Alice Mann’s recent paper, The Smaller Congregation—Pathways in Challenging Times, is a free download, thanks to Congregational Resources. Mann is a noted author and senior consultant with Alban Institute. Her paper describes five general options for churches that find themselves at a crossroad. She quotes David Raymond and refers to his research on collaborations. This paper, however, is more pessimistic about possibilities for congregational transformation than ChurchFuture.
Kelly A. Fryer & Tana Kjos have a
free eBook, titled
Five Big
Ideas that Will (Probably) Shape Your Work in the Emerging
Future. They start out by saying “The wheels are coming
off—this is the end of business as usual.”
Faith Communities Today, also known as FACT, just came out with their report on A Decade of Change in American Congregations, 2000 – 2010. This report has some encouraging news about the growth of racial/ethnic congregations and some interesting insights about worship. It graphically shows the decline, aging, and financial hardship that most churches are facing today.
ChurchFuture often uses
case studies to show how congregations actually have
transformed. One example that graphically illustrates how
change can be implemented is this 10-minute video about
St. Paul
and the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Chicago.