C. Jeff Woods, On the Move: Adding Strength, Speed, and Balance to Your Congregation. Chalice Press, 2009. Referenced in: Church Leadership Foundations, Church Dynamics, Research LifeandLeadership.com Summary When conducting intentional congregational renewal, one encounters terms such as identity, mission, vision, etc. Most resources define them well enough, but Jeff Woods provides a thorough guide to
Nancy Ammerman, Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, and William McKinney, Studying Congregations: A New Handbook. Abingdon Press, 1998. Referenced in: Church Leadership Foundations, Church Dynamics, Research LifeandLeadership.com Summary Any responsible planning process includes congregational assessment and evaluation. Most planning workbooks will include their own mechanisms for this, but if one wants to go deeper
Diana Butler Bass and Joseph Stewart-Sicking, Editors, From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations. Alban Institute, 2005. Prequel: Bass, The Practicing Congregation (2004) Sequel: Bass, Christianity for the Rest of Us (2007) Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This volume is the second book by Bass that reflects the
Diana Butler Bass, Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. HarperOne, 2007. Prequels: Bass, The Practicing Congregation (2004) Bass, From Nomads to Pilgrims (2005) Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This volume is the third book by Bass that reflects the findings of
Diana Butler Bass, The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church. Alban Institute, 2004. Sequels: Bass, From Nomads to Pilgrims (2005) Bass, Christianity for the Rest of Us (2007) Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is the first of three volumes that reflect the findings of “The Project on
Alice Mann, Can Our Church Live? Alban Institute, 2000. Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This volume reflects the findings of an Alban Institute task force on the phenomenon of “Redevelopment.” In the study, they chose a number of congregations that seemed beyond the point of recovery due to factors
Mary Louise Gifford, The Turnaround Church: Inspiration and Tools for Life-Sustaining Change. Alban Institute, 2009. Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This resource definitely fits into the descriptive vs. prescriptive category. It is the inspiring story of the renewal of a church that had very little hope and few tangible
Bob Russell and Rusty Russell, When God Builds a Church: 10 Principles for Growing a Dynamic Church. Howard Books, 2000. Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary Bob Russell is one of the most respected ministers in America, and understandably so. This is not only because of his success as a
Paul Wilkes, Excellent Protestant Congregations: The Guide to Best Places and Practices. Westminster/John Knox, 2004. Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is the result of researching over 300 Protestant congregations that fit certain criteria for effectiveness. Nine of them are profiled in the book. One criteria was to find
Kevin G. Harney and Bob Bouwer, The U-Turn Church: New Direction for Health and Growth. Baker Books, 2011. Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches LifeandLeadership.com Summary The authors address how to transition a historically traditional church that has lost its missional connection with its surrounding community and “turn” into a fully engaged
