James P. Wind, Constructing Your Congregation’s Story. Augsburg Fortress, 1993.
Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Often, efforts at congregational renewal involve an attempt to craft a history of how God has worked in a congregation since its inception. This is healthy, as it is rare for any conception of a congregation’s future that does not build upon its past to succeed. But how does one construct a true congregational history? Few books are written on this. Congregational research guides such as Nancy Ammerman’s Studying Congregations, suggest the importance of congregational histories, timelines, etc., but most of these materials are not full-range treatments of the topic. This is the value of Wind’s Constructing Your Congregation’s Story.
Wind provides a thorough, step-by-step process. He discusses such aspects as constructing a history team or “community of inquirers” who will facilitate the congregational conversation. From there, he instructs on how to assemble the raw materials, find all the necessary resources, and develop the basic skills of a historian. He then gives an example of how this was done in a Lutheran congregation. From there, he walks participants through assessments of the congregation’s inner life and public profile, to the actual construction of the story, then on to communicating and archiving the congregation’s story.
This is a one-of-a-kind resource, and for those constructing congregational histories, indispensable.
About the Author
James P. Wind, president of the Alban Institute, is a Lutheran clergyman and former program director at Lilly Endowment, Inc. His publications include American Congregations, A Letter on Peace and Good Health, and Places of Worship.
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