The Future of Religious Organizations
There Is a Better Way Than Holding On With White Knuckles Until Whatever This Is Goes Back To Wherever It Came From
by
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Now, the world political landscape has changed. The Cold War is over, apparently won by the West. The support of the “national” church for the nation is now largely inconsequential, and national popular support for the church is diminishing in step with the church’s secular irrelevance.
Meanwhile, new dynamics are occurring on the world scene. The new war is on an indistinct force of terrorism. Economic systems along with new untried free trade barriers and wisps of international opportunities shake the foundations of our old reality.
What are denominations to do? Can they weather the gathering storm? If there is hope of survival, what needs to change as they face the future?
The good news is that Jesus is stronger than the storm.
Recently, a study on predictive models for social systems examined the Central Region of American Baptist Churches. The findings are of interest because they relate to many groups in American Baptist Churches as well as other groups outside ABC. For decades, mainline denominations have seen their numbers decrease. This certainly has been true for the Central Region. But the predictive models suggest that a point of turnaround is a real possibility. While there are re-creation issues to face, for those who face them faithfully, the future holds tremendous promise. The paper presenting these hopeful scenarios is in Appendix A.
The Central Region is a group of 237 churches in
The transformation model has eight steps:
· Making Personal Preparation
· Creating Urgency
· Establishing the Vision Community
· Discerning the Vision and Vision Path
· Communicating the Vision
· Empowering Change Leaders
· Implementing the Vision
· Reinforcing Momentum Through Alignment
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About the Book
Religious organizations face a real crisis. Our culture has changed and change will accelerate. In times of stability organizations grow to a size that challenges their ability to sustain themselves. We have begun a time of cultural instability.
In times of stability large organizations thrive. In times of instability small organizations thrive. The hope for religious organizations in this culture is found in small, autonomous, connected organizations which each carry our hopes and dreams into the future.
Making that kind of transition is difficult. This book gives you a road map to make it happen. The future of your organization requires that you let go of your past structure. This book is something to hold on to as you grasp for the future.
There is a future. We invite you to be part of it.
About the Author
Arthur Jaggard is an ordained American Baptist Minister in
He is a Fellow in the Oxford Society of Scholars and recently completed a Merrill Fellowship at Harvard. He says he likes bright colors, old cars, and time sitting in a tree, but his greatest passion is for his wife and children. He is unashamedly devoted to Jesus Christ and is strongly committed to living what the Bible actually says.
Other books in print by Arthur Jaggard include: Culture, Racism and Family, The Ethics of Bow Hunting for Deer, and Women in Ministry: I Commend to You My Sister.