Ordained ministry, says Willimon, is a gift of God to the church–but that doesn’t mean that it is easy. Always a difficult vocation, changes in society and the church in recent years have made the ordained life all the more complex and challenging. Is the pastor primarily a preacher, a professional caregiver, an administrator? Given […]
Rerouting The Protestant Mainstream is a tightly focused analysis of trends, markets, denominational influences, and directions for the future. It explains why some churches are growing and why others are not, and helps pastors know how to go about improving their churches and helping them to grow.
‘Why should we change?’ This book is written for the vast majority of congregations who are cautious, tentative, and ambivalent to change and creative initiatives for mission. The vast majority will find a calm, reasonable explanation of why their stability is more shaky than ever, and their seeming congregational health hides a growing self-destructive addiction. […]
Spiritual Entrepreneurs tells the story of an innovative pastor and leadership team who intentionally led their church to take spiritual risks. By using six principles, renewal can come to any church, asserts Michael Slaughter… …Slaughter believes that church leaders are inspired to work tirelessly when they hear or learn of good-news stories. He also believes […]
The fourth of five books about managing for change in the congregation, Strategies for Change–the fruit of the author’s week-long workshops on planned change–focuses on the institutional context for change, defines sources of authority for making changes, and offers a checklist of strategies and tactics for making changes.
This new edition of Handbook for Congregational Studies replaces the previous edition. In this new edition, the authors update what has become the primary textbook in the field of congregational studies in the seminary classroom. Studying Congregations: A New Handbook will also be a useful reference for pastors, denominational leaders, and strategic planning committees.
Here is a step-by-step workbook for authorizing and empowering teams in your congregation. The principles and guidelines are adaptable to churches that have one core team of lay ministers or as many as one hundred teams of volunteers and staff in ministry. Teams can use this workbook to craft mission statements and then walk through […]
This study guide will help a church conduct a self-study anbd a complete audit of their ministries. The workshets are printed in the workbook, and are also contained in spreadsheet files on a (floppy) computer disk provided inside the back cover.
One of America’s leading church consultants shows why he believes the small membership church has a bright and promising future if the leaders will adapt to new roles in the culture. Lyle Schaller presents 44 alternative scenarios that can lead to a better use of resources and more focused energies in ministry.
Examining the three central elements of electronic culture – images, sound as beat, and visualization – Sample demonstrates that for those steeped in this culture, meaning arises from the convergence of these elements rather than from any one of them individually. He goes on to discuss how these are already present in Christian worship and […]