Beyond the Ordinary

For better or worse, clergy key reason worshipers switch congregations

by David Briggs

Americans find it difficult to stay in one place, even if that place is a house of worship.

The Portraits of American Life Study (PALS) found that among those Americans affiliated with religious congregations a third switched houses of worship between the 2006 and 2012 waves of the project.

Nearly six in 10 of the people who switched said it had nothing to do with either being dissatisfied with their old congregation, or attracted to a new congregation. Rather, for many it was that they had moved, or what study researchers Michael Emerson and Laura Essenburg of Rice University called “good old American mobility.”

About one in 10 said it was because members of their family switched congregations and they followed. Other reasons included that their congregation had moved or closed.

But there also were other reasons more related to congregational life that caused people to leave one congregation for another.

The reason most frequently cited by people who left because they were unhappy with their former congregation was the clergy, with 58 percent of those respondents dissatisfied with the spiritual leadership. More than half also cited dissatisfaction with the political and social views of the congregation, and more than four in 10 had theological issues or poor relationships with others in the congregation.

When asked what was the single most important reason they left, however, respondents said that the theology and religious beliefs of their former congregation was No. 1, followed by issues with the clergy.

If religious leadership was a key reason people left, it was also overwhelmingly a major reason people were attracted to a new congregation, the study found,

Eighty-four percent of people who said they were primarily motivated to switch because of their attraction to a new congregation cited the clergy. Some two-thirds cited the liturgy and style of worship in the new congregation, and more than six in 10 cited the programming, theology and the sense of a “bright future” in the new congregation as motivating factors.

But other motivations “pale to the clergy reason,” Emerson and Essenburg reported.

So what characteristics of congregations predict healthy relationships with clergy?

U.S. Congregational Life Survey researchers Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce provide important insights in their book, “Leadership that Fits Your Church: What Kind of Pastor for What Kind of Congregation.”

In analyzing US CLS data, Woolever and Bruce found the congregational strengths associated with a good pastor-congregation match include:

• Meaningful liturgies where many worshipers experience God’s presence, joy and inspiration and feel worship helps them with everyday life.
• Congregations where many worshipers have a strong sense of belongingand say most of their closest friends attend the same congregation.
• Empowering leadership that inspires others to action and takes into account worshipers’ ideas.
• Churches where many worshipers are committed to the congregation’s vision and are excited about the future.

It is harder to retain congregants in an age of individualism when old ties such as denominational affiliation or geographical proximity are far less likely to keep people in place.

The upside is that providing meaningful spiritual experiences in a nurturing atmosphere appear to be more valued than ever, and much more likely to lead both worshipers and congregations toward a bright future.

Take our quiz to learn more about what makes pastors and congregations click.

Breaking barriers: Women pastors may be paving way for gay, lesbian leaders

by David Briggs

The long struggle for women to break the stained-glass ceiling in houses of worship may be easing the way for openly gay and lesbian leaders, new research indicates.

Congregations that allow women to be head clergy are nearly twice as likely to accept gays and lesbians as members.

And the odds of congregations being open to gays and lesbians as leaders are three times greater in congregations that permit women pastors than in congregations that do not allow women to be head clergy, researcher Andrew Whitehead found in analyzing data from the 2006-2007 National Congregations Study.

“Greater numbers of female clergy, or greater numbers of congregations that allow for women to be head clergy, could lead to a greater level of acceptance of gays and lesbians as members or leaders,” Whitehead writes in an article on “Gender, Homosexuality and Inequality Within Religious Congregations” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Close to half of all congregations in the 2006-2007 National Congregations Study allowed women to be head clergy, while 37 percent of congregations accepted gays and lesbians in committed relationships as members. Just 19 percent allowed gays and lesbians to be leaders.

Whitehead, director of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, found a congregation’s openness to women pastors was significantly associated with its acceptance of gays and lesbians. The relationship remained significant even when taking into consideration factors such as religious tradition and theological conservatism.

The findings suggest the possibility that barriers broken in one area of congregational life could lead to greater equality in others. Simply focusing on creating equality in a dimension such as women clergy could make congregations more inclusive across the board, Whitehead notes.

What may be less clear is how influential women clergy will be in advocating for greater acceptance of gays and lesbians.

Some research has shown clergywomen are more likely than male clerics to speak out for gay rights. And, Whitehead says, “Usually female clergy are much more open and inclusive of gays and lesbians and really any group of disadvantaged” individuals.

In their book “Leadership That Fits Your Church,” US CLS researchers Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce note that women clergy are more likely to be “transformational” leaders, pastors who work in a collaborative way with congregants to help worshipers think about issues in new ways.

However, it can also be more difficult for women clergy to address controversial issues because for many church members having a woman pastor is a major change in itself. More than male clergy, women pastors may face a greater need to prove themselves and gain acceptance before pushing for new directions in an area such as gay rights.

To illustrate the difference, a married, male pastor generally comes into a congregation with “four aces,” cards he can play to deal with conflict or push for change in a congregation, Woolever says.

“Coming in as a woman, you’ve already got a couple of cards down on the table,” she says.

But times are changing.

The percentage of women clergy in mainline Protestant churches increased from 20 percent in the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey to 28 percent in the 2008-2009 survey. The 2012 National Congregations Study found nearly three in ten U.S. congregations permit gays and lesbians in committed relationships to hold volunteer leadership positions, a major increase from the 19 percent of congregations in 2006-2007 that allowed such opportunities.

As more congregations embrace different forms of leadership, that may well open more doors for women clergy and gay and lesbian leaders.

A delicate balance: Pastors set apart for ministry are also key to building community

by David Briggs

“If the priest is not clearly set apart, then he will not provide the service which the Church requires; and if he is not a true servant, he will end in a self-absorbed and sterile remoteness which is alien to an authentic shepherd.”

-Pope John Paul II

It may get lonely at the top, but it may not be helpful to building religious communities if pastors are too isolated from their flocks.

A sensitivity to people in the pews and a desire to help them connect with one another is related to the ability of pastoral leaders to create a strong sense of belonging among congregation members, a new study indicates.

Clergy in their first call, second-career pastors and spiritual leaders who have other jobs are among the clergy associated with congregations where attenders reported a growing attachment to their house of worship and greater participation in congregational activities, researcher Cynthia Woolever found.

And it is not only religious communities that appear to benefit.

Pastors leading congregations with a strong sense of belonging also report greater satisfaction with their ministry and a stronger sense of accomplishment, Woolever reported at the recent joint meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association in Boston.

Woolever, the former director of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, analyzed data from the 2001 and 2008-2009 waves of the US CLS for her study of “The Pastor’s Role in Creating a Sense of Belonging Among Members.”

Building a strong sense of community where people feel they belong is critical to meeting the basic human needs of congregants for love, acceptance and self-esteem, a sense of being valued by the congregation, Woolever says.

“So much of congregational life revolves around the closeness people feel as they worship together, experience life’s joys and sorrows, and share their deepest values and beliefs,” she writes with co-author Deborah Bruce in their book, “Beyond the Ordinary: 10 Strengths of U.S. Congregations.” “Strong congregations find ways to encourage emotional attachment.”

Yet for church leaders, the idea of focusing on building community can go against the grain of a culture that often places more emphasis on serving individuals, “kind of a consumer mentality,” Woolever noted. And some pastors may be concerned that creating social bonds among members may lead to congregants being more likely to cross boundaries that could infringe on a pastor’s personal life.

So what type of pastors are associated with congregations where attenders report a strong sense of belonging? The short answer is married pastors, first-call pastors, second-career pastors and pastors who hold other jobs. Conservative and black Protestant pastors are also more likely to serve such congregations, Woolever found.

One common theme that seems to emerge is that the more pastors are or have been connected to everyday life as experienced by the laity, or do not place too great an emphasis on the idea of being men and women “set apart,” the more likely they are to be leading congregations where attenders are active participants and have a number of close friends at their place of worship.

“When a pastor’s life experiences minimize the distance between leader and worshiper, I think the leader places greater emphasis on creating community,” Woolever said.

What is good for the congregation also is good for the pastor.

Woolever reported that pastors in general find serving in “relationship-rich” congregations more satisfying and rewarding. But she did not find evidence that such strong social bonds added to pastoral stress or placed greater demands on their personal lives.

Some ways pastors and other leaders can build stronger congregations include forming or using existing small groups “that help people feel loved and known” and offering service or leadership roles that give congregants a sense of purpose,  Woolever said.

But it takes a conscious effort, starting at the front door of the sanctuary.

Even during services, worshipers can feel alone if they sit by themselves and leave without ever having meaningful personal interaction with other congregants. And a pastor who is not sensitive to the social bonds among attenders eventually may find fewer people to talk to on Sundays.

One can be the loneliest number, both in the pulpit and the pew.

Invisible singles: How churches can reach unmarried worshipers

[Take our quiz to test your knowledge about single worshipers in the pews.]

By David Briggs

The pastor never seemed to mention unmarried persons in his sermons, so Kris Swiatocho started putting post-it notes on the pulpit before services that said: "Remember singles."

When the pastor found out the source of the notes, he asked Swiatocho to cut it out.  Instead, she began sitting in the front row, occasionally waving her arms during the sermon.

Her pastor finally got the message, and started including the experiences of singles from the pulpit.  But unmarried persons still are largely invisible in many churches, says Swiatocho, director of The Singles Network Ministries.

If congregations do not integrate singles into the life of the church, and pastors do not address their issues from the pulpit, "We're not going to feel welcome and we're not going to come," Swiatocho says.

Many singles are already voting with their feet.

While about half of Americans ages 15 and older are married, some two-thirds of worshipers ages 15 and older are married.  Young adults, who make up the great majority of never-married individuals, are particularly underrepresented.

Just 14 percent of adult worshipers have never been married, compared to the more than three in 10 individuals in the general population who have never been married, according to the 2008-2009 wave of the U.S.Congregational Life Survey.

Many observers say despite America’s changing demographics, including the rise in single parents and the number of individuals postponing or forgoing marriage, churches still focus most of their attention on married couples.

And it starts at the top, with the preference for married clergy.  Just three percent of Protestant pastors have never been married, the US CLS found.

So how can congregations do a better job ministering to singles?

First, it is not necessarily in building separate singles ministries.  Many of those ministries, popular in the 1970s and 1980s, did not last beyond the first generation of singles.

The shrinking and aging of many U.S. congregations also means fewer have the numbers of singles for such ministries.  And people who look to such venues to find partners now can do so at online dating sites.

 What does work for singles, as for any member of a religious community, is that they are integrated into the spiritual and social lives of the congregation, some observers say.

“Singles want to be valued members of a faith community, a faith family,”  Cynthia Woolever, research manager of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, said in an essay in The Parish Paper.  Her advice to congregations includes:

• Create connections: Offer events where everyone regardless of marital status is comfortable participating.
• Develop leaders: Check to be sure governing boards are inclusive, and encourage singles to seek leadership positions that match their talents.
• Increase visibility: Invite singles to be worship leaders. Question whether some tasks such as bringing up gifts for the Eucharist or lighting Advent candles are always given to "typical
  families."
• Welcome everyone: Include all worshipers in conversations before and after services. Consider having church gatherings around holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas so everyone has a place to go.

 Singles do not need a separate ministry, Swiatocho says.

"We don't want to be the stepchild.  We don't want to be the pathetic ministry on the side."  She says. "But at least minister to us. ... We're half the world."

If Christian churches are looking for a role model of inclusion, they do not have to go far.

"Jesus was a single,” Swiatocho says. “He was the greatest single who ever lived.  And he was a model of community."

 

 

 

Key to a spiritually alive church: Support your fellow church members

By David Briggs

My wife and I had just moved to Fairfield County in Connecticut, and were searching for a church. We were impressed when as visitors to an Episcopal congregation, the priest invited my wife to work with other volunteers at a craft fair.

She looked forward to the opportunity to meet people in a new town. Until it was time for lunch, and all of the women from the church working with her went to eat together, leaving only my wife behind to staff the table.

We never went back.

In a religious world that can often seem hierarchical, from clergy leading services to regional and national offices making decisions that impact local churches, the significance of the role played by each person in the pews can often be overlooked.

Yet a growing body of research is showing how worshipers treat one another can have a significant impact on the congregation and the spiritual life and physical health of its members.

In a new study using data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, researchers found informal support from church members was more associated with spiritual growth than worship service attendance or belonging to formal church groups.

Conversations before services or at church suppers may be even more effective than Bible study groups or Sunday School classes in that they provide give-and-take opportunities with trusted companions that can directly address the spiritual needs of individuals, say researchers Neal Krause of  the University of Michigan and Cynthia Woolever of the US CLS.

Several other studies also uphold the benefits of this type of positive social support within the congregation.

For example, a study of older adults over time found that greater spiritual support appeared to be associated with having fewer doubts about religion. In contrast, older people who encountered more negative interaction with other church members reported having more doubts.

 Those people who have negative experiences with others also are more likely to suppress those doubts, an action associated with less favorable health, researchers Neal Krause and Christopher Ellison of the University of Texas at San Antonio reported in an article on “the doubting process” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

 In a separate study on self-forgiveness reported in the Review of Religious Research, Krause found results suggesting older adults who were more satisfied with the emotional support they received from church members were more likely to forgive themselves than those who were not satisfied with the support they received.

 At their best, what worshippers say to one another at coffee hour or in the grocery store reflects the prayers they recite during services.

When other church members model messages of love and forgiveness that are at the foundation of a faith’s teachings, it reinforces belief and the value of being part of a congregation, Krause says. If the messages are contradictory, with church members gossiping about or criticizing one another, it can place those beliefs in question.

Amid other pressing concerns such as church finances and programming, congregations need to evaluate how members are expressing their faith in their relationships with one another, Krause advises.

“Are the people in our congregation getting along? Are they supporting one another” are among the questions that need to be asked, he said.

The choices members make when they are together matter, whether it is to offer spiritual support in an environment of trust and mutual caring or even for a group of church friends to decide to go to lunch in two groups so a newcomer will not be left alone at a church fair.

It is in those settings, Krause says, "where the real business of religion takes place.”

 

Challenge for next pope: Reaching out to Catholic women

By David Briggs

There are two gender gaps in many U.S. congregations.

One gap is the stained-glass ceiling in many churches. While social and cultural changes have allowed women to reach the top in numerous secular arenas, the 2006-2007 National Congregations Study found women lead less than 10 percent of congregations.

The second gap is that women greatly outnumber men in the pews. The 2008-2009 wave of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey found that 61 percent of worshipers were women, the same ratio as in the 2001 survey. Just 2 percent of congregations do not have more women than men.

As researcher Cynthia Woolever has pointed out, the imbalance is not due to the fact that women live longer than men. It shows up in every age group, with women making up 61 percent of worshipers ages 45 to 64, 60 percent of those ages 25 to 44 and 57 percent of people ages 15 to 24.  

And women in many other ways are more active in their faith lives. Women are more likely than men to pray daily and say religion is very important in their lives, according to the Pew Forum’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.

But there are signs the second gap may be fraying.

As U.S. Catholics await the election of a new pope, one area of concern is new evidence that non-Hispanic women are no longer so different from men in their spiritual practices.

In 1987, more than half of Catholic women reported attending Catholic Mass weekly, compared to 38 percent of men. By 2011, the gender gap was gone, University of New Hampshire sociologist Michele Dillon reported at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. She used data from the American Catholic Laity Project, a national survey taken every six years since 1987.

And, for the first time in the 2011 survey, women were less likely than men to say the Catholic Church was among the most important parts of their lives. They also were less likely to declare, “I would never leave the Catholic church.”

If tension over women’s exclusion from leadership roles is in part driving the diminishing gender gap, it is unlikely that issue will be resolved soon. None of the candidates mentioned as possibilities for the papacy would be expected to allow women priests.

What do Catholic worshipers think about that topic?

In the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, 43 percent of Catholics said they support the ordination of women, and 22 percent said they were unsure of where they stood. Just one-third opposed women priests.

At the same time, most Catholics in the pews indicated they would be OK if their next minister was a woman. Fifty-six percent said they would be accepting or very accepting of a woman leader, while just 14 percent said they would be “not at all accepting.”

Something for the next pope to think about?

 

Mental health of clergy requires balancing stress and success

By David Briggs

"God does temper the wind to the shorn lamb. To how many has it not seemed, at some one period of their lives, that all was over for them ... And yet they have lived to laugh again, to feel that the air was warm and the earth fair, and that God in giving them ever-springing hope has given everything."

--  Anthony Trollope

Stress comes with the job for most clergy. Long hours, the many demands on their time and addressing the often conflicting needs and desires of congregation members are major challenges.

And while pastors in troubled congregations may be the most vulnerable, even the road to success can be paved with additional stress and anxiety.

Congregations that are strong in welcoming new people, focusing on the community and increasing participation in church activities tend to add greater stress for pastors as some in the congregation resist moving out of their comfort zones, Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce report in their book, "Leadership That Fits Your Church."

The good news is that for many pastors the blessings of their ministry outweigh the pressures of the job.

In studying data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, Woolever and Bruce found pastors reporting the highest satisfaction with their ministry rarely thought about leaving their current congregation regardless of their stress level.

"The sense that their ministry is going well makes these pastors able to tolerate higher stress levels," the researchers say.

At the other extreme, however, pastors who are relatively dissatisfied with their ministry and face more job-related stress are the most likely to think about leaving and suffer burnout.

The challenge for congregations and their spiritual leaders becomes how to increase the clergy's satisfaction with their ministry and decrease pastoral stress.

The U.S. Congregational Life Survey provides some important insights. In addition to enjoying good mental health and being satisfied with their ministry, other factors found to contribute to lower job stress for clergy include:

• Lack of conflict. Serving in congregations that
  have experienced little or no internal tensions in recent years helps keep
  stress low.
•  Personal time. Clergy who are able to maintain a
  personal life separate from ministry experience less stress.
• Regular time off: Pastors who regularly take a day
  off each week report less stress.
• Smaller congregations: Pastors who
  serve smaller churches also report less stress, as do pastors who only serve
  one congregation.

More personal time, high satisfaction with their spiritual lives and a lack of church conflict also were found to be associated with clergy having a higher degree of satisfaction with their ministry.

Satisfaction with salary and benefits and a sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm also were linked to greater satisfaction.

Protecting the mental health of clergy is a responsibility shared throughout the congregation, the research indicates.

“Congregational leaders should be sensitive to the responsibilities they ask their pastors to meet,” Woolever and Bruce write. “Providing the pastor with regular time away from the congregation, encouraging the pastor to take steps toward self-care, and limiting the pastor’s workload all help to combat stress.”

Signs of ever-springing hope among the daily stresses of congregational life can come from the pew as well as the pulpit.

 

Who Pastors Growing Churches?

By Cynthia Woolever

The general outlines of a growing church probably won’t surprise you. Representing 25% of congregations in the United States, growing churches:

• Have fewer worshipers older than 65 years of age compared to other churches.
• Attract many new worshipers, staying ahead of member departures and deaths.
• Attract more of the unchurched or first-time worshipers.
• Offer an engaging vision for the church’s future.
• Experience some conflict as the congregation deals with change.

But is what you think you know about the pastors who lead these growing congregations true?

Not young or old. One assumption is that younger pastors, under the age of 45, serve growing or soon-to-be growing churches. As the chart below shows, that’s not true. In fact, pastors of all ages lead in growing churches! The largest age group serving growing churches are those pastors who are between 51 and 60 years old.[i]  

Overall, young pastors are a relatively small demographic group. Only 12% of pastors are 40 years old or younger. Yet one in four (26%) of these younger pastors serves as the senior or solo pastor in a growing church. That margin is even greater among pastors in their fifties, however, with almost one in three (30%) leading a growing church.

First-career or second-career?  Historically, the traditional path to ministry meant attending seminary immediately following graduation from college, university, or Bible college. Today, though, a growing number of pastoral leaders worked in another occupation before entering ministry. About 40% of pastors currently serving local churches are classified as second-career. The sad thing is these second-career pastors are overrepresented in declining churches. Our research shows that growing and stable churches have more first-career pastors (64%) than declining congregations. Given that information, it seems that growing congregations may prefer to call a first-career pastor, if all else is equal.

A new pastor or one with longer service? Another common notion is that an exciting new pastor will make the church grow—practically overnight! While the number of years a pastor serves a church is related to numerical growth, it does not fit the above assumption. Pastors in growing churches are not new to the congregation. In fact, they have served there longer, than average, than leaders in stable churches.[ii] To help a church grow, takes time—to build trust, develop allies, reach consensus about robust strategies, and achieve results.

So do pastors get the credit for church growth? While pastoral leadership is important, it’s not the only factor in church growth. When a congregation is healthy and becoming more vital in every way, there is plenty of credit to go around. All lay or clergy, who are involved in the congregation, play a part. So pastors and members alike need to acknowledge and embrace their shared responsibility in discerning what God has called the church to be and do, to make it possible for the church to offer Christ to a new generation.

 

---

[i] The average time a pastor serves, across all denominations and faith groups, is five years. Average pastoral tenure varies by denomination.

[ii] The data included in this blog post comes from Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Leadership That Fits Your Church: What Kind of Pastor for What Kind of Congregation? (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2012).

New Resource Available – Leader Guide for Leadership That Fits Your Church

Church leaders can now access a new resource that will help them involve their members in new conversations about finding the best leadership for their congregation’s ministries. J. Brent Bill, who currently serves as the Project Director for the New Meetings Project of Friends General Conference in Philadelphia, PA, authored the guide. For many years he was the executive vice president of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations. A Quaker minister, Brent has also served as a pastor in three congregations. He is a writer, retreat leader, and congregational consultant.

The guide will help your congregation to:

• process the information contained in Leadership That Fits Your Church:

What Kind of Pastor for What Kind of Congregation in a way that is useful for your setting;

• gain new insights into pastor-congregation dynamics;
• understand where some tweaks might be needed to improve or fix issues in this crucial relationship between the pastor and the congregation;
• assist pastoral search or clergy relations committees; and
• learn to care for each other in fresh ways.

The material in the study guide is

• organized into six, ninety-minute sessions; it can also be adapted for use at a leadership retreat; and
• filled with interactive exercises and discussion questions for small groups.

You can download the Leader Guide for Leadership That Fits Your Church on our project website:

http://uscongregations.org/

http://uscongregations.org/pdf/Leadership-That-Fits-Your-Church-Leader-Guide.pdf

Any questions? Call 800-728-7228 ext. 2040; or email us at [email protected]

 

How to Find Leadership that Fits Your Church: Buy the book!

by Cynthia Woolever

Most church members report a high level of satisfaction with their church’s current leadership. In fact, only a very small number—3%—stated that they believed their pastor and congregation are not a match. That’s encouraging news for churches facing one of the most daunting decisions a congregation can make: finding the right pastor. In Leadership that Fits Your Church: What Kind of Pastor for What Kind of Congregation (Chalice Press, $19.99 paper, November 2012), Deborah Bruce and I (coauthors) offer insights into making a successful match.

The book is based on findings from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey (USCLS). The survey, funded by grants from Lilly Endowment, Inc. and the Louisville Institute, records the views of more than half a million people who regularly participate in worship. In addition, one key pastoral leader in each church responded to a survey about their ministry tasks, job satisfaction, sources of support and stress, compensation, and theological education.

The scope of the USCLS allows for a comprehensive portrait of pastoral leadership, drawing upon a large representative national sample of pastoral leaders, congregations, and parishes; a broad range of denominations and faith groups; the experiences of pastors in congregations of all sizes; and the opinions of both pastoral leaders and worshipers in the same congregations. This book presents a 360-degree data driven view of all that is involved in congregational vitality: the values, commitments, experiences, and perceptions of members, lay leaders, and pastors.

Leadership in the congregational context is particularly complex and difficult. Yet most pastors who participated in the study reported that they are enthusiastic about their ministry and feel they’ve accomplished a lot. High ministry satisfaction can be a buffer against the high stress levels that accompany pastoral work, and can prevent burnout.

We show how a strong match might be made between pastor and congregation. Then, we follow the pastoral transition experiences of three churches: mainline Protestant, Catholic, and conservative Protestant. The book outlines pastor and church types, and then we dig more deeply into the dynamics that yield a successful match.

We highlight several implications for pastors, lay leaders and other members of the congregation, including the importance of:

• Learning from the past by reflecting on the ministry of previous pastors.
• Allowing unstated assumptions to surface.
• Clarity about financial responsibilities.
• Recognizing how conflict damages congregations and pastors.
• Providing ongoing clergy support.
• Identifying and building on strengths.
• Seeking to understand and articulate what God is calling that particular church to be.

Leadership That Fits Your Church is the latest volume in The Columbia Partnership (TCP) Leadership Series.

How can you get your hands on this great new book? Available in Kindle form or hard copy at ChalicePress.com (or call 1-800-366-3383). You can even save 30% off all TCP books, including this one, with the code TCP2012 (offer expires on November 30, 2012).