Download or read book Redeveloping the Congregation written by Mary Sellon and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What makes it possible for a church to reverse course from decline or stagnation into longlasting vitality? How can a church immigrate from a congealing present into a compelling future? What can a congregation do to experience continuous, deep change rather than just temporary, surface improvement? How does a person lead redevelopment? The three authors of this book address these and other questions by building on an eight-step framework for lasting change developed by John P. Kotter, noted former professor of organizational behavior at Harvard Business School. His work on organizational change is heralded in the secular world as foundational, and Smith, Sellon, and Grossman have found that his findings hold true for congregations as well. Each chapter in this book comprises three sections: mentor, companion and coach. The mentor section discusses principles and concepts to be addressed in each of the eight steps; the companion section gives readers a sense of what leading change is actually like for a congregational leader; and the coach section provides specific ways for leaders to develop the unique change processes that will be effective in their church. Foreword by Anthony G. Pappas. "The authors offer strong spiritual grounding and wise counsel for personal and communal transformation as they lead us through a highly effective process of congregational transformation." -- Barbara B. Troxell "This book does not offer us more exhausting busyness, but focuses on the very heart of ministry in and through the congregation. If you yearn to move beyond the status quo, dive into this refreshing book and expect transformation." -- Julia Kuhn Wallace

Download or read book When a Congregation Is Betrayed written by Candace R. Benyei and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-12-30 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Other books have been written about clergy misconduct and its effects on congregations. Some are by victims. Others are written by professionals for a professional audience. Until now, however, there hasn't been a book for the congregational leaders who must deal with the fallout of clergy misconduct. Both the afterpastors--the interim or settled pastors who follow misconducting pastors--and lay leaders need guidance about how to assess and effectively respond to the misconduct, how to care for the victim/survivor, and how to carry out the mission and ministry to which the congregation has been called.

Download or read book Holy Conversations written by Gil Rendle and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2003-11-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planning can be challenging in the contemporary congregation, where people share a common faith and values but may have very different preferences and needs. Much of the literature on congregational planning presents it as a technical process: the leader serves as the chief problem solver, and the goal is finding "the solution to the problem." Rendle and Mann equip congregational leaders with a broad and creative range of ideas, pathways, processes, and tools for planning. By choosing the resources that best suit their needs and context, congregations will shape their own strengthening, transforming, holy conversation. They will find a path that is faithful to their identity and their relationship with God. Resource materials are available to purchasers of the book. E-mail [email protected] for more information.

Download or read book In Dying We Are Born written by Peter Bush and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007-12-03 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deeply ingrained in Western culture, and in the minds of most church leaders, is the belief that there is a solution to every problem. Peter bush offers a powerful challenge to this approach, arguing that for new life, energy, and passion to arise in congregations, they must die--die to one way of being the church in order that a new way may rise. Bush identifies two types of dying congregations. Some congregations need to close their doors, bringing to an end years of ministry. Other congregations need to dramatically change their culture and ways of doing ministry. Such change may not entail literally closing the congregation's doors, but it will require people giving up deeply held understandings of the life and purpose of the congregation. All congregations, Bush contends, even ones that see themselves as healthy, need to be prepared to die, to take up their cross, so God can make them alive. A skillful storyteller, Bush shows readers why churches must confront their mortality. He examines the role of the prophetic leader, who proclaims both the congregation's death and its resurrection. He explores spiritual practices and the habits of wonder, remember, and risk taking for congregations that know they are dying--or need to die. Only by dying, Bush says, will a congregation find resurrection life, given by God who raises the dead to life

Download or read book TRANSFORMED ON THE MOUNTAIN written by Marcella Reid Figueroa and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2024-08-21 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scripture note: 1 C Corinthians 12:12-31 Scripture note: 1 C Corinthians 12:12-31 Tension is a term musicians often use to describe the condition of the strings on instruments like the violin, the cello, the harp or the guitar. Musicians know that the tone or pitch produced by the instrument is greatly affected by the tension of the strings carrying the sound. The outcome of good tension is good-sounding music while bad tension produces sour, flat, or sharp sounds that are unpleasant to listen to. There is good tension and bad tension in church as well. One task of effective leadership is to discern good and bad tension within the church. The outcome of good tension is success in achieving the goals and objectives of the ministry. Bad tension can result in chaos, complexity, confusion, and contradiction. Bad tension freezes a ministry in time, with no productive movement, no common ground, no unity, and an endless array of activity spiraling into uselessness. When each member of the church discovers his/her own God-given abilities to express love for God through the service of humankind, the result is not unlike a symphony of diverse instruments, chords, and sounds, all making a joyful sound in peaceful coexistence. Bad tension creates a stench in God's nostrils. It is the task of every Christian to embark upon a journey of discovery that ends in a God-given ministry niche or place of service. God calls every Christian to God's own hands to be broken, melted, molded, filled, and used to the glory of God. Leaders are part of the solution and not part of the problem. How does a vibrant and healthy congregation balance the need for stable leadership with the need for change? How do changes within a ministry impact relationship within the church? What effect does systemic change have on the entire church body? What is the role of leadership in church relations? What is a creative tension dynamic? Leaders today must learn constructive interventions that interrupt malevolent cycles of destructive behaviors in order to balance the tension between resistance and acceptance in a way that empowers ministry and inspires growth.

Download or read book Reconstructing Church written by Todd Grant Yonkman and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-08-06 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The general decline of American mainline Protestant churches today is well documented. Church redevelopment—imagining and actualizing new life for dying churches—is a productive and vital response to congregational decline, but it can be daunting. Here is guidebook for church leaders, to help them reinvigorate their churches with both practical advice and tested theory. A comprehensive case study of Beneficent Congregational Church, which successfully turned the tide and quadrupled its worship attendance, provides inspiration as well as concrete strategies for church redevelopment. The study indicates that successful and faithful church redevelopment involves a shift from a modern-patronage ministry model to a postmodern-plural ministry model. Building on current church redevelopment literature by bringing selected Biblical and theological texts into conversation with leadership concepts, systems theory, social sciences, and congregational studies, this book creates a multidisciplinary transformative conversation. The result is both strategic proposals for growing your church and a model for doing practical theology in your own ministry context. Dedicated, trained leadership in cooperation with the power of the Spirit can create the possibility of new life in dying congregations.

Download or read book Modeling Servant Leaders for Africa written by Ndung'u John Brown Ikenye and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2010 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book seeks to help African Christian leaders to follow the notions of biblical leadership as servant-hood and to train men and women with biblical and academic knowledge, which will be critical, practical, pastoral and applicable in the Kenyan context and participate in the discovery, transmission and preservation of knowledge and stimulate the intellectual life and cultural development of Kenya.

Download or read book Modeling Servant Leaders for Africa written by Brown Ikenye and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2010-12-29 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book seeks to help African Christian leaders to follow the notions of biblical leadership as servanthood and to train men and women with biblical and academic knowledge, which will be critical, practical, pastoral and applicable in the Kenyan context and participate in the discovery, transmission and preservation of knowledge and stimulate the intellectual life and cultural development of Kenya.

Download or read book Can Our Church Live written by Alice Mann and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000-03-01 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing on earth lives forever—not even congregations. Alban Institute senior consultant Alice Mann explains how the natural life cycle of a congregation, as well as other internal and external factors, can produce a congregation that is in real trouble. She then offers hope for congregations that want to change. Practical options for congregations, leadership challenges for laity and clergy, and ways to work with denominations are detailed and engaging discussion questions provide a basis for congregational planning

Download or read book A New And Right Spirit written by Rick Barger and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-03-01 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a postmodern culture shaped by consumerism, it’s little wonder that there is confusion about what the church is supposed to be in the 21st century. In A New and Right Spirit, Rick Barger argues passionately for congregations to reexamine what it means to be an "authentic church" in a culture where authenticity is hard to come by. He demonstrates the pitfalls of technical solutions to congregational problems and shows the way to making adaptive change. Recognizing the spiritual needs of a success-oriented society, he exhorts leaders to turn away from the story of our culture and to return to the story of the church that is grounded in Christ and the resurrection.

Download or read book Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation written by George W Bullard and published by Chalice Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Full Kingdom potential," says George Bullard, "is a journey, not a destination. To reach your full Kingdom potential, its pursuit must be your enduring passion and desire." Drawing on his more than four decades of experience in congregational leadership, Bullard offers not just another process for congregational redevelopment. He learns from the past to take congregations on a spiritual journey that is open-ended, custom-made, and locally owned. His focus is on capacity building in each congregation, calling for a narrative approach to futuring in the life of congregations that responds to new things God is seeking to do in and through members of the congregation. From the TCP Leadership Series.

Download or read book Beginning Ministry Together written by Roy M. Oswald and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2003-12-01 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning Ministry Together is about the transition period between the announcement that one pastor is leaving and the time when another pastor is well settled. The message brought by Roy Oswald and colleagues Jim and Ann Heath is that this is not an impossible time to be survived only with a lot of expert help. Rather, even though the task is complex, committed congregational leaders can handle it—with the help of people who have been on this journey before. Oswald describes how clergy and congregations can better end and begin pastorates. He shows them how to say good-bye and discern their needs for the future—how to use the open space between pastorates for evaluation and preparation for a new day.

Download or read book Recreating the Church written by Richard L Hamm and published by Chalice Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mainline denominations in the United States are in crisis. These institutions - created in and for modernity - are now facing a changed, postmodern culture. Hamm faces the crisis, examining its origins, and offers sound advice on how to lead to church to make the adaptive changes needed to thrive in postmodern times. A TCP Leadership Series title.

Download or read book Vital Christian Community written by Philip Brochard and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-09-20 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twelve characteristics of healthy Christian communities and the congregational and personal practices that develop them. Congregations have been the bedrock of mainline Christian life and practice for centuries but in recent years many have dwindled in energy and impact. Leaders conclude that change is needed, that they can’t keep applying the same models and practices that have served in the past but no longer seem to work. At a time when all kinds of institutions are being buffeted by swift and strong cultural forces, Brochard and Newton believe the congregation to be a primary site for the transformation of individuals, communities, and the world and that the measures for congregational vitality begin with health, faithfulness, and effectiveness as local expressions of the Church. The authors offer readers insights into developing a sense of purpose, building trust, encouraging curiosity, becoming more collaborative, appreciating productive conflict, and other vital skills.

Download or read book Growing a Healthy and Faithful Congregation written by Rev. Dr. Loreno R. Flemmings and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2023-01-24 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to examine the mission and ministry of six mainline churches in Somerset County, New Jersey, and their efforts to grow healthy and faithful churches while reaching out to families, children, and youth in the community. The six congregations include First Baptist Church, Somerville, New Jersey, Saint Martin Episcopal Church, Bridgewater, New Jersey; Saint Thomas A.M.E. Zion Church, Somerville, New Jersey; Trinity United Church, Warren, New Jersey; New Horizon Christian Fellowship, Hillsborough, New Jersey; and Fountain of Living Water, Somerville, New Jersey. Given the need for congregational growth, insights into the Church Growth Movement and the missional approach to church growth are examined in relation to the historical, cultural, and social ministry contexts of six congregations of different faith traditions. A methodology combining demographic data, congregational surveys, and focus groups is used to determine the historic and present contexts of the congregation. The results of these efforts will inform and guide a congregation’s efforts to develop a missional vision and a strategic growth plan and restore spiritual vitality to its members by participating in the mission of the Kingdom of God (one result of which will be to attract families, youth, and children to the church).

Download or read book Ten Commandments for Pastors Leaving a Congregation written by Lawrence W. Farris and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastoral transitions can be fraught with pitfalls, yet there "is" advice that can help ministers and congregations avoid those dangers. Lawrence Farris, a pastor who himself has left three churches, here gives ten wise, thoughtful commandments for shepherds leaving their flock. Far from heavy-handed dictums, these "commandments" are more gospel than law, laying out helpful strategies in such areas as recognizing when to depart, patching broken relationships, and enabling the next pastor to make a clean start. While many may dream of a comfortable, long-term pastorate, today's transient congregational realities make the wisdom in this book relevant for pastors in churches big and small, liberal, moderate, and conservative. Perfect for pastors soon to depart and for those happy to stay put for now, "Ten Commandments for Pastors Leaving a Congregation" provides welcome guidance to both pastors and parishioners facing this hopeful and challenging transition.

Download or read book Size Transitions in Congregations written by Beth Ann Gaede and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2001-12-01 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congregations that seek growth are often frustrated at hitting a plateau-caught in a transition zone between sizes. The Alban Institute has long been recognized as a leader in size transition research and learning, and this anthology offers an in-depth collection of resources, through new articles developed for the book as well as previously published and highly regarded pieces that inform and provoke.