Church Leaders Meet to Discuss Adaptive Leadership for a Changing World
Ken Bosveld, Connections Project
What does a trans-North America expedition have to do with the future of church ministry? About 200 pastors, deacons, youth directors, and other church leaders gathered in Toronto, Ont., on Saturday, Apr. 21, to discuss just that. They learned about the changing role of ministry leaders in an unmapped future.
The adaptive leadership event was hosted by the Regional Synod of Canada, part of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), with Christian Reformed Church (CRC) guests attending through the participation of the CRC’s Connections Project, Canadian Ministries, and Resonate Global Mission.
The day involved worship and workshops, fellowship and discussion -- and it featured three sessions led by Tod Bolsinger, author of Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. In the book and in his talks at the event, Bolsinger compares today’s social and cultural landscape to the unexpected barriers encountered by explorers Lewis and Clark as they searched for a water route across North America.
They expected to find a waterway to the Pacific Ocean; instead, they encountered the Rocky Mountains.
“The world in front of them was nothing like the world behind them,” explained Bolsinger. “In the same way, 50 years ago, North American culture supported Christianity. . . . The world has changed dramatically.”
Just as Lewis and Clark could not continue navigating and moving the way they had done before arriving at the Rockies, he suggested, churches today need new tools and ways of doing things to move forward in a changing world.
Lesli van Milligen, the Faith Formation Ministries regional catalyzer for Ontario and Eastern Canada, was involved in planning some of the event. One goal, she said, was that “congregational leaders would see this event and the book itself as an invitation to begin a discernment process that will prove to be challenging and energizing at the same time.”
Van Milligen noted that churches sometimes tend to look back at what used to work, or look around for areas that can be ‘tweaked’ to more effectively reach people both inside and outside the church. In order to stay relevant in a changing world, however, she encourages churches to do the harder work of identifying some deep changes that may need to happen within their congregational culture.
Cheryl Martin, the children’s ministry director at River City Church in Cambridge, Ont., appreciated the event’s focus on questions that church leaders can ask themselves in order to reflect on their ministries and make changes for the better. “Being equipped with a structure to navigate this change, as well as a way to look at our ministries overall, is an enormous benefit and blessing,” she said.
The day ran from 8 a.m. to almost 9 p.m., and while some admitted they were fading by the end, and would need time to process the ideas and information presented, they found the time worthwhile. “We will definitely be discussing and applying some of the principles that were presented,” said John Van Loenen, an elder at Alliston [Ont.] CRC.
