Moving from 'maintenance to mission' critical for congregations
Seminary’s Pastor in-Residence advises next generation of leaders

John Sabatelli

"You don’t turn a congregation around, the Holy Spirit does," the Rev. John Sabatelli said. He explained before an LTSP audience his experience in congregational life at Christ Lutheran Church, in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Turning the church from "maintenance to mission" was the theme of his October 2 teaching convocation. Pastor Sabatelli is the St. John’s Summit Pastor in-Residence this fall.

He told an audience of seminarians, faculty, staff and visitors that a significant part of Christ Church’s mission is to invite the world into the church. "The most important thing for a pastor to do is preach the word, teach it, then go out and baptize," Pastor Sabatelli said. He spoke of his personal excitement for being a blessed pastor of a supportive congregation and emphasized the importance of encouraging church leaders and parishioners to "follow their passions" in carrying out services to others.

John Sabatelli, center, with Seminary President Philip D. W. Krey, left, and Dean J. Paul Rajashekar.

When he first arrived at Christ Lutheran Church 20 years ago, much patience was required in order to rebuild Christ Church’s flock, he said. Great divisions in the congregation, dwindling membership and a variety of personal agendas topped the list of challenges. Sabatelli said the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart through 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians, which teaches faith, hope and love. "To turn a church around, preach the core of that faith," he said. He believes that every church has the possibility to go from maintenance to mission—from being focused primarily on maintaining its own survival to the mission of serving others in Christ.

His approach to parish ministry earned him in 1999 the Muhlenberg Award, the Seminary’s highest honor, for exemplary service. Christ Church has established apartments, homeless shelters for women and children, reading programs for grade-school students. Through its ministries and partnerships more than 500 new jobs and $800 million have been funneled into Baltimore’s economy over a 25-year period. This blessing has resulted even though Baltimore loses about 1,000 people per month to relocation elsewhere. The congregation sponsors ministries in such far-flung places as Russia and Bogota, Colombia. The church also hosts Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. This year marks the 30^th anniversary of Pastor Sabatelli’s ordination.

Highlights of Pastor Sabatelli’s remarks:

• Effective leaders need to encourage others to lead. Being a "control freak" generates stress and pain. In urging others to do ministry that "follows their passion," such outreach must also be tied to the meaning behind word and sacrament.

• Churches should "grow by addition and not by subtraction," he said. Most pastors work with "difficult people who call them to judgment" and the temptation is to wish they could "be removed." Rather, he said, the focus should be on growing by building on a congregation's strengths, not by being too preoccupied with its weaknesses.

• Effective leaders need to be "long distance runners." They can't accomplish meaningful change in a minute or overnight. It is critical for leaders "to bring people along slowly" in enacting such changes as moving from having Holy Communion monthly to serving it weekly.

• It's critical to move a congregation to a sense of vision, keeping what is great about its current work. "If we speak only to our limits, then we will always have them," Sabatelli said. "People need to feel they truly can do something significant. In this kind of thing the Pastor is only a link in the chain."

• "Generosity begets generosity," he said. "Churches need to give themselves away. With such an attitude they will receive many blessings in return. It is the difference between a river and a reservoir. A river tends to flow out, and a reservoir that is contained within itself is at risk of drying up."