The Formative Power of Your Congregation: Faith and Human Development

Book, 2024, 190 pp
Borrowed Items Ship free with Membership

The formative power of a congregation serves as a primary catalyst for human development. A congregation also forms a person's life. Congregations are often well-versed in matters of Christian formation and spiritual maturation. But what about how human beings develop as people? Insights from human development, also known as developmental psychology, provide an additional lens through which one can understand how humans are formed throughout life. Working with 30 congregations, the authors developed learning experiences, presented here as case studies, so that participants designed experiences that support human development at the intersection of congregational practices and various aspects of life (parenting, social justice, vocation, the arts, and more). Participating congregations extended beyond the volunteer-based organization to be one of the primary places where people learned to be more human using the simple yet multi-dimensioned phrase. The Formative Power of Your Congregation is written for clergy and laity who long for a congregation that supports human flourishing as much or more than the growth or existence of the church. We will introduce you to a framework of how congregations participate in the development of human beings. Furthermore, you will be introduced to particular congregations that, applying the framework, support participant growth in eight markers that support the flourishing of a person's life. Moving churches from a loose volunteer association, you will learn how your congregation can form people in lives of meaning and purpose.

Reserve for:

Please provide your contact information. We will check this item's availability and get back to you soon with the price and expected time of delivery.

Our apologies, we are not able to process special orders shipped to your country.