Vitality Initiative for Congregations

It’s a new day. The tools and approaches the church used in the past are no longer are working the way they used to. As part of this, naturally comes questions about identity, existence, purpose, and mission. If this sounds familiar or describes the situation your congregation finds itself in, then you may be being called to participate in the Vitality Initiative.

The Vitality Initiative for Congregations The Nebraska Synod created the Vitality Initiative for Congregations (VIC) to support and challenge congregations and ministry sites demonstrating generosity, innovation, resilience, collaboration, and grit. This is not a project to be created, or a follow-the-directions or how-to program to be completed. This is an intentional process to go deeper, grow disciples, and lean into the culture shifts and changes that God is inviting.

Past participants have said:

“It’s not a program. It’s a lifestyle!”

“It has to be caught, not taught.”

The Vitality Initiative invites congregations to explore three big area of discernment:

Who are we? Discerning congregational identity.
Who are our neighbors? Discerning context and the surrounding community(s) to which the congregation is a part.
What is God inviting? Discerning the next most faithful step and lean into God’s invitation to come and see, follow, experiment, and serve.

In a cohort of 6-12 congregations together, the congregations (and shared ministries) participating in this initiative will discern answers and direction based on:

Pondering and wrestling with many deep questions
Assessing the congregation’s vitality
Discerning vocation through spiritual, theological, biblical practices, contextual exploration and through becoming equipped and strengthened for embracing change.

This initiative is geared toward helping congregations discern their vocation and to thrive with an outward orientation. Congregations will be invited to dare to live into their vocation and reflect vitality by cultivating missional imagination.

Find Out More Today

The Particulars

The Initiative is an eighteen-month intense adventure of discovery, learning, listening and discernment with monthly cohort online learning sessions followed by assignments to be completed before the next session.

A trained ELCA coach will walk with each congregation in this journey for the 18 months and will accompany them as desired for up to an additional six months as they live into their discoveries. Prayer and spiritual practices will be woven into all phases of this work as together we listen for and to the Holy Spirit.

The Nebraska Synod’s Vitality Initiative for Congregations is led by the Vitality Steering Team which includes the Rev. Dr. Sarah Cordray, Deacon Sunni Richardson, and Deacon Timothy Siburg. This team walks together to plan, implement, and lead this initiative alongside congregational coaches and each congregation’s vitality team.
What we mean by Vitality

A thriving congregation may be a multi-point parish, a shared ministry, or a single site; and could be in any context from rural to suburban to big city, with a history that is 150 years old or just 10 years old. Every congregation experiences vitality differently, because each is a unique body in a specific context – and this truth is the key to vitality. In congregations, as in individuals, God grants the gifts, the relationships, the moments and the tasks – the mission – of vocation.
Outcomes

Success will be measured in ways that move us beyond the number and product driven definition of success. The initiative encourages healthy risk-taking, experimentation and progressive learning experiences. There is no planned destination. This is reflected in the design of the logo of the Vitality Initiative seen above. It’s designed in such a way that it shows freedom and reflects movement. This is a journey with no one set destination or ending point, but a constant process of growing, living, wondering, and becoming.

This vitality process is about culture change, and that sometimes proves harder to measure. That said, there is a goal for both qualitative and quantitative increases which will indicate a sense of growing vitality of congregations. Prior to the beginning of the cohort, a baseline vitality will be measured, and tools will be used to track change. This may include but not be limited to more traditional data such as membership, attendance, and finances. Throughout the process, each cohort will be encouraged and at some level expected to be learning posts for others.
Expectations for, and Recruiting Your Congregation’s Leadership Team

Upon a congregation receiving notification of its inclusion in the Vitality Initiative, the congregation will then need to form a congregational leadership team. The congregation will be best served by a leadership team for this experience that is representative of the whole congregation and community. Team members bring diverse stories, networks, perspectives and experiences. When inviting members to serve on the leadership team consider gifts, passions, gender, ethnicity, experience in the congregation, occupation, networks, economic perspective, family demographics, generational representation and years in the community. The most effective leadership team also will have a mix of skillsets with individuals who are analytical, achievers or doers, creative minds, and visionary thinkers. The leadership team of six to ten members should include the pastoral leader and at least one member of the congregation’s council. Leadership team members are expected to commit and actively participate for the duration of the initiative, and to be able to attend most cohort sessions live online (and be willing to make up any missed sections by watching the zoom recordings afterwards).
Costs to Participate

The fee per congregation or parish to participate is $950.00 . It is expected that this fee will be paid to the Nebraska Synod by January 1, 2025. If the cost is a barrier for participation, please contact Deacon Timothy Siburg.
Applications deadline is November 8, 2024

The application is to be completed by the congregation’s pastoral leader(s), council president, and at least two other leaders in the congregation. Deadline is November 8, 2024. The 2025 cohort will be announced by December 6, 2024.

Note that the first cohort session will be Sunday January 19 (or 26), 2025, at 1:30pm CT/12:30pm MT. Prior to the first cohort session there will be a pastoral leaders and coaches meeting on DATE AND TIME TBD. See the Timeline Overview for all tentative session dates so that they might be on your calendars as soon as possible.

For more information please email: Deacon Timothy Siburg.
Next Steps to Take
If your congregation has discerned that the Vitality Initiative may be the right next step for it, then:
1. Apply by completing and submitting the Vitality Initiative for Congregations Application by November 8, 2024. The 2025 cohort will be announced by December 6.
2. Upon receiving notice of inclusion in the Vitality Initiative, recruit and form your congregation’s leadership team as outlined above. Please submit their information as follows below to vitality@nebraskasynod.org.
Name E-mail Address Phone Number Gifts they bring to your congregation’s vitality team

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

If your congregation is accepted into the cohort, submit the $950.00 payment to the Nebraska Synod by January 1. If you have questions or concerns about this, please reach out to Deacon Timothy Siburg.

The Vitality Initiative for Congregations Timeline Overview

All cohort meetings will be 90 minutes long and occur online via Zoom on Sunday afternoons at 1:30pm CT/12:30pm MT, unless otherwise noted. Prior to the official start of the cohort in September, all pastoral leaders of congregations participating in this initiative and their coaches will have an introductory meeting on DATE AND TIME TBD.

Vitality Initiative for Congregations- Cohort 3- Session Dates (subject to change)

*All sessions will run from 1:30-3pm CT/12:30-2pm MT, unless otherwise noted.

2025
January 19 (or 26)
February 23
March 30
May 4
June 22
August 24
September 21
October 19
November 16

2026
January 18 (or 25)
February 22
March 22
April 19
May 17
June 14 (or 28)

Note: There will also be a special Leaders Gathering for all pastoral leaders during the Fall
Theological Conference (Date TBD). Additional meetings for pastoral leaders of congregations will be held prior to the first session, and at various points throughout the cohort journey. These are yet to be scheduled.