Lyle E. Schaller and Warren Bird, Wisdom from Lyle E. Schaller: The Elder Statesman of Church Leadership. Abingdon Press, 2012. Referenced in: Church Leadership Foundations, Church Dynamics, Church Research Church Leadership Strategies, Overview of Approaches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is a distillation of best insights from a man known as the “Dean of Church Consultants,” who
Erwin Raphael McManus, An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind. Group Publishing, 2001. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity Leadership and Organizational Culture Missional Strategies – First Read LifeandLeadership.com Summary It is hard to know exactly how to categorize this resource. This may be its value. McManus is Lead Pastor
Will Mancini, Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity Leadership and Organizational Culture Strategies for Church Renewal – Leader-Directed Vision-Casting Strategies for Church Renewal – Organic LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is probably one of the most helpful volumes available in
Samuel R. Chand, Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision and Inspiration, Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series. Jossey-Bass, 2010. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity Leadership and Organizational Culture LifeandLeadership.com Summary There are several important components of congregational purpose, but none more powerful than congregational culture. It is also distinguished from components such
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
James F. Hopewell, Congregation: Stories and Structures. Augsburg Fortress, 2006. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity LifeandLeadership.com Summary This remains as one of the most fascinating and unique discussions of the church since its original publication in the late 1980s. It may be still be purchased as hard copy, but the entire text may also
Carl S. Dudley and Sally A. Johnson, Energizing the Congregation: Images that Shape Your Church’s Ministry. Westminster/John Knox, 1993. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity LifeandLeadership.com Summary This volume makes a helpful contribution to understanding church identities and images. It is not as broad a treatment of the subject as Chand’s Cracking Your Church’s Culture
C. Ellis Nelson, Editor, Congregations: Their Power to Form and Transform. Westminster John Knox Press, 1988. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity LifeandLeadership.com Summary For many years, this has been the standard resources for understanding the role of identity in congregational life. It is the result of a project by a team of practical theologians
Janet R. Cawley, Who Is Our Church? Imagining Congregational Identity. Alban Institute, 2006. Referenced in: Congregational Culture, Church Identity LifeandLeadership.com Summary Cawley presents a well-crafted process for churches to understand their identity. She defines identity as “what makes a congregation unique, distinct from all others.” (5) She says the closest analogy to congregational identity is
Israel Galindo, The Hidden Lives of Congregations: Discerning Church Dynamics. Alban Institute, 2004. Referenced in: Church Dynamics, Research Leadership and Emotional Systems, Self-Differentiation LifeandLeadership.com Summary One might call this book “Congregations 101,” or “The Primer on What Makes Churches Tick,” or “Congregational Dynamics Through the Lens of Emotional Systems.” Regardless of one’s approach to congregational
