Religious Congregations

A religious congregation may use Organization Development in creating a sense of direction - visioning and planning; establishing a direction that fits the congregation's context and the changes it faces. Congregations can also make use of a variety of resources:

• Overall improvement of congregational life and mission; total system improvement
• Increasing trust and managing conflict
• Team building and improving meetings
• Membership growth, size transitions (increases and decreases)
• Clarifying the congregation's primary task and aligning resources and energy with that task
• Facilitation of an annual leadership retreat or open membership gathering

A way of looking at congregational development is:

• The development of the congregation as a community of faith with a unique identity, purpose and dynamics.
• The development of the congregation as an organization that can be understood, assessed, and developed using the knowledge and methods of organization behaviour and development.

The goals of congregational development include: 

Developing the community of faith by enabling a pattern and culture of congregational life that is rooted in the tradition, adapted to the local context, appropriate for the particular group(s) of people drawn to the congregation, and that:

• Renews people in their religious identity and purpose and sends them, in God, into family, work, and civic life.
• Nurtures the religious life of people at all phases of maturity; gives special attention to guiding and equipping those of mature faith; encourages all toward a more prayerful, disciplined, and compassionate life.
• Fosters a strong life of worship, doctrine, action and pastoral oversight.
• Enables people to seek the presence of God in the people, things and circumstances of life.

Developing the congregation as an organization that:

• Has established structures, processes and a climate that allow it to effectively manage its important and pressing business (i.e. ministries, projects, social enterprises, problems, crises, etc.) While giving adequate attention to strategic issues (i.e., long term development and renewal, planning and envisioning, engaging new opportunities, responding to the needs of our time, crisis prevention, etc.)
• Has an increased ability to engage formation issues such as: - vision including the defining of identity, purpose, values, organizational culture, and related programs and activities - attracting new people (as staff and/or members) who support the vision - increased competence and commitment
• Creates an alignment, an adequate "fit" among the various aspects of the organization's life, e.g. income and expenses, space - ministry needs, vision - resources
• Has increased its ability to adapt to new conditions, solve problems and learn from experience

Our Services:

We provide consulting, training and publications in the following areas:

• Organizational Assessment and Strategic Planning
• Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation
• Non-profit Business Development (Social Entrepreneurship)
• Leadership and Management Development