DanceLessons: Resources on Growth: A Selected Bibliography

I developed this annotated bibliography on growth for the Thomas Jefferson District Growth Summit held in Charleston on January 16, 2009. While there are many other excellent resources out there both in print and online, I used these particular resources to develop a PowerPoint presentation used at the all-day conference.

FACTS

Faith Communities Today (FACT) research and publications are collaborative products of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP). Partners include a wide, multi-faith spectrum of denominations and faith groups – Oldline, Evangelical and Black Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic, Unitarian-Universalist and Latter-day Saints, Jewish, Bahai and Muslim . View “FACTs on Growth” online as a pdf document or at: http://fact.hartsem.edu/products/index.html

Faith Communities Today UU Survey Results Analyzed by Congregation Size, The Reverend Charlotte Cowtan January, 2002
http://www.uua.org/documents/congservices/fact/fctsurveyresults.pdf

Systems

From a report by Nelson Searcy. Strong Evangelical Christian bias; and self-promotion of Searcy’s products and services. Downloaded at https://www.churchleaderinsights.com/syst3m5/Healthy_Systems_Healthy_Church.pdf

Relationships

Practicing Right Relationship: Skills for Deepening Purpose, Finding Fulfillment, and Increasing Effectiveness in Your Congregation by Mary K. Sellon, Daniel P. Smith 2008, Alban Publishing

Tranformative Community

Behold I Do a New Thing: Transforming Communities of Faith BY C. Kirk Hadaway, Author. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2001. Maintaining that a good church is one that truly changes people, Kirk Hadaway presents a dynamic Model of church as “incarnational community” that provides leadership for transformation.

Tipping Points

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Paperback) by Malcolm Gladwell

Small Steps

Not Trying Too Hard: New Basics for Sustainable Congregations by Bob Sitze.
Bob Sitze, an evocative and sometimes whimsical writer and workshop leader, offers a new vision for congregations and their leaders—a vision that releases us from the growing burden of trying harder to invent and implement “better” worship, evangelism, stewardship, small groups, long-range planning, mission statements, and the like. Sitze argues instead that as congregations apply the insights of “simpler lifestyles” to their life together, they will find joy and fulfillment by more closely matching their expectations for ministry with personal and corporate assets. (Alban)

Assessing Your Readiness

SWOT Analysis: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm; you can find examples of other UU SWOTs by googling “Unitarian Universalist Congregation SWOT”

“Ministry Area Profile” demographic research.

Percept Group, Inc. Available through the UUA. The UUA has contracted with a demographic research company, Percept Group, Inc., for congregations to receive a discounted rate on a demographic study package. Included is (1) information in tabular form based on the 2000 census for the study area or areas you have chosen for your ministry area, (2) trends and projections for the study area or areas, (3) U.S.lifestyle data, and (4) a guide to help you use this information. Also, you will receive six graphic representations of these data in the six InfoMaps you select. Examples of demographic information are “Lifestyle Diversity,” “Median Age,” “Five-Year Growth,” “Percentage of 2000 College Graduates,” and “Number of Unitarian Universalists.” See the UUA Web site at www.uua.org/cde/education/demographic.html; click on the link to request ordering information.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/61156_ENG_HTM.htm

Congregations Count! Tools to Make the Most of the Membership Journey May 12 and 19, 2007, Presented by Linda Laskowski Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley

Getting People in the Door

Reaching Out in a Networked World: Expressing Your Congregation’s Heart and Soul by Lynne M. Baab. A congregation communicates its heart and soul through words, photos, actions, programs, architecture, decor, the arts, and countless other aspects of congregational life. In Reaching Out in a Networked World, communications expert and pastor Lynne Baab examines technologies such as websites, blogs, online communities, and desktop publishing. She demonstrates how a congregation can evaluate these tools and appropriately use them to communicate its heart and soul, to convey its identity and values both within and outside the congregation. (Alban) Article at http://alban.org/conversation.aspx?q=printme&id=6712

Responding to First Time Visitors AND Increasing Chances Visitors Will Return

The Membership Journey (PDF, 53 pages) A guide to various aspects of membership growth and for enriching the lives of all members for all sizes and ages of congregations. This guide also suggests approaches to moving toward being an anti-racist/anti-oppressive/multicultural congregation. http://www.uua.org/documents/congservices/membershipjourney.pdf

Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church (Paperback)
by Gary L., McIntosh (Author) All churches like to think that theirs is the friendliest in town. But do guests see it that way? Gary L. McIntosh invites you to take a look at your church through the eyes of a visitor. His starting point, grounded in an understanding of God as a welcomer, is that churches should see those who enter their doors as not merely visitors but as guests, and themselves as gracious hosts. This practical book offers sound advice on assessing and improving the ways in which churches attract, welcome, and connect newcomers to the church family

Fusion, Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of your Church. By Nelson Searcy. There is a lot of self-promotion BUT lots great ideas that can be used in a UU setting with some adaptation. Another book by Search is Attract, about the use of small groups for growth

Congregational Size and Growth

The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations by Alice Mann. A lban Senior Consultant Alice Mann draws on her lengthy experience in helping congregations deal with the hurdles and anxieties of expansion or contraction in size. Often, congregations experiencing size change do not recognize the need to change culture and form as part of the successful adaptation process.

Raising the Roof: The Pastoral-to-Program Size Transition by Alice Mann. Pastoral-to-program size change is frequently described as the most challenging of growth transitions for congregations. Now Alban senior consultant Alice Mann, author of The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations, addresses the difficulties of that transition in this resource.

Size Transitions in Congregations by Beth Ann Gaede. Congregations that seek growth are often frustrated at hitting a plateau—caught in a transition zone between sizes. The Alban Institute has long been recognized as a leader in size transition research and learning, and this anthology offers an in-depth collection of resources.

Connecting to the Congregation

Volunteer Coordination and New Member Integration Pat Emery, Workshop Presenter, General Assembly, 2003. This workshop describes the new member and volunteer coordination programs at Jefferson Unitarian Church, which has experienced significant growth over the last several years, even during an interim year, and which has a high level of volunteerism. The workshop presents the underlying philosophy as well as the specifics of implementation of these successful programs and includes examples of forms, letters, agendas, and publicity which can be adopted or adapted by other UU congregations. The workshop and related documents are organized into the six basic areas listed below. Titles in bold type are narratives that describe concepts and programs and which refer to the other documents used in our program. The documents list below are links that will allow you to download the files in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) http://www.jeffersonunitarian.org/programs/prg_volunteer.html

Guest Registry Form
Greeter Instructions
Welcoming Statement
The Second Impression
Visitor’s letter vers. 1
Visitor’s letter vers. 2
JUC Church Brochure
Visitor’s Name Tags
Becoming a Member
The Path to Membership Class
Path to Membership Class
Path Advertise & Announce
Path Class Agenda
Four Corners Game
Responsibilities, Benefits
Path Class Thank You
The Joining Process
The Joining Process
Foundations.Fellowship II
…And More

Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation by Carol Howard Merritt, 2008 Award of Merit from Religious Communicators Council Christian Century’s Top Ten Practical Theology Books of 2008 (Alban Publishing)

Planning to Grow by Dan Hotchkiss, senior consultant at the Alban Institute. http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?q=printme&id=5612

Small Congregations

Small, Strong Congregation by Kennon Callahan. Written to be a hands-on guide, Small, Strong Congregations offers practical suggestions for creating mission and service, compassion and shepherding, community and belonging, self-reliance and self-sufficiency, worship and hope, teams and leaders, space and facilities, and giving and generosity. This wise resource is filled with illustrative examples that show clearly how myriad small churches have created solid, vigorous congregations.

Wonderful Worship in Smaller Churches (Paperback) and The Indispensable Guide for Smaller Churches (Paperback) by David R. Ray. Both are favorites of Nancy Proctor.

Deepening Commitment

Reverend X: How Generation X Ministers Are Shaping Unitarian Universalism, published by Jenkin Lloyd Jones Press. “Reading Reverend X was like going to a spiritual gym to joyfully exercise my vision, my hope, and my trust. I feel stronger in my own Unitarian Universalist vision, since the authors expressed it with great clarity. And I have a renewed hope for our common future, since so many of the ideas and feelings expressed in this book are simply exciting, and hope is usually powered by excitement. But what I feel most is a sense of deep and transformative trust, a confidence in the importance of our movement. This younger generation seems to embrace a far broader and interdependent concept of ministry than I did when I graduated from seminary, and our Association will be all the better for it.” Rev Mark Bellitini. PURCHASE at http://www.allsoulschurch.org/shop