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Congregational Life: Vision, Mission, Identity, Dying: Vision

tools for listening to God, generating new vision, developing a mission and empowering communal embrace of congregational identity

Books & Study Guides

2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change     Picture of The Adept Church     Building Up a New World | Congregational Organizing for Transformative Impact          CHURCH AFTER: Finding transformation in unexpected change by [Mitchell Hall, Anna]     Courageous Faith | How to Rise and Resist in a Time of Fear (Heath)     Dirt Road Revival     Book - Paperback     Picture of The Innovative Church     Jesus on Main Street               A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community           The Space Between Us     Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers     Trusting Change     Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day's Radical Vision and Its Challenge for Our Times               Cover of Discovering God's Future for Your Church showing a blank wooden signpost          

Webinars & Studies

Agile Church | Technology Agile Church: Committed to the Future Success of Mainline Churches

Agile Church was founded to help church leaders and congregations navigate the tidal wave of change affecting growth and threatening the survival of mainline churches. Agile Church is a proven system that combines decades of church leadership experience; a diverse range of consulting services; innovative technology; and a library of proven resources into a single church growth system.

Reimagining Our Common Ground for the Collective Good

The church - every church - faces new challenges, imagining what church looks like moving forward from 2020. The Courageous Church Online Summit, dives into leading questions on vision, identity, leadership, and hope, hearing from leading voices and provocative thought leaders on the next best steps for a vital progressive faith movement. 

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.

imageSTRATEGIC VISIONING

Your congregation and community deserve a long-term 
vision and plan. You can't get there alone.

Strategic Planning from Convergence includes:

  • Organizational Assessment
  • Congregational Creative Solve Sessions
  • Strategy Formation
  • Strategic Plan Development

Blogs, Podcasts & Articles

The word VISIONS written in chalk on a blackboardTwo Views of Vision

What kind of vision helps a church finds its way forward? Lovett H. Weems, Jr., says a vision needn’t be grandiose, nor is the process necessarily linear. Drawing on Margaret Wheatley’s “circular” understanding of vision, he explains that visioning can involve a series of small, next-step visions that become a field of energy from which a larger vision emerges. Read more now. 

FOCUS seen through a magnifying glass7 Key Questions to Focus Your Change Agenda

Successful change requires setting priorities. But how can a leader discern which goals are most important? Doug Powe and Lovett Weems suggest a series of questions that can help reveal which initiatives can make the most difference.

Read more

Tony Morgan

Photos of Mikka McCracken and a person holding paper dolls in a chain

Innovating to Reach More People

How can innovation help congregations reach new and younger people? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. interviews Mikka McCracken about innovation, building relationships, and creating person-focused ministries so more people know the way of Jesus and discover community, justice, and love.

Rural church with a red roof

Building Thriving Rural Congregations” featuring Allen Stanton

How can rural churches break free from false narratives and unrealistic metrics? Allen Stanton lays out a new vision for healthy rural congregations as valued stakeholders and potent agents of change within their communities.

Jessica Guleth wonders, "What does it look like for the voices of our youth to be invited in, heard and included in the ways we do for adults? What needs adjusting in our minds and hearts to see and hear them as members?" in The Future of the Church Is Young.

What Now?

Tools for Engaging the Post-Covid Church is a suite of practical resources created for pastors as they navigate the impacts and realities of COVID19. Sign up here.

In Our Library

     Cover Image     9781426753251: The Go-To Church: Post MegaChurch Growth     Growing Young: 6 Essential Strategies to Help Young People Discover and Love Your Church  -     By: Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, Brad Griffin     Cover Image     9781501815034: The Passionate Church     Real Good Church | How Our Church Came Back from the Dead, and Yours Can, Too (Baskette)          SoulTypes: Matching Your Personality and Spiritual Path, Revised Edition