Congregations may be ready for transformative redevelopment when they begin to rediscover a clear identity, a sense of purpose, and a commitment to forming deeper relationships. Assess your congregation's readiness for redevelopment.

CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY : Congregational  Redevelopment 

Can Our Church Live?: Redeveloping Congregations in Decline (Book)
Alice Mann, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1999.
This study provides excellent theory, contextual case studies, and inspiration to allow leaders of congregations in decline to struggle through their wilderness and to imagine new possibilities for a more faithful and vital future.

Healing Spiritual Amnesia: Remembering What It Means to Be the Church (Book)
Paul Nixon, Author.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2004.
Paul Nixon asserts that revitalization comes, not through marketing and church plant strategies, but through the church reclaiming its its memory of who Jesus is, the holy habits of faith, who its neighbors are, and how it is effective. Examples are prov

In Search of the Unchurched: Why People Don't Join Your Congregation (Book)
Alan C. Klaas, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1996.
This two-year study examines our shift from being a churched to an unchurched society and helps congregations by providing both exercises for understanding this shift and responsive actions to take.

Is Your Congregation Ready for Change and Transition Leading to Transformation? (Article)
George Bullard, Author.  Net Results: New Ideas in Church Vitality. September 2001. Lubbock, TX: Net Results, Inc..
When is a congregation ready for change and transition? This assessment tool provides a guide to the benchmarks congregations need to consider when considering truly transformative change.

Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation (Book)
George Bullard, Author.  St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2006.
George Bullard offers congregations a comprehensive approach to what he calls a "spiritual strategic journey." This approach provides tools for assessing and developing congregational vitality.

Redeveloping the Congregation: A How To for Lasting Change (Book)
Mary K. Sellon, Daniel P. Smith, Gail F. Grossman, Authors.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2002.
Drawing on the work of John Kotter, the authors explain a method through which dying and declining churches can begin—with God's grace—to reverse course and experience vitality.

Spiritual Strategic Journey: Tutorial for Congregational Redevelopment (Web Resource)
George Bullard, director of the Hollifield Center, has written this free on-line tutorial to help you understand congregational redevelopment and use redevelopment resources in creative and effective ways.

State Street Church (UCC) (Case Study)
Alice Mann, Author.  2000.
Alban Senior Consultant Alice Mann worked with State Street Church in Portland, Maine, to help the congregation respond to the membership plateau that followed a prolonged period of gradual decline.

Turnaround Strategies for the Small Church (Book)
Ronald K. Crandall, Author.  Herb Miller, Editor.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.
Arguing that small churches can grow and flourish, the author discusses the pastor's crucial role and explores the attitudes and behaviors that inhibit growth and those that can lead to revitalization.

Behold I Do a New Thing: Transforming Communities of Faith (Book)
C. Kirk Hadaway, Author.  Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2001.
Maintaining that a good church is one that truly changes people, Kirk Hadaway presents a dynamic model of church as “incarnational community” that provides leadership for transformation.

Cracking Your Congregation’s Code: Mapping Your Spiritual DNA to Create Your Future (Book)
Richard Southern, Robert Norton, Authors.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
Richard Southern and Robert Norton provide a tested development and planning model that helps a spiritual community to clearly articulate why it exists, what it is doing, and where it would like to go.

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.

Discover Your Windows: Lining Up with God’s Vision (Book)
Kent Hunter, Author.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002.
Kent Hunter has developed ten windows—personal paradigms for seeing the world—that can help congregations "become more productive for God."

Natural Church Development: A Guide to the Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches (Book)
Christian A. Schwarz, Author.  St. Charles, IL: ChurchSmart Resources, 1996.
This book, based on a survey of more than 1,000 congregations around the world, offers a valuable contribution to the discussion of why churches grow.

Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century World (Book)
Leonard Sweet, Author.  Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.
The postmodern church should be EPIC--experiential, participatory, image-driven, and connected--and focus on relationships, not programs. Leonard Sweet calls for a new church that is participatory, community-centered, and driven by multimedia images.

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.