{"id":3789,"date":"2015-10-18T09:40:54","date_gmt":"2015-10-18T16:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/?p=3789"},"modified":"2015-10-16T09:50:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T16:50:11","slug":"congregational-development-what-is-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/congregational-development-what-is-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Congregational Development \u2013 What is it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every organization, whether it is a church, business, or social club, is a living system with many moving parts.\u00a0 Different elements interact with each other, thus influencing the rest of the system.\u00a0 No one element stands alone.\u00a0 So, when one element changes, the rest of the system is impacted.<\/p>\n<p>For example, using the below model, if the leadership of an organization changes, the rest of the system is impacted.\u00a0 If the strategy of an organization is modified, the structures, processes, etcetera will naturally be impacted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Elements-of-an-Oganziational-System.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3790\" src=\"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Elements-of-an-Oganziational-System-300x296.jpg\" alt=\"Elements of an Oganziational System\" width=\"300\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Elements-of-an-Oganziational-System-300x296.jpg 300w, https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Elements-of-an-Oganziational-System.jpg 609w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In church, managing change, communicating effectively, growing in numbers and vitality, and empowering leadership are key to creating a vibrant and sustainable community.\u00a0 However, rarely do these traits manifest organically.\u00a0 Rather, tools are implemented in order to lead the system into greater health.<\/p>\n<p>Congregational development is the study of creating Christian communities to best emulate the Body of Christ for its members and the world.\u00a0 It leans on the tools and teachings of organizational development, along with integrating the fields of pastoral and ascetical theology, scripture, liturgy, church history, and spiritual practices.\u00a0 The blending of the disciplines of the church with organizational development assists in the creation of faithful, healthy and effective communities.<\/p>\n<p>Last spring, I began a program with the <strong><em>Collaborative for Church Vitality<\/em><\/strong>, a two-year partnership with the Diocese of California and the Diocese of Northern California to become a skilled practitioner of Congregational Development.\u00a0 This effort was at the invitation of the Diocese and with the support of the vestry.\u00a0 The training is not just for clergy, but for lay leadership as well.\u00a0 The vestry and I will explore the value of sending a team of parishioners next year to increase our effectiveness.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of this program are far and wide, and St. James\u2019 has already seen the fruits of the program.\u00a0 I am teaching the material to the staff periodically and to the vestry monthly.\u00a0 Together, we\u2019ve learned about how we gather people into community through the \u201cGather-Transform-Send\u201d model.\u00a0 Several times, I\u2019ve used the \u201cGradients of Agreement\u201d model to assess the readiness of a group to make a decision.\u00a0 The vestry is engaging in writing \u201ccharters\u201d with each ministry team as a method of articulating our purpose and direction.\u00a0 These are just a few ways in which we\u2019ve been able to apply this material in real-time to real situations.<\/p>\n<p>I look forward to continuing this work as one way of leading St. James\u2019 into a bright and vibrant future.<\/p>\n<p>Lori+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every organization, whether it is a church, business, or social club, is a living system with many moving parts.\u00a0 Different elements interact with each other, thus influencing the rest of the system.\u00a0 No one element stands alone.\u00a0 So, when one element changes, the rest of the system is impacted. For example, using the below model,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congregational-development","category-the-window","ctfw-no-image"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Congregational Development \u2013 What is it? - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/congregational-development-what-is-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congregational Development \u2013 What is it? - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every organization, whether it is a church, business, or social club, is a living system with many moving parts.\u00a0 Different elements interact with each other, thus influencing the rest of the system.\u00a0 No one element stands alone.\u00a0 So, when one element changes, the rest of the system is impacted. 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