an area with a population of approximately 50,000, this means the congregations are reaching less than one percent of the population.
3. Overall there has been a continuous decline in worship attendance, professions of faith, baptisms, and small group participation of the nine congregations in this initiative.
4. The demographics of the worshipers no longer match the demographics of the community including, but not limited to, race, age, socioeconomics, and phase of life.
5. The majority of those attending worship are commuting to their church on Sunday, thus adding to the overall disconnect of the churches and the neighborhoods. Most attenders are not “doing life” in the neighborhoods of the church.
6. Because of the loss of active attenders, resources are not available to have full-time clergy serving these congregations. This results in less available leadership and decreased ministry focus.
7. Through a five-month assessment by teams of the clergy and laity, these teams identified that, overall, our churches are struggling to offer vital ministries to reach new people for Christ in their neighborhoods. Yet, many congregants express the desire to reach new people, but feel ill-equipped to do so. These current congregants are critical in making this new vision possible through their historic calling in their faithfulness to be the church.
8. There is duplication of efforts in worship planning, music, bulletins, record keeping, membership rolls, etc. that can be more effectively and efficiently handled through centralization and fewer human resources leaving more resources (time, energy, and dollars) for ministry.
9. To reach more, younger, and diverse members of these communities, we will need to offer Jesus in new and innovative methods. The congregations have very limited resources to offer such.
10. Due to the decreasing availability of financial resources, most of the facilities have long-standing deferred maintenance issues, which now result in issues such as safety, accessibility, and liability concerns.
The Process
IMPACT! Harrisburg started in August with a letter to the congregations from Rev Barry Robison, Harrisburg District Superintendent. Each church was asked to form a prayer team and conduct prayer walks in their neighborhoods. Surrounding churches were asked to pray for the churches participating in IMPACT! Harrisburg. A diverse group of leaders of both laity and clergy were equipped and sent out as a Resource Team to meet with the pastor and laity from each church. The process was launched with a city-wide worship experience on September 9, 2018 at Camp Curtin Memorial Mitchell. In the months of September and October a thorough assessment of each congregation was conducted onsite at each church. In addition to the assessment, each church was asked how they could be a part of reaching more people in Harrisburg and the surrounding areas. While there was the hope of finding pockets of vitality to build upon, instead the Resource Team found that for the most part, the churches were struggling individually and collectively to reach their neighborhoods for Jesus Christ. When the Resource Team gathered to review all the assessments on November 7, 2018, the Team then discerned and recommended a vital merger into a new faith community. The plan for the vital merger was then created by members of the Resource Team. The Bishop and Cabinet were presented the recommendation and approved the plan on November 28, 2018. During another city-wide worship experience on December 8, 2018, the vision and strategic plan were shared. During December and January, the Resource Team has conducted at least one Town Hall Meeting at each church to answer questions and receive feedback. The Bishop, District Superintendent, and various conference personnel have been meeting routinely with the pastors for feedback and equipping opportunities. Church conferences will be held on March 17, 2019 to vote on the vital merger. For those churches who choose to come along with the merger, the first combined worship experience will be on April 28, 2019 allowing each church to have Easter at their respective facilities.Our Prayer
We are fully aware that change is difficult. Leaving the church building where one has been baptized, confirmed, married, and developed many memories is painful. People transition through change at different paces. We continue to be in prayer for each congregant and each pastor during this time of discernment and transition. Many people inside and outside our churches are very excited about what is yet to come and can see so much potential in the God-sized vision that has been discerned. We still firmly believe God is calling The United Methodist Church to do a new thing to reach new people. Our prayer is that the 359 people attending the churches involved in IMPACT! Harrisburg will be able to catch the vision and help this new faith community live into God’s preferred future.The Vision Becoming Reality
The first steps in the vision of IMPACT! Harrisburg becoming reality are already happening. Two of the three clergy have been named for the new faith community (see page 15). Pastors Kris Sledge and Deb Port have completed extensive church planting assessments and have been involved in special equipping opportunities to prepare them for this new appointment. Interviews have been taking place for the new leadership team/board. Folks are already talking about a combined choir. More than thirty women are coming together from the IMPACT! Harrisburg churches for a retreat. God is certainly moving! May we continue to glorify God for all that is coming together as we seek to be faithful to reach more people!
