Renegotiating the Social Contract

Part Nine: The Rise of Transvocational Ministry

As we continue to explore the vision for a blended ecology of church—where inherited and emerging forms of church coexist and thrive together—we must now confront a critical question: How can we renegotiate the inherited social contract that has traditionally defined how churches operate? Inherited models of church governance, leadership, and engagement are deeply entrenched in many congregations. However, if we are to embrace this vision of transvocational ministry and hybrid church, we need to reimagine how we relate to one another, to our communities, and to the larger church body.

In this post, we’ll look at what it means to renegotiate the social contract in the context of church life. What are the old agreements that need to change, and what new commitments should we make in order to foster the transformation we’re talking about?

Understanding the Inherited Social Contract

The "social contract" is a sociological concept that refers to an implicit agreement among individuals within a society to cooperate for mutual benefit, often sacrificing some individual freedoms in exchange for security and protection of rights. The term originated in early modern philosophy, with key contributions from thinkers like Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), John Locke (1632–1704), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778).

Hobbes, in his work Leviathan (1651), argued that people consent to a social contract to escape the anarchy of the state of nature, creating a sovereign authority. Locke, in contrast, believed the contract was based on protecting natural rights like life, liberty, and property. Rousseau’s The Social Contract (1762) proposed that this arrangement could form the basis of a democratic state, where individuals maintain freedom while adhering to the "general will" of the community.

The inherited social contract of the church is made up of the long-standing systems, expectations, and roles that shape the way we “do church.” Historically, this has often meant a professionalized model of clergy-led ministry, where church members are expected to show up, receive spiritual guidance, and support the ministry through attendance, giving, and volunteer work. One of the primary critiques of this arrangement is how the clergy are seen as the primary spiritual leaders, and the congregation participates in church life mainly as consumers rather than co-creators.

As I suggested in earlier posts, this arrangement does not reflect the New Testament concept of a “priesthood of all believers.” Yet, this system has served the church for centuries. Thus, it will be hard to change it, no matter how obvious it is that it no longer fully serves the needs of our current mission reality. Amid a paradigm shift, the old mental model will often prevail, even when a new way reveals new possibilities.

We live in a culture where people are increasingly disconnected from traditional church settings, where the role of clergy is often misunderstood, and where faith is something that is no longer confined within the walls of a formal church building. The challenge now is how to shift the social contract to reflect a more expansive, inclusive, and passional understanding of the church.

Shifting from Consumer to Co-Creator

One of the most profound shifts in renegotiating the social contract is moving away from a consumer model of church to one where every believer is seen as a co-creator of the church’s mission. In the inherited model, churchgoers often approach church as passive consumers—showing up for a worship service, listening to a sermon, and participating in the life of the congregation in limited ways. While this model can provide important spiritual nourishment, it doesn’t fully engage believers in the calling to live out our faith in the world.

The renegotiated contract is one in which every believer is empowered to take part in the church’s mission, not just within the walls of the church but in every aspect of life. This means recognizing that the work of the church extends far beyond Sunday services and that the role of ministry is not limited to clergy. Every believer is a priest, ordained in the waters of our baptism into Christ’s mission. Every person is called to live a transvocational life—integrating faith with family, work, relationships, and community involvement.

For this shift to happen, the church must provide the tools, resources, and support systems that allow people to discover their unique vocations, live out their faith in the world, and actively engage in the mission of the kingdom. This means not only equipping people for ministry but empowering them to lead, innovate, and experiment in ways that go beyond the traditional structures.

Empowering Lay Leaders

A key component of renegotiating the social contract is empowering lay leaders to take on more active roles in ministry. This involves moving away from a hierarchical, clergy-centered system and instead cultivating a culture where every believer is seen as a minister in their own right. Whether they are cultivating fresh expressions in their workplaces, digital spaces, or in their neighborhoods, lay leaders are essential for a flourishing hybrid church.

But how do we empower lay leaders? One practical step is to invest in discipleship processes that focus on spiritual formation, theological education, and practical skills for ministry. This could take the form of coaching, mentorship, or even new models of free seminary level education. Lay leaders need to feel supported, equipped, trusted, and unleashed to lead in new and creative ways.

Additionally, empowering lay leaders means changing the way we think about leadership roles. Instead of just seeing leadership as a top-down structure, we should view it as a dynamic, decentralized process. Shared leadership is something that happens in all areas of life, whether in the workplace, family, or community. By redefining leadership in this way, we create a church where everyone has a role to play in the broader mission of God.

Reimagining Team-Based Worship and Community

Another crucial part of renegotiating the social contract is reimagining what it means to be the church together. The traditional church model has typically centered around a Sunday service, often with a sermon as the focal point. While corporate worship remains an important aspect of the Christian life, it’s clear that worship and community must extend beyond these traditional boundaries.

The hybrid church requires a rethinking of how we experience worship and community. It requires a team-based approach. For example, churches can encourage more participatory forms of worship where the entire congregation engages actively in prayer, song, and reflection. Rather than relying solely on a professional preacher, churches might explore different preaching models, such as rotating speakers, teaching teams, or even a focus on the congregation as a whole as the body of Christ, where everyone contributes to the life of the church.

At the network of churches where Jill and I serve, we have a preaching team. Laity and clergy preach equally alongside each other on a rotation. We retreat together several times a year to learn seminary level content on preaching and to brainstorm sermon series together. Each person on the team is an equal. We whiteboard our sermon series ideas and then vote democratically which series we will preach. As the “ordained” (institutionally speaking) people in the group our series ideas are not always the ones voted in. If we move into a truly co-creative mode, pastors have to be willing to empty ourselves and embrace the creativity of others. Each person on the team has a big idea and outline of the series but is then free to bring their own creativity to the sermonic task.

Our guiding focus is: “find Jesus in the text” the whole Bible is about Christ from Genesis to Revelation. Then we just have three rules about preaching, Rule # 1: Preach the text. Rule # 2: Preach the text. Rule # 3: you guessed it… preach the text! We believe the Bible has more fascinating, life-changing, challenging, and downright disturbing things to say than anything we could ever invent on our own. While our congregations first resisted this lay-led team-based approach, now they celebrate the diversity of our team.

In addition, community must be understood as more than just attending a weekly service. It means fostering deep, transformational relationships that happen through small groups, fresh expressions, digital connectivity, and everyday interactions. The church must create spaces for these relationships to flourish—both in person and online—so that people can be supported in their spiritual journeys and actively contribute to the life of the church.

The 50/50 Principle

The final piece of renegotiating the social contract is understanding that the church’s mission extends beyond the walls of the building. As we cultivate the blended ecology of church, it’s essential that both traditional and emerging forms of church life are fully integrated into the broader community. The church is not meant to be a fortress but a community on mission, engaging the world with the love of Christ.

This means creating new forms of outreach that go beyond charity work and into true relationship building. Churches can begin to invest in missional experiments—small, low-to-no-cost, creative ventures that meet people where they are. This might involve launching new types of community engagement, supporting local businesses, or creating spaces for dialogue and justice work. The church can be a force for transfiguration in society when it moves from the comfortable center to the edges, meeting people in their daily lives.

One practical way to move towards this is by organizing church life around the 50/50 principle. We can dedicate half our time and energy to the inherited church activities, planning, meetings, worship, caring for the needs of existing members. We can dedicate the other half of our time to the edge activities, prayerfully inhabiting our community, listening to God and neighbor, building relationships, exploring incarnational discipleship and ecclesial formation in everyday life.

We utilize a simple tool in our trainings called a 50/50 planner. There are seven days in a week, we can put a big X through one, that’s called Sabbath! Every person on the team should take one day per week to “do no work” and delight in God. We also should never do church work all three blocks of a day. We can intentionally use this tool to plan evenings with family or mornings for soul care. Whatever time is left that we dedicate to church service, we split it 50/50 between inherited and edge.

Whether you’re the full-time pastor doing church work 40 hours, or the lay person who volunteers three hours a week, we divide the time evenly. Wednesday night I’m leading a community Bible study after our dinner church, but Monday I’m in the local substance abuse rehab for Higher Power Hour. Both of those activities are time I give to the church, but only one happens at the church compound. Having this conversation with inherited leadership can be vital, reorganizing institutional expectations. And we want every person in our church to consider this both/and way as a norm for life and faith. This simple tool can help us reclaim the world that is our parish and embody a hybrid culture in our churches.

The Narrow Path Forward

Renegotiating the social contract is not easy. It is perhaps the “narrow way,” and few leaders and churches will willingly choose it—that is until we receive the gift of desperation. This renegotiation requires prayerful discernment, deep Scriptural reflection, true co-creative collaboration, and the courage to embrace new ways of thinking about church, leadership, and mission. But as we step into this new reality, we must remember that the hybrid church is not a rejection of the past, it is in fact the most ancient way: Jerusalem and Antioch, gathered and scattered, temple and table. It is at the same time an invitation to join the creative work of the One who is seated on the throne who is “making all things” (Revelation 21:5). Not by destroying the old, but through a marvelous work of new creation, transfiguring what is into what was always possible.

The church’s call is still the same—to love God, love others, and live out the way, truth, and life of Jesus in everyday life—but the way we do that must evolve to meet the needs of today’s world.

The journey ahead is one of transfiguration, both for the church and for every believer. As we renegotiate the inherited social contract, we are making space for a flourishing, hybrid church that can reach people in every corner of society and equip them to live out their faith with passion and purpose.

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A Wesleyan way that “serves the present age”

Big announcement coming next week!