Inside The Large Congregation

Author : Susan Beaumont
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2011-10-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781566995610

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Inside the Large Congregation by Susan Beaumont Pdf

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.

Author : Susan Beaumont,Gil Rendle
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 261 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2007-10-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781566996990

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When Moses Meets Aaron by Susan Beaumont,Gil Rendle Pdf

With the number of large congregations rising in the U.S., these congregations are increasingly dependent upon a greater number of staff to meet the needs of their diverse collection of members. As leaders of multi-staff teams, senior clergy must play the dual role of both Moses and Aaron—both visionary and detail-oriented leader—in order for their large congregations to thrive. They need to be skilled with the tools of human resource management, while at the same time setting a vision and inspiring both staff and congregation. Unfortunately, until now there have been few resources for senior clergy who lead multi-staff teams. Working without adequate models and tools, senior clergy of large congregations often find themselves with passionate, dedicated staff members who are moving in different directions, competing over limited resources and attention. They end up with questions of how to evaluate the performance of staff and direct their efforts. They find themselves using time, attention, and resources to care for staff rather than using staff as a resource to care for the mission of the congregation. Longtime Alban senior consultant Gil Rendle and Alban senior consultant Susan Beaumont have developed When Moses Meets Aaron to help clergy responsible for several-member staff teams navigate these unknown waters. They have taken the best of human resource practices and immersed them in a congregational context, providing a comprehensive manual for supervising, motivating, and coordinating staff teams. Rendle and Beaumont give both detailed and big picture guidance on hiring, job descriptions, supervision, performance evaluation, staff-team design, difficult staff behavior, and more. Their combined experience in consulting and training with staff and leaders of large congregations proves invaluable in this manual for today's leadership demands.

Author : Randy Frazee
Publisher : Zondervan
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2013-03-12
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780310494362

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The Connecting Church 2.0 by Randy Frazee Pdf

The development of meaningful relationships, where every member carries a significant sense of belonging, is central to what it means to be the church. So why do many Christians feel disappointed and disillusioned with their efforts to experience authentic community? Despite the best efforts of pastors, small group leaders, and faithful lay persons, church too often is a place of loneliness rather than connection. In this revised and updated version of his best-selling book, Randy Frazee shows us how church can be so much...better. More intimate and alive. The answer may seem radical today, but it was a central component of life in the early church. First-century Christians knew what it meant to live in vital community with one another, relating with a depth and commitment that made "the body of Christ" a perfect metaphor for the church. What would it take to reclaim that kind of love, joy, support, and dynamic spiritual growth? Read this book and find out.

Author : Lyle E Schaller
Publisher : Abingdon Press
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2010-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781426731860

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Small Congregation, Big Potential by Lyle E Schaller Pdf

Kindle Edition There are many questions that leaders of small-membership congregations ask themselves about their church's future. Lyle Schaller suggests that two in particular should rise to the top of the list. First, what's the right size of for a church? Is the small congregation averaging two or three dozen people at worship a legitimate order of God's creation? You bet it is, says Schaller. Second, should these congregations make their plans on the basis of few resources and fewer options, or should they see themselves as possessed of pools of talent and expanding possibilities? If you are convinced that the former is true, then this book is not for you. If, however, you are among those who believe that small-membership churches are distinctive places of Christian witness and service, spreading the gospel and living in service to the world in ways that other, larger churches are not, then this book is for you. In it you will find the right questions to ask as you seek to lead a small-membership congregation, and solid, practical guidance for doing so.

Author : David J. Peter
Publisher : Kregel Ministry
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2019-01-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0825445655

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Maximizing the Midsize Church by David J. Peter Pdf

Nearly one in four congregations in the United States is a midsize church (150-400 worshippers per week), and the midsize church has its own distinctive culture, dynamics, and characteristics. Drawing on years of research and pastoral ministry, David J. Peter has written a comprehensive handbook for pastors and staff who direct these churches. Peter covers the most important issues leaders encounter, including: - The important role they play in advancing the kingdom of God - Common cultural characteristics - Typical problems and productive solutions - Advantages over both small and large churches, and how to capitalize on them - Practices for developing healthy programs - The responsibilities of the pastor - Guidance for hiring staff and recruiting volunteers Pastors of midsize congregations will find effective resources and encouragement for successful leadership.

Author : Lonnie Schreiber,Thomas Gossen
Publisher : Church Publishing, Inc.
Page : 65 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1998-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780819216793

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A Manual for Stewardship Development Programs in the Congregation by Lonnie Schreiber,Thomas Gossen Pdf

This practical manual guides churches through a year-long stewardship program. Covers the fundamentals of building a successful program -- from teaching Christian stewardship to hosting creative, successful commitment events. Filled with useful advice and how-to sections on topics ranging from recruiting and training leaders, to charting progress. Offers a complete overview of The Joyful Giving Program for stewardship.

Author : Isa Aron
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2013-05-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781580237376

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Becoming a Congregation of Learners by Isa Aron Pdf

How can my congregation transform itself? How can we re-dedicate ourselves to learning? Improving spiritual connection in our communities takes work! Combining expert advice and experience garnered from congregations throughout North America, Becoming a Congregation of Learners shows us how transformative change is possible. A complete resource full of ideas, information and support, this is a guide for those of us involved in, or interested in, energizing our spiritual communities. Isa Aron, director of Hebrew Union College's Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE), offers concrete, practical information on how to bring about change and revitalization, and helps us make learning a vibrant, integral part of congregational life.

Author : Huron diocese
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 888 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 1875
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OXFORD:555026001

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Proceedings [afterw.] Journal of the synod (of the Church of England). First (-fortieth, forty-second - forty-fourth, sixty-seventh, seventy-first, seventy-third - seventy-sixth, eightieth) session by Huron diocese Pdf

Author : C. Dean Waterman
Publisher : WestBow Press
Page : 178 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2022-10-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781664279612

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Leading a Congregation to Relevance by C. Dean Waterman Pdf

What is the measure of a successful congregation? For most, success is in the numbers, but the new scorecard is relevance, which is deeper, and more impactful. The fundamentals that bring relevance are not new but have been abandoned by many congregations for the newest methods and trends in church growth. Within these pages is a new model for bringing these important fundamentals together. They may be taken as a whole or implemented individually, but when done so they bring a renewed focus to a congregation which results in lives changed, and new relevance to those within the congregation, and in the community it exists in.

Author : Gilbert R. Rendle
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 159 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2001-12-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781566996617

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The Multigenerational Congregation by Gilbert R. Rendle Pdf

Congregations need to learn new cultural languages and practices in order to speak to and be heard by new generations of people. But how do congregations enter the wilderness of ministry with these new generations when many of those in the entourage do not appreciate the trip? In contrast to many writers about church growth, Rendle works with three important observations: (1) Most congregations are not "pure markets," discrete groups with uniform values and behaviors, that can be targeted to the exclusion of all other audiences; (2) Some of the differences and discomforts experienced in the congregation are based on the members' tenure, or length of membership, rather than their age; and (3) Leadership in congregations is not a matter of marketplace savvy but of spiritual authenticity in which we continue to shape our faith tradition to be heard and understood by a changing culture.

Author : Leslie J. Francis,David W. Lankshear
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 358 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2022-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9783030761073

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The Science of Congregation Studies by Leslie J. Francis,David W. Lankshear Pdf

During the past two decades, the Science of Congregation Studies has blossomed significantly in the UK, as well as within the USA and Australia. In this illuminating and thought-provoking volume, Leslie J. Francis’ research group draws on the Signs of Growth Survey conducted throughout the Anglican Diocese of Southwark to illustrate how the strength of combined qualitative and quantitative research methods can draw on the insights of psychological theory, sociological theory, and empirical theology to illuminate pressing questions of relevance to the sociology of religion, psychology of religion, practical theology and pastoral studies. Individual chapters discuss the missing generation of young people, the greying generation aged seventy and over, how occasional churchgoers express belonging and commitment, connections between psychological type and religious motivation, and the distinctive characteristics of growing congregations.

Author : Cynthia Woolever, Deborah Bruce
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 146 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2024-06-03
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9780664236700

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Places of Promise: Finding Strength in Your Congregation's Location by Cynthia Woolever, Deborah Bruce Pdf

Author : Gary L. McIntosh
Publisher : Revell
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 1999-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780800756994

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One Size Doesn't Fit All by Gary L. McIntosh Pdf

Different churches grow in different ways. This book will help you figure out your church's orientation and show the way to healthy growth.

Author : John E. Rybolt
Publisher : New City Press
Page : 733 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2024-06-03
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781565485785

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The Vincentians: A General History of the Congregation of the Mission by John E. Rybolt Pdf

The French Revolution nearly destroyed the Vincentians in France, and those in most other countries were isolated, persecuted in every degree from niggling regulations to imprisonment and martyrdom, and sometimes squeezed into oblivion. To these external miseries were added painful internal schisms: the Italians, abetted by other countries and the Holy See, pushed to center the Congregation in Rome; interdicts against communication with foreign superiors forced provinces in many countries to act autonomously; national pressures to swear loyalty and conform to compromising regulations created splits within the community and threatened to divide the Daughters and separate them from their brothers. Reduced membership and funding crippled the Vincentians’ efforts as they emerged from the worst of the state obstructions. Nevertheless, they began rebuilding and even made struggling beginnings in overseas missions, notably the United States, Brazil, the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, and China, where the martyrdom of two missionaries galvanized interest in this distant and challenging mission.

Author : Andrew Root
Publisher : Baker Academic
Page : 391 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2021-01-19
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781493429721

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The Congregation in a Secular Age (Ministry in a Secular Age Book #3) by Andrew Root Pdf

Churches often realize they need to change. But if they're not careful, the way they change can hurt more than help. In this culmination of his well-received Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy, leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers a new paradigm for understanding the congregation in contemporary ministry. He articulates why congregations feel pressured by the speed of change in modern life and encourages an approach that doesn't fall into the negative traps of our secular age. Living in late modernity means our lives are constantly accelerated, and calls for change in the church often support this call to speed up. Root asserts that the recent push toward innovation in churches has led to an acceleration of congregational life that strips the sacred out of time. Many congregations are simply unable to keep up, which leads to burnout and depression. When things move too fast, we feel alienated from life and the voice of a living God. The Congregation in a Secular Age calls congregations to reimagine what change is and how to live into this future, helping them move from relevance to resonance.