May the Peace of Christ be with you!

In my report to the Presbytery at the February 22, 2022 Stated Assembly, I expressed concern over the level of conflict and decidedly un-Christian behavior I’ve witnessed in many congregations in the past year or so. Even if churches are not yet experiencing outright conflict, they may very well be heading in that direction due to unguarded and unfiltered negativity.

The Vision Board and Committee on Ministry hope to equip church leaders to respond to anxiety in their congregational systems in ways that prevent destructive conflict and help churches stay focused on their unique mission and purpose. We offer the following resources.

• SEEKING TO BE FAITHFUL TOGETHER – Guidelines for Presbyterians in Times of Disagreement – This four page discussion tool was adopted by the 204th General Assembly (1992) for its own work and provided to PC(USA) congregations to help them deal with the inevitable conflicts and disagreements that occur. It is now more relevant than ever! You are encouraged to study and adopt these guidelines as a session and/or congregation.
• The Lombard Mennonite Peace Center is a nationally recognized ministry for training church leaders in understandings grounded in family systems. We are blessed to have several Lombard-trained mediators/educators here in Lehigh Presbytery who are available to help you confront those challenges that prevent your congregation from becoming all that God intends it to be.
• Do you know someone (maybe you?) interested in obtaining the skills to address the challenges presented by rising levels of anxiety being experienced in churches today? We would like to expand the Presbytery’s team of trained mediators/educators, and will help offset the cost of Lombard training webinars for someone willing to work with other congregations.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns. We are here to help!

Grace and Peace,

Rhonda Kruse
Transitional Presbytery Leader

In 1 Corinthians 12 we read: God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

We profess that together we are the body of Christ. We identify as a community of faith charged by Jesus to treat one another with kindness, gentleness, and respect; and to love as he has love us. Our Scriptures quote our Savior as saying: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

In the last year or so, I’ve seen a great deal of evidence to the contrary across Lehigh Presbytery. I’ve observed several situations where church people said mean and hurtful things behind others’ backs and belittled and yelled at each other face to face; I’ve witnessed people bullying their fellow members and their pastor, in person, in emails, and on social media. You may be thinking, “I’m glad that’s not happening in my church.” But consider some of the ways the culture of your congregation may also be shifting–perhaps not to the level of outright conflict, but certainly toward more unguarded negativity.

What in the world is going on? A lot in the world is going on–a lot of things are causing anxiety and stress: economic uncertainty, environmental change, and demographic transformation. Political polarization has seemingly given people permission for uncivil dialogue, gaslighting, and canceling people with whom we disagree. And then there’s Covid, which has not only threatened our health and well-being but has literally cut us off from one another with masks and social distancing for two solid years.

But while all these things I’ve named may be contributing to the bad behavior, they are not excuses. As sisters and brothers in Christ we are called to be better than this! We must be better than this. Because when we don’t act like the body of Christ our church’s health and well-being, its mission and ministries are all destroyed; the congregation declines quickly, and the church dies. Friends, we’re literally killing our churches with negativity and conflict!

What are we to do? The lectionary lesson Sunday (2/20) from Luke 6 was full of practical advice from Jesus himself: Love your enemies, do good to those who curse you, be merciful, do not judge, forgive and you will be forgiven.

Yes! AND how can we put Christ’s wisdom into practice within our own congregations, sessions, and committees? How can we begin to communicate in a more civil, more positive way and develop healthier relationships in our churches? I believe this something the Presbytery can and must help with.

There are a variety of tools that offer “best practices” for creating, cultivating, and sustaining healthy congregational relationships. Some of the best have been developed by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, who understands that conflict is a normal part of human life, and the church is not exempt. Their workshops provide knowledge and skills necessary to resolve conflict peacefully and avoid the damage caused by congregational conflict. The good news is that we have facilitators within our Presbytery who are trained by Lombard to lead this training.

I know of other resources designed to help equip church leaders respond to anxiety in a congregational system in ways that prevent destructive conflict and help the church stay focused on its unique mission and purpose. These tools can be used within a congregation as a weekly study, a workshop, or a retreat, to develop skills in active listening, healthy communication, and relationship strengthening.

In short, there are many possibilities out there to help keep your congregation on a healthy course during a very stressful time in our larger culture. The Vision Board, Committee on Ministry, and I are ready to schedule workshops for one congregation, several together, or the entire presbytery as an investment in our future together.

Disagreement and conflict are a normal part of human interaction. Yet, as siblings in faith, we are part of a community rooted in God’s grace. This reality of our being in Christ together can and must impact the way we see things, the way we do things, the way we live together as the body of Christ. We are a community charged to treat one another with kindness, gentleness, and respect; we are called to be about building up the body instead of tearing it down.

I close with a passage from Ephesians 4: But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

I am grateful to be in partnership with you in this season of transition. If you have questions or want to talk about anything I’ve said, please feel free to reach out.

Thank you.

Rev. Rhonda Kruse

610-360-8823

Friends,

The Presbytery has been contacted by a number of congregations and individuals asking how they can help the people of Ukraine in the midst of the violence unfolding in their country. As you know, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing from their homes to see shelter in neighboring countries or parts of Ukraine not yet impacted by the attacks.

As always, our best response is prayer. Pray that through the response of the faith community, survivors and those offering assistance will be reminded of the hope that is found in Christ. I have found prayers from several sources for your own personal devotions and the corporate prayers of your congregation: the Presbyterian Outlook, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, and a video prayers from the Presbyterian Mission Agency. You’re also invited to join PC(USA) and churches around the world for a prayer service for Ukraine at 11:00 a.m. Easter time TOMORROW, Ash Wednesday (March 2). Register HERE to receive the Zoom invitation.

In addition to prayer, you can support the response of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance through our partners on the ground in Ukraine and throughout Europe. A designated account supplements the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering to enable a significant response for humanitarian efforts to assist international refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Click HERE for more information about how to give to PDA.

Finally, Lehigh Presbytery will be hosting Ellen Smith, PC(USA) regional liaison for Eastern Europe, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Poland, next Wednesday, March 9th at 1:00 p.m.  She will have more information about what’s happening on the ground in this region and respond to your questions. Click HERE to join the Zoom meeting you can call in at 888-475-4499. [Meeting ID 86174715056, passcode 934339]

May God’s peace surround us all.

Rev. Rhonda Kruse
Transitional Presbytery Leader

There was once a congregation in another presbytery that resulted from a merger of two declining churches whose buildings were just a few block apart. Reluctantly, they both admitted they needed to merge and sell one of the buildings, which they did, providing quite a lot of money in the bank. Their young, energetic pastor convinced them to use some of the funds to do long-deferred maintenance and remodeling so they could more effectively use the building for ministry. Then she tried to help them discern how God might be calling them to serve the needs in their community. Unfortunately, while she was doing that, the congregation was busy developing opposing factions and actively resisting every new idea that was suggested.

Frustrated, the pastor invited me to come and work with congregational leaders in a process called Asset Mapping, an activity in which a group is led to recognize and name all the assets available for their ministry; to make a sort of inventory. I asked them to write on sticky notes everything they could think of in different categories: physical assets (building, location, furniture, dishes, pews, the different rooms, musical instruments, etc.); individual assets (talents, gifts, knowledge, or skills of member and friends, and things they could create); associations (people and groups they have connections with in the community); institutions (agencies, businesses, or organizations they might partner with); and, of course, economic assets (money, rental income, things they could potentially sell).

The group covered an entire wall with sticky notes, and they were amazed and excited by how many resources were available to them. Alas, it proved to be just an exercise, for when the time came in the process for them to connect those resources into a way to minister to the community, they stopped working collaboratively, divided back into factions, and came up with reasons why anything that was suggested wouldn’t work. All they really wanted to talk about, it seemed, was how to attract new members. Less than a year later, it became clear that all they were ever going to do was spend down their money and closed in a few years. And so, their pastor, one of their greatest asses, left to take another call.

When congregations consider their assets, they often only consider money and property, and get stuck thinking about what they don’t have instead of creatively using the resources they do have available to serve their community as Jesus’ hands and fee. In this article a pastor describes how one congregation leveraged its assets to secure funds needed for ministry. One of those assets was property, but they also utilized intangible assets such as the specialized skills of members, the church’s good reputation in the community, and relationships with other groups. The pastor explains, “….when I say leveraging assets, it’s not just about four corners of the building around you or what you own. It’s also the people in your church, the people in the community, the organizations you can team with, and other churches.”

Please contact me if you’d like help making an inventory of your assets. Your church may have more resources than you think!

Grace & Peace,

Rhonda Kruse
Transitional Presbytery Leader