Todd Renner Co-Pastor with John McKellar
White’s Chapel United Methodist Church Southlake, Texas
A 2013 Outreach 100 Church
TURNING POINTS
Probably the greatest turning point in the recent history of this church (being 142 years old) really came as the result of struggle; it came as the fruit of the congregation’s faithfulness in difficult times. Not too long ago, White’s Chapel was on the verge of closing its doors. It was financially upside down, its programs were virtually nonexistent and its future was bleak. In the shadow of such an imposing situation, our people had a choice: They could do things as normal and soon have to close the doors to what God wanted to do, or they could change—they could open themselves up to the possibilities of what could be. They chose—and it was an intentional choice—to change. While holding true to the timeless message of the gospel, they were willing to accept the challenge of changing the methods by which we communicated that message. In doing so, they infused “change” and flexibility and practicality into the DNA of this church—and the effects of those choices are still being felt today.
MEASURING SUCCESS
While we are quick to turn to numbers, analytics and metrics to determine success (because they are easy), what we really lift up as evidence of faithfulness and fruitfulness are the stories of lives changed. While we are a large church, we constantly work to keep a small-church feel. We want to be a place where people are connected and know each others’ names. We don’t want people to think of us as just “the church.” We want them to speak of us as “my church.” One of the great byproducts of this core value is that we get to hear amazing stories of what God is doing in us, to us and through us. To that, we are trying to do a better job of telling those stories, of allowing people to know and to celebrate what God is up to in our church and in our community.
GETTING DOWN TO WORK
I think the way we are structured bespeaks our most important work habits: that we work and serve in community. We try to avoid the vacuum that too often occupies the pastor’s study; instead, we’ve found that creativity, practicality, relevance and perspective (and, yes, even fun) spring from working together with a diverse team of men and women who teach us and stretch us. In addition (and maybe even as a part of the team aspect of our ministry), we are intentional about creating environments where fun and joy can be nurtured. We work hard, and we play hard—and it’s amazing when those two overlap!
WHITE’S CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Southlake, Texas
Website: WhitesChapelUMC.com
Twitter: @Todd_Renner
Founded: 1871
Affiliation: United Methodist
Locations: 1
Attendance: 6,149
Growth in 2012: +606 (11%)
Fastest-Growing: 76
Largest: 97
