The Stories Congregations Tell
Flourishing in the Face of Transition and Change
- Church Leadership & Ministry
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2024
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Publisher's Description
Congregations are story-telling communities. The stories they tell, which link a community's past, present, and future, can play an important role in whether a congregation flourishes or not. The Stories Congregations Tell features detailed case study research from seven dynamic Canadian congregations across theological traditions and geographical regions. Readers will encounter narratives that congregations tell themselves through a myriad of congregational and social transitions, accounts that shape how congregations interpret, frame, approach, and ultimately flourish in ministry. On the surface congregational descriptions appear specific to local contexts. Yet, cultural analysis reveals several commonalities across distinct congregational cultures that appear resilient in the face of challenge and change. These factors include visionary leadership, clear congregational identity rooted in spiritual formation, hospitable community among members, and intentional systems and structures oriented toward a congregation's mission. This book offers social scientific analysis and theological reflection on the stories congregations tell and the function those stories play for a congregation's culture, along with practical and hopeful applications to arise from this research.
Endorsements (1)
“Our true stories, well told, are one of the most powerful tools humans have to connect with each other and to grow and learn. That is true of organizations like churches as well. In this fascinating book, Joel Theissen, Arch Chee Keen Wong, and Mark Chapman take us inside the stories of Canadian congregations from coast to coast and examine what those stories tell us and the role the stories play in the flourishing of the congregations and their mission within their communities. Building naturally on earlier work on flourishing, this volume itself contributes significantly to the story of the Canadian Church. An inspiring and valuable work.”
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