Download or read book Facilitating a Congregation s Change and Restructuring written by Andrew Okeyo K'Ogacho and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Hidden Lives of Congregations written by Israel Galindo and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-11-30 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Faced with crisis, lack of direction, or just plain "stuckness," many congregations and their leaders are content to deal only with surface issues and symptoms—only to discover that the same problems keep recurring, often in different, and more serious, ways. In The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Christian educator and consultant Israel Galindo takes leaders below the surface of congregational life to provide a comprehensive, holistic look at the corporate nature of church relationships and the invisible dynamics at play. Informed by family systems theory and grounded in a wide-ranging ecclesiological understanding, Galindo unpacks clearly the factors of congregational lifespan, size, spirituality, and identity and shows how these work together to form the congregation’s hidden life. He provides useful tools for diagnosing and understanding how one’s congregation fits into the various categories he names and suggests what leadership skills are necessary to get beyond the impasse of surface issues and help the congregation achieve its mission. The Hidden Lives of Congregations provides one of the most far-reaching looks into the invisible nature of faith communities written in recent years. For seminaries and divinity schools, it provides a standard text for getting a solid start in congregational practices; for experienced pastors, it provides support for renewing ministry; for lay leaders and committees, it offers insight to deepening mutual ministry. Israel Galindo has written an indispensable manual that leaders will return to repeatedly for new wisdom and guidance
Download or read book The Megachurch and the Mainline written by Stephen Ellingson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious traditions provide the stories and rituals that define the core values of church members. Yet modern life in America can make those customs seem undesirable, even impractical. As a result, many congregations refashion church traditions so they may remain powerful and salient. How do these transformations occur? How do clergy and worshipers negotiate which aspects should be preserved or discarded? Focusing on the innovations of several mainline Protestant churches in the San Francisco Bay Area, Stephen Ellingson’s The Megachurch and the Mainline provides new understandings of the transformation of spiritual traditions. For Ellingson, these particular congregations typify a new type of Lutheranism—one which combines the evangelical approaches that are embodied in the growing legion of megachurches with American society’s emphasis on pragmatism and consumerism. Here Ellingson provides vivid descriptions of congregations as they sacrifice hymns in favor of rock music and scrap traditional white robes and stoles for Hawaiian shirts, while also making readers aware of the long history of similar attempts to Americanize the Lutheran tradition. This is an important examination of a religion in flux—one that speaks to the growing popularity of evangelicalism in America.
Download or read book Governance and Ministry written by Dan Hotchkiss and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-01-14 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Governance and Ministry has proven to be an indispensable guide for leaders and clergy on how to work together to lead congregations. In this second edition, veteran congregational consultant and minister Dan Hotchkiss updates the book to reflect today’s church and synagogue landscape and shares practical insights based on his work with readers of the first edition. Governance and Ministry highlights the importance of reaching the right governance model for a congregation to fulfill its mission—to achieve both the outward results and the inward quality of life to which it is called. Hotchkiss draws on governance research from business, non-profits, and churches, as well as deep experience in a variety of denominations and congregations to help readers determine the governance model that best fits their needs. The second edition has been streamlined and reorganized to better help readers think through leadership models and the process of change. The book features new material on the implications of congregation size, the process of governance change, policy choices, and the lay-clergy relationship. It also features two appendices with resources often requested by Hotchkiss’s consulting clients: a style guide for policy-makers and a unified example of a board policy book. Written with energy and humor, and offering plenty of practical examples, the second edition of this helpful resource is ideal for anyone involved in church leadership to assist in framing critical questions, creating a vision, and implementing a plan.
Download or read book To Dream Again written by Robert Dale and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2004-12-27 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are four ways to revitalize a church, organizationally speaking. The easiest change is policy change. You simply adjust the way you do things. A second strategy is to change personnel. Firing the minister or electing new lay leaders is a common approach. Another change tactic is to create new program structures. Reorganization plans are familiar in institutions of all kinds. Change policy. Change people. Change programs. Each of these approaches has its advocates. But the approach I suggest is the most basic of all--clarify purpose. The fourth way to revitalize a church is to define and act on its fundamental purpose. A new dream awakes a congregation. A poster motto challenges: "Aim for the sun. You may not reach it, but you will fly higher that if you never aimed at all." --from the Foreword
Download or read book Church Identity and Change written by David A. Roozen and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2005-05-02 with total page 678 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since colonial days, religious work in American has happened through denominations. At least since the start of the twentieth century, these religious bodies consisted of a fairly tight, intra-denominationally connected system of congregations, regional judicatories, and national offices. This system was the product of more than two centuries of consolidation among Americanbs historic immigrant and indigenous churches. The vast majority of these structures are still in place, retain some semblance of internal coherence, have considerable social and religious significance, and will be with us for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the stresses upon them today clearly indicate that they are entering an unsettled period of transition. The purpose of this book is to examine the national structures of eight diverse Protestant denominations as a part of that shift. The frame of this study is the relationship between the theological and organizational nature of national denominational structures as they adapt to the changing situation of the twenty-first century.
Download or read book From Complicity to Encounter written by Jane Collier and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a thoughtful and disturbing critique of Western culture obsessed by the "culture of economism," in which economic causes or factors become the main source of cultural meanings and values, thus perpetrating inequality, injustice, and divisions.
Download or read book Seeking God s Design written by Richard H. Lowery and published by CBP. This book was released on 2019-07-15 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seeking God’s Design honors the 50th anniversary of The Design. It is focused around a series of audiotaped interviews that Disciples of Christ Historical Society President James Seale conducted from 1989 to 1993 with Disciples leaders who played important roles in Restructure. It provides historical context and offers a series of reflections from key Disciples leaders today, as we honor and critically evaluate the work of our predecessors while looking ahead to the next 50 years of our life as a church. Seeking God’s Design is the first volume of the James and Mary Dudley Seale Series on Disciples and Public Engagement, a partnership between the Disciples of Christ Historical Society and Chalice Press.
Download or read book Church Reform and Leadership of Change written by Harald Askeland and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reforms and processes of change have become an increasingly pervasive characteristic of European Protestant churches in the last fifteen to twenty years. Driven by perceptions of crises, such as declining membership rates, dwindling finances, decreasing participation in church rituals, and less support of traditional church doctrine, but also changes of governance of religion more generally, many churches feel compelled to explore new forms of operations, activities, and organizational structures. What is the inner dynamic and nature of these processes? This book explores this question by applying perspectives from organizational studies and bringing them into dialogue with ecclesiological categories, seeking to provide a richer understanding of the field of processes of change in churches. Among the questions asked are: What are the implications--organizationally and ecclesiologically--of viewing reform as a church practice, and how does this relate to much more comprehensive waves of public sector reforms? How is church leadership configured and exercised, how is democratic leadership related to the authority of ordained ministry, and how does leadership take on new forms in the context of churches? And how do churches incorporate organizational practices of planned change and renewal, such as social entrepreneurship?
Download or read book The Encyclopedia of the Stone Campbell Movement written by Douglas A. Foster and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Over ten years in the making, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement offers for the first time a sweeping historical and theological treatment of this complex, vibrant global communion. Written by more than 300 contributors, this major reference work contains over 700 original articles covering all of the significant individuals, events, places, and theological tenets that have shaped the Movement. Much more than simply a historical dictionary, this volume also constitutes an interpretive work reflecting historical consensus among Stone-Campbell scholars, even as it attempts to present a fair, representative picture of the rich heritage that is the Stone-Campbell Movement."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The Missional Church in Context written by Craig Van Gelder and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2007-10-26 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The missional church conversation continues to make a vital contribution to thinking about congregations and their contexts, addressing the essential question What does it really mean to be church? This book offers substantial, clarifying insights into that ongoing dialogue. Contributors: Mark Lau Branson James Tzu-Kao Chai Mary Sue Dehmlow Dreier Terri Martinson Elton Scott Frederickson Joon Ho Lee Gary M. Simpson Craig Van Gelder
Download or read book Religion and Family in a Changing Society written by Penny Edgell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1950s religious boom was organized around the male-breadwinner lifestyle in the burgeoning postwar suburbs. But since the 1950s, family life has been fundamentally reconfigured in the United States. How do religion and family fit together today? This book examines how religious congregations in America have responded to changes in family structure, and how families participate in local religious life. Based on a study of congregations and community residents in upstate New York, sociologist Penny Edgell argues that while some religious groups may be nostalgic for the Ozzie and Harriet days, others are changing, knowing that fewer and fewer families fit this traditional pattern. In order to keep members with nontraditional family arrangements within the congregation, these innovators have sought to emphasize individual freedom and personal spirituality and actively to welcome single adults and those from nontraditional families. Edgell shows that mothers and fathers seek involvement in congregations for different reasons. Men tend to think of congregations as social support structures, and to get involved as a means of participating in the lives of their children. Women, by contrast, are more often motivated by the quest for religious experience, and can adapt more readily to pluralist ideas about family structure. This, Edgell concludes, may explain the attraction of men to more conservative congregations, and women to nontraditional religious groups.
Download or read book The Disciples Second Edition written by D. Duane Cummins and published by Chalice Press. This book was released on 2023-07-14 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new second edition, refined, updated and revised, contains the story of those 15 years along with revisions in how a humble gathering evolved over two centuries into the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a modern denomination of international stature. The Disciples: A Struggle for Reformation, Revised Edition discusses how Disciples progressed from congregationalism to Covenant, how they survived the tumult of Civil War, how they developed a ministry of missions on a global scale, and how they met the brutal challenge of 21st century COVID.
Download or read book The Science of Influence written by Kevin Hogan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-09-17 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get customers, clients, and co-workers to say "yes!" in 8 minutes or less This revised second edition by a leading expert of influence continues to teach a proven system of persuasion. Synthesizing the latest research in the field of influence with real-world tested experiences, it presents simple secrets that help readers turn a "no" into a "yes." Every secret in this book has been rigorously tested, validated, and found reliable. Learn dozens of all-new techniques and strategies for influencing others including how to reduce resistance to rubble Make people feel instantly comfortable in your presence Decode body language, build credibility, and be persistent without being a pain Expert author Kevin Hogan turns the enigmatic art of influence and persuasion into a science anyone can master The amazing secret of The Science of Influence is its simplicity. After you read this book you will immediately understand why people say "no" to you and learn how to turn that "no" into a "yes" from that moment on.
Download or read book Leading Change written by John P. Kotter and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented merger and acquisition activity to scandal, greed, and, ultimately, recession -- we've learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. By outlining the process organizations have used to achieve transformational goals and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work.
Download or read book A Profile of Jewish Believers in the UK Church written by Jonathan Allen and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-03-02 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given that mission agencies have been reporting for the last two hundred years or more the number of Jewish people coming to faith in Christ, this book asks the question: where are they and their descendants now? Using a multidisciplinary approach, covering social identity theory, social memory theory, and translation theory, this book constructs a profile of Jewish believers in the UK church based upon interviews carried out with church members and leaders who are Jewish or have experience working with Jewish believers. After examining both theory and data, the conclusion is that church is a hostile environment for Jewish identity. Unlike Chinese, Ghanaian, and Korean churches whose members are encouraged to retain their traditions as diaspora communities reaching out to their own people, the church has a strongly assimilationist policy toward Jewish believers, who are encouraged—even pressured—to forget their Jewish traditions, customs, and practices in favor of blending into Gentile church and disappearing. Jewish believers are at best an oxymoron; at worst, an anathema, not to be trusted or tolerated unless—as in the days of the early church from the third century onwards—they renounce their previous lives, families, and communities.
Download or read book Reclaiming Power in Congregational and Community Ministry written by Fritz Ritsch and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Partisan religious interests have highjacked faith in America for political power, in the process dividing our nation and giving religion a bad name. Faith groups who want to build unity, in contrast, feel powerless to attain their goals. Congregations who can adapt to a more democratic approach to ministry, in which power is shared by both staff and congregants, can dramatically strengthen their congregations and serve their neighbors more effectively. Shared power strengthens individuals, congregations, and community efforts, enabling us to work with others, build community, and recognize and overcome negative power dynamics so that people can work together to build healthier congregations and communities. It also burnishes religion's tarnished image by demonstrating faithful, cooperative, and positive civic engagement for the community's good. This book also addresses the inevitable power dynamics in any congregation, allowing leaders to recognize unhealthy dynamics, foster healthy ones, and discover and cultivate the hidden power in each parishioner, so that individually they can live more fully into God's intention for them, and together the congregation can become the outpost of God's reign that it is meant to be.
