The hidden lives of congregations : understanding congregational dynamics / Israel Galindo. [print]

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Includes bibliographical references.

The ideal and the reality The congregation as church The mandate, mission, and models of congregations The hidden life of congregational lifespan The hidden life of how size shapes congregational relationships The hidden life of spirituality styles of congregations The hidden life of congregational identity The functions of congregational leadership Leading from the self The focus of congregational leaders.

Faced with crisis, lack of direction, or just plain "stuckness," many congregations and their leaders are content to deal only with surface issues and symptoms--only to discover that the same problems keep recurring, often in different, and more serious, ways. In The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Christian educator and consultant Israel Galindo takes leaders below the surface of congregational life to provide a comprehensive, holistic look at the corporate nature of church relationships and the invisible dynamics at play. Informed by family systems theory and grounded in a wide-ranging ecclesiological understanding, Galindo unpacks clearly the factors of congregational lifespan, size, spirituality, and identity and shows how these work together to form the congregation's hidden life. He provides useful tools for diagnosing and understanding how one's congregation fits into the various categories he names and suggests what leadership skills are necessary to get beyond the impasse of surface issues and help the congregation achieve its mission.