By: Sheri Meister, executive director, Dakotas UM Foundation; Kelsey Morgan, office assistant, Dakotas UM Foundation; Jeff Pospisil, executive director, Finance and Administration, Dakotas UMC; Rev. Rebecca Trefz, executive director, Ministries, Dakotas UMC

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The mission of The United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." Two pastors in our Dakotas Conference are making new disciples by launching contemporary services in their small, rural communities. Pastor Jeff Adel, who serves Gettysburg, Onida, and Agar United Methodist churches, and Pastor Clay Lundberg, who serves the United Methodist churches in Burke and Herrick, sat down with Rev. Rebecca Trefz, executive director of ministries for the Dakotas Conference, to share their experiences and insights from launching a new service in rural communities.

Launching a new service, when it is done for the right reasons, and with the right leadership, is an exciting way to reach new people. Prompted by the young leaders and families in his churches, Pastor Jeff Adel worked with the NxtGen Gettysburg UMC group to start a contemporary service on Sunday nights.

For Pastor Clay Lundberg, the idea to start a new service came out of the Journey Renewal process that the United in Faith Parish Burke and Herrick congregations were participants in. Congregants expressed a desire to have a different style of worship, at a different time of the week. The Wednesday night service grew out of activities that were already happening at the church on Wednesdays.

Tweet this: “It has to be about reaching new people for the sake of the Gospel.” – Pastor Clay Lundberg

One of the benefits of starting a new service is that it is not rooted in years of tradition. The new service can include any worship style and ideas. Pastor Clay and Pastor Jeff have found that they enjoy a casual, laid back, contemporary service. A service where worshippers are invited to conversation and interaction with each other during their shared time together. The two pastors have discovered that the best resources are the people the church wants to reach. Ask the people that you want to come for advice and guidance on what they would like to see or experience during the service: what works best for them, what style they prefer, and how to best connect.

As humans, the tendency is to be impatient, and give up if something doesn’t take off right away. When starting anything new, though, the commitment needs to be long-term, see where God may lead. Just because the service may not happen at a time or in a way first envisioned, does not mean the idea should be abandoned. Pastors and leaders can talk all they want about reaching new people, but the only way to find out if it will work is to take a leap of faith and start. As with anything, evaluations and adjustments are made along the way to find what works best for everyone.

Tweet this: “I believe as long as we are doing the best we can to serve the Lord, God will see that, God will use it, and God will bless it in some way.” – Pastor Jeff Adel

It is not about the numbers. If only 10 people are reached, those are still 10 individuals who have been invited to have a relationship with God. Those 10 people may go on to do amazing things and reach others. People need to be invited or nothing will happen. Ten is better than zero.

Starting a new service is about providing something that people are missing when it comes to experiencing God’s love. There may be pushback and challenges along the way, but it is important to remember that a new service is being launched to reach people who may otherwise not come to encounter and know Christ.

Tweet this: “However many you get, you are reaching somebody who would not have attended worship otherwise.” – Pastor Jeff Adel