When your congregation is developing or revisiting "guiding documents" for leaders that are endorsed by the congregation as a whole (e.g....

One of the most important keys to congregational health and vitality--along with a clear purpose--is a cohesive leadership team.

The purpose provision of the bylaws distinguishes the congregation from other institutions in the community and sets out the basic parameters for all the activity of the congregation.

Annual reports, often published in conjunction with a congregation's annual meeting, provide an opportunity to report on the annual goals that are serving the mission and vision of the congregation

A congregation’s mission is an answer to the question, “Why does this congregation exist in the world?” Congregational leaders are constantly faced with a barrage of decisions. Without a clear mission, how can they make those decisions?

I have a love-hate relationship with surveys, especially surveys used as a part of congregational planning. Frankly, used in this context they can often do more harm than good. When used as one among a number of ways of collecting data, they can get great and comparatively easy way to add peripheral vision to face-to-face methods of gathering response. Here Ian Evison offers a few guidelines for using surveys well.

Organizations, like all systems, seek equilibrium. If a congregation is thrown out of balance by the prospect of change, most members will seek to restore order and sameness. This is natural and should not be a reason to judge one another. Healthy organizations have developed the ability to be receptive to change and resistance--to lean into the disruption to their equilibrium. This is where a congregation becomes a community of learning.

We often claim that budgets are moral documents, and that congregational budgets should reflect our values. But line item budgets that include "office supplies, utilities, salary" and other such descriptions don't show how these line items serve the mission of the congregation. How might...

There have been many processes and methods that are based on the notion that there is collective wisdom that can be gleaned from the whole.

Practical Decision Making How a congregation makes decisions should reflect all the characteristics of a free church. Respectful participation, democratic values, and reference to common principles and mission should be common in our practices and most clearly evident in congregational meetings....

Smaller congregations in many denominations are struggling to survive. This doesn't mean they are necessarily "doing church" badly. But it does mean they need to do church differently. Intuiting this need, church leaders often begin gearing up for a strategic planning process....

A wonderful exercise to elicit emerging ideas and to discover where the energy resides in a large group.

Mission speaks to the congregation’s calling, the source of its integrity and it’s central reason for being. What are we called to be and do?

This process can be run in a morning, afternoon, or a longish evening. The program works well with teenagers on up to seniors. Provide a variety of spaces for people to sit and work—some will want to work at tables, others may prefer comfortable chairs, and still others may want to sit on the...

The vision, mission, covenant and other guiding documents can be incorporated into the life of the congregation in an unlimited number of ways in order to keep them in front of the members. The following are some suggestions:

To keep your mission, vision, covenant and other guiding documents relevant, it's helpful to revisit them every 5-7 years.

Vision statements need to be useful to the leaders. Effective vision statements tend to have common characteristics.