A few weeks ago after Sunday worship, I was drinking coffee with parishioners at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salisbury, North Carolina.
We were talking about how happy they are with how things are going in the congregation.They mentioned how easily they laugh and socialize together. They talked about their deepening theology, how they are being challenged to think about their relationship with God in new ways.
They mentioned how many of them are designated lay ministers of some kind -- they read and assist during Eucharist; they officiate at morning prayer; they bring communion and visit with those who cannot make it to church.
We spoke at length about a beloved parishioner who had recently died after a grueling illness. Nearly everyone from the congregation had helped provide care for him and his wife, with visits, meals, prayers and gifts. At the funeral and after, they were present and prayerful with his grieving family, giving extraordinary care both to them and to each other.
By almost any measure, St. Paul's is an exceptional and flourishing congregation.
Except one: size.
The total membership of St. Paul's is about 30, though they have seen a solid 10 percent growth over the past two years. Three new members have become very active during that time. One is now in the choir, and another is on the vestry. St. Paul's is a congregation of modest size and modest means, yet they are thriving spiritually.
Read more from Catherine A. Caimano » |
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Reconstructing Church: Tools for Turning Your Congregation Around by Todd Grant Yonkman
The general decline of American mainline Protestant churches today is well-documented. Church redevelopment -- imagining and actualizing new life for dying churches -- is a productive and vital response to congregational decline, but it can be daunting.
Here is a guidebook for church leaders, to help them reinvigorate their churches with both practical advice and tested theory. A comprehensive case study of Beneficent Congregational Church, which successfully turned the tide and quadrupled its worship attendance, provides inspiration as well as concrete strategies for church redevelopment. The study indicates that successful and faithful church redevelopment involves a shift from a modern-patronage ministry model to a postmodern-plural ministry model.
Building on current church redevelopment literature by bringing selected Biblical and theological texts into conversation with leadership concepts, systems theory, social sciences, and congregational studies, this book creates a multidisciplinary transformative conversation. The result is both strategic proposals for growing your church and a model for doing practical theology in your own ministry context. Dedicated, trained leadership in cooperation with the power of the Spirit can create the possibility of new life in dying congregations.
Learn more and order the book » |
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