Category: Leadership Development

Posted in Boundaries, Change Management, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Leadership Development, Mission and Vision Tagged with

13 min 05s

If the congregation has a vision, how do you know if it’s actually your vision that they’ve kind of adopted somehow, or it’s really their vision?

Are they saying that because I’m in the room? Or because they know I’m excited about it?

If it’s something that I feel that I could do this myself, or like, Oh, this is perfect! then I get a little wary, and have to be careful;

If I feel like it’s perfect, then it’s probably a reflection of my beliefs and my hopes, rather than these people who are totally different than me, or have their own hopes and their own beliefs;

It’s about self-awareness: in addition to listening outward, I need to listen inward to make sure that I’m not placing myself in it too much;

And if I determine that there is too much of me in this vision, here’s what I do…

Listen or Read Now!
Posted in Assessments and Evaluations, Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Coaching and Counseling, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Leadership Development, Search Committees Tagged with

12 min 09s

Increasingly, congregations find themselves in a transition period – often when a pastor has left – and struggling to find someone with the change leadership skills and knowledge who can help them move forward. This is particularly true for congregations with diminishing resources. Trained Interim Ministers are in short supply and are often already working elsewhere. To this need, a new role is emerging, that of the Interim Consultant. An Interim Consultant has the necessary change leadership skills and can often serve several congregations at once on a part-time basis, therefore making this resource more available and affordable.

In this episode, titled, “What Is an Interim Consultant and How Might One Help Us?,” experienced Interim Consultant, Rev. Dr. Ruth Shaver, shares valuable insight from her direct experience.

Interim Consultant (IC) is a way of working with churches in transition without their being the Interim Minister of the church.

The work of congregational leadership has several components:

  • the transitional work itself,
  • the pastoral leadership, and
  • the administrative leadership.

Lay leadership must be involved with the transitional work for there to be ownership of outcomes.

3 basic models for a congregation to work with an Interim Consultant –

  1. Cong. can’t afford a full-time trained (Intentional) Interim Minister;
  2. Supplement the work of the existing IM who doesn’t have the needed transitional leadership skills;
  3. Current pastor is retiring and cong. wants to get started with the transitional work before current pastor leaves;
Listen or Read Now!
Posted in Assessments and Evaluations, Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Coaching and Counseling, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Leadership Development, Search Committees Tagged with

12 min 28s

As fewer congregations are able to afford a full-time trained Interim Minister, working with an Interim Consultant on a part-time basis is proving to be an effective way that congregations in transition can have access to the change leadership skills and knowledge so valuable during such times. In this second of two podcasts about the emerging role of the Interim Consultant, Rev. Dr. Ruth Shaver shares from her direct experience serving in this role in this episode titled, “What Does An Interim Consultant Do, and How Do They Go About It?”

How an Interim Consultant (IC) does their work;

How might an IC work with the leadership of the congregation?

When & how does an IC typically begin working with a congregation? With its Transition Team and/or Pastor Search Team?

Some of the tools the IC may use to guide their work with the congregation: Church Profile, History exercises, Appreciative Inquiry, etc.

Listen or Read Now!
Posted in Change Management, Children and Youth, Church Growth & Vitality, Faith Formation, Leadership Development, Managing Expectations, Mission and Vision, Spiritual Formation Tagged with ,

22 min 48s

Many pastors say that multigenerational worship is important, yet admit that finding a healthy balance between togetherness and separateness is elusive. In this episode titled, “Multigenerational Worship: How We Found the Balance, and What It Looks Like,” Rev. Allison Palm and Sadie Kahn-Greene of the Unitarian Universality Church in Nashua, NH, share their journey of innovation and discovery to finding a format that works well for their congregation and why.

It has been a journey of trying to figure out what it is we want our Sunday mornings to look like, and what really serves our community, which is a very multigenerational one.

Multigenerational – all together all the time –  worship was the ideal I believed in for faith formation when I started my ministry here 10 years ago.

  • I don’t believe that anymore;
  • Rather, through authentic experimentation and deep listening, this is the format that does work for us…

Why a consistent rhythm of programming is important and what ours looks like;

The Wonder Box &

Switch-it-up Sundays

Listen or Read Now!
Posted in Change Management, Children and Youth, Church Growth & Vitality, Faith Formation, Leadership Development, Managing Expectations, Mission and Vision, Spiritual Formation, Volunteers Tagged with ,

15 min 45s

Multigenerational thriving is the dream of every pastor for their congregation. And yet, it doesn’t happen simply by bringing people together. Rather, it results from having evolved a good strategy through careful listening and negotiating the needs and interests of people in their various stages of life.

In this episode titled, “Building Multigenerational Community: How We Found the Balance,” part 2 of the multigen series with Rev. Allison Palm and Sadie Kahn-Greene, they share specifics about their strategy and programming that is making authentic and joyful multigenerational community a reality for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua.

Coming out of COVID, the challenge we had was, How can we learn how to be in community together again when we haven’t been together in a while?

How can we welcome in new folks who are joining us so that they can get to know the community? And how can we help our community get to know our newer members? 

Sadie Con Green explains the decision to focus on having fun together as a congregation in the spring of 2023.

The congregation organized multi-generational events like game nights, a talent show, and a camping trip to foster interaction across age groups.

The success of these events led to the introduction of more age-specific events to cater to different needs and preferences.

The introduction of circle dinners and kids’ movie nights allowed for both multi-generational and age-specific connections.

Listen or Read Now!