Congregational Development

Live in Christ Jesus, Transform the World!

The Commission on Congregation Development seeks to support our faith communities in the work of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the ministry of the baptized by partnering with congregations to facilitate their growth and development.

We seek to partner with congregations that:

• have demonstrable potential and desire to grow and thrive as healthy congregations
• are strategically located in areas that can sustain growth
• are willing to work with the diocese in a deliberate plan for development
• are willing to take risks by trying new methods and/or new configurations.

The primary strategy of our project is to gracefully transform the vision and increase the skills of parish leaders (clergy and lay) who in turn will lead their churches through the changes necessary to grow and thrive. The intended outcome is to empower these leaders to guide their congregations to discern God's call for their unique ministry as a congregation and to develop a clearly defined ministry plan with expectations for development and growth which will include regular evaluations to ascertain progress toward those goals. The Commission provides resources, which may include grants, to implement a congregation’s unique ministry plan.

We are committed to providing opportunities for education and skills training in areas necessary for growth and development. While we spend a good deal of time learning how to utilize sound planning methods and various tools to assist in development, our primary focus is to empower the members of our congregational leadership teams to become disciples who make disciples for Christ through the transforming power of the Gospel. Our programs encourage each of us to deepen our relationship with God through the practice of prayer, Bible study, and the spiritual disciplines. In this way, our leadership teams will be ready to lead their congregations to discern how GOD is calling their parish to change and to grow!

The congregations selected to work with the Commission must

• Be willing to change and grow.
• Identify a minimum of 8-10 of their most capable leaders depending on parish size (clergy included in the group) who are committed to growth and are representative of the congregation's demographics. These leaders will commit to a 36-month covenant during which time they will serve as agents for change and growth in their congregation.
• Be willing to undergo an in-depth assessment of who they are and what they do as a faith community in order to design an effective development program tailored to the needs of the parish.
• Be willing to work with the Commission and any resources it recommends to develop and carry out a detailed plan for congregational development.

Participating churches understand that they are partnering with the Diocese, the Bishop and the Commission on Congregational Development for a minimum of a three-year period of time. This partnership requires mutual accountability with the commission and the Diocese as a whole as well as commitment to serious long-term to growth over and beyond the years of covenant partnership. Partnership Grants for development are given to churches after completion of an approved ministry plan, for up to 50% of the cost of new programs and initiatives not for bricks and mortar.

We understand that this is a radical approach to the way we support churches in the Diocese of Rhode Island in that Congregational Development Funds will not be utilized for maintaining the status quo or to rescue parish budget short-falls.