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Author: George D. Parsons
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996872
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 153
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Book Description
Parsons and Leas have created an important tool for congregational leaders in this application of systems theory to evaluating a congregation’s life and readiness for change. Church leaders can explore the forces at work and examine the systemic implications in seven key areas: strategy, process, pastoral and lay leadership, authority, relatedness, and learning. The Manual provides an overview of systems theory, complete instructions for administering and scoring the Congregational Systems Inventory (CSI), and guidance for interpreting and explaining the inventory results using sample scores. The Congregational Systems Inventory is a survey designed to sample the perspectives of church staff, governing board, and key lay leaders. Be sure to order some packs of the CSI along with this valuable resource.
Author: George D. Parsons
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996872
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Get Book Here
Book Description
Parsons and Leas have created an important tool for congregational leaders in this application of systems theory to evaluating a congregation’s life and readiness for change. Church leaders can explore the forces at work and examine the systemic implications in seven key areas: strategy, process, pastoral and lay leadership, authority, relatedness, and learning. The Manual provides an overview of systems theory, complete instructions for administering and scoring the Congregational Systems Inventory (CSI), and guidance for interpreting and explaining the inventory results using sample scores. The Congregational Systems Inventory is a survey designed to sample the perspectives of church staff, governing board, and key lay leaders. Be sure to order some packs of the CSI along with this valuable resource.
Author: Roy M. Oswald
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566995078
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
Drawing on extensive consulting experience with congregations, the authors provide a step-by-step guide to congregational planning that grounds strategic planning techniques in a process of spiritual discernment. The result: members will own the vision and be eager to participate in the congregation''s calling, life, and ministry. You and your planning committee learn the theory behind the techniques, along with receiving help for addressing specific situations.
Author: Timothy D. Son
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739183117
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 309
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Book Description
Ritual Practices in Congregational Identity Formation investigates the educational roles of ritual practices in the process of congregational identity formation. Son identifies and analyzes various kinds of Christian rituals with respect to how rituals influence the formational processes of a congregation’s identity. Based on Victor Turner’s ritual theory, this book also investigates the pedagogical and transformative efficacies of ritual practices within the dynamics of congregational education.
Author: Joseph E. Bush Jr.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 149828275X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 182
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Book Description
The church exists in the world, and our ministry is inextricably social in nature. Practical theology takes this seriously and asks us to reflect on our practice of ministry in both church and society. This book attends to our practice as individuals in ministry, to our corporate practice as congregations in ministry, and to our practice as Christians within the wider social and natural world. Practical Theology in Church and Society brings into sharper focus two perspectives on practical theology. One is the view through the wide-angle lens of justice-oriented action, which hopes for liberation. This view encompasses a broad vista of social forces for justice and injustice when evaluating local movements and local ministries. The other perspective takes the narrower focus of the action-reflection model as it is used to zoom in on individual actions and particular practices of ministry such as pastoral care. The purpose of the book is to integrate these two perspectives on practical theology. It explicates a cyclical method for doing theology that has corollaries within the disciplines of practical theology, liberation theology, missiology, congregation studies, and ministerial leadership. The volume provides resources for developing more socially and ecologically engaged ministries, and it draws implications for ministerial education.
Author: Unitarian Universalist Commission on Appraisal
Publisher: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
ISBN: 9781558964204
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 140
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Book Description
Author: Richard R. Osmer
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 146743812X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
Every church congregation encounters challenging situations, some the same the world over, and others specific to each church. Richard Osmer here seeks to teach congregational leaders -- including, but not limited to, clergy -- the requisite knowledge and skills to meet such situations with sensitivity and creativity. Osmer develops a framework for practical theological interpretation in congregations by focusing on four key questions: What is going on in a given context? Why is this going on? What ought to be going on? and How might the leader shape the context to better embody Christian witness and mission? The book is unique in its attention to interdisciplinary issues and the ways that theological reflection is grounded in the spirituality of leaders. Useful, accessible, and lively -- with lots of specific examples and case studies -- Osmer‘s Practical Theology effectively equips congregational leaders to guide their communities with theological integrity.
Author: Jim Herrington
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118446208
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 214
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Book Description
A Leadership Network Publication With this much-needed handbook, the authors brilliantly combine their experience guiding dozens of churches through the change process with both the study of Christian disciplines and the sophisticated understanding of such important business thinkers as John Kotter on leading change and Peter Senge on learning organizations. In this eminently readable book the authors have distilled their insights and practices into simple but powerful concepts for leading congregations, whether long established or recently formed, through profound change. Leaders using this guide will also be interested in the companion Leading Congregational Change Workbook, which offers assessment questions, planning worksheets, activities, and case examples for each stage of the process.
Author: Richard Bass
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566997070
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261
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Book Description
An ever-increasing number of resources compete for the attention of congregational leaders. With a seemingly endless number of choices, finding the best resource on a particular topic for a specific congregation is an often daunting challenge. www.congregationalresources.org, is an invaluable companion to the groundbreaking online version of Alban Institute’s and Indianapolis Center for Congregation’s jointly researched and produced Congregational Resource Guide, launched in 2001 and accessed by thousands of seekers each week. The book conveniently and cogently puts the rich array of important resources into context by examining in depth, the key books, organizations, Web sites, and people that will help leaders gain an understanding of important issues facing their congregations. The book features ten overviews of important topics by widely recognized experts in their fields, including Amy Sherman on Community Ministry, Tom Fischer on Congregational Health, Lee Ramsey on Preaching, Paul Chaffee on Leadership, John Janka on Evaluation, and Jean Trumbauer on Lay Ministry. Each essay is accompanied by an annotated list of selected resources for researching further information. Helpful guides for using these valuable resources to promote and encourage congregational understanding and transformation are also included.
Author: Paul David Lawson
Publisher: Lantern Books
ISBN: 9781930051294
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 132
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Book Description
The Christian churches are currently in a time of great turmoil and transition. Clergy find themselves torn between a large number of different and often conflicting roles within their parishes. Episcopalian priest, Paul David Lawson, explores the depth of the crisis facing individual pastors and the churches as a whole, and shows how Centering Prayer (a daily meditative practice) and an understanding of systems theory (how structures within places work) can help. By dealing honestly with anxiety individually and within the church community, by coping with conflict constructively and proactively, and by recognizing how organizations deal with unarticulated emotional issues stemming from their members and constituents, conscious practice of Centering Prayer can create a healthy church environment, dynamic and successful leadership within that church, and a revitalized and vibrant community worship.
Author: Gail Cafferata
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 1611649757
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238
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Book Description
Gail Cafferata was heartbroken when the church she pastored voted to close its doors. It may have been the right decision, but it led to a million questions in her mind about her call, leadership, and future. She began to think that other pastors who close churches perhaps go through this same experience. This led her to conduct a sociological study of over 130 pastors in five historically established denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, United Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ) who were called to serve churches that closed. This book tells the results of that study, which consisted of many interviews, and the hard-won lessons learned by these courageous pastors.
