May/June 2008: Gospel Evangel

Beyond the language of transition

by Paul Shetler

After reading through everything that the conference had published on transition in the last year I was still struggling to understand what was going on. Why did we need to change? What does a “missional imagination” really mean? Why would we want to invest in change without having a clear definition of what we want to transition from or to? And what makes the changes happening in the world today so different from the changes of the past? To find answers to some of these questions I sat down with Transition Team member Dan Miller (pastor of Clinton Brick Mennonite, east of Goshen, Ind.).

IN-MI Conference is an incredibly diverse community of congregations. Our churches and their members span hundreds of miles geographically, culturally, economically and theologically. How can we talk about transition in a way that is helpful for everyone, when we are coming from so many different perspectives and contexts?

“What we all have in common,” Dan said, “is that the world is different. Change is happening and our choice is how we will respond. We are being forced to adapt because things no longer work the way they used to. Our old ideas of church just are not working for most congregations.” Whether they are highly educated or not, well off or economically challenged, urban or rural, churches across our conference are struggling to incarnate the Gospel in relevant ways in their communities.

Dan went on to say that, “we as a conference need to find new ways of supporting and resourcing each other during this pioneering time. There are hopeful things happening everyday in our conference, and we need to find ways to talk about and support those sparks of life.”

Our conference can be at the heart of this by facilitating conversation between our diverse congregations. Dan explained that without changing the way we think, the creative sparks that do emerge often go out before they can bring real change. Annual Sessions this year will be focused on new ways to think about being the church in our ever-changing world and creating a shared context of ideas that can help sparks of new life take hold and spread.

Later this year, at the Pastoral Leadership Team Weekend (Amigo Center, November 7-9), we will delve into the practical application of these ideas. But first, we must together create the context that will make those conversations fruitful. This is not about figuring out a solution to a problem and implementing it. It is about moving forward in a process of transformative change that will give us the energy, support and tools to respond to our changing world effectively.

Once I got beneath the sometimes cumbersome terminology of “missional,” “transition,” and “adaptive change” I found myself excited for these new directions in the church. I think Annual Sessions will be a time for all of us to get beyond the jargon and into the meat of the matter: how to incarnate the Gospel in our communities today.