Statement of priorities guides budget decision by Mission and Ministry Board

A statement outlining a set of ministry priorities for the Church of the Brethren denomination has guided the Mission and Ministry Board’s decision on the 2025 budget. These priorities, identified by executive-level staff following a series of retreats that general secretary David Steele held over the past year, were outlined by Steele working with the Executive Committee.

The statement of priorities also follows recent board conversations about the anticipated need for budget revisions given expectations for lower giving and higher expenses in upcoming years. Much of this is a financial reality of a decreasing denominational membership.

“With the board’s July 2024 approval of the 2025 budget parameter, we know that the difficult budgeting that lies ahead begins with nearly $500,000 in needed reductions for 2025,” Steele said. “We have a changing church and need to realign our focus on supporting the needs of our congregations and communities of faith, the development of leaders, our global and service ministries, and our efforts in communicating and promoting our work and Brethren story.”

“We are making financial cuts in certain budget areas, working to utilize available resources in a different way, that helps us meet these key priorities for the church’s needs today and in the future. We’re looking at all the ways that we can be an organization that is appropriate in size and character for today’s church as well as tomorrow’s.”

Questions that guided the conversation leading to the statement of priorities included: What are the needs of the church of tomorrow, and what is the role of denominational staff in meeting those needs? What does a vibrant future look like for the Church of the Brethren and what is needed to get us there? How can the Mission and Ministry Board and staff best nurture and empower the next Church of the Brethren generation?

From the beginning, this task, which was assigned to the general secretary and executive-level staff by the Executive Committee, was considered an opportunity to reimagine denominational ministries in light of the changing needs of the Church of the Brethren, Steele said.

“Today’s and tomorrow’s church looks very different than it did five and ten years ago and continues to evolve. The changes in the Church of the Brethren require us to adapt our organizational practices, methods, and culture in ways that move us outside of what we know and are comfortable doing to become innovative and fearless in our mission and ministries with our congregations and leaders. Even with diminishing resources, we should enter this work with a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity and be motivated less by the idea that money is shrinking and more by what the church needs and is capable of in this new world.”

Detailed planning for how the structure of denominational program and ministry will meet these priorities is underway and will continue through the coming year or longer. The general secretary and executive-level staff will be seeking ways to find financial savings while enhancing programs to meet the priorities.

An expression of gratitude

The general secretary expressed gratitude to the congregations and individuals who have been such loyal supporters of denominational program and ministries, saying that the Church of the Brethren would not be here without their support in prayer, giving, and participation.

“Thank you,” he said. “You are who we are here to serve, and you are the ones who make our ministries at all possible. We are so grateful.”

The priorities undergirded by the board’s strategic plan

Ministry priorities:
— Congregations and communities of faith
— Leadership and people development
— Service ministries
— Global Mission and partnerships
— Communications and marketing

Specific concepts that emerged in the executive-level staff conversation (not an exhaustive list):

Congregations and communities of faith
— explore new ways to be church
— equip congregations to engage their communities
— new leadership models
— faith formation and resources to tell the Brethren story
— connecting people to one another
— church planting

Leadership and people development
— invest in youth/young adults, invest in faith formation, train community builders, develop an entrepreneurial culture, strengthen pastors
— develop/rethink communications and marketing and messaging, increase brand awareness, tell the Brethren story in fresh ways
— recognize changes in Global Mission and mission partnerships, grow our relationship with the growing Global Church of the Brethren Communion
— recognize that the denomination’s Service Ministries are a priority in the Church of the Brethren today and will continue to be a priority for the church of tomorrow

Communications and marketing
— develop/rethink marketing, messaging, and communication
— increased brand awareness
— telling the Brethren story in fresh ways

Imagining the church of the future

In their conversation regarding the church of tomorrow, the general secretary and executive-level staff imagined a church that is:
— smaller
— embracing Brethren values as the church shrinks
— made up of those attracted to the Church of the Brethren
— made up of people looking for community and meaning, and who are more committed to the church
— more multicultural with fewer “born and bred” Brethren
— more local, looking less to national or regional bodies
— more unified
— embracing theological diversity
— more nimble and less tied to business, with less structure and fewer leaders and more congregationally focused
— more of a movement shedding structure and institution and buildings, with more house churches

#MissionAndMinistryBoard #StrategicPlan #RacialJustice #LoveOurNeighbors #Discipleship #NewTestamentGiving

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