A Catechumenal Vision for Compact Congregations: Challenges Part 1

Last week I (Kent) provided an introduction to this series on creating a catechumenal vision in compact congregations. We will address the challenges and opportunities in these contexts, where the majority of LCMS churches reside. So, first, this week and the next, the challenges. I will address challenges attendant on these compact congregational contexts. Next week Rhoda will address challenges associated with the resources available in these contexts such as staffing, the pastor’s, deaconess’s, and church worker’s time and energy, finances, etc…

Not surprisingly, there isn’t one cultural and socio-economic context for compact congregations. Small congregations exist in small towns, rural settings, urban contexts, and the suburbs. They are not isolated to one particular cultural context. This of course means that there is not one-size-fits-all approach to the catechumenate in compact congregations. The catechumenate has to be tailored and designed in ways that address and make sense for that particular congregation in its context, which includes that it is a compact congregation. This is a significant challenge and opportunity in itself. What does a catechumenate look like in an urban setting versus a rural setting? For example, attitudes about time can be very different in those different cultural contexts. One congregation may be oriented around linear time and another congregation around event time. Attending to those differences within your congregation setting will be vital for developing and sustaining a vibrant catechumenate. At the outset it would be helpful to identify and make a list of cultural context of your compact congregation. In essence, you should do a cultural and congregational inventory of the challenges present in your cultural context and in your compact congregation.

As Rhoda and I have given workshops and engaged in conversation with pastors about congregational receptivity to faith formation, a common observation is that there is sometimes a certain lethargy toward developing a catechumenal process. Often this lethargy arises along with a desire in the congregation for the status quo. The catechumenate appears to be something radically foreign and new, and the congregation may be opposed to embracing something new, feeding the lethargy. Admittedly the foreignness and newness works against such a congregation’s willingness to embrace its transformative capacity. Countering this attitude begins with prayer. Start praying for receptivity to the catechumenate long before you begin implementing any catechumenal practices. When you do begin implementing, start small! You don’t need to try to invent the entire catechumenate from the ground up at the start. One way to start small would be to take your 8-week adult instruction class and add a meal to it the first year and contour it around one of the Bible study methods often employed in the catechumenate, such as the African/Lambeth study method. And introduce that to your elders in the hope of getting congregational buy-in. Or have the elders read Paul Hoffman’s Faith Forming Faith or our book and then the next year make more significant transitions. Starting small usually leads to ongoing growth and change and to congregational ownership.

A challenge that nearly every compact congregation pastor has mentioned to me is the small number of adult catechumens (and youth too) they might have in the first year that they implement some catechumenal practices. For example, based on past patterns you might expect to have only one to three adult catechumens. The long-term cycle of the catechumenate should increase this number over time. But how do you handle those low numbers in the first few years? One way is for congregations regionally proximate to one another to develop a coordinated and jointly implemented catechumenate. More on that below and in a subsequent blog post. But if that is not initially possible, with low numbers you have the freedom and flexibility to run an adult catechumenate just for those 1 or 2 persons and perhaps at different times. One could culminate at Epiphany and one at the Easter Vigil. In this context it would be critically important to have a few members of the congregation attend the catechumenal classes. While one-on-one sessions with the pastor might work, it could be intimidating and doesn’t integrate them fully into the life of the body of Christ in your congregation. They need to be able to eat with, talk with, and pray with the baptized from your congregation.

Collaboration between congregations on a catechumenal process is, we think, a very viable way to implement a catechumenate. And we’ll say more about that later. But there are significant obstacles to a joint catechumenate, especially in the LCMS. Our polity can tend to feed congregational isolation and American individualism even further entrenches that in a congregation’s self-understanding and habitus. Congregations might feel like they are sacrificing their identity and freedom when they coordinate with other congregations on any number of activities. There may also be relationships between congregations in the past filled with conflict and division. The only way to address the latter is through repentance and forgiveness. The isolationist trends in LCMS life needs to be countered through preaching and teaching. If congregations were envisioning constructing a joint catechumenate, then it would be good for the pastors to exchange pulpits before those efforts begin and stress the unity the congregations have in Christ and to paint a vision of future collaborative efforts.

Those are just some of the challenges, I am certain, for compact congregations. What others exist and should we address? Let us know by contacting us at Kent@FormingLutherans.org or Rhoda@FormingLutherans.org.