Here are some guiding questions and ideas about including a youth on your congregation's board.

Dynamic congregations rarely have a hard time dreaming new dreams, but many struggle to choose from among a parade of compelling ideas about how to use their time and energy.

Innovation! Adaptation!! Experimentation!!! We live in a time of incredible change and shifting paradigms. Technology continues to zoom along at a pace that is breathtaking and society seems to be chomping at the bit for the next big thing. At the same time, some of the things we thought we could...

Learn how the human brain is impacted by anxiety in organizations like congregations.

CAR Care Leads to Trust Based on https://books.google.com/books?id=s3n-LlLkGIcC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v… Thin Book of Trust by Charles Feltman When assessing trustworthiness in yourself and others, there are four major qualities to look out for: Competence ability to perform a task or get a job done.

Many congregations start the church year with a retreat for the Board of Trustees (including the Minister). Ideally, this retreat is held Friday evening through Saturday afternoon, at a site away from the place you usually meet. Perhaps you could go to someone's lake cabin or a local retreat center,...

Healthy and transparent communication needs to be mutual, with all parties taking responsibility for their words. Leaders should have firm policies against accepting anonymous feedback.

These workshops have been created by the staff of the Central East Region to present for congregations or groups of congregations. If you see a workshop you would like offered in your area, please reach out to your primary contact to start the conversation.

One of the keys to a healthy congregational staff team is that they understand themselves as a team....

Congregational boards are intended to provide collective discernment;rather than be a forum for competing interests or agendas. Faithful boards arein alignment with and accountable to the mission and vision of the congregation.

a. Speaking with One Voice b. Team Players: Interpersonal Dynamics c. Minutes and Records

What is the difference between a technical challenge and an adaptive challenge? Rev. David Pyle gives a helpful example.

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.

Video, based on the book Taking Your Church to the Next Level: What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Gary L. McIntosh

One key insight for leaders is to understanding how responses to change are not just intellectual, but emotional. This presentation provides a mental model using a rollercoaster to help you lead through change.

(Atlanta, GA, 2000) Following a morning worship service, Alban Institute consultant Alice Mann was introduced to lead the day's learning experience on "Navigating Change in the Midsize Congregation." Mann, the author of "The In-Between Church," is an Episcopal priest who has been involved in...

Fun and Effective Team Building Activities for Your Board, Committees, and Congregation Synergy is what happens when a group of people accomplish something that one or two or a few alone could not. Where there is teamwork, there is synergy....

In marriage we have vows and in congregations we have behavioral covenants. Without intention and agreements on how to process disagreements and conflicts, vows and covenants can end up meaningless, or even harmful. In other words, we need to agree on how to fight, for fight we will. In this...

The challenges that Membership Professionals face require that one react both with their head and with their heart....

Rev. Renee Ruchotzke talks about UU Leadership Institute and where the idea for that came from. Dawning Future November 2015...