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Praise for Thrive
Recently, denominational executive Ruth Fletcher and her pastor husband Ron had a 3 month sabbatical. Instead of going to Europe or hiking Glacier National Park, they took a road trip across the United States visiting “transforming congregations.” Thrive is the result of that road trip, and a lifetime of pastoral experience.
Fletcher begins with listing “changing conditions” that have had profound impact on how mainline churches respond to society today. They include globalization, interdependence, dispersed power, racial and religious diversity, evolving complexity, new ethical questions, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the end of non-renewable planetary resources.
The bulk of the book is her engaging description of twelve “spiritual habits” she has identified in transforming congregations. For each of the twelve habits—praying, waking up, growing, aligning, engaging, testifying, welcoming, questioning, building capacity, giving thanks, collaborating, and choosing—she tells the story of a congregation finding its vocation through the spiritual practice, whether or not they have identified it.
Thrive is well-researched, ecumenically accessible, and practical. By focusing on the spiritual habits she has observed in transforming congregations, Fletcher describes rather than prescribes. There are no easy answers in this book, only stories of hope and hard work.
Bishop Jessica Crist
Montana Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
In this clear, concise and hope-filled book Ruth Fletcher offers substantive help and direction to congregational leaders and pastors alike. Grounded in her years of experience in a wide variety of church settings, her faithful observation of human life and her deep love of God, Ruth tells us stories of transformation that arise like green shoots from the most unexpected and unlikely of places. This book is a gem and I look forward to sharing it with my leadership team.
Rev. Laurie Rudel
Pastor, Queen Anne Christian Church
Seattle, Washington
That transformation is a spiritual process is well known. What exactly that means is less well understood. Ruth Fletcher fills the gap with this manual on congregational spiritual life. The pattern of spiritual habits she describes provides markers for congregations making their way through the lightly charted territory of transformation and mission in the 21st century. Thrive is a welcome and needed addition to the literature of congregational transformation.
Dr. Sharon Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
THRIVE
Spiritual Habits of Transforming Congregations
Ruth A. Fletcher
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, FL
2015
Copyright © 2015, Ruth A. Fletcher
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover Image: © Yewkeo | Dreamstime.com - Vision Space Photo
(Dreamstime.com ID 4654406
Electronic Edition:
ISBN13: 978-1-63199-210-0
Print ISBNs:
ISBN10: 1-63199-207-4
ISBN13: 978-1-63199-207-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946449
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
850-525-3916
energion.com
To Ron,
who shares the journey with me
Preface
A blizzard swirled around me as I drove from Great Falls, Montana to Kalispell one evening. Snow pelted the windshield. I clenched the steering wheel and slowed to a crawl. I could not distinguish the sky from the ground. I wanted to pull over and wait for the storm to clear, but where was the edge of the road? If I stopped, another car might come up from behind and hit me. I had to keep moving, but how? I could not see the way forward.
Then, all of a sudden, a tiny spot of light appeared just ahead on the right. As I crept along, I spotted another, then another—reflectors catching my headlights. During other trips on that road in daylight hours they had been invisible to me, but now they stood out against the white of everything else, marking the path and lighting the way. As I passed one reflector, I scanned for the next, and eventually it emerged. It took a long time, but by traveling from marker to marker, I navigated the whole distance and arrived safely at a place where I could spend the night.
For the last fifty years, historic Protestant churches have been lost in a disorienting white-out caused by the massive cultural shifts taking place around them. Many congregations identifying with the Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Methodists, Episcopalians, American Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and the United Church of Christ have not been able to see the way forward. Their numbers have continued to shrink while the median age of members has increased. Each year, their boards and councils have made cuts to mission giving as it has become harder to pay the minister, to make building repairs, and to come up with money for the heating bills.
But recently, a few churches have begun to emerge as “transforming congregations”—communities of faith which change themselves in order to change the world. Those congregations hold in common twelve spiritual habits that shine like reflectors in a blizzard. Those spiritual habits are learned behaviors that connect those churches with the way of life practiced by Jesus, with the sacred Spirit, and with the needs and gifts of their neighbors. Together they form the character of transforming congregations, shape the decisions they make together, and deepen the wisdom by which they navigate life’s journey.
Trinity is one of those congregations. The church building sits in the middle of an urban neighborhood where second-generation German and first-generation Hispanic immigrants live side by side. Inside, the sanctuary is filled with color, life, and joy. Children’s artwork adorns the walls. The sound of lively conversation and laughter fills the air between services.
The church is clear about its purpose. A description of its vision statement appears in every worship bulletin: “Called by God to Share Broken Bread and the Gospel with Our Neighbors.” The values of community, grace, and justice written in bold block letters form the center of a collage on the church’s brochure.
On Sunday morning, the congregation offers three worship services—one traditional service, one service designed for young children and their families, and one service conducted in Spanish. The music in those services ranges from organ to guitar to children’s action songs. During the week, the church hosts a children’s choir, a multi-cultural adult choir, an after-school homework help program for children, a Latina support group, and classes in English as a second language.
In response to the disproportionate number of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender youth living homeless in the city, the church also runs a shelter that provides safe space where those young people can sleep, eat, store belongings, receive counseling, and access social and health services. Trinity partners with another organization that refers youth for the shelter who are interested in or are actively seeking employment or schooling. The purpose of the program is to help those young people safely transition out of homelessness and grow into independent, positive, and productive adults. Over the last several decades, Trinity has gone from being a fearful enclave focused on its own survival to a courageous spiritual