Strategic Leadership for a Change: Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future

by Kenneth Mcpayden

Many congregations are experiencing significant change both within and beyond their walls, and both members and leaders feel a sense of loss in the midst of these changes. In the midst of change, loss, and grief, congregations yearn for leadership--typically with differing expectations of what constitutes effective leadership in response to their needs, hopes, and priorities. At the same time, congregations resist leadership. After all, leadership assumes those who follow will be open to more change. Strategic Leadership for a Change provides congregational leaders with new insights and tools for understanding the relationships among change, attachment, loss, and grief. It also helps to facilitate the process of grieving, comprehend the centrality of vision, and demonstrate theological reflection in the midst of change, loss, grief, and attaching anew. All this occurs as the congregation aligns its vision with God's and understands processes of change as processes of fulfillment.

Genres: Leadership

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some helpful pieces here. But as short as this book is (102 pages), it's extraordinarily redundant. People are emotional and need to properly grieve loss to change. Hope is a powerful tool to inspire. It has good thoughts, but feels a lot like spinning wheels.

[Diana Westfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for group discussion as a member of Session at my church. Interesting info, but the last chapter was the most helpful.

[Lou Florio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spot on. This is one of the most accurate and helpful books on parish ministry I have read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, short book about leading and change. It's encouraging, inspiring, and practical. Written from a church perspective but probably useful for various organizations.

[Miriam Foltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, practical read for church leaders - full of discussion questions and concrete tools for prayerfully discerning transformative change.