The History of the Center for Anabaptist Leadership
Rising to the Call for Renewed Hope in Southern California:
The Center for Anabaptist Leadership and Area Anabaptist Congregations
By Megan Rutt, with Jeff Wright
after an article submitted to Anabaptism Today
In the mid-80's, a group of Anabaptist pastors in the Los Angeles area began to meet together to pray for their communities, churches, and each other. For years they had watched as their churches declined in numbers and strength, and the need for congregations of hope and change in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles and its surrounding cities steadily rose. These pastors saw that, although secular and parachurch mission efforts were present and operating in the cities, the real impact of hope should come from congregations themselves. The Anabaptist churches at that time needed some fresh life breathed into them if they were to be these necessary, vital congregations.
In 1978 there were less than twenty churches among the Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, and Mennonite Brethren denominations in Southern California. The Anabaptist churches, like so many mainline Protestant churches, had reached their glory days in the 1950's. Their churches were full, with members of all ages. People were involved in the church and generally saw it as a stable institution to which a lot of unquestioned authority and loyalty were given. The second half of the 20th century saw a shift in Americans' perceptions of the church. And the Anabaptist churches were not unaffected when disenchantment and decline hit churches in the 60's, 70's and 80's. The need was present for vital congregations to reenter the scene, particularly in urban areas where a lot of churches had experienced additional declines from changing neighborhoods and mass population flux. Something was needed.
It was in this setting that the pastors were meeting for prayer. They saw the need in the communities and churches, and they saw the inadequate position so many urban Anabaptist churches in the Los Angeles area were in, churches lacking really vibrant life-giving hope. Out of this group of pastors came the idea for a networking of Anabaptist churches and leaders. This network was to provide training and consulting to congregations, allowing them to become vital centers of mission within the city. When the project lifted off in January of 1987, there were no staff members. For the first 5 years it operated largely around a loose networking of volunteers.
In 1992, the civil unrest in response to the trial of four Los Angeles Police Department officers in the beating of Rodney King suddenly swept the city into a tumultuous environment. Spurred on by the unrest, steps were taken to form a staff for this Anabaptist, congregation-focused mission effort. Into this context the Center for Anabaptist Leadership began to take on a shape similar to what it is today.
Today the Center for Anabaptist Leadership is composed of a staff of five, each staff member carrying a focus in their ministry role. Specific ministries include an associate for Spanish-Speaking ministries, one for Asian ministries, and one for African and African-American ministries. In addition to these foci, various staff members are involved in the current projects being pursued at the time. Some of these include accredited and not-for-credit leadership training programs; training seminars and coaching for evangelists, church planters, and church leaders; consulting for congregations seeking to reclaim missional vitality; and various partnerships with Anabaptist educational and mission institutions. The Center for Anabaptist Leadership sees its task as that of equipping church leaders through grassroots training, personal coaching, and strategic consulting, so that congregations become vital centers of God's mission in the city.
The brainstorm of that group of praying pastors led to the Center for Anabaptist Leadership, and since it's formation, the dynamics of Anabaptist churches in Southern California has changed. Although consisting of less than twenty churches in 1978, the number of Anabaptist congregations has more than doubled since then, with over fifty churches as of 1998. Significant growth comes from beyond the traditional Anabaptist ethnicities of Europe. Much of the church planting efforts of Anabaptists now heavily involve immigrants of non-European nationalities. African-American, African immigrant, Latino, Indonesian, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean congregations make up a significant percentage of the church plants. In the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference, one of two conferences the Center for Anabaptist Leadership works with in an intentional mission covenant, 91 percent of the participants are people of color, 95 percent are first generation Mennonites, 60 percent are new Christians, and 75 percent were born outside of the United States.
Moving beyond the borders of traditional Anabaptism in relation to ethnicity and worship expression is an extremely vital element for maintaining relevancy in the urban setting of the greater Los Angeles area. Other key factors necessary for maintaining vital church growth and presence are leaders of vision and grassroots efforts. This philosophy with maintaining grassroots institutions has allowed the Center for Anabaptist Leadership to provide useful training and consulting to congregation but remaining a tool for churches. The Center for Anabaptist Leadership does not "do mission" in the sense that they run church programs and serve in the soup kitchens. They equip congregations and leaders so that those people can be effective in the hands-on work of missions.
If the church is going to be effective in urban mission, seeing the congregation as a vital player in the task is going to be necessary. Urban dynamics in America have changed over the last 50 years. Half the children in an urban elementary school may not speak English as their first language. Cities have become a mix of people from all over the globe, not just Europe. For Anabaptist churches in the city, this may mean a call to changes. Churches are rising to this call, and admitting in many cases that they need some help. Recognizing the need for training of leaders to step up the tasks of urban mission, the Center for Anabaptist Leadership seeks to provide the training, coaching and consulting congregations need so that they can be effective agents of hope and change in Southern California.
Megan Rutt is a senior Biblical Studies major at Eastern Mennonite University. Originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Megan spent the summer of 2001 gaining a broader perspective on Anabaptists by serving as an intern in Southern California. She spent half her time as a pastoral intern with the Church of the Brethren of Glendale and the other half as an administrative intern with the Center for Anabaptist Leadership under the supervision of Executive Director Jeff Wright.