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Reimagining Church: Change / Conflict

Visioning a future church for the now; creating communities centered on Christ, cosmic good, and conscientious living.

Adult Books

All Our Griefs to Bear     Hardcover The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World Book     The AOC Generation by David Freedlander     The Art of Leading Change: Ten Perspectives on the Messiness of Ministry     Border Dance          Call to Allyship: Preparing Your Congregation for Leaders of Color     Front Cover - Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory     CHURCH AFTER: Finding transformation in unexpected change by [Mitchell Hall, Anna]     Circle of Hope     Clergy Burnout, Revised and Expanded: Surviving in Turbulent Times     Climate Courage          Cover Image     15014. sy475      meenadchi: Decolonizing Non-Violent Communication – ooga booga     The Deepest Belonging: A Story about Discovering Where God Meets Us Cover Image     Did That Just Happen?!     Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most: Patton, Bruce,  Stone, Douglas, Heen, Sheila: 9780670883394: Amazon.com: Books     Dirt Road Revival     Do the Work     Book - Paperback         Emergent Strategy     The Enneagram for Black Liberation: Return to Who You Are Beneath the Armor You Carry     Everything Isn't Terrible     Feed the Wolf: Befriending Our Fears in the Way of Saint Francis     Fierce Love by Dr. Jacqui Lewis     Finding Our Way to the Truth: Seven Lies Leaders Believe and How to Let Go of Them     The Future of American Christianity (Bowers)     Growing Through Disaster: Tools for Financial and Trauma Recovery in Your Faith Community by [Clayton L. Smith, Matthew J. Schoenfeld]     Picture of And He Saw That It Was Good          Holding Change          How to Have an Enemy          In Defense of Kindness: Why It Matters, How It Changes Our Lives, and How It Can Save the World     In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World     Intentional Leadership in between Seasons (Drummond)     Just Us     Lead from the Outside     Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future     Leading with Love     Let’s Talk          The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy     Picture of Love Is the Resistance     Love Without Limits: Jesus' Radical Vision for Love with No Exceptions     Make a Move: How to Stop Wavering and Make Decisions in a Disorienting World     Management in a Changing World     Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age     Many Voices, One Song     Mission Rift: Leading through Church Conflict               Nothing Gained Is Eternal: A Theology of Tradition     The Peacemaker's Path: Multifaith Reflections to Deepen Your Spirituality     People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine: A Clergy Whistleblower's Journey:  Caulfield, Rev. Beth: 9798986103211: Amazon.com: Books     Purposeful Empathy: Tapping Our Hidden Superpower for Personal, Organizational, and Social Change          Cover Image     The Resilient Pastor: Leading Your Church in a Rapidly Changing World:  Packiam, Glenn, Kinnaman, David: 9780801018695: Amazon.com: Books     Returning from the Abyss     SACRED DECISIONS     Salty: Lessons on Eating, Drinking, and Living from Revolutionary Women     Saving Grace by Kirsten Powers     Security after Christendom          Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul: How to Change the World in Quiet Ways     Stuck: Why Clergy Are Alienated from Their Calling, Congregation, and Career ... and What to Do about It     Stuck Together     The Space Between Us     Sustaining While Disrupting book cover     Take What You Need: Life Lessons after Losing Everything     The God Who Riots: Taking Back the Radical Jesus     Teaching in a World of Violent Extremism by [Eleazar S. Fernandez]     Through the Eyes of Titans: Finding Courage to Redeem the Soul of a Nation     Transforming Conflict     Trusting Change          The Water Defenders     We Become What We Normalize: What We Owe Each Other in Worlds That Demand Our Silence     We Need to Build     We Will Not Cancel Us     Picture of What Do We Do When Nobody Is Listening?          Your New Now - Finding Strength and Wisdom When Yo | Cokesbury

Children's Books

Cory and the Seventh Story by Brian D. Mclaren, Gareth Higgins     The Forgiveness Garden     Is Was     peace books.jpg     

Curricula/Training/Webinars

Danger Boat ProductionsThe skills improvisers use to create compelling stories are valuable off-stage too. In their workshops, Danger Boat facilitators guide groups through exercises to enhance listening, collaboration, and creativity. Participants will gain skills in: adaptive leadership, navigating different perspectives, creative brainstorming, deep listening, and comfort in the unknown. Workshops can be tailored for any group size and duration, from 55 minutes to multi-day retreats. Discover new approaches, bring your group closer, and build a “yes, and...” culture all while having fun.

The Art of Difficult Conversations Tane DangerThe Art of Difficult Conversations with Tane Danger of DangerBoat Productions/Theater of Public Policy

LAB Church Split Landing Page ImageIf your church is navigating conflict or what feels like a church split, we’re here to support you with our new, FREE resource called, “Your church split. Where do you go from here?”

This resource is for your church if:

  • You've lost a subset of worshippers due to conflict,
  • You're experiencing a difficult leadership transition,
  • You’re dealing with challenging relational dynamics among members,
  • You're wrestling with questions of identity and mission, 
  • Or you're simply unsure of who your church will be now or what to do next.

This tool will guide you through a series of crucial questions for this season of your ministry. Then we've shared tangible next steps you can take as a body to discern who God is calling you to be in this next season. 

Download this FREE resource

Rev. Nicole Havelka, a certified yoga instructor, offers consulting, training, and team-building services.

CONVERGENCE offers numerous leadership and community development webinars on-demand or in a cohort:

1.5 Day Teach-In with Diana Butler Bass

 

 

 

 

Being Grateful in Difficult Times: An Online Learning Journey with Diana Butler Bass

 

 

 

Transforming Church Conflict

 

 

 

 

 

Courageous Church Summit: Reimagining Our Common Ground for the Collective Good

 

 

 

How to Use Your Church Campus As a Tool for Neighborhood Revitalization

 

 

 

 

White Privilege Let's Talk: A Resource for Transformational Dialogue

 

 

 

 

What Will Happen to Our Churches? A Conversation with National Faith Leaders

 

 

Courageous Faith Summit - a virtual gathering of people of faith and moral conscience

 

 

 

Your Congregation As a School of Love (with Brian McLaron)

 

 

 

 

Curating Change in Your Church (with Brian McLaren)

The Faith+Lead Learning Lab is a place to listen, learn, innovate, and grow. Join other spiritual leaders in grappling with real-world challenges and discoveries of ministry in the 21st Century.

Cover for Right Questions for Church Leaders, Volumes 1-4

Right Questions For Church Leaders, Volumes 1-4

Leaders do not need answers.
Leaders must have the right questions.

Thriving Beyond COVID is a scripture-based small and large group study that will encourage, inspire, and challenge members and get them in a positive frame of mind for your post-COVID journey. Challenges can be managed with faith and a plan. This two-minute video is an introduction. A leader guide, small and large group participant guides, as well as videos are available for free download here.

NEXT Church

BREAKING, BLESSING, BUILDING

A Call For The Common Good

The NEXT Church National Gathering explored necessary breaking, gracious blessing, and essential building.

Learn about the Leaders.

Create a Subscription.

Access Recordings.

Blogs, Podcasts & Articles

Wordpress-2Based on their discussion with Clara King about lay-led ministry Faith+Lead decided to dedicate an entire Q&A episode to address them.

In this listener-inspired episode, Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile, Rev. Dr. Terri Elton, and Dr. Alicia Granholm dive into the shift from clergy-led to lay-led ministry models, tackling audience questions head-on and exploring the implications of this change for churches like yours.

three women talking at a tableLessons from pastors who have left parish ministry

By Journalist and UCC minister in Duke Divinity's Faith & Leadership

Though the number of pastors leaving parish ministry hasn’t amounted to a “great resignation,” those who have left still offer insight into the current state of the American church.

Finding Our Way Logo w/Prentis Hemphillfindingourwaypodcast.com

This isn't a podcast about answers. It is an exploration into ourselves, and the skills we need to create and embody the world we want.

The Soul of Transformation: Exploring Vocations in Social Justice is a podcast and resource for future leaders who not only see and name the realities of injustice in the world but can start imagining new and better solutions. This is for change agents, people who want to work towards achieving authentic racial justice, mitigating the dire impacts of climate change, facing the challenges of immigrants and refugees, and ensuring equality for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Learn more. Contact Rev. Dr. Justin Sabia-Tanis and Rev. Dr. Gary F. Green II for more info.

Sunday Musings

On True Freedom 

Diana Butler Bass

Illustration of two people with happy faces and gifts orbiting themA Gentler, Better Way to Change Minds

Stop wielding your values as a weapon and start offering them as a gift.

By Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic

Centering Marginalized Voices to Lead Change featuring Tyler Sit -- Episode 95

“Centering Marginalized Voices to Lead Change” featuring Tyler Sit — Episode 95

What practices can help church leaders learn from failures and address conflict in ways that lead to fruitful ministry? We speak with Tyler Sit about centering marginalized voices, meeting the needs of the community, managing conflict, and other leadership lessons he has learned as a church planter. 

How Do You Know When It's Time to Go?

by Cindy Halvorson with Susan Miller

Part 1: Internal Factors

Part 2: External Factors

Announcing: The New Normal

Springtide Research Institute is a wealth of research-based information for boundaries and best practices for youth and young adult ministries. The New Normal: 8 Ways to Care for Gen Z in a Post-Pandemic World is but one example.

In Our Library

Front Cover Preview Image - 1 of 9 - The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age     Cover Image     Beyond Measure: The Big Impact of Small Changes (TED Books): Heffernan,  Margaret: 9781476784908: Books - Amazon     Picture of Change and Conflict in Your Congregation (Even If You Hate Both)          Book - Paperback     Church in the Inventive Age  -     By: Doug Pagitt          9781558963788: Churchworks: A well-body book for congregations     Cover Image     Did God Abandon Us? Helping Small Churches Heal (Maddox)     Disunity in Christ                              The Gift to Listen, the Courage to Hear     Spade_mutual_aid     Never Call Them Jerks  -     By: Arthur P. Boers     012 nonviolent communication a language of life 2nd ed by Gianluca Perseo -  Issuu     Book - Paperback               TEACHING FISH TO WALK     9781414308937: Transforming Church: Bringing Out the Good to Get to Great     Transforming Church Conflict     We Can Work It Out front cover     Cover Image 

Studies - In Our Library

Book - Paperback     Book - Paperback