Congregations as Learning Communities


Book Description

In our rapidly evolving religious scene, congregations that are open to continuous learning and willing to respond to external and internal change, will be the ones that achieve new vitality and health. Dennis Campbell describes what those congregations will look like and provides four tools to help a congregation shape its community into what God would have it be. Systems thinking, congregational culture, appreciative inquiry, and scenario planning are explained and illustrated, and readers will be shown how to apply the principles to their setting.




The Church As Learning Community


Book Description

Norma Cook Everist contends that it is meaningful to say that in ministries of administration, outreach, and pastoral care, the church is functioning as a learning community. Whenever and wherever Christians are being formed into the image of Jesus Christ through ministry, there Christian education is taking place. Christian education is the name we give to that process of formation. Building on this central insight, Everist has written a major new introduction to the tasks and practices of Christian education. Part 1 of the book focuses broadly on what it means to be the church in the world. Part 2 shows how being a learning community requires ongoing growth in faith throughout the span of life. Part 3 shifts focus to the church as it moves into the community and world.




How Your Congregation Learns


Book Description

Change isn't always easy or intuitive. How Your Congregation Learns introduces churches and leaders--both lay and ordained--to the process of the learning journey. By understanding learning dynamics and working to become a learning community, the congregation will be able to move more purposefully to achieve its goals. Congregations face many kinds of challenges. Some are mundane: the roof leaks; the parking lot needs repaving; the microphones don't work well. Some tests are transcendent: How should lives be honored? What is God calling the congregation to do and be? How can generosity be taught? Throughout life people face challenges for which they are not prepared--the death of a parent, a new job offer, making a decision about where to live. So it goes that congregational leaders face challenges that are just beyond the grasp of their abilities. This book addresses the just-beyond-the-grasp challenges and shows how real congregations can learn from them.




Learning Change


Book Description

How congregations can change into missional, fruitful learning communities "Jim and Trisha understand that profound change roots in individuals before it transfuses systems. Having observed the cycle in themselves as well as in others, they shepherd us into the remissioning work of the Holy Spirit."--Thomas F. Tumblin, professor of leadership, Asbury Theological Seminary In a groundbreaking seven-year experience, Jim Herrington and Trisha Taylor led a cluster of churches in a process of personal and congregational transformation that is producing hope and health. Built on a sound understanding of learning organization theory, adaptive leadership, family systems theory, and recent discoveries in the neurosciences, Herrington and Taylor developed and refined a highly fruitful model of church renewal. This model begins with personal renewal in which congregations learn how to become learning communities and ends with church-wide transformation. Learning Change is the pastor and congregational leaders' field guide to leading change. Each chapter provides training and information, an aspect of the learning change model, stories of real-life experiences in churches, and questions and suggestions for taking this information into a congregational context.







A Congregation of Learners


Book Description

Learning communities and how can they be more effective in reaching and holding the various populations of Jews in the late 1990's?




Becoming a Congregation of Learners


Book Description

How can my congregation transform itself? How can we re-dedicate ourselves to learning? Improving spiritual connection in our communities takes work! Combining expert advice and experience garnered from congregations throughout North America, Becoming a Congregation of Learners shows us how transformative change is possible. A complete resource full of ideas, information and support, this is a guide for those of us involved in, or interested in, energizing our spiritual communities. Isa Aron, director of Hebrew Union College's Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE), offers concrete, practical information on how to bring about change and revitalization, and helps us make learning a vibrant, integral part of congregational life.




Educating Congregations


Book Description

A leading Christian educator offers a practical guide for revisioning a church's educational program. After identifying the weaknesses in current education programs, Charles Foster offers an alternative vision that is more cooperative, more attentive to the whole of the congregation's life, and that helps people critically correlate the Bible and Christian tradition to their own experience.




Planning for Christian Education Formation


Book Description

This book was written to help congregational leaders, clergy, staff, and laypersons, plan and organize a Christian education ministry from the approach of Christian formation in a community of faith context. This book provides a model for organizing the Christian education leadership committee or team of the church, demonstrates how to use the church year as a framework for planning the Christian education ministry of the church, and gives a model for assessing the effectiveness of the educational ministry of the church and a process to help congregations move toward the Christian Education Formation approach.




Enhance Learning in Parishes


Book Description