Diagnosis, Please

What perhaps distinguishes business/enterprise from other endeavors is that if it is as functionally dynamic as it ideally should be, it avoids static institutionalization. Not only did the Tri-Church Parish to which I was appointed consist of three anemic congregations, but there were sickly congregations such as Craig and Lyons that were within a fifteen mile radius of Oakland which also encompassed somewhat healthier congregations in West Point and Tekamah. Yes, that’s right, there were no less than seven United Methodist churches vying for viability in a predominantly Lutheran (Sweden’s official church, you know) population in which an Evangelical Free church was growing by leaps and bounds. I can only surmise that the Nebraska Conference would have regarded it as shameful to consolidate these smaller churches into one or two larger ones, but I learned firsthand that none of the parishioners would ever entertain such a notion. I’m sure that I was considered somewhat dull-witted to even think of such a merger because it would have almost certainly resulted in an appointment further into the wilderness than I had been (after all, we were now within a half-hour drive of Fremont and just one hour away from Omaha!). Nonetheless, it became very apparent to me that my purpose for being appointed to Tri-Church was to work with the congregations to move past the dysfunctional competitiveness that had developed between them toward a healthier sense of unity—even if that meant helping them learn how to stand on their own.