It Will Work If We Work It
By Rev. Damon Mitchell, 4th District
While the world is evolving at the speed of light, the church is often challenged to change its structure and approaches to ensure we “serve the present age.” Yet, some parts of our current structure positions us for growth, that is, if we utilized them.
Scripture is crystal clear. “He called some pastors.” (Ephe 4:11). Our founders understood this sacred text and created two tracks to ordained ministry: local and itinerant. Simply, some are called to serve as pastors while others, to serve with pastors. All are not the same. Just as all should/could not serve as Bishops or Stewards, all should not serve as pastors!
Yet, due to clergy shortages, local ministers are often encouraged, and in some cases, pushed into the itinerant ministry. Bad idea! This action ignores what God spoke to the minister, ignores what the Discipline clearly allows, is short sighted, and has the potential to harm the candidate or congregation to which he or she is given charge. Certainly, Bishops, Presiding Elders and Examining Boards who encourage local ministers to consider the itineracy are not trying to dishonor God or harm anyone. In some cases, they may recognize something more for the minister than local orders. However, it has to be the minister’s choice without interference.
According to church researcher and blogger, Sam Rainer, the median church size is 75 people. In some conferences, a church with 75 regular attendees is a leading church. What is my point? It does not make sense to push everyone towards an itinerant ministry to pastor 10 people. The real issue is some churches should close, merge, rebrand, or relocate. Some churches are so small that the monthly electric bill exceeds the pastor’s salary. Say that aloud! We are asking people to take out student loans to obtain a M.Div., then assigning them to work that pays below the poverty line. That contradicts scripture (Luke 10:7). That approach forces pastors to be bi-vocational, else we assign them to poverty.
Despite many churches being quite small, they continue to be treated as stations although they should be classified as a circuit or mission. As a result, we are pushing locals out of their God-anointed, local ministry to go pastor 6 people. While it helps the four and no more crowd, it strips the local church they were called to serve in of resources and ministry support while potentially harming the congregation the local now serves as he or she may not have the skills for pastoral service.
Undoubtedly, many local ministers have done outstanding work in pastoral roles, and they should be commended. That does not negate the reality that we must honor God’s will and our own structure. While many small churches have rich histories that made our Zion what it is today, if/when we try to avoid the inevitable consequences of reality, we play God. Manipulation is witchcraft (1 Sam 15:23). If we continue to manufacture things to maintain the status quo, we in fact create a cycle of mediocrity and avoid addressing the actual issues. We need metrics to identify churches “at-risk” of closure so that we can proactively close churches, instead of the wait until they die off approach, which only leaves Conferences saddled with liability insurance and maintenance expenses. By selling some properties, we can relocate some churches out of the “old part of town” that sits on the corner of a dead-end street. We need to consider merging small churches, but in smarter ways. There are so many things the Disciple allows that we are not doing.
Certainly, it is hard to hear that some churches need to close or merge, and even harder to make these tough decisions. However, these decisions are necessary. Too whom much is given, much is required. Let us honor our own structure by not persuading ministry candidates to switch from local to itinerant to maintain a system that needs to collapse. Instead, let us use our structure to our advantage. Let conference Trustees and Committees on Missions, Circuits, and Stations work to identify which churches need reclassification or closure, and the conference act accordingly. In doing so, we better position God’s church for growth. Many parts of our structure could work to our advantage, that is, if we worked it.
St. Luke AME Church, East St. Louis, Pastor
Illinois Conference Board of Trustees, Vice Chair
