What Fosters Vitality?
More significant than numbers, however, are anecdotal reports of vitality from across the mainline. These days, every mainline leader seems to know the story of St. What-a-Surprise, a particularly vital, healthy, and growing congregation in his or her town. In recent years, I have heard this tale repeatedly—an old, dying, often urban, church is now thriving. But what fosters this vitality? How did St. What-a-Surprise do it? What was the difference between a Glass and Garden and a St. Stephen’s? Over the years, church leaders have advanced a number of explanations and programmatic responses to answer these questions. Unlike some observers of mainline religion, I do not think a specific plan or program creates vitality. Rather, I believe that vitality is as unique as a congregation itself. Individual experiences of vitality can be grouped into four general categories: • the evangelical style, • the new paradigm style, • the diagnostic style, and • the intentional (or practicing) congrega
