Overheard at Vital Congregations facilitator training: ‘Church and denomination are in good hands’
February 2, 2021
Coloring books on the Seven Marks were sent out to Vital Congregations facilitator training participants. (Screen shot)
After the first day of the Vital Congregations virtual facilitator training, the Rev. Neil Ricketts spoke with elders at the church he serves.
“I told them that we — our church — and denomination are in good hands,” he said. “How we had heard from God and were implementing a plan for a healthy vital church.”
Ricketts, pastor at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Apopka, Florida, was one of more than 40 people being trained to help facilitate the two-year Vital Congregations Initiative in their respective presbyteries.
The initiative helps congregations build authentic relationships of faith as they work together on Seven Marks of Congregational Vitality. As congregations assess both their strengths and areas that need work, they begin to discern what God’s Spirit is calling them to do — and faithfully join Christ in the new thing, or change, that’s taking place.
Ricketts said the seven marks are core values for healthy congregations. As he heard more about how Vital Congregations is tied to the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 invitation for churches to strengthen congregational vitality and reduce racism and poverty, he got even more hopeful about the future of the PC(USA).
“We can address these issues that are troubling the world and our country. We’ve studied the Word and heard from the Spirit,” he said. “God loves justice.”
The Rev. Carla Jones Brown, pastor and head of staff at Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, was impressed with how well the facilitator training went. She especially liked getting into small groups — and doing a case study of a church around one of the seven marks.
“It made you feel like you weren’t lost on the screen all day,” she said. “It was so practical and nice to have different geographical perspectives on how one might lead them — and what questions they’d ask.”
The Rev. Tamara Leonard Lara of Nuevo Camino at Beth-El in the Presbytery of Tampa Bay appreciated that the facilitator training lifted up voices traditionally not listened to and recognized the diversity of gifts in a faithful community. Nuevo Camino, a new worshiping community in Wimauma, Florida, is made up of migrant agricultural workers and immigrants who have a deep need to access materials in Spanish and English to support leadership training for all church members.
“The VC process is providing me helpful tools to use,” she said. “I am hopeful about leaders within my presbytery meeting together to share what we are learning within our own congregations and ministry sites.”
The Rev. Kymberley Clemons-Jones, pastor of Valley Stream Presbyterian Church in Valley Stream, New York, said she feels better equipped after the two-day training to engage congregations in taking a deep look at themselves as the church, discerning God’s plan for their lives as a community of faith.
Hearing what it takes to engage the adult learner from Dr. Phyllis Sanders was extremely helpful for Clemons-Jones — Especially when the Vital Congregations coordinator for Trinity Presbytery said that “adult learners want to use what they hear.”
“That was eye-opening for me,” Clemons-Jones said. “In all my years of teaching I never learned specifically how to teach adults.”
She too finds herself hopeful of what the VC process will help churches accomplish. She said the many resources and the supportive staff leave her feeling like she can work at her best.
As Brown participated in Zoom worship during the training, she said she realized how much she missed worshiping — without having to lead it. As she facilitates VC training in her presbytery, she plans to provide pastors with the same opportunity that she received — to be in worship together without the responsibilities of leadership.
“We didn’t do this over the two days of training, but I just love that Vital Congregations sends out coloring books around the seven marks,” she said. “To just play with different colors helps my brain out — to be open, to let the Spirit in and try to not control.”
Ricketts said that Vital Congregations is addressing the denomination’s membership decline by getting back to the values of the early church: discipleship, evangelism and outreach, and the raising up of Christ-centered disciples.
“I can’t think of anything more valuable to give my life to,” he said.
Paul Seebeck, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Daily Readings
Morning Psalms 12; 146
First Reading Isaiah 52:1-12
Second Reading Galatians 4:12-20
Gospel Reading Mark 8:1-10
Evening Psalms 36; 7
Today’s Focus: Vital Congregations
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Omar Chan, Office of the General Assembly
Cathy Chang and Juan Lopez, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray:
Christ, we thank you for being the Word made Flesh. As you ministered to those around you through touch, sight and sound, teach us to make use of our whole selves — body, mind and spirit — to do your work. Give us the courage to take action and the grace to welcome all with a loving spirit. Amen.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.