I was pleasantly surprised to discover this new book by Gil Rendle on Doing the Math of Mission. Gil has always been on the cutting edge of change and what it will look like in the twenty-first century church.

On September 22, 2014, the “Alban Weekly” published an article by Gil Rendle entitled Ministry Beyond Aspiration. With this article, Gil prepares the reader to move from intent to actionable change. Gil encourages the reader to move from intent into purposeful action.  Leadership is the mix of short-term experiments and actions to get closer to the long-term aspiration. Gil writes at the end of this article “Wanderers in a new cultural wilderness, such as we, are in need of find[ing] better tools, better questions, and better measures to move closer to a promised land we sense in God’s will for us.”

Much of the conversation in this book comes from Gil Rendle’s work initially with the Alban Institute and as of late with the Texas Methodist Foundation in Austin, Texas. Rendle develops these measurable tools and goals from his work with the United Methodist Church and the Foundation. I would agree with Rendle what is happening in the United Methodist Church is happening throughout the mainline denominations.

Gil affirms that the mainline church has been hard at work addressing the deep changes required by a changing North American mission field. Mainline denominations are in the midst of a perfect storm. As Rendle writes, “The missional church movement, the general captivity of the mainline church and the current unsustainability of the mainline church have converged to require substantive shifts demanding that congregations, middle judicatories and the denominational church rethink their very purpose”(location 44). We have an issue of accountability in the midst of much deep needed change. We recognize that deep change is necessary, but we are not sure how to get from here to there. What has worked in the past will no longer work in the future.

Where are our mainline churches in the conversation and the journey? Our author’s assumption is “. . . that our mainline church is only very early in its learning cycle on how to work with metrics and the development of accountability”(location 61). Rendle wants to move from countables to metrics. These metrics need to be a tool of ministry. He goes on to write “Our leaders need both more information and more tools to encourage the boldness of actually naming clear outcomes for their ministry and then seeking accountability to move toward these outcomes”(location 61).

Rendle challenges the reader to connect the local congregation to the mission field. For Rendle,”Conversation is the currency of change. What we invite people to talk about, to think about, to pray about determines the path that we will follow into the future”[location 683]. He encourages congregations to move from maintenance and preferential conversations to missional conversations. “Missional conversations focus on purpose and on the possibility of the future [location 702].  Specific goals and outcomes are key to moving forward. An adult learning cycle that assists the learner to move from reflection, connection, decision and action in a continual cycle.

As I read through this book, I notice many similarities to an earlier work by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann known as Holy Conversations. This book takes the reader as well as the practitioner to another level, a level of deep change in the twenty-first century. This book is “a collection of models, methods and tools of accountability using metrics. Theory is offered to substantiate the models, methods and tools. But when it comes to use -real, on-the-ground application -appropriateness is still the required standard”(location 79).

The Texas Methodist Foundation served as a “learning platform” to develop conversations about change in the mainline denomination. This book is a culmination of five monographs over fourteen months under the Foundation. Rendle offers this book as a conversation partner to help bring about deep change in mainline denominations. This book will serve the reader if the reader:

This book serves to help the reader to understand the deep change needed for the survival of the mainline denomination. This is also a collection of new resources to be used in the twenty-first century church. They are not to be the only tools for the reader but rather a conversation about tools that are available to mainline churches. The publisher makes the second half of the book available as a PDF file to those who purchase this book. The first part of the book contains theory and the latter half focuses on application.

Gil Rendle divides the theory with related resources into six chapters:

The latter half of the book contains twelve resources connected with the six chapters earlier in this book.

Rowman & Littlefield provide these resources as a PDF file for those who purchase this book.  These resources are:

This book is an outcome of the work that Gil Rendle has done as a senior consultant for the Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF). I would encourage the reader to go beyond this book to the ongoing work at the Foundation website (www.tmf-fdn.org) and to conversation as the currency of change (see  www.tmfaplaceatthetable.orgas a place where you can join the TMF conversation).

I would commend this book to the Intentional Interim Pastor as well as the middle judicatory to assist them in helping the congregation move beyond simply counting resources to measuring ministry. This work will be extremely helpful for those who want to move into conversations that matter for the future of the congregation in the mainline denomination.

Martin J. Homan
Intentional Interim Pastor
Professional Transition Specialist

Rev. Martin Homan has been an ordained pastor in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. He has served as an Intentional Interim Pastor for 20 years. He serves in pastoral size churches to very large churches in The LC – MS. He specializes in churches with multiple staffs and schools and in after pastor churches.  He is an active proponent of Intentional Interim Ministry in The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and the IMN. He served as the newsletter editor for the LCMS Interim Ministry Conference newsletter.  Rev. Homan has a distinguished record of service to the Interim Ministry Network. He has been Chair of the Research Committee, elected to the Board of Directors, member of the Executive Committee and Vice-President. Is presently serving on the IMN Board of Directors, Faculty and is an Annual Conference Board liaison.