The focus of this thesis explores the issue, "How does preaching move listeners to live into a discipleship model of ministry, towards greater demonstration of Christian practices as defined by the Vision Statement of Galilee Lutheran Church?" (Pray daily; Worship weekly; Study the Bible; Learn to love each other; Serve others through committing personal time, talents, and resources; Seek life-transforming experiences). It examines the bold journey of faith as a response to the grace of Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit at Galilee Lutheran Church, a 52 year old, 700-member, affluent, suburban congregation in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, 25 miles west of Milwaukee. In 2003, the people of Galilee Lutheran Church voted to move from a "membership-based" to adopt a "discipleship-based" model of ministry, including the development of a new Mission Statement, a new Vision Statement, a new organizational structure, new bylaws to the constitution, and a new practice of governance.
There were a number of reasons to transition into a new mission and vision of Galilee Lutheran Church. The congregation discovered that the old model for carrying out church ministry was obsolete. Church Council leaders were wearing too many hats and attending too many meetings. Not only were they required to serve as visionary leaders of the church's mission and attend monthly Council meetings; they were also expected to assume responsibility for chairing that particular committee in their area of ministry. The congregation became more acutely aware that people today are much too busy for attending meetings "for the sake of meeting." We also acknowledged that the old church structure was too weighty, which burdens people with a series of "hoops" to jump through just to be able to engage in ministry, or act on a new idea, rather than giving people permission to use their God-given gifts.
For the people of Galilee Lutheran Church, the solution was to adopt a new vision for mission, "a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to [God's] chosen servants and based on an accurate understanding of God, self, and circumstances."1 The journey highlights how preaching is a crucial means of helping the congregation "take its next step toward entering more fully into God's reign"2 by increasingly living into and demonstrating the practices of Christian discipleship as defined by Galilee's Vision Statement. This period of transition enabled me to lead others into a journey of deeper Christian discipleship, but it also led me to discover and celebrate the gifts God has given me in my own practice of discipleship. Within this thesis, I discuss the significance that this journey had on my faith, as one who has grown towards greater freedom, clarity, and confidence as a preacher of the Gospel.
1Satterlee, Craig A. When God Speaks Through Change: Preaching In Times of Congregational Transition. (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2005), 123.
2Ibid, 129.
