Creating a Healthier Church : Family Systems

An introduction to the Bowen Family Systems Theory and its applications both to church life and to the role of leadership in creating a healthier church, this book explains the complexities of congregational emotional life in understandable language.

Foreword

8

(2)

Howard W. Stone

Acknowledgments

10

(1)

Introduction: When Bad Things Happen in Good Churches

11

(13)

A Sunday Morning in Two Churches

11

(8)

What This Book Is About

19

(1)

Who This Book Is For

20

(2)

The Theoretical Basis of the Book

22

(2)

The Congregation: More Than Meets the Eye

24

(17)

A New Way to Think about Human Beings and Relationships

24

(2)

No One Is an Island

26

(3)

Systems within Systems

29

(2)

In the Emotional System, Relationships Are Not What They Seem

31

(5)

Imagination and Fact: Learning to Observe the Emotional System

36

(5)

What Unbalances the System?

41

(13)

What Is Anxiety?

41

(3)

How Anxiety Develops in Humans

44

(4)

Anxiety and the Self

48

(1)

Anxiety and Relationships

49

(1)

Clam Leadership in the Midst of Anxiety

50

(4)

Being One among Many

54

(12)

Unity and Differences in the Church

54

(2)

The Life Forces for Togetherness and Individuality

56

(5)

The Life Forces and the Bible

61

(2)

The Life Forces in the Church

63

(3)

Closeness, Distance, and the Congregation

66

(14)

The Close/Distant Dynamic

66

(1)

Abandonment and Engulfment

67

(2)

Pursuers and Distancers

69

(3)

Closeness/Distance and the Bible

72

(2)

Closeness/Distance and Church Leadership

74

(6)

Foolishness and Wisdom in Church Leadership

80

(11)

The Basic Ingredients of Foolishness and Wisdom: Fusion and Differentiation

80

(1)

Fusion and Foolishness

81

(4)

Differentiation and Wisdom

85

(2)

Differentiation and the Congregation

87

(4)

Reactivity Is More than Reacting

91

(10)

Anxiety and the Reactive Process in the Congregation

91

(2)

Patterns of Reactivity

93

(8)

The Four Functional Styles of Congregational Life

101

(13)

Bringing It All Together

101

(1)

Enmeshed

102

(3)

Isolated

105

(2)

Connected

107

(2)

Alone

109

(2)

A Third Dimension

111

(3)

Triangles in the Congregation

114

(17)

What Is a Triangle?

114

(6)

Interlocking Triangles

120

(1)

How to Handle Triangles by Repositioning

121

(7)

Triangles and Leadership in the Church

128

(3)

Signs of Serious Problems in a Church

131

(13)

Symptoms of a Church in Difficulty

131

(2)

Over- and Underfunctioning

133

(4)

Projection to a Third Party

137

(3)

Impairment within Key Leaders

140

(4)

Birth Order and Leadership Style

144

(14)

Birth Order Theory

144

(2)

Oldest Children

146

(3)

Youngest Children

149

(3)

Middle Children

152

(1)

The Only Child

153

(2)

Twins

155

(1)

The Bible and Sibling Issues in the Church

155

(3)

Assessing Your Congregation's Emotional System

158

(14)

Introduction to Assessment

158

(1)

When Assessment Is Needed and How It Helps

159

(2)

Goals and Procedures for Assessment

161

(5)

The Assessment Questions

166

(6)

Becoming a Better Leader

172

The Less Anxious Presence

173

Self-Differentiation

176

Preparing for the Reaction

180

Conclusion

182

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

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Creating a Healthier Church : Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and Congregational Life

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials