Sentences with phrase «congregational identity»

Worship, preaching, and the sacraments are rituals of congregational identity for world - oriented people.

Congregations with no clear congregational identity have been led by pastors who do not have an explicit, clear focus in their ministry.

Some of its structures and practices have obvious origins in Christian traditions; others, equally widespread and apparently necessary to Christian congregational identity, have murkier sources or explicitly secular ones.

We can move beyond a polarization that fosters invidious distinctions and renew a sense of congregational identity by giving special attention to the delight of surprise in worship.

Not exact matches

Apparently, the inclusive family ethic articulated in mainline congregations functions more as an identity marker than as a guide to congregational practice.

In recent years COCU conducted experiments in joint mission and worship among local congregations — experiments which made clear the value and possibility of such a concept of congregational mission and identity.

Once we begin to think of our faith in terms of largeness instead of largess; once we begin to think of our faith in terms of measurable success or significant achievements or community stature or statistically significant gains or business models or congregational models or appropriate budget processes or cash flow direction or generally accepted accounting practices or independent audits or administrative requirements or procedural transparency or proper leadership roles or managerial responsibilities and boundaries or membership trends or effective organizational structures or current and accurate and relevant identity / purpose / vision / mission statements or strategic and tactical plans or valid and useful performance metrics — at that point, we have become money changers and temple authorities, we have deformed from a community into an industry that requires exclusionary individualism.

In a catalog I recently edited of devices and instruments for congregational research, only a small minority of the hundred or so entries is designed to explore a congregation's narrative identity.20 Most doctor of ministry programs continue the tradition: perusal of the theses and essays these programs produce strongly suggests that projects that employ contextual, mechanist, or organicist methods are more likely to be accepted than those that delve into congregational culture and story.

A congregation given to the cultivation of sacred «hot spots» in its life, whether liturgical or emotional in form, may amplify the linking action of congregational plot — the association of events for the purpose of identity — but the vivid occurrences do not in themselves qualify as sacred moments.