Preparing Congregations for Mission: Moving from Reflection to Action

This course is designed to provide clergy and laity with insights and practical tools to inform and support congregational leadership and to expand the capacity for mission-inspired ministry. The course integrates a theology of mission, family and organizational systems theory, and leadership development models to create a toolkit for understanding and guiding faith communities, particularly those at transition points. During the seven-week course, we will begin with practices for discovering the unique identity of a congregation within its specific context and exploring the implications for congregational health and vitality. With congregational identity and vitality as the foundation, we will spend three weeks with tools for clarifying congregational culture, behaviors, patterns, and relationships. The final two classes address congregational change – what it means and what it takes to lead congregations into new ways of joining in God’s mission.

March 27- May 15, 2017 (One week break for Holy Week)

Instructor: Caroline McCall

Caroline McCall has a Masters in Theological Studies from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Her thesis, Developing Vital Congregations: Insights from Virtue Ethics, explores the links between virtue ethics and congregational development and proposes a formational view of congregational vitality. Caroline also has a Master of Public Policy and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and English Literature from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She is Director of Field Education and Lecturer in Congregational Studies at CDSP and Director of Center for Church Vitality.