Congregational Systems Workshop
Getting Ready
Each person will complete the Congregational Systems Inventory and send his/her results to the consultant. The consultant will then plot the scores for each of the seven dimensions, showing the full range of responses for each of the seven dimensions. The consultant will also circulate a written report based on the “results” for each dimension, which will be the starting point for the workshop discussion by all those who completed the inventory.
Now your team is ready for the Congregational Systems Workshop. The consultant's role is to maintain a safe environment for all participants, allowing free expression so you and your leaders can learn, grow, and prepare for a better future. During the workshop, you and your team will be asked to keep three questions in mind at
all times:
1. Does this sound like our Congregation/Ministry?
2. What are we learning through this inventory?
3. How can I be part of a healthy way forward?
For more information or to schedule this workshop please contact Pastor Scott.
Benefits of the CSI
“The Congregational Systems Inventory is intended to help leaders step back and look at a larger picture;
it points to opportunities for creative release from old habits so that a
congregation can reclaim its explorer identity and develop the inner resiliency
to respond to changing times and new challenges.”
Understanding Your Congregation As A System, page 3
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The beauty of this tool is that the “results” are based on how the key leadership groups in your
setting “see” your congregation/ministry. Only those most familiar with the way things get
done in your setting are the groups who will complete the inventory: Church council/Board of
Directors, Pastor(s), Executive Staff, Elders, etc.
That means when the “results” are reviewed your leaders are not learning from how the
consultant “sees” your congregation/ministry-- but from how every participant individually and
collectively “sees” the congregation/ministry. Leaders are learning from one another’s
experiences.
The consultant’s role is to provide a safe environment for leaders to reflect and grow which can
lead to exploring new ways of seeing the congregation and best practices for the future.
More about the Inventory
The 70-question Congregational Systems Inventory (CSI) measures seven congregational dimensions related to how you and your leaders work together on your mission. Here are the seven congregational dimensions:
Strategy
Measures the way the congregation puts its vision into practice.
Authority
Measures the ability to influence decision-making in the congregation.
Process
Measures both the information sharing and decision-making procedures in a congregation.
Pastoral Leadership
Measures the way the pastor goes about generating intended change in the church system.
Relatedness
Measures the way members of an organization work together, especially whether their work is done cooperatively or independently.
Lay Leadership
Measures the way lay leaders generate intended change in the church system.
Learning
Measures a congregation’s orientation toward the past or the future as it experiments with improving its life and ministry.