As pastors we led three congregations to complete their mission through closure and merger. Today we support churches concluding ministry — and increasingly their judicatory leaders. These regional leaders are in key positions to shape North American Christianity’s response to churches at the end of their life cycle. Proactive judicatory support of threshold congregations has the potential to positively impact communities throughout their regions.

“Threshold Leadership” will identify best practices for judicatories supporting threshold congregations. Building on previous research this collaborative project seeks to understand the unique role opportunities and challenges of judicatory leaders.

We will interview forty judicatory leaders in mainline and progressive denominations in the U.S. and Canada in order to understand their perspectives values and experiences. Our asset-based approach will identify best practices for effective interventions and proactive regional strategies for engaging threshold congregations.

“Threshold Leadership” will culminate in a widely-disseminated “Best Practices” guide video and live collaborative learning event. This will broaden the vitality of North American Christianity by transforming regional approaches to church closure. Judicatories will expand regional possibilities as they steward resources missionally improve clergy retention and help Christians transition to new forms of church— showing courage in the face of an unknown future.