Congregational Life Centre
Our mission is to help leaders acquire the skills and attitudes they need to lead
Exploring Possibilities
A Friday Consultation, Saturday Workshop and Sunday Worship Experience
What we know is that congregations that are concerned only about their current membership are the ones that are shrinking. Congregations that are outward looking and determined to minister to the people in their community are the ones that are growing.
Three things make this workshop and the Sunday worship experience special. The Friday consultation gives staff the tools they need to follow-up on the weekend's work. The Saturday workship asks people to share their dream for the congregation and the people in the community it serves. On Sunday the challenge for church members is to become part of the leadership team that makes that dream come true.
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The Congregational Life Centre ... your
Fifteen years ago our research identified leadership as the most critical element contributing to the success or failure of congregational life and this is true in other organizations. The difference between success and failure is leadership. During this fifteen year period we have watched most main-line denominational congregations decline by some 50 percent.
It is time to let good leaders lead. But first we need to arm them with the skills and attitudes they need to be effective leaders. That is what we propose to offer - an opportunity for you to develop into great leaders.
Building on our book Leadership for Today, and using the wisdom of others such as Stephen Covey, Parker Palmer, Jim Collins, Peter Block, and Christina Baldwin, we provide a program that will enable leaders to grow and enhance their potential. The process moves participants along a path beginning with exploring their skills and attitudes, then identifying what they need to learn more about, and finally providing the support and coaching that goes with putting their plans into practice.
The outcome is leaders prepared to lead. To learn more, follow the links below:
Making a Difference
by doing thing differently
Your congregation can make a difference
in your community!
We can make a difference in your congregation!
| There are solutions ... |
SOLUTIONS
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OUTCOMES |
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| to helping new people find a space to belong in your congregation. | Small GroupMinistry can provide spaces for new people. | There will be spaces and places where people feel they can connect and belong. | ||
| to making church shoppers feel welcome in your congregation. | An Intentional Welcoming program includes every member of the family. | Every newcomer feels like an honoured guest in your congregation. | ||
| to the challenge of leading a congregation today. | The skills to lead a congregation in the information age. | An understanding of the role and dynamics of leadership today will lead to thriving communities. | ||
| to the challenge of honouring individual gifts. | Building andmaintaining a team culture creates spaces for individual creativity. | Effective teams are places where synergy happens between lay and clergy. | ||
| to the challenge of being the church for the 21st Century. | Ministry that is relevant and inclusive. | A congregation with a focus and a plan to share God's love is a great place to be. |
Please feel free to call us and explore the possibilities
for your ministry in your community. 780 619-0386
Our Congregational Transformation Process
A Living Process
Every congregation, Presbytery and Synod is different. The key to successful transformation is to build on a congregation's strengths, and listen for the direction that God is calling. When a process is on the right path, God's path, the results are new energy, deepened spirituality, and a fulfilling sense of following in the footsteps of the one who transformed a rag-tag group of individuals into a world-changing Christian movement.
The process we use with any congregation is unique — we design each process based on the reality of a congregation's situation. That means the first thing we do is sit down with a small group from the congregation and ask two questions: "Where are your now?" "Where do you want to be at the end of the transformation process?" We then design the specific process that we think will take you where you want to be and submit that in a proposal that includes costs and timeline. It is then the congregation's choice if they wish to proceed or not.
The Process
"We want our congregation to be vital and alive!" We've been working at the Congregational Life Centre these past ten years to make that wish come true for main-line congregations.
Where lay leaders and clergy really want that to happen, the results have been outstanding. Congregations experience a deep sense of identity, a focused vision, a deepened spirituality, and renewed energy.
Our process involves four phases: Information Gathering, Assimilating, Strategizing, and Implementing. It is a process available to a congregation, or for that matter a Presbytery, Synod, or any body in the church.
Information Gathering
In this phase all the information essential to discern what God wants for the congregation is gathered. This includes exploring the gifts of individuals, the strengths of the congregation, identifying who is coming and why, and identifying who in the community is not coming.
This is also the time when dreams and values are shared, and when understanding the role that leadership has in the life of the congregation is developed.
Interviews are conducted with various agencies in the community to identify potential partnership possibilities and ministries that may be missing in the community.
Assimilating
Once the information is gathered the assimilation phase provides the opportunity to reflect on the data and discern some possibilities for the life and work of the congregation.
The key event is normally a workshop in which members of the congregation are able to articulate their vision and their mission, and begin to explore the possibilities for ministries that use their strengths and match identified needs.
Strategizing
When a number of clear possibilities emerge, the next step is to develop a strategy for achieving them - in other words a plan. This phase includes articulating the goals, objectives, and actions that constitute an exciting, energizing plan. It also includes identifying the types of support that will be needed to implement the plan.
This is the time to recruit a "Dream Team" whose task is to lead the congregation through the steps necessary for implementation. This may include members of the Transformation Leadership Team that have brought the process to this point. The appointment of a new group recognizes the fact that the skills to negotiate and facilitate action are different from those required for a planning process.
Implementing
Only one step remains, to "make it so" as Jean Luc Picard puts it on Star Trek. This is where many fine planning processes falter. Dealing creatively with the blocks and being intentional about the use of resources will make it so.
Centre staff continue to work with the congregation's Dream Team, encouraging and providing advice.
Our Publications
The books we have written are valuable resources for any transformation process. Wings Like Eagles outlines the five areas key to congregational health: vision, spirituality, leadership, identity and creative contact with the people who form the congregation's context - the community the congregation serves. Prisms gives access to the gifts of people in a congregation. Leadership for Today looks to Jesus' model of leadership as the key to effective congregational leadership in the contemporary church.