Imagining a New Church: What If We’Re Asking the Wrong Questions?

By Jeffrey Kjellberg

If our church isn’t a place of genuine inclusivity for the 21st century, are we a 21st century church? How do we define inclusive? If the world is changing, are we able to change with it? What if this new church looks different than we think it should?

Jeffrey Kjellberg’s IMAGINING A NEW CHURCH: What if We’re Asking the Wrong Questions? opens the door to a conversation about who we have been, who we are now, and who we can be in the future. In recent years, we have experienced a decline in both membership and engagement, and have struggled to sustain ourselves in a shifting and uncertain landscape. We have always relied on our history as a church to both energize our present and direct our path forward. But what if we don’t just have a storied past but a new and exciting future?

Rather than relying on failing strategies – strategies that have not turned our diminishing communities of faith around – what if we work towards a new practice? Through a series of self-examing questions, Kjellberg leads the reader through a process of deep reflection and creative inspiration. He asks us to examine our preset beliefs about who we are and what we believe, and explore a new way of being church.

This is not easy work and Kjellberg encourages us to express the full range of our doubts, fears and sorrows. But rather than mourning where we are now, what if the mystery of the future is what inspires our present? Can we find that new path forward without letting fear of loss block our way? Imagining A New Church challenges us to ask ourselves a new set of questions, freeing us from the need to recover to a place of imagining something new.

We want our church and our faith to be both relevant and responsive to a changing and needful world. Our confounding present is just one stop on our pilgrimage into a hopeful future. This process of doing and undoing, making and unmaking, is challenging. But in our love for our church, we can find the strength to forge a new way, a new path. The future can be one of hope and creation, rather than a time of sadness, darkness and loss. Jeffrey Kjellberg’s Imagining a New Church is a bright lantern on this journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973669715

Jeffrey Kjellberg

JEFFREY KJELLBERG is the owner/president of three national faith based consulting firms that work to develop financial resources, create effective missional strategies, and equip vibrant leaders. Jeff served as a pastor in the ELCA for 15 years prior to becoming a consultant/owner. He has an undergraduate degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN (1983) and a M/Div. from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN (1983). Through his consulting work, Jeff has traveled the country engaging with thousands of leaders and hundreds of ministry contexts, giving him a wealth of insight and perspective to the current realities facing faith based communities. He has dedicated his career to helping these faith communities fully live into their holy purpose. Jeff lives in St. Paul, MN with his wife, Melanie. They have four children and one grandchild. Jeff’s passions are spending as much time with his family as possible, and traveling the world to experience the vast diversity of God’s creation and the complexities and beauty of the human condition. www.jeffreykjellberg.com

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Copyright © 2019 Jeffrey Kjellberg.

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6970-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6969-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6971-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019910526

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/11/2019

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 What If…?

CHAPTER 2 What If Truth is Color Blind?

CHAPTER 3 What if Religion is Inclusive?

CHAPTER 4 What if our Why isn’t the Why We Thought it Was?"

CHAPTER 5 What if We are Called to Collaborate?

CHAPTER 6 What if Who You ARE is Enough?

CHAPTER 7 What If We Replace Quick Fixes with Sacred Struggles?

CHAPTER 8 What If It’s More than Being Service Providers?

CHAPTER 9 What if Tomorrow Looks Nothing Like Yesterday?

CHAPTER 10 What If We Have the! Ability to Move Forward?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book would never have been possible without the inspired assistance of my editor Michele Rubin. She was everything I couldn’t have been in the process of writing the manuscript. I am also indebted to Lauren Tarshis, who introduced me to the talents of Michele. My wife Melanie was an essential partner in making sure my sentence structures were crafted correctly with precise punctuation. Thank you to my consulting partners that I’m blessed to lead at both Kairos and The Joshua Group who encouraged me every step of the way to get this book published. Finally, I need to thank all my friends and colleagues who took the time to read snippets of my book, giving me the assurance that I have a voice to share.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"As a respected and innovative leader, Jeffrey Kjellberg has repeatedly proven himself as one who can spark and sustain the fullness of a holy imagination. We are fortunate to receive his voice and vision, especially in times such as these, for he challenges us to resist our fears, receive amazing grace and embrace inconvenient questions in order to flourish as participants in God’s ongoing mission. As one who has received an assortment of insights through his teaching, I recommend Imagining a New Church for all those seeking to serve with an inquisitive mind, courageous spirit, and burning heart."

Rev. Dr. Brian E. Konkol

Dean of Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University

‘What if…?’ It’s one of most powerful questions in our language because it invites us to challenge the status quo and see new possibilities. Drawing upon years of experience as a pastor, business strategist, and church consult, Jeffrey Kjellberg uses a series of ‘what if…?’ questions to interrogate our assumptions about what congregational life should be, offers new possibilities for mission and ministry, and invites us to discover our holy purpose. Reading it will change the way you look at your ministry, your church, and possibly even your faith.

Rev. Dr. David Lose, Senior Pastor

Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN

"The questions and insights raised in Imagining a New Church stretches our conversations and assumptions to prepare for a journey into the future that will require courage, collaboration, resilience, joy and hope for the generations to come. Jeffrey Kjellberg brings insight, as well as challenge, to engage church leaders in welcoming the struggles and the discernment of the Spirit needed for renewing our proclamation and purpose for a new day."

Rev. Claire S. Burkat

Retired Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA

What do you do when you find yourself impossibly stuck? That is a difficult question for any individual; it is an even harder question for an organization. For more than a generation, the Church has found itself impossibly stuck, mired by a set of basic assumptions that stopped working in the 1960’s. Jeffrey Kjellberg has found a solution, namely, asking different questions. In each chapter he invites the reader to explore a radically new What If question. And no matter how you personally resolve each one, these questions are worthy of being asked and answered. It just may lead the Church into a new future.

Dr. Steven Goodwin

Owner/Consultant, TurningWest, Inc.

Dedicated to the Love of My Life

My wife, Melanie Kjellberg, has been the force and support behind most of my professional career. It was her confidence in me that led to my decision to leave the security of parish ministry and become a consultant. It was her trust in my abilities that led to my purchasing of Kairos and the starting of two additional consulting firms. She never questioned the risks and challenges that come with these decisions. All she said was, I have no doubt you can do this. So far, so good!

CHAPTER 1

What If…?

W hen I was young, my parents called me the inquisitive one. I always wanted to explore, experience, and discover what was around me. I wanted to open every box and see what was inside. I began every conversation with a question. Asking ‘why’ informed how I looked at the world. One of my favorite expressions was ‘what if’? My father was a pastor, and although he wasn’t necessarily the most patient man in the world, his ministerial work had taught him to be more patient than was his natural inclination. He would try to answer my ‘what ifs’ and accommodate my endless pestering, until one day he snapped, what if this, what if that, that’s all you can say is what if. There is no such thing as what if! My father, who was a sensitive and kind man, had just shut me down. He didn’t try to engage me, or deflect me. He had been worn out by my endless probing and speculating – to the point of ending the conversation.

I have never forgotten him saying that. It hurt, and frankly, I didn’t believe him. What do you mean, there is no such thing as ‘what if’? The world was filled with ‘what ifs’! As I grew up, I found myself asking ‘what if’ a lot. I realized this question was woven into the fabric of what inspires our lives. This question is at the very heart of progress and change. It exposes us to the possible – what is and what could be. Asking ‘what if’ enables us to pause and take the time to wonder and appreciate. It also can help us unsettle ourselves – push ourselves beyond what we think we know as we ponder answers.

Yes, there is such a thing as ‘what if’. And because there is, inspired things happen. ‘What if’ pushes the envelope and forces us to think beyond our current boundaries. It creates the space essential to wondering, listening, and exploring. Contemplating ‘what if’ can move us into new experiences. It helps us envision ways to see how the impossible can become possible.

Asking Hard Questions

Being involved with the church has always been a part of my life. As a child, I grew up as a PK (Pastor’s Kid). Our family was at the church at least two or three times a week for events, activities, potluck suppers, and so much more. It was our way of life. As an adult, church remained the center of my life. I was an advisor for national youth gatherings and became an ordained minister. I was a pastor for both small and large congregations, eventually leaving the parish to be a church consultant. Now, I direct three different consulting companies that serve faith-based communities in a variety of ways. My entire life is embedded in church culture and the way of faith.

The church of my youth was the church of the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s. At that time, the church was experiencing unprecedented growth. It seemed current and engaged; influencing culture with relevant broad-based impact around the country. It was providing thought leadership, and our youth groups were strong and vibrant. Well attended Bible Camps were popping up all over the country. Creative missional initiatives were common place. Resources were available – both human resources and financial resources. We were encouraged to step out, take risks, and be experimental. Faith communities were being planted in newly organized towns and in city developments. To me, this was a church I wanted to be a part of. I saw it making a difference in my life and in the lives of so many around the world. It was impressive. I didn’t necessarily know why this was happening or what was driving this movement. I was just inspired by it and that inspiration led me to my choice of career.

Then, something happened. I had joined the church community to be part of this forward-moving momentum. But instead of experiencing that energy, I began to see and feel something different. I sensed fear, anxiety, and deep uncertainty. I had committed to a church that had invigorated spiritual energy – a place where people were eager to raise their hands to get involved. But now I encountered a church that was tired and filled with self-pity. There was no longer a sense of vitality or an