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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Book Review: Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation Into A Powerhouse For Mission, Brandon Pierce May 2020

Book Review: Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation Into A Powerhouse For Mission, Brandon Pierce

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation into a Powerhouse for Mission, by Krin van Tatenhove and Rob Mueller. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2019. 146 pages, $20.00.


Using Appreciative Inquiry As A Tool For Congregational Change, Jason W. Locke Sep 2018

Using Appreciative Inquiry As A Tool For Congregational Change, Jason W. Locke

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Successful navigation of congregational change is difficult. Churches face numerous technical and adaptive challenges. While leaders can often guide their churches through technical change with logic, negotiation and even force, adaptive change requires a deeper form of reprogramming and congregational discernment. The College Church of Christ, having been in decline for nearly two decades, went through an intensive process of appreciative inquiry to elicit data that might fund a new, life-giving narrative. This article discusses that process and challenges that arose in moving on to next steps.


A Reader's Guide To Intergenerational Ministry And Faith Formation, Dudley Chancey, Ron Bruner Dec 2017

A Reader's Guide To Intergenerational Ministry And Faith Formation, Dudley Chancey, Ron Bruner

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

The concept of intergenerational ministry and faith formation has gained an increasing number of proponents over the last thirty years. Because of the burgeoning literature produced in this field, we have assembled an annotated bibliography intended to give practitioners and church members an overview of the printed work that addresses this important approach to ministry and spiritual formation.


The Minister-Elder Relationship Within “Churches That Work”, Steve Cloer Dec 2016

The Minister-Elder Relationship Within “Churches That Work”, Steve Cloer

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This essay is the summary of a research project focused on how the minister-elder relationship in Churches of Christ can facilitate missional transformation in an established church. Twenty-five reputable congregations of Churches of Christ were researched that were profiled as “Churches That Work” by The Christian Chronicle from 2006-2013. A survey was conducted of these congregations’ elders and ministers assessing their leadership practices and perspectives. Four congregations were selected based on results of the survey and qualitative strategies of interviewing, focus groups, observation, and document gathering were used. Five patterns of a missional polity developed: elders as nurturing pastors, ministers …