Congregational Vitality

 By Deacon Timothy Siburg, Director for Mission, Innovation and Stewardship

When we proclaim Christ crucified and resurrected, and believe that God is alive, we profess a living faith. It’s one that abides. It’s also one which knows that God’s promises are true. That God is present and up to something- through, for, with, and even in, you and me. That’s bold and awe-inspiring. It might be terrifying too. But such is life with our God who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who loves us, is with us, and is for us, always. 

That raises a question though for me. As we have moved through this pandemic, and come to this point where many of us adults, at least, have now been vaccinated, I’ve started to hear and wonder myself, “what’s next?” What might this mean for us as God’s people today in the weeks and months ahead? And what might it mean about what God is up to?

Amid this pandemic time, my own life has changed again since I last shared space on the synod blog. 

God has done a new thing in this way. Allison, my rock star spouse (and pastor at Salem Lutheran in Fontanelle) and I welcomed our second, daughter Cora, into the world last fall. Here’s how we celebrated with daughters Caroline and Cora some on Mother’s Day over the past weekend.

There will be questions raised, many of which we may not even know yet as we learn, listen, and wonder about life after this pandemic. There’s learning, experimentation, and innovation that will come with this. There’s also change, grief, and worry too. My role on synod staff has recently changed, in part, to better live into this new time we’re all walking through. Bishop Maas has recently named me the Nebraska Synod’s Director for Mission, Innovation, and Stewardship. As part of this new role, I will have the privilege of walking with the congregations and disciples of this synod to make space for questions that emerge, and to see what God might be up to. 

A big part of this new role of mine will be walking side-by-side with congregations who are part of the Nebraska Synod’s new Vitality Initiative for Congregations. As I humbly enter into this new position, I have been sitting with Bishop Maas’ blog post from last week, “Proclaim the Good News.” His conclusion both encourages and challenges. He wrote: 

“Keep the good in the good news and invite people to cling to the hope that’s inseparable from it. God’s future is coming. What the church will look like in that future is as yet unknown, but it will look different.  Because the kingdom of heaven is near, and change is one of its constants, unavoidably and wonderfully. Fear not. Hope greatly. And proclaim the good news.”

One of the things that we in the Nebraska Synod are doing as we begin to lean even more so into this hope and into our sure but unknown future, is to embark on the potential of grand experimentation, innovation, and learning through the Vitality Initiative for Congregations. Together in cohorts, congregations big and small; rural, suburban and urban; will begin to discern who they are now and what their unique identity and vocation as a congregation is. 

Congregations will do deep listening, thinking, and work in digging into the questions: Who are we? Who are our neighbors? And how might God be calling us to be church together today? These are big questions with not so easy or obvious answers. But that’s part of the point. To be God’s people today and in the days and years to come, means being vulnerable enough to ask the questions, to not assume the answers and the needs of our community, but to be present and accompany each other and our neighbors. Through that work, we just might see not only God’s invitation but God’s activity in and around us. 

Pastors Sarah Cordray and Adam White invite us to think about congregational vitality and congregational vocation. 

Over the course of a year and a half of intentional work, congregational leadership teams will dig in to learn, listen, and wonder while being accompanied by a congregational coach. And then over the course of an additional six months, congregations will begin to test out some of their ideas through an experiment to refine their learning and lean into who God might be calling them to be now and in the years ahead. 

It won’t just be disciples and congregations learning through this though. The synod will be learning, experimenting, innovating, and changing based on what God might be up to. It’s a vulnerable move to experiment and risk to change. But it’s also a faithful one as we trust in the one who is always present, always with us, and always bringing good news. 

I’m excited to see what might emerge from this. God is certainly up to something here in this synod and its congregations. This initiative has the potential to help unleash great experimentation, innovation, and creativity. And I for one so look forward to seeing what that might lead to. 

Will you join me? To learn more about the Vitality Initiative for Congregations and to apply today, please visit: https://nebraskasynod.org/learn/congregational-vitality.html.