Each one of you lives, works, and serves within a system. Learning to pull back and understand and diagnose what is happening is an exercise that will help you see God’s activity in your life and church.
Tasks:
In 1100 words, answer the following questions from the readings of your textbook Healthy Congregations: A Systems Approach:
Questions:
Chapter 4
. How is your congregation working with the core issues (p. 43)? Describe goals and actions applicable to each.
. Review the chart on the clergy-focused and mission-focused congregations (pp. 46-47). Note the ways your congregation is clergy focused. What actions could you take to move from being clergy focused to being mission focused?
Chapter 5
. Review the characteristics of a virus (pp. 59-60). What signs do you see that a virus is at work in your congregation?
. Identify present or past situations in your congregation that provide evidence of one or more viruses at work. How has the congregation responded to those viruses? What has the presence of the viruses meant for the health of your congregation?
Chapter 6
. What evidence do you see that your congregation is or is not rigid (pp. 73-74)? Who is involved?
. What do you think your congregation needs to learn (pp. 81-82)? Why? What would this learning do for the life and mission of the congregation?
Textbook: Healthy Congregation: A Systems Approach