Congregational Life Centre
Our mission is to assist congregations to be more
effective in their ministry
Congregational Life Centre
Our Story
The mission of the Congregational Life Centre is to assist congregations
to be more effective in their ministry. We have chosen the eagle for our
symbol, because we want congregations to soar, with all the energy and passion,
all the tranquility and spirituality that eagles bring to their magnificent
flight. We have seen too many churches that are happy just to trudge along,
slowly declining in numbers as members lapse into deepening states of lethargy.
God expects a lot more from the church than mere survival. We want congregations
who are willing to risk being different, who want to serve the people in their
community, who want to fly with the eagles. We want to assist congregations
who take Jesus' offer of new lives for old seriously. 
Our work evolved out of a five-year research project to study new church development that was funded by the United Church of Canada and housed at St. Stephen’s College in Edmonton. Clair Woodbury served as Director of the project and Joyce Madsen chaired the coordinating committee that guided the project.
We are entering the second decade of working with congregations as the Congregational Life Centre. We have developed and refined a transformation process that we have used with individual congregations as well as with a cluster of five. The tranformation process is outlined in our book Wings Like Eagles. A companion Leader's Guide outlines workshops we have found to be effective in leading a congregation through this process.
Our "Transformation Tree" ties the five basic dimensions and three support areas together in a picture that symbolizes their interdependence. The roots include People, Finances, and Structure. The trunk is the Leadership, and the branches represent Context, Identity, and Spirituality. The Vision is what the tree is growing toward and is its source of energy.
It is important to stay on the cutting edge of the congregational development field. Books, articles and the Internet are three resources we use. We also have an active research program, taking the questions people in congregations ask us and looking for answers. We have investigated the dynamics when congregations are amalgamated, and have developed a series of articles on "Congregations that Dare to be Different."