CONGREGATIONAL LIFE CYCLE
Part of the ministry resources on Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal.
Church Health, Congregational Life Cycle – Most church health strategies make use of the congregational life cycle, an adaptation of Ichak Adizes research which shows how organizations evolve through a predictable cycle of birth, maturity/effectiveness, and then demise. Many planning guides feature the life cycle (e.g. Rendle and Mann’s Holy Conversations), but a few resources focus exclusively on this model to unpack its significance for church health and renewal. Exposure to this approach is an indispensable tool for leading a church out of decline and into a new period of effectiveness. Two resources are especially helpful toward that end:
- George W. Bullard, Jr., Pursuing The Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation (TCP Leadership Series) — Perhaps the most comprehensive application of the congregational health cycle. Bullard blends this nicely with a process of spiritual discernment to comprise one of the best intentional church renewal strategies available.
- Robert Dale, To Dream Again: How to Help Your Church Come Alive — The older standard that is still referenced by all who discuss the model. Originally published in 1981 but now available in a nice reprint.
Both of these resources discuss the life cycle through a rubric of Strategic Planning.
Related Ministry Resources
See Other Resources on Church Leadership and Renewal:
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal, Index
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Theological Foundations, Ecclesiology
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Philosophical Foundations – e.g. Church Growth, Missional, Emergent, and Other Missionally Responsive Trajectories
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Church Dynamics and Research
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Congregational Culture, Church Identity
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Church Size, Size Transitions
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Practical Foundations, Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Special Situations, Small Church Development
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal – Strategies for Renewal
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- Missional Perspectives, Intro
- Missional Strategies for Christian Ministry
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