Helping or Hindering? The Impact of Congregations’ Networks on Their Vitality and Sustainability

Commitment & Belonging, Ecology Frame, Featured-Fieldnote, Networks & Relationships, Resources Frame, Social Service & Activism

When we think about relationships in congregational life, we often think about relationships between attenders within a congregation. But what about relationships between congregations as organizations? These relationships can involve friendships between ministers, joint events, collaborations, and other partnerships. And different kinds of relationships can have different consequences.   My research has looked at two…

When Congregations Share Their Properties:
5 Principles for Good Decisions

Buildings & Spaces, Networks & Relationships, Process Frame, Resources Frame, United States & Canada

My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t just about parking. More than that, any kind of property-sharing arrangement, whether with outside groups or diverse internal groups, requires careful assessment of why and how, as well as careful tending of the relationship. Guiding these decisions are principles that…

Faith-Based Programming:
Four Tips for Congregations

Buildings & Spaces, Ecology Frame, Neighborhoods & Contexts, Networks & Relationships, Resources Frame, Social Service & Activism, United States & Canada

How should congregations aiming to initiate or expand their social service programming go about doing so? We recently published The Arc of Faith-Based Initiatives (2018, Springer) and have both examined congregational social services for about two decades. Our research suggests four critical considerations. What’s your programming focus and will it fill a void? The field…

Flourishing Congregations:
Not All Are As They Appear

Attendance, Congregational Size, Interviews, Leadership, Process Frame, Process-Feature, Resources Frame, Surveys, Thriving Congregations, United States & Canada

Amidst the endless stream of research studies, news stories, and anecdotes that rightly report on religious decline across denominations and congregations, where are the signs of congregational life and vitality, and what can we learn from such settings? These are anchoring questions for our Canadian-based research team at the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University.…

Studying Congregations in a Pandemic

Attendance, Culture Frame, Ecology Frame, Focus Groups, Frames, Health & Wellbeing, Interviews, Resources Frame, Ritual & Worship, Theology Frame

In the midst of this pandemic, congregations have often been in the news (not always for good reasons). Newspaper columnists are writing about how we need what religion has to offer and how we miss the little things, like singing together, as well as highlighting the creative ways religious communities are staying connected. Meanwhile leaders…