Three Ways a Diocese Can Support (and Undermine) a New Ministry
Each diocese has its own way of doing things and each Bishop is different when it comes to supporting mission development. In my own experience and in watching the ways different dioceses support their new minstries here are three ways that a diocese can support (or undermine) a new ministry.
Communicate the new ministry as something “we” are doing, not what “they” are doing. A new ministry ought to be an extension of the clearly articulated mission of a diocese. It ought to be seen as a project that a diocese is doing together, not as something that a hired-gun, superstar clergy is trying to pull off in a corner of the diocese on her own. The Diocese of Texas is particularly good at this — their new ministries are celebrated, communicated and clearly connected to the diocesan vision. Spend ten minutes with these folks and you’ll get that starting missional communities is what they do and because of who they are.

Too often, a diocese will systemically sigh as if to say, “well, let’s try to start this and see if it works.” Or worse, “two years funding ought to be enough to start a big new church, right?” In this scenario, the brave mission developer and launch team’s hard work is done with the entire diocesan system looking over their tired shoulders saying, “this better work.” And if it doesn’t, which it likely won’t, there is a harsh, institutional “I told you so.”
This is an entirely different scenario when a Bishop, key leaders and a diocesan culture value risk, experimentation and celebration. Ideas work and don’t work, but the mission stays the same. When a new ministry flows from a mission and vision, folks are happier, safer and the whole thing makes more sense.
Offer people and money, not nothing and unreasonable expectations. I dream of dioceses where everyone can help a new ministry get started. What if area churches dispatched missioners that gave six months to a year to help a new church get started? What if each new ministry had dedicated intercessors that would pray for them by name every day? What if churches and individuals were encourged and honored for financially supporting new, innovative and often highly unsustainable new minstries? What if…?

Too often, a diocese will launch a new ministry with great support and fanfare. Behind the scenes, though, key leaders — like Treasurers, Chancellors and even the Bishop — really don’t support it and think it won’t work. When the fanfare is over and the hard work begins, our mission developers are left at the mercy of these important figures that seize the opportunity to scrutinize, thwart and often bully them at every turn. I always counsel a diocese, if you aren’t willing to joyfully lose everything you are putting in to this, don’t do it. It is when (not if) things get hard that your mission developer will need a shield and champion. Either get all the key leaders fully on board or make sure that there is someone with equal power in the system who will stand up to them when the unreasonable expectations are unleashed.
The goal for any new ministry should be for everyone involved to feel great about what they’ve done and be stronger in faith and friendship when it is over. This is really hard to do even in the best circumstances! But when you know there are personality landmines ahead, please, for the sake of all involved, do your best to sweep the field. Our mission developers need protection, not scrutiny. They need shielding, not humiliation.
Offer clarity, not obfuscation. If a diocese is committing to starting a new ministry, let’s get everything super clear about what we are committing to. The big one is money, but its so important especially if a clergy person is doing this as a primary source of income. Whatever a diocese is going to do financially, for how much and for how long needs to be clear in everyone’s mind.
Too often, a diocese will help start a new ministry that has almost no chance of being self-sustaining financially. A mission developer and team will pour their hearts into it and, long about year three, when other priorities compete for the line item in the diocesan budget, the thing goes under. Ministries that can’t sustain themselves are needed now more than ever. But let’s not start them with a hope and a prayer that a perpetual outside grant will keep the thing going! The time for the difficult conversation is at the start, not in the middle or at the end. Any ministry can do it — with a proper commitment to fundraising and development. The healthy diocese will help a new ministry make a plan with benchmarks along the way.
Of course, everyone likes starting ministries but no one likes closing them. When a ministry isn’t going well, a diocese does no one any favors kicking the can down the road, leaving those precious people to wonder what is coming next. Keep everyone together, check-in often, and pray for and support one another. When there is a need for clarity, a missional Bishop will bring it, for the sake of all those who love God and the mission.

There are many more things a diocese can do, of course. The Church Center is quickly bringing a church-wide system of assessment, coaching, training and community support for our mission developers. Most dioceses have only one or two mission developers and can’t develop this infrasture on their own. Be sure to subscribe to the new Genesis Podcast to listen in on the sorts of things we are talking about.
One final note. The dioceses and Bishops that make these mistakes don’t mean to. It takes a while to understand this unique and exotic animal called church planting! This is why sharing our best practice and lifting up the needs of our missional developers and teams are so important. Let’s build up this supportive, missional and innovative culture, one new ministry at a time.

