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[ Back to index of January articles ]
Diocese studies demographics,
plans growth
“If you look at the demographic data you see a number of important trends,” Cooney said. “One is that population in the area comprising the diocese has grown dramatically in recent years, and the data suggest that this trend will continue. The second is the relative attractiveness of the Episcopal and Anglican tradition is much stronger here (where 4.0 percent of the population expresses a preference for worship in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition) than it is nationwide (where only 2.9 percent of the population express such a preference). “Not only is our mission field very large and getting larger, but our mission field is more inclined to the spiritual tradition that our church embodies.” To capitalize on these favorable conditions, the diocese will introduce a two-pronged congregational development strategy at the Diocesan Convention on Jan. 30-31 at Washington National Cathedral. The Rev. Carol Cole Flanagan, canon for congregation and mission development, will supervise the initiative. “The primary recommendation is really to identify the regions of growth in the diocese and look at how well we are serving those areas,” Cooney said. “When you do that, three areas scream out at you. First, in upper Montgomery County, the population is growing both in terms of numbers and in terms of the richness of ethnic and racial diversity. Second, in central Prince George’s County there has been explosive growth in recent years, yet our coverage of areas of great population group is not adequate. Finally, there has been significant population growth in upper Charles County.” Once planted, new congregations will be led by laity and clergy who have been specifically prepared for the task. “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has a school where clergy and lay leaders receive training with respect to the specialized skills of congregation building,” Cooney said. “We are exploring the possibility of participating in this program.” The second prong of the diocesan strategy focuses on existing parishes. “We are a diocese of small congregations, many of which struggle in today’s climate in which there are fewer volunteer hours available,” Cooney said. He noted that a third of diocesan churches have fewer than 100 worshippers on an average Sunday. “The economic viability of these congregations
is really challenging because of their size,” Cooney said. “Ministry
takes money. One implication of that is that you have to be larger to
be viable.” Another third of diocesan parishes have 100 and 225 worshippers on a typical Sunday. These churches face a different set of challenges. “They are large enough to have the demand for programs but in many cases not large enough to fund multiple clergy, a youth director or a Christian formation director,” Cooney said. “We want to do our best to help build up those congregations that are situated in places where that is reasonable and at the same time assist and those congregations whose locations suggests that they are destined to remain small,” he said. “It may be that they grow. It may be they become viable financially through sharing clergy together with skilled lay leadership.” In the past, Cooney said, the diocese’s growth has been curtailed by a lack of coherent standards. “We have not approached congregational development in a way that is strategic and we have not had clear ground rules that have been applied across the diocese and over time,” he said. “We’ve told congregations different things, at different times. This has been hurtful to the congregations involved and has undermined our effectiveness. “There is a critical need for much more clarity about what we want to develop,” he said. “When and where do we invest funds? In the case of new start-ups, who pays for the land? Who pays for the building? How large should a new congregation be in order to help assure vitality? These guidelines are really going to be at the heart of the congregational development component of our mission strategy.” The diocese must also reexamine the idea that the key to planting a successful parish is quickly building a new church, Cooney said. “Rather than first building a building that look like a church, the first building may look more like a community Y and be a place where people of the community gather,” he added. “A key question is how do we attract and serve people in the first place.” Although the mission strategy will mean concentrating resources on certain priorities, the development and execution of the strategy shouldn’t be perceived as bad news for any parish, Cooney said. “Executing the strategy would always require their buy-in,” he said. “It is never going to be one size fits all.” He also sought to allay any nascent anxieties about the immediate costs of the mission strategy. “Over the past year people of the diocese consistently have expressed interest in applying the Soper [Memorial Trust] funds in ways that directly support priorities of the diocese, and I expect that we will propose using some portion of Soper to fund mission strategy-together, ultimately, with a capital campaign,” Cooney said. “It doesn’t have a lot of immediate ramifications on the budget because we are not ready to do too many things that cost a lot of money.” The diocese is considering a multi-media advertising campaign to support the mission strategy. But Cooney said faithful individuals are the key to successful evangelism. “I think some of it is as simple as lowering our barriers to talking about issues of faith with our friends,” he said. In a 1996 study by the Barna research group, 65 percent of respondents who did not attend church said they would be more likely to attend if invited by a friend. “But unless I can feel confident discussing matters of faith, I don’t think I even get to the point of extending an invitation,” Cooney said. “We would like our members to engage in the challenge of making something that is by definition special to our members known and attractive to others. I think the church will grow and we will grow as individuals as we do that.” Contact Jim Naughton at jnaughton@edow.org [ Back to index of January articles ]
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Cooney
said that Robert Franken, a mission strategy consultant hired by the diocese,
has already begun the initial steps of determining whether churches should
be planted in the north Potomac area in Montgomery County, near Bowie
in Prince George’s County and north of LaPlata in Charles County.