A discernment and planning process for congregations

James E Waggoner

Etd

A discernment and planning process for congregations

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

James E Waggoner. A Discernment and Planning Process for Congregations. Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/04332752-80c3-4f60-b469-af84b32237f3.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

J. E. Waggoner. A discernment and planning process for congregations. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/04332752-80c3-4f60-b469-af84b32237f3

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

James E Waggoner. A Discernment and Planning Process for Congregations. Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/04332752-80c3-4f60-b469-af84b32237f3.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

James E Waggoner

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

Among church leaders there is general agreement about the practical necessity of planning for the future, but there appears to be an absence of a prescribed process for doing so. The situation reflected across the church is that clergy and vestries are not always prepared and equipped to plan and set goals with confidence that they are acting consistently with what they believe God is calling the congregation to be and to do. In response to this perceived need, I have developed a design that is structured to encourage and enable discernment and planning by congregations. This project has been advanced by the knowledge that many among the clergy and congregations in our diocese clearly recognize the importance of scheduling time apart from regular daily demands in order to listen for the voice of the Lord through a structured process as they plan for the future. Theological concepts that God speaks to his people, leading and guiding them, undergirded this project. Biblical references substantiating that the Lord speaks to his people were incorporated throughout the process. Psychological concepts that informed the thesis included the awareness and application of systems theory as presented by Dr. Edwin Friedman and the Rev. Peter L. Steinke. This theory was particularly helpful in recognizing behavior associated with the prospect of change and the anticipated increase in anxiety. My operative thesis for this act of ministry is that planning should be done using a guided, structured, theologically grounded process, and that the process should be led by an outside resource person, a consultant.

Publisher