Church Dynamics and Characteristics, Congregational Research
Part of the ministry resources on Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal.
- Introduction
- Theological and Philosophical Foundations for Church Renewal
- Preparation for Planning
- Understanding Church Characteristics, Church Dynamics
- Congregational Research
- Congregational Culture, Church Identity (separate page)
- Related Ministry Resources
Introduction
Intentional church development and renewal is hard work, for a variety of reasons.
- First, faithful church development involves theological reflection, prayerful discernment, and faithfulness to God’s call. This requires a level of rigor that is beyond the comfortable existence of most churches.
- Second, churches are more complex than many wish to acknowledge. Intentional development brings this complexity to the surface.
- Third, most ministers must lead congregations through a cadre of devoted volunteers, many of whom do not share the ministers’ interest in understanding the congregation deeply, and who may insist on overly-pragmatic adoption of models that have worked in other places.
- Fourth, most church leaders are chosen and admired for their skills in pastoral care, which do not always exist alongside gifts of strategic leadership.
- Fifth, many congregations, even the appointed leaders, do not take congregational life seriously enough to be intentional about growth in all its dimensions.
- Sixth, even if churches are serious, few within the congregation understand how to adapt commonly used planning models for good use.
- Seven, members often underestimate the uniqueness of congregations as compared to the organizations where they work, and try unsuccessfully to adapt corporate models to congregational life, often with disappointing results.
All these factors and more reveal the need for church leaders to be especially diligent in preparing for their planning efforts. This is a kind of pre-work that pays off richly. The following resources help in the preparatory phases as well as in the work of development that follows. I have divided them into five categories:
- Theological and Philosophical Foundations for Church Renewal
- Preparation for Planning
- Understanding Church Dynamics
- Congregational Research
- Congregational Culture/Identity (one of the most powerful components of church dynamics. See separate Resource Guide)
While each of the resources below is helpful, I recommend a three-piece prequel to the planning process.
- Know why planning is important. Source: Drummond, Holy Clarity
- Understand the nature of congregational systems. Source: Galindo, The Hidden Lives of Congregations
- Integrate all the pieces of the planning process. Source: Wrenn, Innovative Planning
See below for resources on the components of the planning process. They are listed in alphabetical order. One may also be interested in the Ministry Resource Guide on Church Leadership Strategies, Overview of Approaches.
Theological and Philosophical Foundations for Church Renewal (see also Ecclesiology)
- Richard Bass, Editor, Leadership in Congregations — An insightful collection of articles from seasoned scholar-practitioners among mainline Protestants on the changing leadership situation facing American congregations.
- Jeffrey D. Jones, Heart, Mind, and Strength: Theory and Practice for Congregational Leadership – Brings together the best of current theory into helping leaders integrate the “what” and “who” of congregational leadership in the new era.
- Jason E. Vickers, Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal — Vickers bases his proposals for renewal on historical theology. It comes highly acclaimed by several notable theologians.
Preparation for Planning:
- Sarah B. Drummond, Holy Clarity: the Practice of Planning and Evaluation — An excellent tool to help church leaders overcome their own internal resistance to planning and equip them to create congregational readiness for the planning process.
- Bud Wrenn, Innovative Planning: Your Church in 4-D – Probably the best “Planning 101” volume available. It is not necessarily a step-by-step process, but is more like a “primer” that describes and integrates the components of good planning.
Understanding Congregational Dynamics:
- Israel Galindo, The Hidden Lives of Congregations: Discerning Church Dynamics – No one exceeds Galindo in presenting a comprehensive picture of church dynamics and how they play into leadership.
- Israel Galindo, Perspectives on Congregational Leadership: Applying Systems Thinking for Effective Leadership – Explains the day-to-day dynamics of congregational leadership from the perspective of emotional systems.
- Lyle E. Schaller and Warren Bird, Wisdom from Lyle E. Schaller: The Elder Statesman of Church Leadership – An excellent collection of the best insights from Lyle Schaller’s writings, and anecdotes from leading contemporary church leaders who have been influenced by him. Schaller is indisputably the most influential thinker on the church in 20th and early 21st centuries. This book distills his wisdom on how churches work.
- Roger Heuser and Norman Shawchuck, Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving the People —Still unsurpassed as the comprehensive manual on church leadership. Part III is especially good on congregational dynamics.
- C. Jeff Woods, On the Move: Adding Strength, Speed, and Balance to Your Congregation – Does a good job explaining the meaning and significance of terms such as identity, mission, vision, etc.
Congregational Research:
- Nancy Ammerman, Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, and William McKinney, Studying Congregations: A New Handbook – The magnum opus of congregational assessment, presenting every conceivable lens through which to see congregational life and a number of proven tools to assess each component.
Related Ministry Resources
Other Resources on Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal:
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal, Index
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Theological Foundations, Ecclesiology
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Philosophical Foundations – e.g. Church Growth, Missional, Emergent, and Other Missionally Responsive Trajectories
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Church Dynamics and Research
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Congregational Culture, Church Identity
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Church Size, Size Transitions
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Special Situations, Small Church Development
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Strategies for Renewal
Ministry Resources on Related Areas
- Church Administration
- Transition and Change in Church
- Conflict in Church
- Elders, Church Governance
- Evangelism
- Church Giving, Tithing, and Financial Stewardship
- Involvement, Spiritual Gifts for Ministry in Church
- Christian Leadership
- Managing Volunteers
- Church Staff, Ministry Teams
- Ministry Transitions, Interim
- Missional Perspectives, Intro
- Missional Strategies
- Pastoral Theology for Church Leaders
- Social Ministry, Social Justice
- Spiritual Formation for Church Leaders
- Theology of Mission and Ministry
See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Christian Ministry: