This handbook for seminarians and clergy professionals places the congregation itself, rather than individual scholarly disciplines, at the center of congregational analysis. Using a comprehensive systems approach to congregations, this volume enables readers to analyze the ministries, stories, and processes that are at work in congregations. It provides techniques for studying the congregation as well as a framework for understanding the nature of the congregation.

Dudley's work in Making the Small Church Effective (1978) broke new ground in understanding the dynamics of life in the small congregation. In this revised edition, Dudley revisits the small church, posing new questions reflective of the considerable changes that have swept over small churches in the last two decades. Among the most significant recent developments are shifts in institutional loyalty and individual's sense of identity in relation to larger groups and organizations. Dudley explores the key components that contribute to a small congregation's sense of unity and that...

Thousands of congregations today are confronted with the reality that their neighbourhoods and regions have changed around them, often to such a degree that their survival is threatened. This follow-up to the ground-breaking book Studying Congregations shows how to turn a church around by understanding the unique needs of the neighbourhood. This hands-on workbook offers congregations a logical, action oriented, collegial process for gathering the right information that can help to evaluate their church's particular situation and the available options.

Dudley and a research team go back to 24 ministries still in existence five years after the Church and Community Project's completion. They discovered how the myths and expectations of funding, lay/clergy leadership, and church/society partnerships were shattered by what is doable; how the often Herculean efforts frustrated and tired participants, who were then uplifted and sustained by making a difference; and how faith was the foundation for action, and how, through action, the poor, the homeless, and others in need became real people and not statistics.

In this era of "faith-based initiatives," congregations increasingly find themselves in the business of establishing and supporting community ministries-daycare for infants and toddlers, respite care for elders, and programs for housing rehab and home repair, tutoring, and social justice advocacy. In this volume, Carl S. Dudley revises and updates his earlier book, Basic Steps toward Community Ministry, which Loren Mead called "the most valuable book on parish ministry I've seen in a decade."

""Authors Stephen Rasor and Michael Dash of The Interdenominational Theological Center faculty arc uniquely prepared and positioned . . . Grounded in practical wisdom from their years of personal experience, scholarly research, and oversight of ministerial students, they have given us a truly and immanently useful report on African American congregational life at the new millennium. ""Rasor and Dash record the views of leaders in 1,863 congregations in the black church tradition. Here for the first time, we can sec the similarities between black churches and other major religious movements...