Every congregation of the Florida Annual Conference is oriented around mission to the lost, last and least, nurturing them as disciples into the loving caring fellowship of Christ.

to help congregations assess their accomplishments in relation to making disciples, and to help them transform and keep transforming their lives in ways that lead to success in making, nurturing, and putting disciples to work.
  

The Scriptures are quite clear on what the Church’s purpose is. It is to make, grow, and put to work disciples of Jesus. There is wide spread concern across our churches that we are not doing this job well. But there is every reason to believe that we have the faith, commitment, resources and will to succeed in God’s purpose! What is the way forward? TRANSFORMATION!

The delegates to the 2002 Florida Annual Conference wisely created the Office of Congregational Transformation. The Office will help congregations assess their accomplishments in relation to the Church’s purpose, and help congregations transform and keep transforming their lives in ways that lead to success in making, nurturing, and nurturing disciples who make disciples who make disciples…

When the existing system of congregational life is producing no or few new disciples of Jesus, and the average worship attendance is either declining or has shown no growth in a long period of time, the congregation is not fulfilling God’s purpose, the Great Commission. Conference statistics bear this out. Perhaps 300 of our 737 churches are declining or stagnating in terms of membership and attendance. We live in a state which continues to grow rapidly; it is an explosive 36 % over ten years in some areas. But even in undeveloped areas the population shows from zero to single digit increases.

Our past attempts to help congregations more effectively make disciples have fallen short. The efforts have had merit and there have been significant accomplishments. But we have not succeeded overall. To be sure, we have allowed and even encouraged congregations here and there to make systemic changes, but we have not created the climate of expectation required to accomplish widespread transformation, from maintenance congregations to missionary congregations. The need for turn-around is clear and is apparent not only to the ones striving for it, but also to many others waking to diminishing return on their efforts.

To change the results produced by a system the system must change. We have exhausted the capabilities of the systems many congregations are using. It is not simply a matter of "tuning up or tweaking" fundamentally sound existing systems. It is a matter of replacing inadequate ones. This new mindset involves a perspective that instinctively looks "out" at the community rather than "in" at the membership. This perspective will help us review our ministry approaches with an eye to, employing, discarding, or adapting old ways of doing things, and inventing many new ones. Such a Transformation will result in a major shift in the lives of our churches and the members of those churches.

Interestingly, the congregations currently successful in making disciples are continually transforming their congregational life in response to the changes that are taking place in their neighborhoods. So in a real sense Transformation is an ongoing continuous process, a way of life, necessary for all congregations, not a program done once by some congregations.

Transformation is fundamental change in the congregation’s conception and implementation of ministry. A transforming congregation will be oriented around mission to the unchurched, nurturing them into the loving caring fellowship of Christ. It will be notably different from one oriented primarily around ministering to members. The congregation will meet the needs of members but will never allow this to eclipse the primary ministry to the yet-to-be-churched.
  

Here are some of the assumptions on which our Transformation leadership will be based

God is love (graceful) and at the same time is just (reality operates by God’s laws.  There are consequences to living by them and different consequences to breaking them.) Some important teachings about God are:

a. God made humans for a dependent obedient relationship with God. This includes every dimension of life. Apart from such a relationship whatever meaning and fulfillment we experience is but a shadow of what is possible in Christ. We are sinners in need of redemption.

b. Human beings enter that relationship by choice. God commands those of us who so choose to regularly, clearly, and winsomely offer the invitation to others not yet in such a relationship.

c. Disciples are called to specific ministry or service in which we form, and/or help others form, invitational loving relationships with not-yet-churched people.

Each transforming congregation seeks God in prayer to identify and connect with the particular people to whom God calls them to minister. This is usually, though not always, the community or neighborhood in which the congregation lives (expressed in Vision and Mission statements.)

The congregation accepts and embraces the reality of inevitable, continuous, and unpredictable change. The congregation continually goes about developing a rich and ever-expanding repertoire of responses to change. Transformation is a continuous ongoing process for all healthy congregations.

The congregation strives constantly for excellence and quality in all its life.

Transformation is difficult and painful because it requires us to change and adapt. Transformation is also a lengthy process. Current habit patterns persist. Transformation is also exhilarating to faithful disciples who work long and hard, and succeed in replacing old patterns with ones appropriate for the mission.

The Office of Congregational Transformation will provide training for leaders, both lay and clergy, in how to lead a congregation in transforming into the congregation God is calling it to become.

There are pastors and congregations in our conference who have good understandings of and experience in transforming congregational life. They will no doubt be eager to help others and will be requested by the OCT to serve as coaches and teaching communities as applicable.

There is a basic life process that characterizes Church. It is implemented in some form in each and every congregation. The degree to which a congregation has these basic pieces well in place is a strong measure of its future success in making disciples. If there is significant lack in any of the four areas the congregation will not be able to fulfill its mission effectively. The process can be defined using other words and by dividing the process into a different number of segments (such as Enlist, Equip, Employ), but it includes at least the following functionalities:

a. Inviting/Welcoming (hospitality that is legendary on the community grapevine)

b. Worshiping/Educating (in what a disciple is, how one behaves, leading to a decision to be an obedient follower of Jesus)

c. Equipping (for ministry)

d. Sending (deploying in ministry to yet-to-be-churched people).

It is a cycle. In doing "d." you are also doing "a."

In a healthy congregation the process is always being examined and redesigned to fit the current realities, which are usually changing.

The congregation will continually assess the effectiveness of its ministry and insure the love and friendship it shares in ministry with its community is genuine and Christ-motivated.

Worshiping is connecting people to experiences of God.

Here are some of the ways transformation will take shape:

Inward focus of ministry TO outward focus of ministry

Taking care of member’s needs TO ministering to the hurts/needs of the unchurched

Institutional mindset TO missionary mindset

Institutional maintenance TO mission to not-yet-Christian people

God taking care of us TO joining God in the ministry of caring for God’s world

People will matter more than buildings and equipment

People will matter more than our customs and habits (requires clarity and consensus on what are and are not the essentials of the faith that cannot be compromised.)

This is subject to change as we experience more churches working through the process