Many mainline churches make the mistake of thinking that in order to reverse decline they must become something that they are not. Often that change of identity has to do with worship. In a study funded by the Lilly Foundation, Robert Cueni has interviewed pastors and members of dozens of large-membership mainline churches that have turned around long-standing patterns of stagnation or decline. The common denominator he identified is that the leadership of these churches have found ways to incorporate the church’s story and sense of identity into a new story of change and renewal. They work with the strengths they find, move away from the weaknesses, and arrive at a newly thriving congregation. In Dinosaur Heart Transplants, Cueni shares the findings and conclusions from his groundbreaking study and demonstrates how even small and mid-sized congregations can incorporate these patterns of renewal.
Key Features: • Addresses a problem that is being faced in numerous ways by many churches today • Applicable to mainline churches of all sizes • Makes available in an accessible format the findings of a Lilly Foundation study
Key Benefits: • Readers will understand the factors that cause or characterize stagnating churches • Readers will understand the outlook necessary to move churches that have reached a plateau into renewal • Readers will understand how to crystallize a church’s story and sense of identity • Readers will learn how to incorporate that story and identify with a new story of change and renewal • Readers will learn how to identify churches’ weaknesses and move away from them
Author(s): R Robert Cueni
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 148
Dinosaur Heart Transplants— Renewing Mainline Co......Page 2
It's the Name of the Neighborhood......Page 3
Past Performance Does Not Ensure Future Success......Page 4
But Is It Enough?......Page 5
Study Mainline Tall-Steeple Congregations......Page 6
Where English Is Spoken Without a Trace of Accent......Page 9
Even Preaching and Program Do Not Explain It......Page 12
When Mystery Touches the Pastor’s Life......Page 14
Your Predecessor Is Not Your Enemy......Page 16
The Story Constitutes the Most Important Factor in Renewal......Page 18
History and Tradition Shape the Story......Page 19
Important Traditions from Ordinary Events......Page 20
The Storyteller Must Know the Story......Page 22
The Art of Moving a Congregation into a New Era......Page 24
Know This! Past, Present, and Future Always Differ......Page 27
Change: Two Species, Each with Two Subspecies......Page 28
The Story Must Be Considered When Planning for Change......Page 29
Congregational Renewal Requires a New Chapter in the Story......Page 30
Expect Hard Work and Plan for the Long-term......Page 31
Leadership as Vision Casting and Storytelling......Page 33
Disciples of Christ with Vision in the Nation’s C......Page 34
Vision Defined......Page 36
Whence Comes a Vision......Page 38
The Pastor as Resourcer of the Vision......Page 39
Try Putting a Group in Charge of Disrupting Present Thinking......Page 40
Whatever It Takes, Do It......Page 41
The Importance of Planning and Implementing......Page 43
Some Leaders Develop a Strategic Plan......Page 45
Unfortunately, It Is Not That Simple......Page 46
Most Congregations Plan Less Formally......Page 47
Governance: The Machinery by Which the Church Operates......Page 48
Good Planning Builds Support Every Step of the Way......Page 49
A Place That Sets High Expectations......Page 51
Neatness May Not Be Everything, But It Counts......Page 53
The Neatness Rule Has Exceptions......Page 55
Do Nothing Haphazardly......Page 56
A Price to Be Paid......Page 57
"Mission Is Why We Are Here"1......Page 59
Key to Developing Mission Program: Find a Need and Fill It......Page 61
The Ministry of the Building......Page 62
The Trend from Checkbook to Hands-on......Page 63
Developing Entrepreneurs of Mission......Page 65
Mainline Core Identity: A Passion for Mission......Page 66
"Look for the Dry Ground"......Page 68
Renewal Takes More Than Praise Music and Small Groups......Page 70
Intimacy: Where People Feel They Belong......Page 71
Integrity: Make It Pervade Everything......Page 72
Infinite: To Take a Peek at Ultimate Reality......Page 73
Living Out a New Day......Page 74
Renewal: A Process with a Long History......Page 78
The American Revolution Shakes Puritan Foundations......Page 79
Puritanism with a Yankee Twist......Page 80
The Struggle to Renew into a New Millennium......Page 81
Second Presbyterian Church Indianapolis, Indiana Founded 1838......Page 82
Just Doing the Job Well......Page 85
Present Trends Do Not Always Predict Future Results......Page 87
A Dinosaur Is a Dinosaur Is a Dinosaur......Page 88
Notes......Page 89
Dinosaur Heart Transplants Renewing Mainline Congregations......Page 157
