Congregations Lead: Listening, Learning &Trying Something New

What happens when a church starts by listening?

Late last year, Grace was invited to participate in the ELCA’s Congregations Lead Initiative, a year-long opportunity for congregations to explore new ways of doing ministry through listening, creativity, and experimentation. For the past six months, a team from Grace—including Pastor Tania, Kelly and Mike Faga, and Dave Sande—has been asking questions and listening to people in our community.

One question especially caught our attention: What is life really like for families with young children, and how might the church help?

Through conversations with several families, we heard about the joys, challenges, busyness, and desire for connection that come with parenting young children. We began wondering: What could Grace do to help families connect with one another, build community, and have a little fun along the way?

So we decided to try something new.  

Our first “ministry experiment” will be a Family Meal Prep Event, bringing families together to prepare meals they can take home and cook later. Families will also have the opportunity to make extra meals to share with others as a service project. And, just as importantly, there will be time to eat, talk, laugh, and get to know one another.

The ELCA is also putting some resources behind the experiment: Grace will receive a $1,000 grant to help make the Family Meal Prep Event possible.
That gives us the freedom to try something new, see what happens, and learn along the way! We’re excited to share more about what we discover!

This is the heart of the Congregations Lead process: listen first, imagine what might be possible, try something, and learn from the experience. Often called “design thinking,” this approach invites the people closest to a need to help shape the ministry that responds to it. Grace’s team has been supported along the way by our ELCA coach, synod staff, and the ELCA Innovation team.

Curious about the Congregations Lead process? Talk with Pastor Tania. We’d love to tell you more about what we’re learning!

The design thinking process: listening, define a problem, imagine possible solutions, create a prototype, and then test it with a group. Learn something at each stage, and then after the process, iterate!