April 29, 2002
Wayland works with BGCT to create healthier churches
___By Teresa Young
___Wayland Baptist University
___PLAINVIEW--When a person is ill, he turns to a physician, a professional suited to determine the ailment and the best course of action to overcome it.
___But when churches are sick, they usually don't turn to a professional for help but instead get caught up in a sense of doom or hopelessness.
___That doesn't have to be the case, according to Micheal Summers, director of church services at Wayland Baptist University. Rather than simply struggling to exist and hoping problems will disappear, West Texas congregations are invited to call on Wayland's resources to mend the hurts and prepare for the future.
___A primary resource is found in Wayland staff members who have been trained as intentional interim pastors. The intentional interim is a program created by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the National Center for Congregational Health to assist pastorless churches that need to get their houses in order before calling a new pastor.
___In addition to offering staff members for service as intentional interims, Wayland hosts an annual training event for intentional interim pastors.
___The services an intentional interim provides are uniquely valuable to hurting churches, Summers said. "Instead of being a traditional interim who is there only to preach or provide pastoral care, the intentional interim is there to help prepare the church in such a way that the new pastor can move in easily."
___These interims arrive with an understanding that they cannot be called to fill the vacancy but are hired to help prepare the way for someone else. "It's a John the Baptist ministry, preparing the way for the one to follow," Summers said.
___Through a period of four to six months, the intentional interim serves as facilitator to help the church work through issues they need to address before bringing in a new pastor.
___"They help examine church history and decision-making processes, clarify the church identity, look at denominational links and any needs for the future. They look at the church's bylaws, committees and personnel situations and field questions that members have had but never felt welcome to ask," Summers said. "The interim should have no other agenda but to help that church become what God wants it to be. They guide members through that self-examination process.
___"It really is a process, not a program, and it can be done for any church on any time schedule," he added.
___The model also works for positions other than pastorates. Summers, for example, served as intentional interim youth minister for College Heights Baptist Church in Plainview. During that process, he helped the church discover its vision for youth ministry and create a new mission statement.
___"His job was to help us find out what we wanted in the program--what were our goals, our direction. He had to help us understand how youth ministry was changing," said Jim Todd, chairman of the church's youth minister search committee. "He worked with the pastor and music minister to see how the whole program fits together."
___"This ... gave us time to focus on what we really wanted our youth program to do. He helped us expand our vision of ministry, and that's the purpose of interim ministry," Todd said. "Too often in churches we just do what we've always done."
___Those insights helped the person the church eventually called as youth minister, Wayland graduate Efrain Gonzalez.
___"The church gave me a transition statement, and that helped me know what they wanted the youth to be and how I should be involved in the rest of the church," Gonzales said. "It helped give me an idea of what direction the church was looking for. It gave me a foundation and a platform to spring from.
___"I wasn't just dropped in here and told to go; I was given help and leadership in the way they wanted me to go."
___Intentional interim training and resourcing are two of the many ways Wayland helps Texas Baptist churches, Summers suggested. Texas churches return the favor by giving help to the university, he added.
___Churches and individual members help fund the university through gifts to the BGCT Cooperative Program and direct donations, and Texas Baptists are "great recruiters" for the university as well, he said.
___"Being faithful to the churches who have created Wayland, we recognize our partnership with them in ministry and our responsibility to assist them in touching lives for Christ," Summers said.
___Hundreds of Texas Baptist churches employ Wayland students and graduates as staff members. Many others use students, faculty and staff in volunteer ministry positions.
___Summers also offers three workshops specifically designed to strengthen churches. One is the Church Tune-Up Weekend, where church leaders and members dream and develop plans for the future. Another is the Basic Church Seminar, a half-day event explaining the basic nature and functions of the church. The one-hour Basic Baptist seminar walks participants through the distinctives of the Baptist faith. Another workshop, JOY in Ministry, deals with interpersonal relationships and people skills needed for working in ministry settings.
___A complete listing of services available to churches through Wayland University may be found at www.wbu.edu. Contact Summers at (806) 291-1165.
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