30 years ago, Richard Southern and Robert Norton were marketing executives with a thriving business in California. Both had left their home churches in the 1970s. Both continued to search for new church home. Eventually, both chose to become part of All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena CA, a theologically liberal church recently scrutinized by the IRS for its antiwar activism. Like hundreds of others, Southern and Norton were drawn to the church by popular rector George Regas. He retired in 1995 after nearly 30 years at All Saints. Inspired by All Saints robust growth, Southern and Norton became concerned about a lack of vitality among so many other “mainstream congregations.” They developed workshops and presentations to address the need. Inspired by the Human Genome Project, they engaged in a “spiritual genome project” to help congregations map their DNA and use it as a guide for renewal. The training was well received in hundreds of congregations, so they wrote up the model in a book: Cracking Your Congregation’s Code: Mapping Your Spiritual DNA to Create Your Future (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001). This book, their first, has since been followed by a sequel: SoulTypes: Decode Your Spiritual DNA to Create a Life of Authenticity, Joy, and Grace (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004). The authors claim in the introduction, “True renewal and growth are only possible if a congregation begins seeing itself as a living organism secure in its identity, capable of knowing where it is headed and how best to get there” (p. xxiii). Of course one can substitute any number of nouns for “congregation” in that sentence and leave its meaning intact. The authors admit, “This is a book about process, not about pat answers.” It offers more marketing savvy than theological depth. Cracking Your Congregation’s Code has three parts: “Your Congregation’s Spiritual Code,” “Using ‘WelNES’ Systems to Renew and Grow Your Congregation,” and “The Strategic Mapping Process.” Part One introduces “the three essential components of spiritual DNA:” core values (“beliefs about what’s really important,”), mission (“a statement of purpose”), and vision (“a picture of your congregation’s highest potential”). Pastors should be vision casters. They should model the congregation’s values and cast and recast its vision. Part Two introduces WelNES – the acronym derived from four systems that impact the life of a healthy congregation. They are Welcoming, Nurturing, Empowering, and Serving. A good welcoming system extends hospitality to newcomers. A nurturing system enables the congregation to incorporate newcomers while sustaining the faith of existing members. A congregation’s empowering system helps church members answer the question, “What gifts, talents, or passions do I have to share?” A healthy serving system provides opportunities for people to serve, particularly through small groups. Part Three suggests that congregations create strategic maps using an 8-step process: form a vision team, discern your congregation’s values, write a mission statement, create your vision of a new tomorrow, strengthen the four WelNES systems, decide whom you will serve, create ministry pathways, and state your goals and objectives. Southern and Norton offer several tools and surveys designed to help the reader apply the model to his or her local church. They want to help readers describe their church’s spiritual identity, assess its current health, and map routes to transformation. The authors cite a surprisingly diverse array of sources, from Win Arn to Margaret Wheatley to George Barna and Parker Palmer. They adopt the insights and methodologies of evangelical congregations to the culture and theology of liberal Protestantism. They question whether Jesus really gave the Great Commission (p. 26), cite Scripture and “other sacred writings” with equal emphasis, laud a church’s openness to alternative lifestyles as evidence of a healthy welcoming system (p. 53), and declare hopefully, “There’s a budding interest in rediscovering Mary as an archetype of the feminine side of deity” (p. 99). Bottom Line: Not our cup of tea, but useful for Church Over 40
subscribers leading mainstream congregations that want to preserve
their churches’ progressive theological identity while learning
from the evangelism and discipleship processes widely used by more
conservative evangelical churches. Rev. Fred Oaks |