A Tale of Two Churches: Resurrection of a Faith Community Post Mortem

A Tale of Two Churches examines the complexities of resurrecting a congregation postmortem.While conflict is a natural occurrence in all communities, it can lead to organizationalimplosion. The warning signs become blaring sirens when mistrust goes viral, rumorsescalate uncontrolled, and the people discontinue their participation. Pastor Ehlkeattempts to generate new life in the corpse of a dying church through means of spiritualtransformation. Using the Scripture as a guidepost for reform, the pastor starts a small groupdesigned for the sole purpose of loving the people. Trusting this will spark a revolution ofcompassion, the leadership embarks on breathing new life into a community declared allbut dead by many in observance. Having worked at St. John Lutheran Church in WinterPark, perhaps this paradigm will breathe life into other faith communities who are staringinto the darkness of death.

The Reverend Troy Ehlke is an ordained pastor serving with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has received master's degrees in the fields of theology and divinity from Harvard Divinity School, The Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, California), and from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is currently undertaking doctoral studies at Drew University, in the area of Systems Theory and Congregational Life. He has been in residence at Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC, since 2005 and serves as their Pastor of Care and Counseling. When not actively engaged in matters of ministry, Pastor Ehlke has employed his passion for writing and has penned two critically-acclaimed works, stemming from his knowledge of biblical scholarship: Muddy Mentors and Scaly Scholars-Animal Teachers in our Midst and Crossroads of Agony-Suffering and Violence in the Christian Tradition. In 2009, Pastor Ehlke was honored by an invitation from the US House of Representatives to be its guest chaplain, where he officiated with a prayer and invocation at the opening of a spring session. Of all of God's blessings in his life, the greatest is his beloved wife, Cynthia; their 18-month-old son, Julian; and one child yet to be welcomed into the world. They are presently waiting, with great excitement, for the birth of their second child.