Managing the Congregation

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ISBN: 9780687088980 | 0687088984
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 3/1/1996

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Managing the Congregation is the third volume of a trilogy for church leaders. This volume focuses on the relationships, structures, and processes common to the religious congregation. The emphasis is on transforming people through the identification and maximization of effective processes within. Book jacket.

Acknowledgments	p. 13
Preface	p. 14
The Manager
Introduction to Part One	p. 15
The Manager as Steward	p. 17
Disciplining Oneself to Function Effectively	p. 17
The Dysfunctional Manager	p. 18
The Malfunctional Manager	p. 18
The Nonfunctional Manager	p. 19
The Minister as Steward	p. 21
Jesus Depends upon the Church	p. 21
Raising Lazarus from the Dead	p. 22
Partnering with Christ	p. 24
The Manager as a Person Before God	p. 26
The Elements of the Manager's Spirituality	p. 27
The Spirituality of the Apostolic Church: Downward Mobility	p. 28
The Spirituality of Christendom: Upward Mobility	p. 28
The Temptations of Upward Mobility	p. 29
Essential Spiritual Disciplines for the Religious Manager	p. 31
Means of Grace	p. 31
Living in a Covenant Community	p. 33
Keeping a Spiritual Journal and Management Journal	p. 34
Listening to the Blessed Impulse	p. 36
What Spirit Does the Manager Project upon the Congregation?	p. 39
What the Manager Manages: A Systems Approach to Management	p. 43
The Manager's Instrument Panel: A Systems Approach	p. 45
Environment	p. 47
Inputs into the Congregation	p. 47
Boundary Region of the Congregation	p. 48
The Transforming System	p. 49
Congregation's Mission	p. 49
Congregation's Vision and Spirit	p. 49
Organizational Design	p. 50
Congregation's Relationships	p. 51
Output System	p. 51
Feedback Loop	p. 52
Merging Divine and Human Efforts	p. 53
The Congregation and Its Environment
Introduction to Part Two	p. 56
The Congregation's Environment: Inputs, Boundaries, and Outputs	p. 58
Environmental Changes: Threats or Opportunities	p. 59
The Church's View of Its Environment	p. 60
The Apostolic Church	p. 61
The Sect-Type Congregation	p. 62
The Church in Christendom	p. 62
Exchange Relationships of the Congregation with Its Environment	p. 63
Inputs from the Congregation's Environment	p. 65
The Congregation's Boundaries	p. 66
Physical Boundaries	p. 67
Sentient Boundaries	p. 67
The Boundary Regions of the Mind	p. 68
The Ghosts of Experiences Past	p. 70
The Boundary Region in Your Mind	p. 72
The Congregation's Outputs	p. 72
The Gap Between Desired Outputs and Actual Outputs	p. 73
The Congregation's Mission	p. 76
Mission and the Church's Environment	p. 80
Discerning the Congregation's Mission	p. 81
The Timeless and the Timely Aspects of Mission	p. 82
Large Environmental Shifts	p. 84
Responding to the Human Condition	p. 87
Becoming Clear about the Congregation's Mission	p. 89
The Three Questions of Missional Clarity	p. 89
Who are we?	p. 90
What is our business?	p. 92
How do we get it done?	p. 94
The Congregation's Energy Source
Introduction to Part Three	p. 98
The Congregation's Vision	p. 101
The Difference Between Vision and Mission	p. 101
How Vision May Come to a Congregation	p. 103
Vision As a Result of Divine Encounter	p. 103
A Divine Impulse, or a Blessed Hunch	p. 104
Seeing Through a Need	p. 105
Vision as a Cloud 9 Experience	p. 106
The Hopes and Dreams of the Members	p. 107
Vision in Its Simplest Form	p. 108
Just Make One Up	p. 109
Practice Foresight	p. 109
Characteristics of Vision	p. 110
Blockages to Vision	p. 111
Announcing a Periodic Theme	p. 111
"God Told Me" Language	p. 112
Robert's Rules of Order	p. 114
How Do You Know if You Need a New Vision?	p. 116
The Spirit of the Congregation	p. 120
The Congregation's Common Spirit and Its Spirituality	p. 122
The Spirit of the Apostolic Church	p. 122
The Spirit of the Roman Church in the 12th-16th Centuries	p. 124
The Spirit of the Pastor Projected upon the Congregation	p. 125
Practical Conditions for Tending the Common Spirit of the Congregation	p. 126
Silence and Stillness	p. 127
Timing	p. 128
The Discerning Heart	p. 132
Designing The Congregation As System
Introduction to Part Four	p. 136
The Basic Components of Organization Design: Structures and Belief Systems	p. 140
The Organization's Design: Structures and Belief Systems	p. 141
Grouping Task, Structure, and Belief Systems	p. 142
The Structure After Change	p. 147
Organizational Alignment	p. 148
Organization Designs Channel or Block the Energy Flow	p. 150
The Path of Least Resistance	p. 155
The Influence of Habits	p. 157
Changing Energy Flow in the Congregation	p. 158
Enhancing Energy Flow in the Congregation	p. 159
The Essence of the Congregation's Design	p. 163
Bureaucracy and Paternalism: Vestiges of a Dying Order	p. 164
Bureaucracy	p. 165
The Structure of Bureaucracy	p. 166
The Loss of Trust in Bureaucratic Systems	p. 168
Changes Affecting All People	p. 169
The Belief System of Bureaucracy: Paternalism	p. 171
The Persuasiveness of Bureaucracy and Paternalism	p. 172
Bureaucracy, Paternalism, and American Religious Institutions	p. 173
The Denomination's Role as Regulatory Agency: An Example of Worn-Out Wineskins	p. 178
Partnership: A New Era in Organization Design	p. 182
The Demise of Christendom and the Search for a New Organization Paradigm	p. 183
The Hallmarks of Partnership	p. 184
Absolute Honesty	p. 184
Straight Talk	p. 185
The Right to Say No	p. 185
Joint Accountability	p. 186
No Promises of Security	p. 186
The Elimination of Status Symbols and Perks	p. 187
The Exchange of Purpose	p. 187
The Essential Prerequisite for Partnership	p. 188
Selecting the Right People	p. 188
The Major Impediments to Finding the Right People for Partnership	p. 189
The Nominating Process	p. 189
Asking Volunteers to Name the Job They Want in the Church	p. 190
Supervision and Assessment in Partnership Structures	p. 190
Partnership in Action	p. 192
Current Examples of Partnership	p. 192
Steps Toward Partnership	p. 196
Operating Principles for Partnership	p. 202
The Congregation's Relationships
Introduction to Part Five	p. 205
The Congregation's Working Relationships	p. 207
The Effects of Mission and Organizational Design upon Relationships Within the Congregation	p. 208
The Historical Development of Relational Belief Systems	p. 209
Relational Belief Systems Defined	p. 210
Theory X	p. 210
Human Relations	p. 211
Theory Y	p. 212
Stages of Community Development	p. 214
Pseudocommunity	p. 214
Chaos	p. 214
Emptiness	p. 215
Community	p. 216
Relationships in the Congregation	p. 220
Intimacy in Relationships	p. 220
The Sacrament of Human Relationships	p. 221
Behaviors that Limit the Sacrament of Community	p. 222
Behaviors that Contribute to the Sacrament of Community	p. 223
Relationships Lived Out in Covenant Communities	p. 226
Jesus' Model for Establishing a Healthy Relationship	p. 226
The Use of Power in Ministry and Management	p. 231
Power: The Currency of Management	p. 233
Aversion to the Use of Power	p. 234
Four Types of Power and Their Results	p. 235
The Source of the Manager's Power	p. 238
God is the Source of All Power	p. 238
The Power of Your Personal Example	p. 239
The Temptations That Come with Power	p. 241
Conflict Management	p. 245
Church Conflict, All Too Familiar	p. 246
Major Sources of Conflict in the Church	p. 250
Conflicts Arising from Faith Commitments	p. 251
Ineffective Organizational Structures or Ministries	p. 253
Intercultural Differences	p. 254
Solving Problems and Managing Conflicts Across Cultures	p. 254
Three Dimensions of Conflict	p. 257
Conflict over Values and Traditions	p. 258
Conflict over Purpose and Goals	p. 258
Conflict over Methods	p. 258
Levels of Conflict	p. 260
Intervening into Conflict	p. 261
Assumptions in Intervention Work	p. 261
Various Intervention Models	p. 263
Intervention Designs for Groups and/or Organizations	p. 264
The Pain of Forgiving	p. 267
Family Systems Theory Applied to Religious Organizations	p. 271
Dysfunctional Congregations	p. 272
Family Systems Theory	p. 275
Anxiety	p. 279
Boundaries	p. 281
Boundaries and Overfunctioning	p. 284
Emotions	p. 285
Triangling	p. 288
Symptom Bearer	p. 291
Homeostasis	p. 291
Changes That Affect Homeostasis	p. 293
Series Relationships Versus Parallel Relationships	p. 294
Series Relationships	p. 294
Parallel Relationships	p. 296
Intervening in Dysfunctional Systems: A Family Systems Approach	p. 300
How Organizations Become Dysfunctional	p. 300
Compulsive/Addictive Behaviors and Co-dependency	p. 300
Levels of Addiction in the Church	p. 303
The Twelve-Step Recovery Program	p. 307
Rules for Working in a Dysfunctional Organization	p. 309
The Learning Congregation
Introduction to Part Six	p. 314
The Learning Congregation: Feedback, Reinforcing, Balancing, and Limits to Growth	p. 316
Learning Organizations	p. 316
The Feedback Loop	p. 318
Reinforcing Feedback	p. 323
Reinforcing Positive Behaviors and Results	p. 324
Reinforcing Negative Behavior and Results	p. 326
Balancing Feedback	p. 327
Homeostasis	p. 327
A Serendipitous Reinforcing Cycle	p. 332
Limits to Growth	p. 334
Shifting the Burden	p. 337
Quality and Continuous Improvement: The Ultimate Test of Management	p. 341
W. Edwards Deming and Quality Go to Japan	p. 342
The Churches and Quality	p. 343
Clergy Training Institutions and Quality	p. 346
The Three Keys to Quality and Kaizen	p. 348
Looking for Quality Closer to Home	p. 352
Growth and Quality in the Younger Denominations	p. 353
Postlude	p. 357
Notes	p. 359
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Managing the Congregation

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials