Congregational Resource Guide
Finding the right resources for your congregation
As a consultant with the Center for Congregations, I travel a good bit. Sometimes I spend several hours in the car on a given day. While it’s nice to listen to music or enjoy the silence, it can also be nice to continue learning during the extra time. Thank you, podcasts! Many don’t realize that…
New projects fill congregational life with excitement and hope. They can be a time of community cooperation, deep visioning and relationship-building. No matter the project, though, you are likely to experience disappointment somewhere along the way. In my book How Your Congregation Learns, I’ve written: “Congregations aren’t magically protected from disappointment. All kinds of good…
Your congregation is likely working on something new right now. You may be exploring the possibility of a youth mission trip. Or maybe your finance team wants to take an entirely new approach to the annual fund drive. When your congregation takes on something first-hand, your organization actually engages in learning to do something new.…
It is no longer comfortable at the council meeting. Alex brought a 12-page financial report. “These numbers show that our congregation won’t be in business four years from now,” he says, “We will be out of money.” The group is silent. It is a nervous silence, like when someone brings up politics at the family…
Many congregational leaders know the importance of clear mission and vision statements. However, congregational leaders are less capable at enacting plans. Years ago, Kennon Callahan described this as “calling plays the players can play.” There are lots of visionary congregational leaders, but not so many who can pull off Vacation Bible School. There need to…