Pivot

#127: Church Leadership Community Engagement: Transforming Ministry Through Sustainable Outreach Models

Host Dwight Zscheile interviews Pastor Ed Doerner from Messiah Lutheran Church about their revolutionary approach to church leadership and community engagement.

Is your church struggling to meaningfully engage with your community? In this transformative episode of the Pivot Podcast, host Dwight Zscheile interviews Pastor Ed Doerner about his innovative approach to church leadership community engagement. Discover how Messiah Lutheran Church in Midland, Michigan transformed from being $5.2 million in debt to creating a sustainable community ministry model that provides $6.2 million worth of services annually through their “Beyond the Breakwater” approach.

Pastor Ed shares practical insights on developing sustainable ministries that preserve dignity, reach the often-overlooked ALICE population (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), and create organic opportunities for faith conversations. Learn about their car repair facility, grocery store, healthcare clinic, and appliance refurbishment ministries—all designed to engage church leaders in community transformation while empowering lay leadership.

Shift Ministry Models
Faithful InnovationFaith & Contemporary IssuesMinistry LeadershipMission & Evangelism

Featuring

Headshot of Ed Doener

Ed Doerner

Pastor Ed Doerner has served as Senior Pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Midland, Michigan since 2001. Under his leadership, Messiah has become known for innovative community outreach and transformation initiatives. Ed is also the driving force behind Elevate Community Ministries, a nonprofit organization that works to enhance the dignity and quality of life for all Midland residents through various community-based programs and partnerships.

Meet Your Host

  • Dr. Dwight Zscheile

    Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011) and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).

    A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.