Journey Into the Unknown
A Transition Story
By Rev. Dr. Keith Copeland
Transitional ministry by nature is a journey into the unknown. The training that we receive for this work provides us tools and develops skills for navigating into that space, but it can’t provide a roadmap. The tools and skills are designed for listening intently for the spirit leading through the voice of the congregation and community. The direction is discovered, not directed. If it ends where you pictured it was going when you began, there is a good chance it was directed by you and not the spirit.
St. Luke’s is a great illustration of this journey into the unknown and how the spirit leads through the art of transitional ministry. Before I arrived, the congregation was considering two options for viability. One was selling the whole facility. The other was selling part of the facility. They owned a 48,000 sq ft facility very close to uptown Charlotte. Once a vibrant and active congregation, they now were only averaging 50 on a Sunday. Though the decline had been going on for some time, it was easier to blame the current and previous pastors for the circumstances or to believe that COVID began the decline, rather than take a careful look at what they had been avoiding for too long. While they were not paying attention, the world and the neighborhood changed around them.
Demographically, much of the congregation is now older and lives a good distance from the facility. They are connected to the groups they had shared so much with over the years, but their children had grown up and went elsewhere to raise their families. They remembered and were connected to who they were but no longer had the desire or capacity to create something new. They were not going to go out and knock on doors or populate children’s and family programs. The unrealistic expectation was that the staff was going to create this growth on their own.
Financially, the congregation could no longer afford the facility they were in. Without the facility, the congregation would not be viable, but nobody had the heart to leave. They knew that they could not continue very long where they were but were unable to leave. As one member who had been responsible for presenting proposals to the congregation said, “It was as if they were staring back at me and begging, ‘O God, someone make a decision.’” There were a number whose loved ones were in the columbarium, and it was where they too planned their final resting place to be.
Organizationally, the congregation had lost most of their active and engaged leadership. The congregation, once programmatic in size, leaned heavily on the staff. This became harder as the staff diminished in size, and conflict within the staff and congregation erupted. Key staff members left either during times of conflict or for personal transition. Committees no longer met, and important administrative work was not being done. Underneath all of this was the growing recognition that they were quickly reaching the point of not being able to support the staff they had.
The beginning of this journey was typical for how I start all assignments. This is known as entering the system and analyzing. Though this process work is standard to me, the unknown comes in the journey. The process work reveals the unique language and identity of a congregation. God’s vision also begins to surface through the work of pastoral care, worship, and pastoral leadership. God also reveals that vison through careful listening and connecting with the community outside the walls of the church. As this comes to the surface, my job is not to build the vision, but rather to discover it with them.
It became clear through observation that there was a tremendous need for affordable space in the city of Charlotte for not-for-profit ministries and neighborhood connection. Though the building costs and demands were overwhelming the resources of the congregation, there was very low debt on the facility and high value that could be leveraged if needed. It also became clear that the congregation was predominantly older, with very few families with children, and many no longer lived near the facility. Though deeply connected to St. Luke’s, they were not capable of managing and leading the congregation in a new day.
Normally, following this process work, it would have been time to recruit a call committee and move them toward the search process. It was clear, however, that it would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to identify and call a leader without clarifying a sustainable vision and the kind of leader needed. The data gathered in process work gave the common language of the community, but it did not reveal a path for the journey. That would have to come with further intentional exploration. The search process was delayed, and a plan was developed to engage in that exploration intentionally.
Multiple paths were explored. Student groups from UNC Greensboro business school engaged in a feasibility study and presented recommendations that confirmed the need and potential income from a well-managed facility use plan. There was also conversation with another congregation to lease space that had been in process for several years. It became clear that this relationship could quickly deteriorate without the adequate management of the facility. The other congregation was aggressive in their approach and ultimately pulled out when we sought very clear boundaries and clarification of the relationship parameters.
Another team began exploring the development of a not-for-profit to be called “The Encouragement Center” for the purpose of managing the facility for other not-for-profit ministries and neighborhood activities. This new entity would create a facility use plan whose purpose was based on the identified mission of the church to share God’s love through welcoming, encouraging, and serving.
There was a team formed to explore plans to move the congregation into a smaller footprint in the facility back toward the front. This plan also included securing an architect to develop plans for a new entry to the sanctuary and renovations to make it more accessible not only to the congregation but also to the community. While all of this was being done, we lost a very important staff person who was not only the church organist and music director but also the facility use manager part-time. This led to the identification of a legacy campaign project to be called “The Jan McCoy Welcome Center” in honor of his important voice and presence in the congregation.
A team was also engaged to review the congregation’s constitution to help make the congregation structure and processes nimbler for a new time. This included dropping the size of the council from 12 to 6 and from 14 committees to 2. These changes required notice and two votes to take effect. In this work, it became clear that St. Luke’s members deeply cared about St. Luke’s, but they could not lead the congregation in the work that needed to be done to meet the needs of the future. It was not from lack of desire. This congregation no longer had the people, resources, or the connection with the surrounding community to accomplish it. This became clear when, after having dropped the number on the council from 12 to 6, we were having great difficulty finding 6.
That is the nature of transitional leadership. In every congregation I have served, there is a moment when I realize that I can no longer see the future. This does not mean that there is no future. Paul said in 1st Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God takes care of the growth.” Transitional ministry is a planting ministry to prepare for the one who waters. It was time for me to plant and exit, but I was not sure how to do that.
I called the Director of Evangelical Mission for our Synod to update her on where things were, but also to tell her that I had reached the end of my abilities. What happened next is the amazing way God delivers vision. After describing where we were, she said, “I have a few suggestions.” In a few minutes, she laid out a vision that filled in every gap and revealed a path that I could see clearly how to prepare the congregation to enter. In that vision, I also saw the path to completing my journey with them.
In the next 5 months it was as if all the pieces came together. During that time, we made an application to develop a not-for-profit named “The Encouragement Center” to manage the facility as a neighborhood center guided by the mission statement developed during our time together. The mission of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church is to share God’s love through welcoming, encouraging, and serving.
A Memorandum of Use was developed to authorize this new entity to manage the facility on behalf of St. Luke’s without having to go to the congregation for every decision. As this new entity would have its own board with members not only from inside the congregation but also outside, this Memorandum of Use defined the relationship of that board with the council and the congregation. Bylaws were created for this new board, and the council was named the first board until a director was called.
A position description was developed for a full-time ministry position. This pastoral call would be half-time caring for the existing St. Luke’s congregation and half time to develop this new not-for-profit. The position description helped to give guidance to the development of this new position. It clarified boundaries but also the mutual mission shared by both entities.
During this time, the offices were moved into a smaller footprint closer to the sanctuary, opening even more space for the community center. A security system was installed to make the campus safe for those who would be invited into the facility and the ministries with children already there. At the February congregational meeting, the congregation approved all the documents along with the constitution changes and the security system. They received the Jan McCoy Welcome Center architectural drawings and opened funds for future development of this capital project.
A call committee was recruited through a careful and prayerful process and installed on Easter Sunday. They have been trained and began their search with clarity that they are looking for a unique skill set but also with assurance that everything is well prepared for that work. They have confidence that they are truly representing the will of the congregation.
There is no way I could have envisioned or anticipated the twists and turns on this journey. The tools I have developed along with my training and experience have provided me the skills to listen, engage the system (congregation), and discern with them God’s leading. The unknown journey is not over for them or for me, but they are now planted and ready, and it is time for me to enter the unknown journey of transition with a new community of faith. Once more into the unknown we go!
Published June 27, 2025 – IMN E-Letter – www.imnedu.org. Request for permission to reprint send to IMN, 1001 Frederick Road, Catonsville, Maryland 21228 or [email protected].
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of IMN and its membership.