Congregations Lead Initiative

The world continues to change and grow more complex. What does this mean for ministry, today and into the future?

Through the Congregations Lead Initiative, the ELCA is equipping and inspiring congregations with innovation and design-thinking tools to spark a renewal of congregational ministry and community partnerships to create adaptable, relevant, and thriving faith communities.

Congregations and their members are the lifeblood of our church; when they thrive, the whole church thrives. By focusing on innovation at the local level, we hope to empower congregations to deeply empathize with, integrate and reflect the communities in which they’re located.

The Congregations Lead Initiative is currently in its second cohort. The next cohort is expected to begin in 2025. If you’re interested in joining a future cohort, please review the FAQs below.

“The Congregations Lead Initiative has been transforming for our group and our congregation in that it pushed us to think out of the box and what God's love could truly look like unbounded by religion. We believe that completing this initiative has created new traditions of outreach for our congregation that will last. Our hope is that we will continue to use the principles we learned to be and extend God's love within our community.”
— Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Brookfield, WI

Participant congregations will:

• Learn how to innovate for the future through semi-annual learning events (most expenses covered).
• Conduct multiple ministry experiments.
• Train with world-renowned innovation and ministry thought leaders.
• Receive personalized group coaching for support and guidance.
• Network with a cohort of other congregations doing similar innovation work.
• Are eligible to receive a spark grant for the purpose of conducting a ministry experiment.

The first cohort of the Congregations Lead Initiative concluded in Fall 2023, with member congregations implementing their grant-funded Capstone Experiments. The video below features reflections from Program Director Rebecca Payne and several cohort members regarding their community's experience with the Initiative. The Congregations Lead Initiative has also been featured in a number of Living Lutheran articles including, "Leading the way forward: Congregations Lead Initiative focuses on ministry innovation" and “A gathering table built to last: ELCA college, congregation launch shared ministry through innovation grant.” Additionally, you can follow along and see program stories on the ELCA Innovation Lab Instagram account.

Snapshot of the Congregations Lead Cohort

The Congregations Lead cohort has worked in 29 ELCA synods in 20 states and in Puerto Rico. These congregations serve communities in rural, suburban and urban ministry contexts. Each participant congregation demonstrates a creative spirit and a willingness to try new things. Together, congregational teams learn from each other and grow in their ability to experiment with user-centered ministry. The current iteration of the Congregations Lead Initiative utilizes a partner synod model. Partner synods select 4-6 congregations to participate in a year-long program of learning, ministry experimentation and evaluation.

Congregations Lead Initiative Congregation Map

“All of the congregations in the initiative are on the leading edge of innovation, which means that there is no one in front of us leading the way, telling us what it looks like or what to expect. But we are not alone in this. We’re blazing a trail but not blazing alone. . . . This is the time for innovation in the church — it has to happen. It's life-giving to be in this cohort with other innovators.”
—Congregations Lead participant, St. Stephen Lutheran Church in New Kingston, PA

 

The Congregations Lead Initiative uses the design thinking framework to guide participants in their innovation process. Congregational teams will use interviews and feedback from community members to empathize with joy and pain points, generate ideas, create prototypes of ministry experiments and launch their innovations. This work is done with the support and guidance of their ELCA coach, their synod staff and the Innovation home area at the ELCA churchwide organization.

“This was a great learning experience. Our experiments did not always go as planned, yet we were able to learn from what we did, adapt, and change. Even though it is indirect, we would say most of the growth we have seen is from our Congregations Lead Initiative experiences. We learned ways to do ministry “with people” as opposed to “to people” in our community. All our members have also grown in their ability to invite friends and family to our events. Thank you so much for this opportunity to grow in our Outreach and Evangelism efforts!”
— Grace United Church, Lexington, KY

Cohort 1 Capstone Experiments

The first cohort of Congregations Lead Initiative participants gathered in person for the final time in April 2023. During this Learning Event, congregational cohorts each planned and pitched a capstone experiment. Each experiment was drafted with guidance from insights gained during multiple phases of user interviews with non-ELCA members in the local community and the congregation’s own mission statement. Intentionally designed for local contexts and needs, the experiments themselves varied widely -- from mobile outreach ministries, to large-scale, one-time public events, to development of a community center. The congregations’ resulting 32 experiments had two things in common: their intent to share the gospel and their design with and for the congregation’s neighbors. Once experiment plans were finalized, congregations were eligible to apply for grants to help implement their visions. In early summer 2023, Congregations Lead Initiative congregations were awarded $85,000 in grant funding to support these innovative efforts. The congregations who have completed the 18-month cohort process have shown remarkable transformation in the way they connect to and interact with the communities they are called to love and serve.

Resources

The Congregations Lead Initiative has partnered with LEAD to develop resources for the prototype phase of the cohort's journey. This workbook, available in English and Spanish, will guide congregations as they conduct their own ministry experiments.

Congregations Lead Initiative Cohort 1 participants gathered for their Learning Event at the Lutheran Center in April 2023.