A new resource aims to help faith leaders navigate the challenges of a changing landscape.
Designed for ministers who are “feeling isolated without the necessary resources or tools,” the toolkit, titled “Where to Start: A Guide for Faith Leaders on Shifting Ground,” seeks to help them traverse the “shifting ground” of local church leadership.
“When a crisis hits, leaders can feel disoriented in ways that prevent them from taking the next step in mission and ministry. Imagining new possibilities often feels utterly impossible,” Lake Institute noted in a Sept. 13 press release. “Without prescribing solutions to the complex challenges faith leaders face, these books and resources offer stories, illustrations, and conceptual frameworks that can stir new imagination for leaders and their communities.”
Created by the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, in conjunction with The Program for the Future Church at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Vandersall Collective and RootedGood, the free resource is part of the institute’s Shifting Ground initiative.
The toolkit includes prompts for personal inventory and reflection, questions related to nine common challenges or crises facing houses of faith, as well as actions to take in response to the circumstances faced by clergy and congregations.
It can be used by individuals or small groups of leaders, and it also includes a list of three books for further study and reflection, with the chapters of each book aligned with the nine challenges.
The free toolkit is available here.
Managing editor for news and opinion at Good Faith Media.
