Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual & Organizational Tools for Leaders [Paperback]

Gilbert R. Rendle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

Many books have been written about leadership and change, but until now none has focused on the kind of change that tears at a community's very fabric. Alban senior consultant Gil Rendle provides a respectful context for understanding change, especially the experiences and resistances that people feel. Rendle pulls together theory, research, and his work with churches facing change to provide leaders with practical diagnostic models and tools. In a time when change is the norm, this book helps to "lead change" in a spiritual and healthy way.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gil Rendle challenges us to get 'unstuck' and reflect on how congregational leaders can be agents of change and transformation." -- Rabbi Lennard Thal, Vice President, Union of American Hebrew Congregations

"Rendle provides a pathway through 'the wilderness' with skill, compassion, and power for the journey God is unfolding for ministry." -- Alfred Johnson, Resident Bishop, New Jersey Area UMC

About the Author

Gil Rendle is a Senior Consultant with the Alban Institute. He is an ordained United Methodist clergyperson with more than 15 years of parish experience. He consults with local congregations and judicatories using his background in organizational development and systems theory. He is also the author of Behanvioral Covenants in Congregations, The Multigenerational Congregation, and the co-author of Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Alban Inst (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566991870
• ISBN-13: 978-1566991872
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resouce, May 9, 2000

By 

Linda Kuhn (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual & Organizational Tools for Leaders (Paperback)

Excellent insights for planning strategies to help congregations into and through change. A great guide for dealing with the dynamics of change -- spiritual, intellectual, and emotional. Helpful differentiation between "management" and "leadership" and the kinds of situations when each style is more appropriate. I use it as a handbook in doing interim ministry.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good investment of your precious reading time, March 8, 2006

By 

Richard J. McCorry, D.Min. (Rochester, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual & Organizational Tools for Leaders (Paperback)

Remember back to course you took in seminary about leading

your church through change? No? There wasn't one! Come now, that can't be true, but sadly it is in most cases. Pastors are called to shepherd their church's through changes but are rarely given the education or tools to do so. Most of this is picked up by trial and error, often painful trials with many errors. This book could be considered "Remedial Congregational Leadership 101," for those of us who never received this formal training. Clearly Rendle wrote this book not out of some theoretical model (although there is solid theory supporting it) but out of his lived experience of leading many congregations through the turbulant waters of change. With so many demands pulling at the free time of a pastor, this book is well worth devoting some of that time.

5.0 out of 5 stars Offers a practical approach to congregational development, February 9, 2010

By 

James J. Kane - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual & Organizational Tools for Leaders (Paperback)

This book provides both clergy and laity with a practical approach to congregational development by helping leaders to see their congregations as unique and vital to God's kingdom.

The questions asked, both in the narrative text as well as the structured ideas is one of the gems of this book.

This book provided, and still provides me, with a new set of lenses through which to view the future journey and development of my congregation as God calls it to become and not as a replica of a current trend.