The Cost of Tradition: Church Growth Barriers

In many churches, there’s a phrase that quietly shapes more decisions than anyone realizes. “We’ve always done it this way.”

It usually isn’t said with bad intentions. In fact, most of the time it comes from a place of history, tradition, and care for what a church has built over the years. But when that phrase becomes the default response to new ideas, it can slowly hold a church back from the very mission it’s trying to serve.

Tradition Isn’t the Problem

Tradition can be incredibly meaningful. Many of the rhythms and practices within our churches exist because they’ve helped communities grow in faith for generations. They often define who we are.

The problem isn’t tradition itself. The problem is when tradition becomes untouchable. When something is never revisited, evaluated, or discussed, it stops being a tradition and becomes a barrier to growth.

Healthy churches learn how to hold both things at the same time: Respect for the past and openness to the future.

Why Churches Default to Familiar Patterns

There are a few reasons why “we’ve always done it this way” shows up so often in church leadership conversations.

1. Change Feels Risky

Church leaders care deeply about their communities. Because of that, many leaders fear that change might upset people or create conflict. Sometimes it feels safer to keep things the same.

2. History Carries Emotional Weight

Certain programs, events, or ministries are tied to memories, people, or seasons of growth in the church’s history. Even if something is no longer effective, it can feel difficult to let it go.

3. No One Has Paused to Reevaluate

In many churches, ministries simply continue because they’ve always existed. Over time, leaders become so busy maintaining programs that they rarely stop to ask: “Is this still serving our mission?”

The Hidden Cost of Staying the Same

When churches avoid reevaluating their systems, ministries, or strategies, a few things often begin to happen. Energy gets spread across too many programs. Volunteers feel stretched thin. Leaders struggle to keep everything running. And sometimes the church ends up maintaining activities that no longer connect with the people they are trying to reach.

None of this happens because leaders don’t care. It happens because churches rarely pause long enough to reflect on what is actually working.

Healthy Churches Ask Better Questions

Instead of asking: “Have we always done it this way?”

Healthy churches ask: “Is this still helping us accomplish our mission?” That question opens the door to thoughtful conversations. Some traditions may stay exactly the same. Others may evolve. And some ministries may need to be retired so new ones can emerge.

Letting Go Can Create Space for Growth

One of the most difficult leadership decisions in ministry is choosing to end something that once mattered deeply to the church. But sometimes letting go of a program, event, or process allows new energy and creativity to emerge.

It creates space for ministries that better serve the current community. It allows volunteers to focus their energy on what matters most. And it helps the church move forward instead of simply maintaining the past.

The Mission Should Always Lead the Method

The mission of the church doesn’t change. But the methods often need to. Communities evolve. People’s needs shift.

New opportunities for connection appear. Healthy churches are willing to adapt their methods so the mission continues to reach people effectively.

Not because the past didn’t matter. But because the mission matters too much to stay stuck.

The Invisible Weight of Ministry Leadership

Strong leadership in ministry is often associated with endurance. Leaders who keep showing up. Leaders who carry the weight. Leaders who hold everything together quietly. But sustainability does not come from carrying more. It comes from not carrying it alone.

Across congregations, synods, presbyteries, and ministry systems, many leaders are navigating layers of complexity that extend far beyond what is visible on Sunday mornings.

And often, they are doing it in isolation.

The Invisible Weight of Ministry Leadership

Ministry leadership involves far more than preaching, teaching, or pastoral care. Leaders are simultaneously holding:

• Financial pressures

• Staff dynamics

• Congregational expectations

• Historical tensions

• Community needs

• Long-term vision decisions

• Denominational relationships

• Organizational sustainability

These responsibilities are interconnected. Decisions in one area ripple into others. Over time, leadership becomes less about inspiration and more about navigation. And navigation requires support.

Why Leaders End Up Carrying Too Much

Most leaders do not intentionally isolate themselves. It happens gradually. Sometimes it begins with a desire to protect staff from stress. Sometimes it comes from unclear governance structures. Sometimes it stems from trust that has not yet been built. Sometimes it is inherited from past leadership patterns.

Often, it is reinforced by a cultural belief that strong leaders “handle it.” But when systems rely on one person holding the weight, sustainability becomes fragile.

Isolation Is Not a Leadership Strategy

Isolation can look like responsibility. But it often leads to fatigue, slower decision-making, and diminished clarity. Healthy ministry systems distribute leadership intentionally.

They create:

• Clear authority lines

• Defined decision-making processes

• Shared ownership of direction

• Support structures for leaders

• Communication rhythms that reduce uncertainty

These systems don’t remove responsibility. They make it sustainable.

Shared Leadership Strengthens the Whole System

When leadership becomes shared, several shifts happen:

• Staff become more engaged

• Volunteers understand their role more clearly

• Decision-making becomes more consistent

• Vision becomes more stable

• Leaders regain space to think strategically

Shared leadership is not about reducing accountability. It is about strengthening the entire organizational ecosystem.

The Role of Intentional Support

Support for ministry leaders doesn’t happen accidentally.

It requires:

• Naming complexity honestly

• Mapping systems clearly

• Identifying pressure points

• Building leadership capacity across roles

• Establishing rhythms for reflection and recalibration

Healthy organizations do not remove challenges. They create structures where challenges can be navigated collectively.

Moving Toward Sustainability

Leadership sustainability is not about doing less. It is about holding responsibility differently. When leaders are supported by systems — not just expectations — they regain clarity, energy, and long-term perspective. Ministry becomes less reactive. Decision-making becomes steadier. And the organization becomes more resilient.

Strong leadership does not mean carrying everything. It means building environments where leadership can be shared, supported, and sustained.

Holy Cow Consulting partners with churches and ministry systems to create healthy leadership structures, clarify decision-making, and build sustainable organizational rhythms.

Learn more at: https://holycowconsulting.com/

January Leadership Clarity: Why Alignment Matters More Than Planning

January arrives with pressure.

New plans. New goals. New expectations.

And for leaders, an unspoken message: we should already know what comes next. But here’s the truth we see every year — January isn’t when organizations need more planning. It’s when they need more clarity.

Planning Without Clarity Creates Noise

Planning assumes alignment already exists. Clarity asks whether it actually does.

When teams jump straight into planning:

• Goals feel disconnected

• Meetings multiply but direction doesn’t

• Leaders feel responsible for “fixing” momentum that never had a clear foundation

Planning fills calendars. Clarity creates coherence.

Why January Matters So Much

January is a transition month.

People are:

• Returning from rest (or exhaustion)

• Re-entering routines

• Carrying reflections they haven’t fully processed

This makes January uniquely powerful — and uniquely risky. Handled well, it becomes a reset. Handled poorly, it becomes a rush back into chaos.

What Clarity Actually Looks Like:

Clarity isn’t a vision statement on a wall. It shows up in quieter, more practical ways:

• People understand why their work matters

• Roles feel defined instead of blurry

• Decisions feel easier, not heavier

• Energy flows toward shared direction

When clarity exists, planning becomes lighter — not heavier.

The Leadership Shift January Requires

January leadership isn’t about urgency. It’s about orientation. Strong leaders ask:

• Where are we aligned?

• Where are we confused?

• What feels heavy right now — and why?

• What assumptions are we making that need to be examined?

These questions create trust before they create action. Before You Plan, Pause If January feels foggy, that’s not failure. It’s information.

Clarity doesn’t slow momentum — it prevents wasted movement.

How Synched™ Aligns Ministries for the New Year

“When a congregation moves together, it thrives together.”

Every January, church leaders set goals for the year ahead — more outreach, stronger giving, deeper connection. But too often, those goals exist in silos. The outreach team moves one way, the worship team another, and the finance team just tries to keep up.

That’s why Holy Cow! Consulting created Synched™ — a process that helps churches plan holistically by aligning every ministry, mission, and member around a shared vision.

What Is Synched™?

Synched™ is more than a planning tool — it’s a discernment process designed to bring unity and direction to every part of your church.

When your congregation is synched, it means:

  • Your mission, ministries, and members are pulling in the same direction.
  • Your resources stretch further, without stretching people thin.
  • Your leaders can make decisions confidently, backed by clear data.

“When a congregation is in sync, all ministries are robust in their own right, and each helps advance the church’s mission.”

How Synched™ Works

Synched™ takes your existing data — from your CAT™ results, member input, and ministry metrics — and turns it into a clear, actionable plan.

The process helps your leadership:

1️⃣ Identify alignment between mission and ministry.

2️⃣ Highlight areas where time or energy are being spent without return.

3️⃣ Ensure every program, budget, and effort moves toward the same purpose.

It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters together.

Why Alignment Matters

A church can have great ministries — but if they’re not aligned, they can accidentally compete for time, volunteers, and focus.

Synched™ helps you:

• See where your ministries naturally complement each other.

• Spot areas of overlap, tension, or fatigue.

• Clarify what success really looks like in your context.

When every team sees how their work connects to the whole mission, collaboration replaces competition.

“Alignment turns effort into impact.”

Faith + Data = Direction

Synched™ is guided by faith, but grounded in data. It integrates benchmarking insights from the CAT™ with your church’s lived experience to create a plan that’s both spiritual and strategic. This ensures your next chapter isn’t built on guesswork — it’s built on shared understanding.  

Start the Year Synched

The new year is the perfect time to pause, realign, and lead with clarity. If your 2025 felt scattered or if your ministries feel disconnected, Synched™ will help bring everything — and everyone — together. ✨

Align your leadership. ✨ Strengthen your mission. ✨ Reconnect your ministries.

👉 Learn More About Synched™

👉 Schedule a Consultation

Because guessing shouldn’t be part of your planning.

“When your church moves in the same direction — guided by the Spirit, grounded in data — growth becomes natural.”

— Emily Swanson, Owner & President, Holy Cow! Consulting

Why Every Congregation Needs a Year-End Checkup

“You can’t plan where you’re going if you don’t know where you stand.”

Every fall, congregations prepare for a new season of ministry. Budgets get drafted, calendars fill up, and goals take shape. But amid all that planning, one crucial question often goes unasked: How healthy are we, really?

Before the new year begins, your church deserves a moment of reflection — a spiritual and organizational checkup that reveals not just your numbers, but your pulse.

The Value of a Year-End Checkup A “checkup” isn’t about diagnosing problems. It’s about making sure your church is thriving, not just surviving.

Through the Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT™) or the Conversations™ assessment (for smaller congregations), you can measure:

  • Satisfaction & Energy — Are your members engaged and fulfilled?
  • Culture & Clarity — Do you share the same mission and direction?
  • Readiness for Change — Is your community open to new possibilities?

These insights help you start the new year with confidence — not guesswork.

Why Conversations Aren’t Enough

Leaders talk to people constantly — in hallways, meetings, and fellowship hours. Those moments matter. But they only tell part of the story. Without benchmarked data, it’s easy to mistake a few loud voices for the whole congregation.

“Data gives every person in your pews a voice — not just the ones you hear most often.”

When you listen with both empathy and evidence, you gain a clearer view of where your church truly stands.

What a Healthy Congregation Looks Like

A healthy congregation isn’t one without challenges. It’s one that understands its story — the strengths, struggles, and opportunities that shape its future.

When leadership can say, “Here’s where we’re strong, here’s where we can grow, and here’s where God is calling us next,” that’s when alignment happens.

The CAT™ provides that language.

The Conversations™ assessment makes it accessible even for small congregations with fewer than 35 attendees.

Start the New Year with Clarity January isn’t the time to start asking, “What do our people think?” — it’s the time to act on what you already know.

A year-end checkup with Holy Cow! Consulting helps you:

  • Identify what’s working (and celebrate it!)
  • See where energy is fading
  • Create a focused plan for the year ahead And best of all — it replaces assumptions with clarity.

👉 Learn More About the CAT™

👉 Explore Conversations™ for Small Congregations

From Our Founder “Data doesn’t replace discernment — it strengthens it. When you know the heartbeat of your congregation, you lead with confidence and compassion.”

— Emily Swanson, Owner & President, Holy Cow! Consulting

Transparency Sparks Generosity: How Data Builds Trust in Stewardship

“We can’t expect generosity if we don’t first build trust.”

As stewardship season approaches, church leaders across the country are inviting members to give, reflect, and plan for the future. But here’s the truth: you can’t inspire generosity without first building trust.

Trust begins with listening — and not just to the loudest voices. That’s where data becomes your most faithful partner. The Link Between Data and Trust When members believe their leaders see and understand them, generosity follows. But without data, leaders often rely on surface-level conversations or assumptions.

The Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT™) takes the guesswork out of understanding what your people think and feel — especially when it comes to giving.

With the CAT™, you’ll discover:

• How confident your members are in your leadership and financial transparency.

• What motivates their giving — obligation, gratitude, or shared mission.

• Whether your congregation feels aligned around a clear vision for the future.

When you can point to data — not just anecdotes — members begin to trust the process.

Why Data Strengthens Stewardship Campaigns

A strong stewardship campaign isn’t about raising money. It’s about deepening commitment and purpose. When you use data to show transparency and alignment, you send a powerful message: “We’ve listened. We’ve learned. And we’re stewarding your gifts with clarity and care.”

The Stewardship and Strategic Planning Modules within the CAT™ help you understand:

  • How informed members are about where money goes.
  • How strategically aligned is your congregation around mission and resources.
  • How your community perceives generosity, abundance, and trust.

This information helps you shape communication that resonates with both the heart and the head. Real Churches. Real Impact.

One congregation in the Midwest used their CAT™ results before launching a major stewardship campaign. Their leadership discovered that many members didn’t understand how funds were allocated — not because of mistrust, but because of lack of communication.

By addressing those gaps, the church built transparency, shared clear goals, and saw participation rise significantly the following year.

“The CAT™ showed us where our members were confused — and helped us build confidence before we ever asked for a pledge.”  

Trust Is the First Step Toward Generosity; When data confirms what you feel in your heart, it gives you the confidence to lead faithfully and communicate transparently.

At Holy Cow! Consulting, we believe that trust is stewardship — and it starts with truly listening to your people.

✨ Build that trust. ✨ Steward with clarity. ✨ Lead with confidence.

👉 Learn More About the CAT™

👉 Start Your Stewardship Module Today

As we like to say around here… “Because guessing shouldn’t be part of your planning.”

— Emily Swanson, Owner & President, Holy Cow! Consulting

5 Reasons Young People Aren’t Attending Church (And What You Can Do)

Church leaders everywhere are asking the same question: “Where are the young people?”

Attendance among Millennials and Gen Z has been steadily declining. Many congregations try new programs or events to bring them back, but often, the root causes go deeper than surface solutions.

That’s where the CAT™ (Congregation Assessment Tool) makes a difference. Instead of guessing why younger generations aren’t engaging, CAT™ reveals the evidence-based data your church needs to see clearly.

5 Reasons Young People Aren’t Attending Church

1. They don’t feel seen or heard.

Young people often feel like decisions are made without their voices.

2. They’re skeptical of institutions.

Trust in organized religion has declined nationwide. Without transparency, they hesitate to commit.

3. They want authenticity. Young adults spot inauthenticity quickly.

If words and actions don’t align, they disengage.

4. They’re overloaded with competing priorities.

Between school, work, and social life, church can feel like “just another thing.”

5. They need a safe place to ask questions.

When churches avoid hard conversations, younger people look elsewhere for community.

What Churches Can Do

The good news: solutions exist — but they aren’t “one-size-fits-all.” What works in one congregation may not work in another. That’s why the CAT™ is so valuable.

With data from over 6,000 congregations, the CAT™ helps leaders:

• Identify if young people feel engaged or overlooked

• Measure satisfaction and readiness for change

• Understand what ministries or messages resonate with younger voices

• Create a roadmap for meaningful, authentic connection

In short: The CAT™ takes the guesswork out of reaching the next generation.

Ready to Listen Deeper?

If your church is worried about declining youth participation, you don’t have to guess.

The CAT™ can help you uncover the real story and take your next faithful steps with clarity.

👉 [Learn More About the CAT™]

👉 [Schedule Your CAT™ Assessment]

Skating together – OI and embracing congregational diversity

I had a bit of an unexpected long drive last night from Milwaukee to Columbus.  Along  the way, I heard a TED talk about community and order.  The speaker talked about how if you pitched the concept of the old style roller rink to some friends for the first time it would sound something like this “I want to buy a large warehouse, lay the floor with concrete.  Then I am going to add some hard rails on the sides and have people without certification, training or helmets skate around the floor just in one direction. There will be no pattern just one direction to skate. To music. It will be great.”

It sounds ridiculous when you think of it like that.  But, when you actually go roller skating in a skating rink it works.  Somehow we come together in this community of skaters, skate in one direction, and it is all to music.  Some us skate fast and have to move around others. Some of us fall and make the person behind us fall. We then brush ourselves off and get back to skating.   At the end of the day, it is great.

This weekend I had the opportunity to work with a congregation in Wisconsin. Their descriptive map from the Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT) looked like this:

mIDDLE .png

On paper, they have people who are more conservative in their theology  (scripture is the literal word of God, conversion is the first step in forming a betters society, etc.) and people who are more progressive in their theology.   This congregation has people that are more adaptable to change and those who need more intentional steps to help them move towards change.   Like the roller rink idea, on paper, it might seem like having this community work together may end up in a large pile up of stalemates and divisiveness – skaters in all directions with a hard floor beneath.

Instead, as we worked through all the congregation’s data, we kept this diversity in front of us for a large part of the conversation. There is work to do. This congregation has experienced some tough set-backs.  However, the leadership kept naming their diverse congregation as a strength and coming back to it as a focal point. This type of thoughtful leadership, with a deep care towards their level of internal diversity, will aid the congregation through their time of pastoral transition.   It will also help determine what gifts and skills their next pastor needs to have as well as what strengths and growth edges the leadership needs to focus on while they are in transition.

When Paul wrote I Corinthians he appealed to the church community in Corinth who was experiencing a divisiveness in their leadership and in their thinking.  He wrote “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”  1 Corinthians 1:10. 

What I heard yesterday from the leadership of this congregation was exactly this.  They have fully claimed being a congregation that has folks from differing theologies, adaptability levels and places on the descriptive map.  When they come together in the name of Christ, when they work and worship together with all of the different thoughts, beliefs and ways of moving in community it works.   It is an unexpected unity. For me this was a great reminder that if we all keep our eyes on Christ and work towards our preferred future of ourselves in our congregations, we really can skate quite beautifully – even if you throw in an occasional fall now and again.

 

-Emily Swanson

 

 

 

 

The Conflicted Congregation

All congregations have conflict. So, the question really isn’t “is there conflict?” – we Unknown-7.jpegknow it is there. The real question is “how do you manage the conflict you have?” Or put another way, is this congregation a place where people can say “I was wrong and I am sorry” and receive an open and loving response in return.  High levels of conflict that remain unmanaged or unhealed in congregations can be painful for everyone.  They often result in a loss of missional focus, a loss of membership, burnt-out leadership, a loss of the sense of family, and a deterioration in our spiritual life together as a congregation.

The questions that bring conflict to light in the Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT) ask whether folks are feeling there is a disturbing amount of conflict, if they move through conflict by mutual effort, if there is a healthy tolerance of differing beliefs and opinions, and if there is frequently a small group of people that oppose how the majority wants to move forward.  Sometimes these questions in the CAT will reveal that a congregation has become extremely conflicted.  When we review the data with these congregations there are often tears, as well as the frustration of feeling so stuck in the conflict, and many times, deep sighs and a statement that “it is nice to just finally admit that there is conflict out loud.”  We always say to these congregations this is your story today but it doesn’t have to be your story tomorrow with the warning that the road ahead will take commitment and intentional steps.

In 2015, a congregation in New England took the CAT while in a pastoral transition.  When it was compared to other 1,500 churches in our database, their dashboard indicated that there were in the 11% in conflict, meaning that 89% of the other congregations in our database were managing their conflict better.   This high level of unmanaged conflict had bleed into everything – leaving them with low hospitality scores (8%, or 92% of the other churches were more hospitable), low morale (24%), and affecting all of the other performance areas where we want them to be doing well.

Barnstable 2015.png
2015

After working through the review of their data with the support of their Synod, this congregation had to decide what to do.  Prayerfully, they chose to own the data, recognizing that it was time to deal with their conflict and started their new story.

This congregation  realized that during this time of pastoral transition they would need help to clearly address and respond to the conflict.  They couldn’t rush forward to call a new pastor without serious self-reflection and initial steps.  They instead hired a skilled Intentional Interim who led a series of cottage meetings, openly discussed concerns, and directly addressed what had become “the two sides” engaging conversation and reconciliation.

The congregational leadership then prepared an honest profile to call a new pastor.  They were better able to articulate both the skills needed in their next pastor and the challenges they still faced as a congregation.  The congregation was transparent about the tremendous steps they’d taken with the strong leadership of their interim, acknowledging that there was still work to be done in moving forward.

When they found their new permanent pastoral leadership, that person came with the experience they needed – because the congregation knew exactly what they truly needed and were honest with their pastoral candidates.  Their new pastor brought experience, strong mediation and communication skills, and a great deal of enthusiasm and energy for ministry. Together, they continue to face some challenges but the match is strong and the foundation for moving forward was strongly set with their Intentional Interim.

This same congregation ran the CAT again and we sent them their new reports two weeks ago.  This is their new dashboard – their morale is in the 79%, conflict levels are at the 55%, and look at the hostility score moving up: west barnstable 2017

This is a congregation that has made enormous strides in the last two years. If you asked this congregation, their middle judicatory team, or their pastors, I am sure they would say it has been a lot of work.  But their ability to say “this is our story today but it wouldn’t and it can’t be our story tomorrow” has allowed God to move them closer towards true healing.

I would like to extend my gratitude to both the congregation and the New England Synod for allowing us to share in this work.  When we see the data tell this kind of story we jump out of our chairs at Holy Cow! Consulting because this is why we do what we do – not so that congregations can have a lot of numbers and statistics, but instead, so that congregations can see where they truly are now so they can become and move to who they are called to be.

-Emily Swanson, President of Holy Cow! Consulting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessment as a Spiritual Journey

All truth is God’s truth. That God is loving and gracious, that e=mc2, and that curious tendency of all children to giggle at hiding in plain sight with just their eyes covered, all these are expressions of God’s truth. The process of discovering God’s truth, in any of its many forms, always has an element of revelation to it as if one were being shown something. Using the vernacular of our day, our own personal discoveries have the quality of “a light coming on.” This is also the language used by Jesus as he describes the discovery of God’s nature and purposes in the world. “He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The process of discovering the perspectives, experiences, and aspirations of a church is also one of revelation and has the revelatory quality of moving from darkness into light. In response, it is not uncommon for people to speak of “a light coming on” in the experience as they come to understand aspects of the entire body that they could not possibly have known from the relatively small number of interactions that characterizes the day to day relationships in most organizations. This process of reality moving out of the shadows and into the light is a spiritual journey.

As a spiritual journey, it has all the elements one would expect.
There are insights that evoke a liberating “aha” as connections
are uncovered that were not intuitively obvious. Some aspects of
the process tell us nothing new, but they express what we do
know using language that enables us to get a firmer grasp.

Sometimes the need for healing is revealed in the relational
wounds that come to light, often painful and occasionally urgent.Unknown-3.jpeg
There are the common resistances that we all experience, the sense of inferiority or shame or fear that tempts us to retreat
back into the perceived safety of the darkness. We often find ourselves in denial struggling with what it will mean to embrace these truths which can often feel like loss.  So, we engage with an air dismissiveness and return to our unfruitful behaviors which led us here in the first place.

Finally, there is the concrete action that must  root itself in the earth of any spiritual journey and express itself in fruit for the Kingdom of God. The fulfillment of a spiritual journey ultimately hinges, not on the research design, but upon the spiritual practice that surrounds it. Without this spiritual practice, insights degenerate into trivia, wounds are probed but not healed, resistances harden into defensiveness and denial, and the promised new life fails to materialize as an incarnate reality. King David’s greatest loss of life was not to an enemy but to his own inability to manage information and keep it disentangled from his own ego.

For these reasons, it is critical that an evidence-based discernment process be interwoven with a robust spiritual practice including prayer, reflection, confession, devotions, study, and worship. Because an assessment generates a symbolic narrative, that is, a corporate story told through the symbol of numbers, we must ponder several questions:

  • How do we deal with our stories? While the individual contribution to the assessment is confidential, the corporate story will be quite public.
  • How might the disclosure of our corporate story bring insight, healing, and renewal?
  • In the past, how have we dealt with surprises, with things we thought were true but we discovered were not?
  • In that same past, how have we dealt with our wounds, our resistances, and our tendency to intellectualize as an escape from change?
  • What Scriptures help us reflect on truth, listening to God, trusting God’s plan for us and facing change?
  • How do we find access to the grace of God in this process of discovery so that our journey might be one expressive of Jesus, full of grace and truth?

When we take the time to answer these questions and weave our data with the story of our congregation, then prayerfully we can move forward with hope.

images-1.jpeg