THE PRIESTLESS PARISH - THE POTTED PLANT SYNDROME

In this post, I look at what many small parishes in the United States face when their existence is tied to affording the services of a minister or priest and keeping  their lights on.  When a parish's congregation shrinks to a size that no longer afford a priest, one begins to ponder how a parish that has existed for over a century and a half like the one I belong to finds itself in such a situation.  Is it a problem with the parish, or a problem with diocese, or is my parish's situation merely symptomatic of what is happening in mainline denominations worldwide? 

THE POTTED PLANT SYNDROME

Having read several sources on how to rejuvenate or revitalize a dying congregation naturally leads to a discussion on the need for change.  Change, however, is mostly talked about in terms of being driven by an outsider; a priest or minister who comes in to shake things up and shake things out, which roughly translates as shaking some people up and shaking some people out.  Not once did these sources consider that the problem many mainline churches are facing is that the model of ecclesial life they perpetuate needs to change; that it is an antiquated, highly controlled, and a largely controlling  hierarchical system that fosters something similar to a codependent relationship between parish and diocese.

The blame for the shrinking congregation is usually related to the fact (and it is a fact) that congregations become very attached and comfortable with the way things have been going for so long that they see no need to change or grow.  They start behaving like a potted plant in the community; sitting there looking pretty and not prone to frequent blooming or expanding their presence beyond the pot they're planted in. Like a potted plant, the parish is content to be watered and fed by the occasional presbyter and will allow some minor pruning, periodically, but is generally adverse to being shaken up or the soil in which  it was originally planted disturbed for fear the roots have become attached to the pot, itself, and if separated from the pot, the plant will suffer and die.

Priests/ministers come and go, but for the most part and throughout much of its history the small but long established parish has remained fairly stable.  Children  grow up and leave, and as time goes by, members move or pass away, increasing the number of vacant pews.  By the time the  parishioners realizes there's a problem, the situation has become critical.  

For the most part, parishioners don't see the crisis building as long as there is a priest or minister standing in front of them blocking their view.  Once the priest leaves or retires and their isn't enough money in the treasury to keep  the way of life they've grown accustomed to going, the picture becomes all too clear, "We're in trouble."

PLACE, PEOPLE, PRAYER BOOK

When the search committee for a priest I serve on began, we presented the members of our congregation a survey to help develop our congregation's profile.  This is a normal thing to do in the Episcopal search process.  The survey is aimed at giving a prospective candidate an idea of how our congregation sees itself and what we're searching for when it comes to a priest.

We developed a very good survey as it turned out because most of the congregants took time to fill it out fully; going so far as to write in the margins to express their ideas and thoughts.  Not only did what they wrote tell us what attracted and interested them about our parish, it also revealed what they weren't concerned about - a priest.

Grant it, sending out a survey that is going to be used to develop a  church's profile for obtaining a rector (priest), one can reasonably assume things like God, Jesus, and priest to be understood.  What was interesting for me is that apart from a few spoon fed answers from which the respondent could choose from, when asked why they attend our church, the choice "I feel closer to God" (the only choice related to God) came in fifth out of seven choices.  Of the over seventy individuals who took the survey and wrote in their own comments, Christ was mentioned only once and God was mentioned three times; one of which was in answer to the question, "Where do you feel God is leading our church" to which the respondent said, "I don't know where God is leading us?"   

The survey demonstrated that what was most import to the vast majority of our congregation was: Place (our historic church building), People (the members in our pews), and Prayer Book (our form of liturgy); in that order.  The only time a priest was mentioned in the written comments was in reference to missing our last priest who retired

The presumption that most respondents weren't thinking there was a need to identify the obvious left me wondering if anyone would have bothered mentioning a priest had we not included questions in our survey regarding a priest. That people wrote extensive comments with little reference to God or Jesus, much less, mention a priest indicates that God, Jesus, and a priest were either being taken for granted or were not in the forefront of their minds as something personally important to mention as a motive to belonging to our particular church.

What place, people, and prayer book, reveal is that members of our congregation appear more concerned about our parish's form rather than its function as a "Christian" church.  The consensus seems to be that we come to this particular place of worship because we like its beauty and history.  We like the people who come here because they're the people we have come to know and like doing "churchy" things with  We love our prayer book; our way of worshipping.  It give us an identity as Episcopalian, if not Christian.  

What appears to be lacking is the connection between form and function; between loving the trappings of parish life and it's relation to the message of Jesus as a way of life.  As far as I can tell, priests in our parish have never been able to knit together the love of the place, its people, and its prayer book as an expression of their love of God or the teachings of Jesus. Perhaps such a connection doesn't exist or the thought of making it never occurred to anyone as it becomes one of those "understood things". [I will explore why "understood things" are  rarely understood in a meaningful way in a future post.]

THE SPECTRE OF EVANGELISM

Undoubtedly some might think we need to get with the program - be more Christian - forsake the things of this world; like the pot we've become root-bound in, deny our cliquish satisfaction with our form of "churchiness," risk killing off attached roots in order to form new ones, and spread out like an uncontrollable weed.  After all, there is biblical precedent for entertaining such a viewpoint.  It sounds right, doesn't it?

It may sound right, but the problem is it doesn't feel right because its not who we are nor where we're at presently.  So, I'm not going there and here's why:

When  our diocese's Minister for Transition had a live video chat with our search committee about revitalizing our congregation, he brought up the need to engage in community evangelism - spreading the Gospel - at least that's what is means in most denominations.  I can only imagine what he saw in the faces of  those present - the confused look of a small herd of deer staring in the headlights of an on-coming car.  Evangelism?  Really?  He received an immediate, but honest response, "We're not good at that sort of thing."

We live in a community that is well-churched, close to twenty different congregations in a community of roughly fifteen thousand.  Just who are we supposed to evangelize?  Just who are we suppose to convert and from what?

Let's face it, those interested in church are in a church.  Those not interested in a church have their reasons for not being interested in a church, which most likely has to do with their experiences of being in one.  It is likely that a good number of those who don't attend services regularly will identify with a particular denomination they don't care about but will say they belong to, if for no other reason than to avoid being evangelized.

What the Minister for Transition also suggested is that being small allows us to reinvent who we are.  I'm not sure what that means either, but its more intriguing than evangelizing  a community that largely identifies as church-affiliated.  He also made the observation that church's are prone to demographic trends.

In other words, seeking a younger priest will likely lead to a attracting a younger crowd.  If a congregation seeks a more established priest, this will likely maintain the type of congregation we currently have, older but more established.  If we seek a half-time priest, we will likely stick with seeking half-time priests for the foreseeable future, and so on.

What strikes me in this demographic illustration is that priests have done very little to grow the congregation since my family joined this congregation twenty-five years ago. I am not blaming or faulting them, but if that has been the trend, what makes us think that getting a priest full-time or half-time, younger or older will change that in the two to five years we have to turn things around before our reserves run out?

 "REALITY IS OUR FRIEND"

Our bishop made a very relevant observation when we began this search process.  He said, "Reality is our friend."  I like that.  

If reality is our friend, let's begin by being honest.  There is no denying that engaging in an evangelism process within a community that has a smorgasbord of churches for people to choose from is more about bringing "church-able" people in so we can afford a priest who will grow the church so we can afford to keep a priest.

This may sound cynical, but it's not.  It's reality, and its a reality that is not very appealing because it takes on the appearance of a circular circular argument and we'll likely end up where we're at right now:

What do we need to remain viable as a parish?
                          We need a priest.
How do we get a priest we can't afford?
                           We will evangelize.
What  if that doesn't work?
                           We won't get a priest and remain viable.
What do we need to remain viable as a parish?
                           We need a priest who can evangelize.
         
In addition to its lack of appeal, is the fact that it is not the change we're seeking nor is it a change that we can accommodate at the present time.

If reality is our friend, then we must start with what is real about who we are and where we're at, place, people, and prayer book.  What our congregation needs is to knit these to the teachings of Jesus.  It is only when we fully embrace who we are and understand what that means and understand connection  between place, people, prayer book and the message of Jesus that evangelism will occur naturally.

Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm