Congregational Consulting Group logo

The Congregational Consulting Group, organized in 2014 by former consultants of the Alban Institute, is a network of independent consultants. We publish PERSPECTIVES for Congregational Leaders—thoughts on topics of interest to leaders of congregations and other purpose-driven organizations. —  Dan Hotchkiss, editor

clergy

Should the Leader Advocate for Change?

by

Clergy often try to change their congregations, and a rule, their efforts meet resistance. It hurts to be seen as a threat by the very people you are trying to serve, but when a leader’s first move is to advocate for change, that’s generally what happens.

Clergy Matter

by

by John Wimberly
Pastor Jones arrives at St. John’s Methodist Church and, shortly thereafter, the congregation begins to grow. Father James arrives at a healthy congregation and, over the next decade, the congregation experiences a steady decline in vitality. Pastors, priests, rabbis and other clergy matter. Their performance is a key to the performance and healthy of a congregation; not the only key, but a powerful key..read more…

Rules for the Too-Busy

by

“While I understand the reasons for believing the pastor needs to be the primary evaluator of staff, my personal concern comes from my sense of overwhelm-ment I already experience sometimes with this work.  There is not enough time to do all that needs to be done…”

Bee eye from Flickr via Wylio
© 2008 Jack Wolf, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio

This is the comment of a student in a webinar I’m leading on aspects of small church ministry.

And I get it.  I, too, feel as if I don’t have enough time to do all that needs to be done.  I work days, nights, and weekends, and it’s still not enough.  I always feel as if I’m letting people down.

Read more

Will They Never Retire?

by
pocket watch 1424847_48948620

“Will they never retire?” is a question I hear a lot from younger clergy these days who wonder when my generation (the Baby Boomers) will retire. The Center for Retirement Research reports that 40% of men are still working at age 65 today, double the rate of 20% from a decade ago. Gallup recently released data showing that the average retirement age is now five years older than in the early 1990s. Similar trends are happening with women.

Read more

Three Traits of Effective Congregational Leaders

by

by David Brubaker

Over the 27 years that I’ve consulted with congregations and other organizations, I’ve noticed three consistent traits of effective congregational and organizational leaders—whether lay or ordained. These traits are present with such consistency I’ve come to believe that together they constitute a required set of core characteristics of effective leaders. Fortunately, these traits can be developed by any congregational or organizational leader—as highly effective leaders are made, not born.

What Should a Minister Be Good At?

by

by Sarai Schnucker Rice

As it turns out, not Greek and Hebrew.

Or at least not only Greek and Hebrew.

And even if the list of things to be good at were to include all the other usual subjects taught in seminary—Greek, Hebrew, Old Testament, New Testament, systematic theology, liturgy, preaching, teaching, pastoral care, all the spiritual disciplines, and 2000 years of church history—not even these would be all that a minister should be good at, because none of these will have taught the minister how to manage an organization.

© 2021 Congregational Consulting Group