The Grapevine CONNECTING THE CONGREGATIONS OF THE PRESBYTERY OF DETROIT September 2019

“Changing the Conversation” by the Rev. Dr. Allen D. Timm, Executive Presbyter

There is a new focus for training interim

pastors and one of my colleagues, Dr.

Jan Edmiston, Executive Presbyter in

Charlotte, North Carolina, and former

Co-Moderator of the General Assembly

of the PCUSA, sent an email to all

Executive Presbyters. She said all

pastors, not just interims, should attend

the new training, especially one called

Transitional Ministry, held at Camp

Menucha in Portland, Oregon, led by

the Revs. Scott Lumsden and Heidi

Husted Armstrong.

Why should all pastors attend? Because

more than ever, all churches are in

transition. Let’s face it. The church of

Christ in many settings lost their way.

Instead of being a light shining on a hill,

they shine their flashlights inside the

sanctuary, showing Christ’s love and

way of life only to one another.

Without seeing the impact Christ

makes, people in our communities have

turned to other sources of fulfillment. If

a church wants to turn the focus from

inward to outward, they are a church in

transition.

Dr. Edmiston said one of the books

participants of transitional training are

required to read is, Changing the

Conversation: A Third Way for

Congregations by Anthony B. Robinson

(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans

Publishing Company, 2008). I agree

with Jan. This book changes our focus

on ministry. Congregations that want to

reclaim the role of servant and prophet

in their community, don’t need to

choose one side or the other, liberal or

conservative.

Anthony Robinson proposes a “third

way” for congregations. The first and

second ways claim very rigid sets, or

boundaries, either on the liberal or

conservative side. The third way is

neither “left” nor “right,” but has a

clear center with no boundaries. The

center – or who we are – is defined, but

folks are invited to come as they are.

The question from the church in the

center is, ”What direction are you

moving in? Are you moving towards the

center or away from it?”

The author guides conversations that

help a congregation determine its

center. Robinson names ten

conversations:

Conversation One. It is not about you. It

is about God and what God is up to.

This view is from 10,000 feet to see

what God is doing around us. We ask,

“How can we join God’s mission?”

Conversation Two. But it is about you!

It about our response to what breaks

the heart of God and how we join God’s

work. This is the prophetic gospel, as

we seek, in the words of the prophet

Micah, to “show mercy, do justice, and

walk humbly with God.”

Conversation Three. This conversation

focuses on how we deepen our faith in

Christ and find transformation. We lift

our hearts in prayer. How do we

respond to God in worship, Bible study,

evangelism, and theology?

Conversation Four. What kind of

leaders do we need? This discussion

focuses on how clergy provide

leadership and how the laity share that

leadership. How does the pastor and

session lead the congregation to make

an impact?

Conversation Five. Why are we here?

What is our purpose? Why has God put

us in the place we are? This question is

about purpose. What is the unique

ministry God has called us to join in our

neighborhood?

Conversation Six. What is our vision for

our ministry? This question looks at

what our church will look like, what our

world will look like when our ministry

takes root. It is a picture.

Conversation Seven. This question

relates to our governance and

structure. What will the format be that

empowers our members to know how

they can initiate ministry? One church

in our Presbytery invites two or three

who hear a call to present their vision

to session for permission and publicity

so others can join.

Question Eight. How will we witness to

the public square? What will we do to

contribute to God’s idea of justice and

morality? How will we help to influence

society, so that the community will

show love God’s way and love of

neighbor?

Question Nine. What are we going to

allow to die, and where are we going to

look for new life in what God will

create? We might even find God wants

Continued on next page

Page 2 The Grapevine September 2019

Presbytery of Detroit Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 17575 Hubbell Ave, Detroit, MI 48235 313-345-6550 313-345-7250 (fax) Info@detroitpresbytery.org http://www.detroitpresbytery.org http://www.synodofthecovenant.org http://www.pcusa.org

Staff Executive Presbyter The Rev. Dr. Allen D. Timm, ext. 203 Associate Executive Presbyter CRE Charon Barconey, ext. 211 Stated Clerk The Rev. Edward H. Koster, ext. 201 Director of Operations Sandy Jensen, ext. 220 Executive Assistant Dawn Eiben, ext. 212 Resource Center Director Kathi Johnson, ext. 215

Accounting Manager Sarah Leight, ext. 209 Bookkeeping Clerk Rhonda Barley, ext. 200 Coordinators Hands-on Mission Michael Barconey, 313-903-6609

The Parish Paper

Our organization’s purchase of photocopy rights for The Parish Paper INCLUDES 1. Permission to provide copies to our staff and the congregations within our constituency in any of the following ways: E-mail, Postal, newspaper, newsletter, meetings, training events, and our Website. 2. Permission for each congregation within our constituency to (a) photocopy or electronically distribute for local use as many copies as it needs, (b) post them on its Website, and (c) quote sentences and paragraphs. Your congregation does NOT have permission (a) to delete the copyright notice on page 2;

(b) to re-write, paraphrase, or change the wording of sentences and paragraphs; or (c) to give ANY THIRD PARTY—other than your staff and constituents—permission to photocopy or reprint (in any quantity, no matter how small, whether for free distribution or for sale).

We Celebrate these Clergy Ordination Anniversaries

SEPTEMBER DAVID DOWNTON 45 PETER W. GABEL 35 BREANNE RYAN 10

OCTOBER ANNE LANGE 10 JAMES MONNETT 25 GAIL MONSMA 10 JOANNE MORGAN 5 FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ 10 LAURA SIAS-LEE 30 BARBARA G SWARTZEL 30

our congregation to die so that some

other form of life might take place.

Question Ten. Where do we start? This

conversation is about priorities. We

need to decide what question we will

discuss first. Where do we need to have

holy conversations?

This book challenges sessions to revisit

their purpose and impact. I learned,

early on in ministry, the importance

holding an annual session retreat.

Robinson’s book could provide a

framework for discussion. Some

sessions take a time of worship and

study at each session meeting, and I

suggest the questions in this book could

help .There are many tools to evaluate

the difference a congregation is making

in the lives of its members and in the

community around the church. This

book is one of them. I encourage your

session to discuss it.

Another excellent tool is the study,

“Vital Congregations,” which is

available on the PCUA website (search

Vital Congregations.) or from me in the

Presbytery office. This study, written by

Dr. Kathryn Threadgill, has one chapter

that discusses the marks of vitality. A

session might want to start there and

decide whether to use the whole study

guide, with one exercise at each session

meeting.

Robinson is right. There is a third way.

There is a center that takes Christ’s

command seriously, to go therefore

and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Christ also promised to be with us

forever as we show a new way of life to

the world.

Continued from previous page

Liturgical/Visual Art Workshop Saturday, October 12, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor Learn more about Liturgical/Visual Art in the church in a workshop led by Ellen Phillips from Black Mountain, NC. All are welcome! The cost is $15.00 per person which covers snacks, light lunch and art materials. Please bring a self-healing craft mat if you have one! We will create art that will be used in the Sanctuary during the season of Advent. Register at https://firstpresbyterian.wufoo.com/forms/ellen-phillips-artist-workshop/ So, what is Liturgical/Visual Art? Liturgical art expresses in various medium (fabric, quilting, weaving, paper-lace, paint, etc.) what words don’t capture. Liturgical art supports the scripture texts or theme of the day in worship. Visual artists invite us to notice the depth of creation, and the ways in which created things disclose the glory of God. Ruth Duck says, “Liturgical art is an offering to God. It is not an intermission or a decoration, but a full and genuine part of worship.” Questions? Contact Dave VanderMeer, Minister of Music & Fine Arts at dvandermeer@firstpresbyterian.org or 734-662-4466, ext. 347.

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EDITORS: DANA HORRELL AND CYNTHIA WOOLEVER—WWW.THEPARISHPAPER.COM

September 2019—Volume 27, Number 9 Copyright © 2019 by Dana Horrell

A Team Approach to Worship DesignAudrey Wells, director of Under the Tuscan Sun, describes how the use of non-professionals enriched the film crew’s effort to tell their story. For scenes in the town’s piazza, local people who walked there every day were asked to serve as “extras.” For the food scenes, a nearby restaurant cooked the meals. After its release, many local participants gathered at the movie theater, which itself had appeared in the film, to enjoy the story they had helped to tell. From the director’s perspective, non-professional involvement only served to enhance the filmmaking experience.1

The same can be true for worship. Appreciation increases when everyone, professionals and non- professionals alike, take part in the preparation. In this method, the pastor gives up the role of solo oper-ator to recognize the part that worship leaders can play in “producing” the worship service. Though more complicated than working alone, it can also be more spiritually rewarding. Len Wilson and Jason Moore, writing for the context of contemporary worship, offer a model for worship teams that can be adapted to a variety of worship styles.2

Recruiting Team MembersA worship team does not have to be large to be effec-tive. In fact, large teams may be more complicated to manage and more prone to conflict than small ones. The best size for brainstorming appears to be between four and seven persons. In recruiting, seek general-ists rather than specialists, and try to represent the church’s demographic makeup such as age, gender, race, and cultural or political perspectives. People who get along well with others are always a plus.3

Team Member RolesTo facilitate planning, roles may be assigned to certain team members. The pastor selects a theme and interprets the Scripture lesson that supports it.

However, the role of producer (or team leader) is better filled by a lay person. Though this role is fre-quently overlooked, the producer manages the team and acts as the point person in all stages of imple-menting the worship plan. The key purpose is not to act as the decision maker, but to implement deci-sions that were made as a group.4 The band leader or music director ensures that the music selections align with the team’s design for the service. Some churches opt for full team involvement in selecting the songs, while others will leave this entirely up to the music leader. A writer develops language and metaphors that express the theme set by the pastor. This can be a call to worship or more informal open-ing remarks by the person who opens the service. For leaders who prefer not to read from a script, “talking points” can be used so that the speaker can then improvise. A technical director is needed to deal with various aspects of media, including sound, lighting, and projection.

How Often to MeetWorship planning can be time intensive. Team mem-bers’ available time and the team’s scope of responsi-bility are important considerations when determining how often to meet. Most churches select one of three options.

Some churches use a single team meeting once per week. One advantage of this approach is that frequent meetings tend to be an aid to relationship building. This arrangement can often seem better suited to paid staff members than to volunteers with busy schedules to navigate, and it can be wearing over time.

To alleviate the burden, some churches spread responsibilities out by creating multiple teams that meet weekly or on rotation. In the rotation option, dif-ferent teams take responsibility for one Sunday out of three or four, meeting one time ahead of the service to do planning.

Finally, some churches hold a single team meet-ing once every few weeks or monthly, gathering for several hours to plan multiple services. This model may work best for a small church or one in which volunteers, not staff, do much of the work. In this approach, the team may find it necessary to focus more on the big picture by brainstorming themes, metaphors, songs, and other creative elements with-out worrying at this point about how it will all fit together. Some of the details may need to be left up to individual team members to determine outside of the meeting.5

A Weekly List of Team DecisionsNo matter how frequently it meets, every worship team or its appointed leader must make a series of decisions:

1. the Scripture lesson on which the service is based2. the central theme or main idea of the service

expressed as simply as possible3. a statement of the human condition, the real life

issue that the good news of the service addresses4. a visual metaphor, a single image that expresses

the main idea in a way that the congregation can connect with

5. the goal that the team is trying to achieve6. the creative elements to include in the service to

get the idea across, which could include photos, video clips, graphic images, or anything else that

worshippers can see, hear, feel, taste or touch that might help them experience the message.

These decisions, when made by the group, become action items to check off and report back to the group about.6

Organize LooselyCathy Townley, a worship consultant, offers another way to think about worship teams that emphasizes building relationships over filling specific roles based on skills. Based on her experience in starting a new church, she advocates organizing loosely, allowing newcomers to seek their own level of participation, and resisting attempts to be locked into a set pattern. As a church planter, she discovered that she was really a one-person team, and that she spent much of her time networking with a variety of people, building relation-ships with them, and asking them to take one piece of a particular week’s worship plan to help her with. The result may be a worship service that is not highly pro-duced, but immensely satisfying for participants, and it can spur member involvement and church growth over time.7

A Richer View from Many PerspectivesMarcia McFee, a worship consultant, compares the congregation’s experience of worship to a circle of people viewing a beautiful sculpture from the perim-eter of the room. The experience is richer from many perspectives than from only one or two angles. In the same way, worship planning using teams can create a fuller, more meaningful experience than if only one or two persons are involved. That fuller experience is what congregations are all about.8

1. Marcia McFee, Think Like a Film Maker: Sensory-Rich Wor-ship Design for Unforgettable Messages (Truckee, CA: Trokay Press, 2016), 43.

2. Len Wilson and Jason Moore, Taking Flight with Creativity: Worship Design Teams That Work (Nashville: Abingdon, 2009).

3. Ibid., 25-29.4. Ibid., 39-48.5. Ibid., 49-55.6. Ibid., 79-92.7. Cathy Townley, Missional Worship: Increasing Attendance and

Expanding the Boundaries of Your Church (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2011), 61-79.

8. Marcia McFee, Think Like a Film Maker, 65.

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EDITORS: DANA HORRELL AND CYNTHIA WOOLEVER—WWW.THEPARISHPAPER.COM

October 2019—Volume 27, Number 10 Copyright © 2019 by Dana Horrell

Let’s Take a Walk: The Ministry of AccompanimentWalking alongside someone in a time of need can be vastly reassuring. The ministry of “accompaniment,” often provided by churches in support for immigrants facing deportation, takes the metaphor of “walking alongside” to mean a commitment to be present and bear witness to the struggle for fair treatment. With a little imagination, the accompaniment model could be stretched to include a ministry of presence to any-one who struggles, whether due to immigration woes, poverty, or addiction. Accompanying someone who feels vulnerable or threatened can offer something intangible—the gift of reassurance.

With Immigrants Some churches have begun recruiting volunteers to accompany immigrants faced with the possibility of deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE). These friends of the detained are typically not lawyers and do not offer legal advice. Instead, they provide something more simple and intangible—a ministry of presence and of bearing witness for indi-viduals who might be forced to face government attor-neys alone, given that the Sixth Amendment does not guarantee immigrants the right to a lawyer. The expe-rience can be daunting, and it is complicated by the fact that many immigrants lack basic English proficiency. Walking with such a person may not provide all the answers for them, but it may render the process a bit more humane.

Church leaders can be present with immigrants: (1) at check-ins required by ICE, (2) at court hear-ings for individuals who have not been detained, and (3) at court hearings for those who have already been detained. According to Sara Gozalo, an organizer who trains volunteers, accompaniment involves “advocacy without confrontation. Even if you feel like you’re not doing anything, your presence there means a lot. I promise you. It’s much harder to deport someone when people are watching.”1

In addition to being present at court hearings, church leaders can support immigrants by accompanying fam-ilies with children to school and assisting with enroll-ment, or sponsoring an open house for parents, teachers, and administrators to discuss ways to help. Beyond this, build a relationship with the Department of Homeland Security office by attending Community Relations Meet-ings sponsored by the agency. Finally, help immigrants find lawyers by holding information sessions about rep-utable immigration service providers.2

With PrisonersAccompaniment methods can be used in support of ministry with prisoners. For instance, St. Anne’s Catho-lic Community, thirty-two miles northwest of Chicago, became involved in a program for mothers in prison that allows these mothers the opportunity to visit with their children. Sponsored by the Lutheran Social Ser-vices of Illinois, the “Visits to Mom” program pro-vides free transportation to children whose mothers

are incarcerated. For volunteers from St. Anne’s, this typically translates into an eleven- or twelve-hour day due to the drive required to and from the Decatur and Logan Correctional Centers. That’s a three-hour round trip from Barrington to Chicago and a five-hour round trip to and from the two prisons. These visits often rep-resent the only chance for many of these mothers, a number of them serving time for drug offenses, to see their children.3

With Others in NeedLikewise, a ministry of presence and support can be achieved through mentoring or advising for persons struggling with poverty or addiction. The West Side Campaign against Hunger (WCAH), located  in the basement of the St. Paul and St. Andrew United Meth-odist Church in upper Manhattan, offers a supermar-ket-style food pantry that allows customers to choose which foods they will receive. Every new customer can receive the aid of a social service counselor who explains how to shop, how to apply for a health plan, how to find a doctor, and how to determine eligibil-ity for federal programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program); Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and Free and Reduced Price School Meals, as well as the pantry’s own programs. Mentoring may also lead customers to job training and classes in General Educational Development (GED) and English as a Second Language (ESL). WCAH’s social service counseling metaphorically “walks with” customers who might be confused by the complicated web of ser-vices available.

Taking the First StepsTo get started with immigrant ministry, consider offer-ing training for volunteers using online resources from the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops campaign, or Justice for Immigrants.4

For prison ministry, consult with a prison chaplain before visiting a state or federal facility or read the arti-cle, “Six Rules of Thumb for Prison Ministry: Advice for Pastors and Ministry Leaders” available from the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Disci-pleship. For a deeper dive, explore online resources for church leaders on in-prison, re-entry, family, and mentoring ministries as well as justice reform offered by Prison Fellowship, founded by Chuck Colsen.5

For persons struggling with poverty, sponsor nutri-tion and cooking workshops to educate food pantry or lunch program patrons on the importance and avail-ability of fresh food. Give referrals to free or low-cost health care and social service benefits in the area. Recruit and train patrons to become volunteers in running the program. Start community discussions on hunger, poverty, and food security using resources from organizations such as WhyHunger and Bread for the World, both of which focus on empowering indi-viduals and changing public policy related to food.6

“A Purpose to Being a Christian”Accompaniment can have a profound impact for both the accompanist and the one accompanied. Grace Yukich, a sociologist, documents this in her study of the New Sanctuary Movement’s earlier work with immigrants in New York City in 2008. One woman, a member of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shep-herd in Brooklyn, testified to a group of immigrant support activists about her newfound faith that resulted from an accompaniment experience. She had been accompanying a Chinese couple to check-ins for several months. Though she had little prior experience with immigrants, she found her faith commitment deepening as she attended church with the couple, met occasionally at a restaurant to check on the cou-ple’s situation, and also went with them to periodic check-in meetings with immigration officials. Though never particularly committed to immigrant rights before, she began to experience a newfound sense of faith. “This is the first time I have felt there was a pur-pose to being a Christian.”7

1. Katrina Shakarian, “As Trump Pushes Deportations, Volun-teers Intensify Immigrant-Accompaniment Program,” Gotham Gazette, January 8, 2018, https://tinyurl.com/y6us4rtf.

2. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,“10 Things You Can Do to Accompany Immigrants,” May 2017, https://tinyurl .com/ycmyrguv.

3. Victor Claman and David Butler, Acting on Your Faith: Con-gregations Making a Difference (Boston: Insights, 1994), 21.

4. https://www.newsanctuarynyc.org/; https://justicefor immigrants.org

5. https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/6. https://whyhunger.org, https://bread.org7. Grace Yukich, One Family under God: Immigration Politics

and Progressive Religion in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 74.

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