Sustaining While Disrupting

Book excerpt: Clergy and other church leaders often feel pressed to preserve cherished traditions even as they direct people to discern the new thing God is doing. They face this tension of sustaining tradition while guiding fresh initiatives and addressing unfamiliar issues. Frederick Douglas Powe Jr. and Lovett H. Weems Jr. guide leaders in stewarding traditions while seeking innovative opportunities for faith communities. Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation offers church leaders theological insights and practical skills for two crucial tasks: to sustain and strengthen foundational elements of the churches they serve and to guide the critical innovation required to address a context vastly different from the one that current assumptions and behaviors fit. Powe and Weems argue that approaching these tasks as competing claims does not work and that new expressions of faith are needed to engender church vitality. They explain the different approaches needed for each task and specify the knowledge and practices leaders require. While some church leaders start new ministries to reach the unserved, most clergy lead in well-established churches. They have a history, traditions, and a reputation in the community. From that base, Powe and Weems show how leaders can look forward to faithful new callings.