Listening Project: Minnesota

AMBS faculty visit Minnesota congregations

Elkhart, Ind. (AMBS) - Because it can sometimes be hard for churches to feel connected to the educational institutions they support, or for faculty and administrators at Mennonite schools to feel connected to the constituency they and their graduates serve, the Engaging Pastors Project at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary is working to bridge the gap. The Listening Project, a program of Engaging Pastors, recently sponsored visits by faculty from AMBS to two Minnesota congregations to foster the connections necessary for effective pastoral training.

The Listening Project connects AMBS faculty with congregations pastored by AMBS graduates ten years or less out of seminary. Faculty visit the congregations to cultivate relationships with pastors and church members and to listen to the needs, struggles and successes of the congregation. They also visit with community leaders or local government officials to learn about challenges and opportunities for the church in the community. By staying connected to pastors and congregations, the faculty hope to offer better support to alumni pastors and focus AMBS curriculum to reflect the real needs of the church and its leaders.

Steve Schweitzer, assistant professor of Old Testament, visited First Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake and was struck by the challenges of pastoring in a small, rural community. “The complexities of rural ministry are just as tough as those faced in urban situations,” said Schweitzer, “especially in smaller congregations where pastors can face economic challenges that are difficult to overcome and hard to prepare for.”

In addition to witnessing the economic realities of small, rural congregations, Schweitzer heard from the congregation about how they have been challenged to respond to the growing ethnic diversity in Mountain Lake. Elaine Kauffman, pastor of First, admitted that it has been easier to adapt to the increased diversity in local schools than in local congregations. “It’s difficult to know how to move from being accepting and inviting of ethnic minorities to actually incorporating them into congregational life,” Kauffman said.

Schweitzer was appreciative of how open and honest the members of First were in their conversation with him and said that, despite the challenges the congregation faced, “the level of commitment shown by the congregation was very high.” He also admired the mutual affirmation among the church’s leaders.

Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis, host of the other Listening Project, was visited by Ted Koontz, professor of ethics and peace studies, who admits to assuming that the makeup of the congregation at Faith would reflect the inner-city cultural diversity surrounding the church. Instead, Koontz found that most members of the church travel from outside its immediate community and have been challenged with how to relate to the those who live near the church.

“We’ve been reflecting on what our purpose is when we gather, and how we should approach expressing our mission and values to the community around us,” pastor Patrick Preheim said.

Koontz sees questions such as those, which look to the foundation of a church’s identity and means of expression, as being harder to answer in the light of contemporary theological pluralism. “Church leaders need to be challenged with how to connect assumed frameworks of Christianity and Anabaptist theology to those of modern philosophy and science,” Koontz said. “It’s no longer easy to answer questions like, why be Christian?”

AMBS hopes the insights and observations drawn from all Listening Project visits will offer much to the formation and development of curriculum relevant to serving both the church and its leaders. The connections currently being established through the Listening Project and other Engaging Pastors programs are building a foundation of mutual discernment, where pastors, congregations, faculty and other church and community leaders work together to promote fruitful and effective ministry.

Eric Saner