{"id":4945,"date":"2019-12-18T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=4945"},"modified":"2021-10-18T18:14:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T18:14:18","slug":"faithlead-connecting-faithful-leaders-in-a-secular-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2019\/12\/18\/faithlead-connecting-faithful-leaders-in-a-secular-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith+Lead: Connecting faithful leaders in a secular age"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve spent any time in the church over the past decade or so, you\u2019ve probably heard the statistics.<\/p>\n

Membership is decreasing. Average weekly worship attendance is plummeting. The only growing religious group in America are the so-called \u201cnones,\u201d those who choose not to identify with any faith tradition at all.<\/p>\n

These realities can feel stark\u2014and, indeed, they are. According to\u00a0Dwight Zscheile \u201908 Ph.D.<\/strong>, vice president of innovation at Luther Seminary, \u201cThe shifts we\u2019re experiencing are more fundamental than just declining engagement with church programs.<\/p>\n

People are making meaning out of their lives without any engagement with, or reference to, God. To the extent we\u2019ve used technical fixes to try to respond to such a profound change in the culture, we\u2019ve failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

This might seem overly pessimistic, but for Zscheile it doesn\u2019t come from cynicism. \u201cI know a lot of really smart, faithful leaders who have poured their lives into this effort,\u201d he said. \u201cThe forces dismantling the established congregational and denominational systems are much bigger than a lack of engagement in church programs. Something deeper is at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Core Challenge<\/h2>\n

So what\u2019s causing the decline?<\/p>\n

Zscheile and colleague\u00a0Michael Binder \u201917 Ph.D.<\/strong>, affiliate faculty member at Luther\u00a0 Seminary,\u00a0 name the root cause with three distinctions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. We live in a culture\u00a0 that makes it difficult for people to imagine and be led by<\/li>\n
  2. As a church, we aren\u2019t clear about what\u2019s distinctive about being Christian.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. For these reasons, the church isn\u2019t helping many people make meaning of their lives\u00a01<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u201cThere\u2019s a lack of deep formation of Christian identity and practice for so many church members and even leaders,\u201d said Binder. \u201cQuite frankly, people aren\u2019t participating in church because they see no compelling reason to be Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s a problem that can\u2019t be adequately addressed with cosmetic changes, like launching a new program or changing up a regular worship style. It requires disruptive innovation\u2014what Associate\u00a0 Professor\u00a0 of\u00a0\u00a0 Leadership\u00a0Terri Elton \u201998 M.A., \u201907 Ph.D.\u00a0<\/strong>has described as \u201cnew ideas and approaches that begin in particular networks, take hold, and dislodge current patterns.\u201d2<\/sup><\/p>\n

      Crowdsourcing Solutions<\/h2>\n

      Despite the challenges,\u00a0 Zscheile and Binder remain hopeful. \u201cFundamentally, we believe that the Holy Spirit is moving in the midst of these changes,\u201d Binder said.<\/p>\n

      \u201cGod is bringing forth new life even amid decline and death\u2014that is our core story as the church,\u201d Zscheile added. \u201cMany of the answers are going to come from the grassroots. We want to harvest and share those stories and lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Binder stressed that despite the overall decline,\u00a0 there are pockets of hope: Christian communities growing and thriving, neighborhoods being transformed by the presence of engaged congregations, and ministries forming faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

      \u201cWe need to go to those places, discover what God is doing,\u00a0 and help them share their learnings and successes with the entire church,\u201d said Binder. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot like crowdsourcing. The Holy Spirit is already at work, raising up communities that are forming deep faith in a 21st- century, North American context. We have to find them and put them in touch with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

      A New Digital Platform<\/h2>\n

      That\u2019s where\u00a0Faith+Lead\u00a0(pronounced\u00a0faith lead<\/em>), Luther Seminary\u2019s new digital platform for ordained and lay leaders, comes in.<\/p>\n

      \u201cA lot of church leaders feel discouraged, overwhelmed,\u00a0 and lonely,\u201d said Zscheile. \u201cAs part of our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities, and our vision to do so by leading faithful innovation for the sake of the gospel of\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus Christ, we want to connect and equip leaders wherever and whenever they need us\u2014and digital media is one of the most effective ways to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Faith+Lead has three core components:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. The Faith+Leader<\/strong>, a digital publication that features pioneering research, reflections, and resources for leaders in the changing church and world with an emphasis on practical experiments and innovative action steps that can be implemented in<\/li>\n
      2. The Faith+Lead Learning Lab<\/strong>, a private social network for leaders to connect, ask questions, share what\u2019s working, and receive support for what\u2019s<\/li>\n
      3. Digital and in-person courses and events<\/strong>, such as the upcoming Faithful Innovation Summit and an ongoing initiative to create digital courses featuring Luther Seminary faculty and other practitioners in the field.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        For Zscheile, Faith+Lead isn\u2019t just a new project, but a new paradigm that places a premium on grassroots connections, information sharing, and cultivating Christian community among leaders in a digitally connected world.<\/p>\n

        \u201cNo one has all the answers, but one congregation has some, and a pastor across the country has another, and a lay leader two states over has another,\u201d said Zscheile. \u201cBy connecting leaders to resources and communities exploring how to cultivate Christian faith today, we believe God will teach us how to deepen spiritual formation, form disciples, and create and manage new models of ministry together.\u201d<\/p>\n

        1<\/sup>\u00a0For a deeper dive on these trends and their causes, see Zscheile\u2019s article, \u201cWill the ELCA Be Gone in 30 Years?\u201d at\u00a0faithlead.luthersem.edu\/decline\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        2<\/sup>\u00a0See Elton\u2019s article, \u201cInnovation: From Buzzword to Renewal\u201d at\u00a0faithlead.luthersem.edu\/innovation-renewal\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        A new digital hub from Luther Seminary seeks to help leaders address the core challenges facing the church in the 21st century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[108,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-listen-campaign","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"issue-winter-2019","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFaith+Lead: Connecting faithful leaders in a secular age - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2019\/12\/18\/faithlead-connecting-faithful-leaders-in-a-secular-age\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith+Lead: Connecting faithful leaders in a secular age - 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