Most people would agree that the church is constantly in transition, but many church leaders today might also opine that the church is experiencing transition today more rapidly than at any other point in history. The rate of change and evolution in society is simply mind-boggling. In an age of religious re-examination, most research highlights a growing number of those who self-identify as “not religious.”[1] More recent history has witnessed dramatic accelerations of transition for the church as we have navigated several years of pandemic with COVID-19. What are we as the church to do in an age where everything feels uncertain?
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination as a whole is no stranger to transition and has also been experiencing the aforementioned symptoms of an aging and declining church for decades now. Current membership within the PC(U.S.A.) is closer to 1 million members, as opposed to 3 million at its initial merger of 1983, and even larger numbers in the previous decades of the 1950s and 60s.[2]
My own ministry experiences have been able to both witness and address the church in transition. In over twenty years of professional ministry, I have been able to serve in a variety of capacities that involve children and youth ministry, congregational care, mid-level (presbytery) programming, congregational revitalization, and formal interim ministry. With each context comes a similar dialogue in the form of a question, “Church is not like it used to be. How do we move forward?”
Interim ministry in particular has allowed for a space to reflect on the church in transition from more of a formalized systemic approach. While seeds of intentional interim ministry began as early as the late 1960s, formal interim ministry organized and professionalized with the creation of the Interim Ministry Network in 1981.[3]
Within the context of intentional interim ministry, five tasks, or “focus points,” have historically guided this process for both the pastor and the congregation: Heritage, Leadership, Mission, Connections, and Future.[4] While these five focus points have helped to create an organized approach to the work of the church in transition, my experience leads me to ponder if we as a church are not maybe missing another element within the transitional process, namely, a sense of God’s movement and presence….wonder.
Wilderness, Transition, & Wonder
[1] “About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated,” accessed September 15, 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/
[2] “Church Trends: PC(USA) Overall,” accessed September 15, 2023, https://church-trends.pcusa.org/overall/pcusa/membership/
[3] Norman B. Bendroth, Interim Ministry in Action : A Handbook for Churches in Transition (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), 4.
[4] Norman B. Bendroth, Interim Ministry in Action : A Handbook for Churches in Transition, 84.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Binder 
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