When Kelly Fryer looks around, she sees a changing world. \u201cThe mission field isn\u2019t \u2018out there\u2019 anymore,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s here in our own communities. Yet we tend to do church in a way that\u2019s out of sync with the mission field that surrounds us.\u201dFryer\u2019s title, a new one at Luther, signals a new understanding of congregational leadership. \u201cWe must reimagine and rethink what it means to be church, and that means we must reimagine and rethink what it means to be a leader,\u201d she says.Fifty years ago, church was what happened when people gathered inside the building. \u201cBut in a mission field, the church is not a gathering place, but a place from which people are sent,\u201d Fryer says. \u201cOur job is to equip people to work in the world\u2014in banks, beauty parlors, or offices. This view of church changes the meaning of leadership.\u201dCongregational leaders need to understand the context, speak the language, and understand the needs and perspectives of the congregation.This might mean learning Spanish or the dialect of Chicago\u2019s Southside, understanding Islam or suburban life.An adult convert, Fryer became a Lutheran because she loved the theology of \u201ca God who always comes down to meet us.\u201d This grace-filled message is \u201cat the heart of what it means to be Lutheran,\u201d she says.Ordained in 1989, Fryer holds a master\u2019s in theology from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago where she is completing a Ph.D. with an emphasis on missiology. Before coming to Luther, she led Cross of Glory, a redeveloping mission congregation in Chicago.Fryer hopes that her students will leave class with a sense of urgency, a spirit of adventure, and the courage to try new things. \u201cThis is God\u2019s world. It\u2019s a good world, but it\u2019s broken. God has called us to be partners in making it whole,\u201d she says, adding, \u201cEither the church is in mission, or it isn\u2019t the church.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Assistant Professor of Congregational Leadership<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3613,"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":[],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"issue-third-quarter-2004","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n