Mission Growth
Publishing
Quiet Conversations
Concrete Help for Weary Ministry
Leaders
About 100,000 parish pastors (and their families) are experiencing career burnout. Some recognize they are in trouble. Most need a way forward in ministry before they are pushed out.
Quiet Conversations follows Pastor Paul and his spouse Kristin as they come to understand what has gone wrong and discover a way back to personal and ministry health. Feel the hurts they experience but do not share with their congregation’s leaders—or anyone else. Experience the release that comes from admitting trouble and seeking help. Share their joy as they discover hope for the future.
Every pastor, along with their spouses and children, will see portions of their lives reflected in this clergy family. Pastors and their families will see why solutions they have tried often backfire and make matters worse. They will discover a way out of the death spiral of tension, conflict, and relocation.
Congregation leaders will learn about the pressures that act on pastors and their families. They will come to see how they can be helpful. After all, congregations are in trouble when led by burned out pastors.
Future pastors hear lectures and experience fieldwork that teaches how things "should" happen in congregations. Quiet Conversations demonstrates what causes things to go wrong. Knowing what causes things to go wrong is a powerful way of discovering how to keep things going right.
"This is a terrific book. It actually embodies what it proposes. The
main points are right on. This is a book I think most pastors
should read. I am going to distribute it widely."
- Speed Leas, congregation conflict author and consultant
"This book shines light on complex issues every pastor knows,
every pastor’s spouse has suffered through, and many lay leaders have been confused by. It gives a practical, understandable guide
to healthier and more faithful living as pastors, their families,
and congregations struggle to reach out to the world they are called
to.
- Loren Mead, founder of the Alban Institute
"Quiet Conversations is written in a wonderful style that pulls the
reader in through the story. It offers great helps and substance, describing the nature and behavior of pastors and congregations
experiencing difficulties. It can be a very useful tool to pastors
and their families and, I think, to congregational lay leaders."
- Ted Kober, director of training - Peacemaker Ministries
"Quiet Conversations provides a detailed look at ministry dysfunction in a readable and conversational way. It is relational,
not adversarial, and gives many good suggestions without becoming a ‘cookbook.’ This book is worth an annual read."
- Paul Zimmerman, pastor of church coming out of turmoil
"What the future parish pastor (and spouse) is not taught in seminary must be learned later, often painfully. Sometimes pain
causes the victim to leave the ministry. One alternative is to read Quiet Conversations."
- Lyle Schaller, dean of congregation consultants
In Search of
the Unchurched
ORDER FORM
You get the point about a changing church. But how do you convey that to your congregation? In Search of the Unchurched offers a way to discuss the changes affecting mainline denominations and your congregation. It is based on extensive research and discoveries about the differences between thriving and struggling congregations.
This book is designed to help you and your congregation explore the factual truths about what was and what is as a way to motivate discussion about what is working and what's not working in your congregation. You'll discover how congregations wrestled with the same issues you are facing (ministry to current members, ministry to the unchurched, worship, changing neighborhoods, and more).
Learn the factors that inspired and motivated congregations to make changes that reversed decline. Learn why installing some of the changes that are often suggested seem to make no difference at your congregation.
Clergy, lay leaders, judicatory executives, and seminary professors will find much needed practical help for understanding why surface changes are not effective, "being friendlier" is not enough, and reaching the unchurched is more attitude than methodology.
"How do congregations formed in a 'churched' society adapt to the harder life in an 'unchurched' society? In this book you will
find information from careful research on twenty-seven identifiable 'transitions' faced by most congregations today. But the book goes
beyond the research to point out--through illustrative anecdotes from all kinds of churches--practical starting points for pastors
and lay leaders to address those transitions. Klaas, who led this wide-ranging research effort, is to be congratulated for making
it findings available far beyond the churches in which the study was done."
- Loren Mead, founder of the Alban Institute
"This is both a superb diagnostic statement on the place of the
church in an unchurched society and a challenging prescription for change. Must reading for every pastor, denominational executive,
lay leader, and seminary professor."
- Lyle Schaller, dean of congregation consultants
"This
book needs to be read and used by every church who is at
all concerned about reaching the unchurched. I say ‘read and used’ because
the book can be used for self-study. Dr. Klaas includes periodic Action
Suggestions and discussion questions. Thanks for this important book."
- Dave Anderson, president of The Fellowship Ministries
Flexible, Missional
Constitution/Bylaws
» Exchange your congregation's 30+ page document that is complex, inflexible, difficult to work with, and mission-inhibiting for one that is 6 to 8 pages, flexible, and mission promoting.
» Complete a new constitution and bylaws on one Saturday with the entire congregation, not the normal two or three years of endless meetings.
Flexible, Missional Constitution/Bylaws presents critical concepts of the current unchurched culture, being a mission outpost, using the gifts of all members, and working within the reality of the "sprinter culture." It incorporates principles of policy-based leadership developed by John Carver in his book Boards That Make A Difference and principles of leadership in an unchurched culture described by Kennon Callahan in Effective Church Leadership.
The book explains how to accomplish education, discussion, and decision-making that an entire congregation can complete together in one day. It demonstrates how the congregation makes the ten fundamental decisions needed for the Constitution. It guides break-out groups through the major decisions needed for the Bylaws. The book provides example wordings from Great Commission congregations and explains how to make quality decisions in a timely manner.
CD of
Documents from
Flexible, Missional
Constitution/ Bylaws
CD in IBM PC or equivalent, licensed for use at one congregation per CD purchased. The disk contains:
Microsoft Word 97® files
 |
Constitution and Bylaws for St. Paul Church (Appendix A) |
|
Draft Constitution and Bylaws (Appendix B) |
|
Presentation test script for Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6 |
|
Five subgroup handouts containing Notes to Subgroups, Draft Constitution and Bylaws, and Other Wordings of Constitutions and Bylaws (Appendix C, D, and E) |
PowerPoint 97® files
|
Presentation slides for content in Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6 |
E-mail
to Mission Growth Publishing