Download or read book How to Lead When You Don t Know Where You re Going written by Susan Beaumont and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning—when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Beaumont calls such in-between times liminal seasons—threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead. How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution.
Download or read book Being Church in a Liminal Time written by Jeffrey D. Jones and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-07-10 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congregations today exist in an in-between, or liminal, time. The customary answers about what it means to be and do church and strategies for renewal based on those answers no longer work. But there is no certainty about the new answers. It is a time of searching—of letting go of the old and experimenting with the new. This means facing the reality of death, which may come as institutions die or as established ways are abandoned. This book addresses this reality while maintaining a constant focus on the Christian promise of resurrection. It offers three images that recognize the differing contexts of congregations and help them shape their future as they seek to discern God’s work in their midst. Congregations shaped by each of the three images (remembering, letting go, and resurrecting) have the potential to faithfully engage in God’s work in their setting. For each of the three there are suggestions for helping a congregation move toward an even more faithful expression of the image. The book includes Bible studies and other resources that congregations will find helpful in this process. Some congregations may continue in traditional ways, while others seek a new way of being church. But all can join in God’s work in their time and place with a new and deeper understanding of the ministry that is theirs. This book helps them do that. Because a different kind of leadership is needed the book offers an approach to leadership that is grounded in a spiritual process of inward reflection and outward involvement.
Download or read book Mystical Hope written by Cynthia Bourgeault and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2001 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In five interwoven meditations, Mystical Hope shows how to recognize hope in our own lives, where it comes from, how to deepen it through prayer, and how to carry it into the world as a source of strength and renewal.
Download or read book Completing the Circle written by David R. McMahill and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On his second day as association minister for the United Church of Christ, David McMahill received three phone calls from lay leaders who were looking for resources on "how to evaluate our minister." He knew of several churches in which a poorly constructed process for evaluating the ministers had spun out of control, however, and had gradually come to believe it is probably better for a church not to attempt an evaluation process at all than to do one carelessly or to naively use a design intended for a secular organization. Based on the needs he saw, McMahill began to work with numerous congregations looking for ways to review both leaders and ministries and developed the feedback/reflection process he lays out in this book. Based on sound principles of effective communication, this simple system of asking for descriptive feedback about various aspects of a congregation's life together takes into account the specific setting and the unique relationship between minister and congregation.
Download or read book A Liminal Church written by Maria Chiara Rioli and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through largely unpublished archives in the Middle East, Europe and the United States, and the Pius XII papers, in A Liminal Church Maria Chiara Rioli offers an appraisal of Jerusalem’s Roman Catholic diocese in the Palestine War and its aftermath.
Download or read book The Spirit Led Leader written by Timothy C. Geoffrion and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-11-14 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our postmodern, experience-oriented culture, people are longing for greater authenticity, integrity, and depth in their pastors and leaders. Board directors, church members, and staff alike are all eagerly seeking leaders who effectively integrate their spirituality and leadership. Pastors and executives, however, often struggle with knowing how to integrate their spiritual values and practices into their leadership and management roles. Designed for pastors, executives, administrators, managers, coordinators, and all who see themselves as leaders and who want to fulfill their God-given purpose, The Spirit-Led Leader addresses the critical fusion of spiritual life and leadership for those who not only want to see results, but who also desire to care just as deeply about who they are and how they lead as they do about what they produce and accomplish. Geoffrion creates a new vision for spiritual leadership as partly an art, partly a result of careful planning, and always a working of the grace of God
Download or read book Inside the Large Congregation written by Susan Beaumont and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-10-25 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For five years, Alban Institute senior consultant Susan Beaumont has been giving voice to the organizational and leadership demands of large congregations. Through her work, she has identified five basic leadership systems that need to stay in alignment for the large church to function well for its size: clergy leadership roles, staff team design and function, governance and board function, acculturation and the role of laity, and forming and executing strategy. She has also learned that these five systems operate with some important but subtle distinctions in what Beaumont calls the professional church (400-800 in worship attendance), the strategic church (800-1,200), and the matrix church (1,200-2,000). Often, she has discovered, problems in a large congregation are related to the fact that one or more of the five systems is inappropriately structured for the size of the congregation. In other words, the church isn't acting its size. Beaumont is invested in helping large congregations 'rightsize' their leadership systems to better serve their ministry context. This book articulates why size matters and how it matters in the world of large congregations. It is written for anyone who wants to better understand the leadership and organizational dynamics of the large church anyone seeking to understand the challenges of leading from inside the large congregation.
Download or read book The Call to the Soul written by Marjory Zoet Bankson and published by Augsburg Books. This book was released on 2004-06-01 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each major life transition gives us a chance, Bankson proposes, "to name what we are here for." Using mythical archetypes, biblical and personal stories, she presents a revealing six-stage soulwork cycle to help us find our calling. A valuable resource for people seeking to nurture their spiritual growth, individually, in groups, or with a spiritual director. Includes a format for a soulwork retreat.
Download or read book The Missionary Congregation Leadership and Liminality written by Alan J. Roxburgh and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 1997-09-01 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The urgent question for Christian mission in North America today has to do with churches and congregations and the crisis of their identity in the culture of modernity. According to Alan J. Roxburgh, the church has shifted from the center of culture to the margins. This text examines this shift and explores Victor Turner's work on liminality (a term describing the transition process that accompanies a change of state or social position).
Download or read book How Your 21st Century Church Family Works written by Peter L. Steinke and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-11-27 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first edition of How Your Church Family Works was written nearly thirty years ago, and the reach and velocity of change in the last three decades poses a new challenge for churches. Thirty years ago, churches functioned in a fairly stable environment and focused on growth an expansion. The tide has turned now, though, and supplanted increase with decline. Bowen family systems theory—on which How Your Church Family Works is based—has not changed, but its application has to be revised for the twenty-first century. How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works, the second edition of Peter Steinke’s landmark book, addresses the radically altered landscape of church sustainability with new introductory and concluding chapters bookending updates throughout the now-classic text. Core chapters of the book feature fresh examples of emotional process that are more exemplary of the current scene. One key addition is a new trigger of anxiety for churches—the change process. Change threatens the familiar and stable and suffers from negative connotations of endangering tradition. Where gradual change has been the norm for so long, churches now see a blistering pace of disruptions, some of which have forced change too early or too late, or sometimes in unproductive directions. How Your 21st-Century Church family works embraces the anxiety caused by change, transforming it from a source of anguish to a font of opportunity.
Download or read book Christian Minimalism written by Becca Ehrlich and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2021-05-17 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ehrlich’s insightful self-help guide will resonate with Christians wishing to streamline an overstuffed life."—Publishers Weekly Logically, we all know our purpose in life is not wrapped up in accumulating possessions, wealth, power, and prestige—Jesus is very clear about that—but society tells us otherwise. Christian Minimalism attempts to cut through our assumptions and society’s lies about what life should look like and invites readers into a life that Jesus calls us to live: one lived intentionally, free of physical, spiritual, and emotional clutter. Written by a woman who simplified her own life and practices these principles daily, this book gives readers a fresh perspective on how to live out God’s grace for us in new and exciting ways and live out our faith in a way that is deeply satisfying.
Download or read book Sticky Faith written by Kara Powell and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sticky Faith delivers positive and practical ideas to nurture within your kids a living, loving faith that lasts a lifetime. Research indicates that almost half of high school seniors drift from their faith after graduation. Struck by this staggering statistic, and recognizing its ramifications, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted the "College Transition Project" in an effort to identify the relationships and best practices that can set young people on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service. This easy-to-read guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children’s spiritual growth so that it will stick with them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith. Written by Fuller Youth Institute Executive Director Dr. Kara E. Powell and youth expert Chap Clark--authors known for the integrity of their research and the intensity of their passion for young people--Sticky Faith is geared to spark a movement that empowers adults to develop robust and long-term faith in kids of all ages. Further engage your family and church with the Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family, Sticky Faith curriculum, and Sticky Faith youth worker edition. Sticky Faith is also available in Spanish, Cómo criar jóvenes de fe sólida.
Download or read book Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church written by D. A. Carson and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A careful and informed assessment of the “emerging church” by a respected author and scholar The “emerging church” movement has generated a lot of excitement and exerts an astonishingly broad influence. Is it the wave of the future or a passing fancy? Who are the leaders and what are they saying? The time has come for a mature assessment. D. A. Carson not only gives those who may be unfamiliar with it a perceptive introduction to the emerging church movement, but also includes a skillful assessment of its theological views. Carson addresses some troubling weaknesses of the movement frankly and thoughtfully, while at the same time recognizing that it has important things to say to the rest of Christianity. The author strives to provide a perspective that is both honest and fair. Anyone interested in the future of the church in a rapidly changing world will find this an informative and stimulating read. D. A. Carson (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of over 45 books, including the Gold Medallion Award-winning book The Gagging of God, and is general editor of Telling the Truth and Worship by the Book. He has served as a pastor and is an active guest lecturer in church and academic settings around the world.
Download or read book Holy Clarity written by Sarah B. Drummond and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-06-22 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Holy Clarity, Sarah Drummond explores the most basic reason leaders of religious organizations conduct evaluations: To find and create God-pleasing clarity regarding the organization's purpose and the impact of its activities. Leadership and evaluation are not separate disciplines, she argues. Effective leaders evaluate because they need to know what is happening in their organizations and how those activities are effecting change. Drummond first describes the way in which our postmodern culture makes clarity difficult to obtain. She then looks at holy clarity from a biblical and theological perspective and make the case that it is a spiritual discipline that can stand on its own theological merits. She presents four approaches to evaluation that can help a leader to guide a community toward greater clarity, both when evaluating or analyzing programs and when planning and starting programs. Finally, she considers the work of clarification as a faith practice, one that can make a pastor or layperson not just a better leader, but a better Christian who is more firmly grounded in God. Each chapter concludes with a fictional case study that provides a jumping-off point for discussion and helps bring her theory to life. Holy Clarity provides an accessible resource as an entry point for those who are eager to learn the best practices of this crucial discipline.
Download or read book Being Interrupted written by Al Barrett and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with a ‘Street Nativity Play’ that didn’t end as planned, and finishing with an open-ended conversation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Being Interrupted" locates an institutionally-anxious Church of England within the wider contexts of divisions of race and class in ‘the ruins of empire’, alongside ongoing gender inequalities, the marginalization of children, and catastrophic ecological breakdown. In the midst of this bleak picture, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley open a door to a creative disruption of the status quo, ‘from the outside, in’: the in-breaking of the wild reality of the ‘Kin-dom’ of God. Through careful and unsettling readings in Mark’s gospel, alongside stories from a multicultural outer estate in east Birmingham, they paint a vivid picture of an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods and our imaginations, and offers new possibilities for repentance and resurrection.
Download or read book The Way of the Rose written by Clark Strand and published by Random House. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when a former Zen Buddhist monk and his feminist wife experience an apparition of the Virgin Mary? “This book could not have come at a more auspicious time, and the message is mystical perfection, not to mention a courageous one. I adore this book.”—Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit Before a vision of a mysterious “Lady” invited Clark Strand and Perdita Finn to pray the rosary, they were not only uninterested in becoming Catholic but finished with institutional religion altogether. Their main spiritual concerns were the fate of the planet and the future of their children and grandchildren in an age of ecological collapse. But this Lady barely even referred to the Church and its proscriptions. Instead, she spoke of the miraculous power of the rosary to transform lives and heal the planet, and revealed the secrets she had hidden within the rosary’s prayers and mysteries—secrets of a past age when forests were the only cathedrals and people wove rose garlands for a Mother whose loving presence was as close as the ground beneath their feet. She told Strand and Finn: The rosary is My body, and My body is the body of the world. Your body is one with that body. What cause could there be for fear? Weaving together their own remarkable story of how they came to the rosary, their discoveries about the eco-feminist wisdom at the heart of this ancient devotion, and the life-changing revelations of the Lady herself, the authors reveal an ancestral path—available to everyone, religious or not—that returns us to the powerful healing rhythms of the natural world.
Download or read book Disability and the Church written by Lamar Hardwick and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2021-02-09 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastor Lamar Hardwick was thirty-six years old when he found out he was on the autism spectrum. This revelation prompted him to reconsider the church's responsibilities to the disabled community. Insisting that the good news of Jesus affirms God's image in all people, Hardwick offers practical steps and strategies to build stronger, truly inclusive communities of faith.
