Congregational Life Centre
Our mission is to assist congregations to be more
effective in their ministry
Wings
Like Eagles
How to be a Thriving Congregation in the 21st Century
by Clair Woodbury and Joyce Madsen
Wings like Eagles is the name of this book, because we want congregation
to soar with all the energy and passion, all the tranquility and spirituality
that eagles bring to their magnificent flight. This book is for those who
want to reach out to people in their community, who are willing to risk
being different, and for those who take Jesus' offer of new lives for old
seriously.
ISBN: 0-9688358-0-5 $19.95
Publisher and Distributor
Congregational Life Centre
#1405, 5328 Calgary Trail, Edmonton AB T6H 4J8
Phone 780.619-0386
www.congregationallife.com
Contents
The Five Dimensions
Identify
Context
Leadership
Vision
Putting It All Together
Sample from the Book
What is the role of the church in a time of rapid change? Those who take
their faith seriously want a church that keeps them in contact with God
and provides a vehicle for ministering to people's needs. They want to create
congregations that are simultaneously rooted in the traditional story and
have a ministry that is relevant today. Our mission at the Congregational
Life Centre has been to assist congregations to be more effective in their
ministry. Over the past ten years we have worked with hundreds of congregations.
That has provided us with an incredible learning opportunity as we developed
practical ways for congregations to meet the challenges that are impacting
them. As a result, we have seen congregations come to an understanding of
what is needed, create a realistic plan, and find the will to make it happen.
We light a candle each day when we come into the office. It is a spiritual
exercise that gives visible expression to invisible realities. From time
to time in this book we suggest ways you can deepen your own spirituality.
We have written this book as a prayer, and encourage you to experience it
as a spiritual as well as a practical journey.
We were born before polio shots, contact lenses and "the pill," credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball point pens. We pre-date pantyhose, clothes dryers, electric blankets, and the walk on the moon.
We were before house-husbands, computer dating, and group therapy. We never heard of FM stereo, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, or word processors, yoghurt, and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, chip meant wood, hardware was hardware, and software wasn't even a word. A web was something a spider created.
The world has changed. The question we want to ask: "Has the church changed to meet the needs of the present world?"
Traditionally, the church was perceived to be a place where we could develop our spirituality and learn to understand our soul. For Christians it was a place to establish a personal relationship with God and with Jesus.
Surveys tell us that today approximately 50% of those who live in our communities do not have a faith connection. We are also told that more than 85% of these same people have a relationship and a belief in God, whatever that might mean for them. They spend time in prayer, though it may be a personal or meditational form of prayer. If that is true, why is it that mainline congregations are in a state of decline? Is that not what the church is about - helping people to connect with each other and with God?
Obviously, we in the church are missing the mark in some way or another.
It is not just one denomination - Anglicans, the United Church, the Presbyterian
Church, the Lutheran Church. Every congregation we know is struggling with
the same challenge - to discover what God wants them to do and to be as
they move into the 21st century.