Over
the last 50 years, a number of consulting firms have emerged with a primary
focus on church development. Organizations
emphasizing capital development (fund-raising) were in the vanguard, but many
others have emerged, especially as denominations have down-sized the services
offered to local congregations. These
new groups offer strategic planning support, conflict management, search
committee orientation, leadership training and other services to churches,
judicatories and faith-based organizations.
Many
of these consulting firms have not only taken the place of denominational
entities, but they have generally adopted the programs and processes of those
denominational entities. In other words, they are simply building on and
repackaging old techniques. Although providing
worthwhile services, they have remained mired in the old denominational mindset
of bigger is better. They have generally
adopted an organizational, mechanistic approach to church development.
A new type of church consulting firm has emerged in the last twenty
years. This type of firm recognizes the
importance of personal development, spiritual formation, and relationships in
church development. Very often their
leaders have come out of a counseling and pastoral care background. They would tend to agree with the idea at
the heart of Patrick Lencioni’s book Getting Naked: A Business Fable about Shedding the Three FearsThat Sabotage Client Loyalty. He
contends that relationships are at the core of effective consulting and that the
most effective consultant is one who adopts an approach of vulnerability and
humility. This person recognizes that he
or she has as much to learn as they have to teach.
This
new type of church consultant has adopted a relational model of church
development. This approach is seen in
the way that this consultant operates. He or she seeks to facilitate
communication among leaders, congregational members, and God. One approach used to facilitate such communication
is appreciative inquiry—encouraging the telling of stories and experiences so
that people can identify commonalities, strengths, and successes.
Another
part of this consultant’s work is to lead a congregation in spiritual
discernment. This requires taking the
time to listen to one another and for the voice of God through prayer,
reflection, and worship. In addition, the consultant recognizes the value of
developing groups to not only identify what needs to be done but to provide
accountability.
The
relational consultant may employ coaching techniques to develop leaders or to
assist groups to follow through on their decisions. As in any coaching relationship, the coaching
consultant realizes that he or she does not have the answers, the client or
clients do. The consultant provides
direction, insight, and action by asking good questions.
Very
often the relational consultant helps client churches and organizations to
pursue strategic capability rather than strategic planning. Strategic or long-range planning takes a lot
of time. Once it is done, the church is often too tired to pursue the plan or it
finds that the context has changed in such a way as to make the plan
obsolete. The relational consultant
helps the church to discover what it does best and to marshal all the resources
to pursue those opportunities.
Some
will dismiss this approach as too “touchy feely,” but the relational consultant
knows that he or she is in the people development business. Programs come and go, but empowered people
keep on making a difference.
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