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Congregational life requires understanding and appreciating the necessity of--and resistance to--change, within and beyond our faith communities. Discover how your congregational leaders can shift from focusing on complaints to nurturing transformation.
CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY : Change
  Creating the Future Together: Methods to Inspire Your Whole Faith Community (Book)
Loren B. Mead, Billie T. Alban, Authors.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2008.
Two pioneers of organizational change bring various methods of change to religious communities. Large Group Methods offer viable ways to broaden the conversation so that everyone is included in visioning and implementing change.
Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within (Book)
Robert E. Quinn, Author.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996.
Individuals have the capacity to change organizations through passion, vision, risk, and the creation of excellence, by addressing the need for change not only in the organization, but also in themselves and the other members of the organization.
A Door Set Open: Grounding Change in Mission and Hope (Book)
Peter L. Steinke, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2010.
Drawing on a firm knowledge of systems theory and a firm belief in the centrality of mission, Peter Steinke helps leaders understand change, the factors that sabotage it, and the value of approaching mission with faith and hope.
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations (Book)
John P. Kotter, Dan S. Cohen, Authors.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Through stories from numerous organizations, John Kotter and Dan Cohen offer an eight-step process for educating and motivating others to change. They emphasize the need to change people's feelings in order to change their behavior.
 Leading a Congregation through Change (Article)
Gilbert R. Rendle, Author.
Congregational Resource Guide. 2002.
How leaders can help people "become uncomfortable with their discomfort" and focus on the possibilities that change presents rather than the pain that accompanies it.
Leading Change (Book)
John P. Kotter, Author.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.
A world expert on business leadership argues that change strategies often fail because they do not alter behavior.
Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual and Organizational Tools for Leaders (Book)
Gilbert R. Rendle, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1998.
This practical guide is for congregational leaders trying to be faithful in a turbulent and unpredictable environment.
Leading Congregational Change: A Practical Guide for the Transformational Journey (Book)
Jim Herrington, Mike Bonem, James H. Furr, Authors.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
This resource explores the spiritual and relational vitality congregations need to survive change, the skills leaders need to constructively manage conflict, and the disciplines they must master to lead congregations through difficult times.
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change (Third Edition) (Book)
William Bridges, Susan Bridges, Authors.
Boulder, CO: Perseus Books, 2009.
Managing Transitions examines the emotional aspects of workplace change—particularly when the old ways are over but the new ways are not yet in place mdash;as well as planning for transition and coping with mismanaged transitions.
Moving Off the Map: A Field Guide to Changing the Congregation (Book)
Thomas G. Bandy, Author.
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998.
Comparing the contemporary church to the passenger pigeons that once filled the sky, Bandy argues that only thorough change will save Christian congregations from extinction.
Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Book)
David R. Brubaker, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2009.
Drawing on the results of a 2005 survey, David Brubaker explains the changes in congregational structure and culture that lead to conflict. He also helps leaders to manage conflict—and themselves—in the face of change.
Strategic Leadership for a Change: Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future (Book)
Kenneth J. McFayden, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2009.
This book explores the crucial yet often overlooked need for congregations to identify and grieve the losses that accompany change before attempting to cast a vision for their future.
 Beyond Certainty: The Changing Worlds of Organizations (Book)
Charles Handy, Author.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.
While not intentionally directed toward religious organizations this book would be of interest to those concerned with leadership development, as well as spirituality and the workplace.
Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds (Book)
Howard Gardner, Author.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
Offering insights on how we can effectively lead change, Howard Gardner discusses the seven levers that can effect mind change and uses case studies to illustrate how these levers work.
The Church Transition Workbook: Getting Your Church in Gear (Book)
Bill Kemp, Author.
Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2004.
Believing that "critical changes in the local church happen best when they are accommodated within a declared period of transition" Bill Kemp provides a workbook for congregational change and renewal.
Congregations in Transition: A Guide for Analyzing, Assessing, and Adapting in Changing Communities (Book)
Carl S. Dudley, Nancy T. Ammerman, Authors.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2002.
Carl Dudley and Nancy Ammerman worked intensively with some twenty congregations to ground this workbook in the real changes and challenges of congregational life.
The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (Book)
Peter M. Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, George Roth, Bryan Smith, Authors.
New York, NY: Doubleday, 1999.
Peter Senge and others develop and apply systems theory to the leadership task of starting and sustaining productive, developmental life in organizations.
Discontinuity and Hope: Radical Change and the Path to the Future (Book)
Lyle E. Schaller, Author.
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999.
Lyle Schaller details difficulties and sources of despair in American Christian churches but also provides suggestions for concrete responses.
Dying for Change (Book)
Leith Anderson, Author.
Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1998.
Dying for Change discusses the present and multiple changes in our world and their impact on the church. If the church ignores these changes, it will do so at its own peril.
How to Change Your Church (Without Killing It) (Book)
Alan Nelson, Gene Appel, Authors.
Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2000.
Deeply concerned about the rapidly increasing secularization of the U.S. population, the book is dedicated to assisting those whom God has called to bring change in the life of their congregations.
Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (Book)
Margaret J. Wheatley, Author.
San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1999.
Margaret Wheatley asserts that Newtonian organizations no longer work (if they ever did) and that leaders can invigorate their businesses and institutions (and churches) by incorporating the insights of quantum physics.
Leadership for a Changing Church: Charting the Shape of the River (Book)
Robert D. Dale, Author.
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998.
Robert Dale asserts that, in the 21st century, effective leaders are those who are versatile; bring an attitude of service, stewardship, and partnership to the leadership role; and create vision and meaning.
Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading (Book)
Ronald A. Heifetz, Marty Linsky, Authors.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Congregational leaders will find the skills to implement adaptive change: gaining perspective, developing allies, allowing issues to ripen, controlling the heat of conflict, and giving the work back to those who must make the change.
Leading Change: Overcoming the Ideology of Comfort and the Tyranny of Custom (Book)
James O'Toole, Author.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
Recognizing that efforts by leaders to change organizations and systems often fail, James O'Toole offers a philosophy of leadership that is focused on the fundamental moral principle of respect for people.
Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change (Book)
Mark Lau Branson, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2004.
Mark Lau Branson offers an account of how one Presbyterian church used appreciative inquiry to understand its history, encourage its members to discover and pursue their dreams, and call a new pastor who could help make those dreams reality.
On Jordan's Stormy Banks: Leading your Congregation through the Wilderness of Change (Book)
H. Beecher Hicks, Author.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2004.
Drawing upon the image of the Old Testament tabernacle—by which the Israelites were led through the wilderness—H. Beecher Hicks shows how to face the tensions involved in defining a vision, confronting change, and dealing with obstacles.
Open Space Technology: A User's Guide (Book)
Harrison Owen, Author.
San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 2008.
Harrison Owen explains how to facilitate Open Space Technology gatherings. Such meetings are especially helpful when diverse individuals "must deal with complex and potentially conflicting material in innovative and productive ways."
Pathway to Renewal: Practical Steps for Congregations (Book)
Daniel P. Smith, Mary K. Sellon, Authors.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2008.
Applying "adaptive leadership" to staff and lay leaders, Pathway to Renewal identifies three phases of organizational development that help renew congregations and enable them to implement change.
The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change (Book)
Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Authors.
San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003.
Drawing on years of experience in applying appreciative inquiry (AI) to organizational change, Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom present both the principles of AI and case studies that demonstrate how AI works.
Sacred Acts, Holy Change: Faithful Diversity and Practical Transformation (Book)
Eric H. F. Law, Author.
St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2002.
Seeking God’s will for congregations in transition, Eric Law lays out a blueprint for analyzing where a church is, when a church has to "die" to follow Christ, and why the process must be centered in theological reflection, Bible study and pray
A Simpler Way (Book)
Margaret J. Wheatley, Myron Kellner-Rogers, Authors.
San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1996.
The "simpler way" advocated here approaches organizational change as something that evolves from within rather than something that is imposed externally.
Spiritlinking Leadership: Working through Resistance to Organizational Change (Book)
Donna J. Markham, Author.
Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1999.
Exploring the obstacles that block transformative organizational change, author Donna Markham names as “spiritlinking” the courageous leader who finds a way around such obstacles to a future filled with vitality and purpose.
Transforming Congregations for the Future (Book)
Loren B. Mead, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1994.
Showing that mainline denominations have lost members and money during the past three decades, author Loren Mead asks that we dedicate ourselves not merely to increased numbers, but to congregational transformation.
Transforming the Mainline Church: Lessons in Change from Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Hope (Book)
Robert A. Chesnut, Author.
Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 2000.
When Robert Chesnut became pastor of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Presbyterian Church, this very large inner-city church was in real trouble.
When God Speaks through Change: Preaching in Times of Congregational Transition (Book)
Craig A. Satterlee, Author.
Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2005.
This book offers insight into how to best address congregational transition, regardless of its cause, from the pulpit. The author encourages readers to welcome the transition as a participant in sermon preparation and offers strategies for doing so.
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