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Editor’s note: Once a month, our Wisconsin Conference Life newsletter will feature an innovative ministry initiative and the people who make it happen. Do you have a story to share? Let us know at admin@wcucc.org.
Four UCC congregations in rural Sheboygan County have launched a partnership that contains lessons for other churches in the Wisconsin Conference.
The Rural Church Community Collaboration comprises St. John’s Schwarzwald and Bethel, both in Elkhart Lake, Immanuel in Plymouth, and Our Shepherd in Howards Grove. Together, they have committed to joint worship services when feasible and collaborative mission projects.
The collaboration represents an acknowledgement that a persistent shortage of pastors and shrinking membership mean that the church of the future will bear little resemblance to the church of the mid-to-late 20th century.
Yet by working together, the congregations can deepen existing relationships and provide new UCC connections.
Proximity – coupled with seeds planted by previous experience working together – were key.
“Literally, if you climbed to the top of one steeple, you could see the next,” said the Rev. Nathan Athorp, pastor of Our Shepherd. The churches are within about an 8-mile radius. But the congregations have more than geography in common.
“All of us have declining membership and aging buildings,” said Diane Weiland, a member of St. John’s Schwarzwald and chair of the Rural Church Community Collaboration. “It’s becoming much more difficult to find pastors. The difficulty is getting greater, and a lot of our pastors are ready to retire.”
During Lent, the congregations came together for midweek worship, with each church hosting two services, followed by social time. “Instead of 20 to 25 people, we had 100 to 125 people,” Weiland said. “It was marvelous. Because we’re so close together, everybody knows everybody else. There was no need for name tags.”
In July, the congregations gathered at Our Shepherd for a combined Sunday service that drew 130 people. People loved the larger worship experience, Athorp said.
A lot has changed since the churches were founded. Gone are the days when different immigrant groups or faith communities competed for believers. “Given the climate of the church today, the consensus is there is significant value in collaborating – viewing each other as partners rather than foolishly trying to compete with one another,” Athorp said.
The group already has taken inventory of each congregation’s mission projects and is looking to figure out how to facilitate larger projects made possible by the sharing of resources.
“I think everybody sees the big picture – and the big picture is that we can’t go on for too many more years being isolated,” Weiland said. “We have to share resources. We’re trusting that we’ll find our way.”
Is your congregation interested in learning more about collaborative ministry? Diane Weiland would welcome a conversation. Email Diane or call her at 920-207-2103.
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