Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations

Probably the single best book in existence on strategic planning for churches. Based on deep understanding of how churches actually come to change and factors to consider in deciding how fast and at what depth your congregation can move how far in meaningful planning. Deeply spiritual (subtitle: "Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations"), the Holy Conversations approach takes seriously the leading of the Spirit and the need to discern that leading. It is not a plan which simply overlays a corporate planning model on the church nor is it a a "one size fits all" template, but a book of principles to keep in mind as you construct a "plan for planning" for your congregation -- of which a core element is the structuring (but not too tightly) of conversations in the course of which they absorb and integrate Bible stories, their own congregational stories, and data concerning both their congregation and the surrounding context) as well as the variety of preferences and alternative futures that surface in conversations. Not every congregation will need -- or be able -- to do a total, comprehensive strategic planning, but the key leaders in the planning process need to be aware of what a comprehensive program looks like so that they can chose which segments they need to help bring about the outcome in their congregation with its particular needs and leadership resources.

My church governing board used this for a year, reading a certain amount each month and then discussing it at the next meeting. It describes three types of planning: Problem planning, which is used to address problems; developmental planning, which can also be called long-range planning and addresses the church's future; and frame-bending planning, which also is used to address problems but in a more radical way to "shake things up."There are lots of diagrams to help the reader visualize the planning process, an exploration of mission and vision statements, and instructions on how to read the congregation's culture -- its way of looking at things. Our church was changing over to "policy governance," where the board turns over the day-to-day church decisions to a council of committees, and this book was a great help. I would especially recommend it for churches that are going through changes, conflict and growing pains.

Item as advertised. Very happy with it.

Just what I needed for my Interim Pastor work.

very useful to the congregation I belong to and serve as chaplain for our 5 year planning process

Excellent book I have used for many years. Just replacing a misplaced copy!

Very informative. Lot of good materials for my group.

Book was like new and very gently used. There were no writing on the pages which was a happy surprise for me. I was very happy with the book.

I rate this book very highly. It is a step by step guide to enable congregations to change and work out their vision and move forward. It is written with wisdom and insight. It is not a book to read and then say I have done it but to go back to and run over and above all use in a church context. Excellent

This book was extremely helpful and informative on the topic of strategic planning. I picked up a used copy from amazon and it looks brand new! This book is a must have for church leaders.