Healthy Church Clusters
What is a Healthy Church Cluster?
A Healthy Church Cluster is a voluntary network of five to ten (ideally not more than seven) pastors and congregations partnering together for the purpose of maintaining and developing pastoral and congregational health through mutual friendships, leadership development, and accountability. The Healthy Church Cluster is the entity to which the congregations and pastors are primarily accountable.
How Does a Healthy Church Cluster Work?
Meetings
Healthy Church Clusters meet monthly, and are facilitated by a trained Cluster Leader. Due to scheduling difficulties, many Clusters will not meet in December, July or August, so most Healthy Church Clusters will meet 8-9 times per year.
Focus
The meetings will focus on these three general areas:
1. Personal Support
- Sharing and prayer with each other
- Mutual encouragement
2. Pastoral Development
- Calling: perceiving vision from God and sense of mission for his church.
- Character: building in accountability for attitudes and behavior and growing in Christ-like character.
- Competency: helping pastors achieve the core leadership skills identified to be an effective pastor.
3. Church Health
- Learning the basics of developing a healthy church.
- Helping pastors with ideas to put the various strategies in place.
Accountability
Healthy Church Clusters will establish standards and methods whereby its participants can hold each other mutually accountable to maintain the United Brethren commitment to moral character, doctrinal soundness, administrative integrity, and ministry competence.
Interaction
The pastors who form a cluster plan events, ministry opportunities, training opportunities, etc., where their congregations can interact, encourage, and support and fellowship with each other.
How is a Healthy Church Cluster Formed?
Local pastors are asked to take the initiative in forming clusters. A cluster can be based on various factors--proximity, church size, style of ministry, or other factors. The members of a potential cluster develop an agreement which states basic information about how their group will function and the standards they will hold each other to. The standards must be consistent with the Confession of Faith, the Core Values, the Constitution, and the Discipline of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. Non-United Brethren participants may be included in approved clusters.
They then submit this application to the Executive Leadership Team, which has the authority to approve, disapprove, or request modifications. The US Bishop will then appoint the Cluster Leader. Local churches that do not voluntarily join a cluster will be assigned a cluster relationship by the US Bishop.
What Happens at a Healthy Church Cluster Meeting?
Clusters are free to set their own agenda, schedule, and focus, as long as they follow the overarching purposes established by the US National Conference. Following is a schedule provided only as a suggestion of what a cluster meeting might look like.
1. Fellowship, Sharing and Prayer (15 - 30 minutes). Chatting, sharing what is happening in each other's lives and churches, and praying together.
2. Leadership Development (45 - 60 minutes). Dealing with issues related to calling, character, or competency. Sharing God's vision for the churches, asking accountability questions, discussing various leadership skills.
3. Healthy Church Development (45 - 60 minutes). Working through the various aspects of the agreed upon strategy for developing a healthy church.
4. Wrap-up (15 - 30 minutes). Setting the date, time and place for the next meeting, sharing announcements and issues from the National Church, reviewing assignments for the next meeting, and praying together.
What Does the Cluster Leader Do?
1. The cluster leader will facilitate the cluster meetings.
2. The cluster leader will support and resource the pastors and churches involved in the cluster or otherwise provide for such services.
3. The cluster leader will assist in nurturing local church licensees.
4. The cluster leader will act as a liaison between the US Bishop and the pastors and churches involved in the cluster.
5. The cluster leader or his designate will serve on the stationing committee for United Brethren churches in the cluster.
How Do I Get Involved?
1. Prayerfully consider persons with whom you wish to cluster. There can be many motivations, such as geography, strategy, size, affinity, congregational history, and collegiality.
2. Determine what strategy for improving church health you will use (i. e., Natural Church Development, Purpose Driven, Sonlife Strategy, Healthy Church Initiative, etc).
3. Establish standards and methods through which cluster participants will hold each other mutually accountable to maintain the United Brethren commitment to moral character, doctrinal soundness, administrative integrity, and ministry competence.
4. Present a formal request to the Executive Leadership Team.
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