history of congregational development

An Outline of the History of Congregational Development in the Episcopal Church

Please suggest additional information that will help fill out this history.

Early human relations and group process labs at NTL (the National Training Laboratory Institute) - late 40's, early 50's. T-Group (training groups) use an unstructured, non-directive small group setting to help participants study group dynamics. For information on T-Groups. For information on T-Group training available in the Episcopal Church go to LTI (Leadership Training Institute) An Episcopal layperson made a significant donation (George Peabody was responsible for gaining the layperson's interest), used in the development of a national training program. Most Episcopal clergy were invited to participate in a 2-week “Church and Group Life Laboratory.” Many active clergy participated in the training. For the most part these early efforts were concerned with helping parishes be better educational systems and improving meetings. Over time there was a reduction in the polarization over “churchmanship” (theological and liturgical differences). Clergy that were active during this period report a reduction in the conflict, partly related to the cost it was having on the church and partly because of the new skills clergy at gained in lab training.
NTL develops an OD (Organization Development) training program (a number of universities begin to offer advanced degrees in OD and organizational behavior).
Before a link gets created between what is happening at NTL and religious systems, there is notable work taking place in developing rural and urban parish ministry. In the late 40's, 50's and 60's the work and writing of Paul Mussselman, Paul Moore, and Kilmar Myers impacts the church's understanding of the urban parish. Roanridge (National Town & Country Church Institute) was established around 1945 as a training center for rural parish work. The first director was Norman Foote, Boone Porter was director at a later time.
Training programs are offered in church systems, several networks were established -- MATC (Mid-Atlantic Training Committee, led by John Denham), NETI (New England Training Institute, led by John Swanson, now John Julian of OJN), LTI (led by Bill Yon) -- strongest in the late 60's through the mid 80's; "three phase training" is at the core (human relations, group development, experiential education design skills).
The professional recognition program of ACC (Association for Creative Change) provides a development and accountability system for practitioners in religious systems. ACC continues into the 80’s.
MATC - Organization Development in Religious Systems program trains hundreds of clergy and lay leaders – a year long OD training program with "three-phase training" as a prerequisite. MATC also began to offer consultation skills training. This MATC OD training was largely started because of the initiative of Project Test Pattern.
PTP (Project Test Pattern) – was established and funded by the Episcopal Church in 1969 -- Loren Mead as the director. PTP was an experimental program in parish renewal; did research, produced resources for consultants, books, occasional papers. PTP tested the use of OD (Organization Development) as a means of strengthen congregations. In 1970-72 twenty-eight people with human relations training and consulting backgrounds were brought together and oriented to OD. PTP evolves into Alban Institute. Other programs were also the result of the "three phase training" to which so many clergy and laity had been exposed. Two examples are EFM (Education for Ministry) and the Alabama Plan (in stewardship).
A variety of projects started in dioceses to strengthen congregations; for example -- in 1966-67 the Diocese of Southern Ohio trained about 24 people in consulting and planning to work with parishes; in 1969 parish teams were trained in organizational dynamics and change strategies. In 1968 the Diocese of Pennsylvania formed "The Committee on the Renewal and Mission of the Local Church" with recommendations that focused on planning and launching a series of pilots to experiment with new forms of parish ministry; the diocese followed up with "The Viable Parish Commission" that trained facilitators to work with parishes in a problem solving and envisioning process; in 1973 a more highly trained network of consultants was formed. The diocese of Michigan (1970-72) equipped a group of human relations trainers with OD and consultation skills working with parishes with the same purposes as PTP. A number of structural approaches to renewal emerge or are renewed during this period including, team ministries, cluster ministries, and local ordination.
Herb Gravely was an early PTP consultant and the rector of a parish in Kingstree, SC. He developed a consulting ministry in the small parishes of South Carolina. When LAND was beginning, Loren Mead let LAND leaders know about Herb's work. That lead to Herb being part of the early LAND training staff. Loren Mead and others made an effort to link people together in the emerging field of congregational development.
A gathering was held by PTP for leaders of Diocesan Consulting Networks, at Claggett Conference Center, MD, April 9 – 11, 1973 This was a significant event in advancing diocesan efforts. The leaders of around 30 networks meet for a couple of days to share their experience. A paper by Ted Blumstein and John Bowers was produced on "Consultant Issues: Networks and Teams", PTP August 15, 1973. The paper and the gathering addressed issues such as -- level of consultant skills, fees, relationship with the hierarchy, the development of the client system, etc.
LAND (Leadership Academy for New Directions) began in 1970. LAND developed a significant training program based on a particular set of principles for work in small communities. Many of the early LAND people received their training in the M ATC OD program. LAND has played a significant role in establishing cluster and multi point ministries.
"Local ordination" (initially Canon 8, now Canon 9) rose out of the needs of the Diocese of Alaska. Bill Gordon as bishop, faced too many situations where there was no way to maintain a viable Eucharistic community given the existing norms about clergy training and deployment. Working along with Boone Porter, and later Wes Frensdorff, a variety of ways have been developed to provide for the ordination to the priesthood of a person in a parish who would not complete the "standard" process of seminary education. In broad terms two pathways emerged. One was with people who had the time, intelligence, and energy for training that would allow them to exercise a rather standard set of priestly functions; the second was to ordain someone for a more limited role, usually just to perform certain sacramental functions. The pattern of having ministry team take on responsibility for a congregation has been part of this second approach. Someone would be the liturgist, others would deal with pastoral care, education, etc. Another common element of this approach has included supervision by a seminary trained priest. The writings of Roland Allen have been part of the culture of the local ordination movement. Allen proposed that "local churches" (referring to what we think of as areas that would make up a diocese or province, not a parish) raise up their own ordained leadership. The "movement" quality of the local ordination effort has gone by several different names including Total Ministry, Total Common Ministry, and Ministry of all the Baptized.
Hartford Seminary's work in congregational studies with Jackson Carroll and others. The Seminary's Hartford Institute for Religion Research works at "policy-relevant research, anticipation of emerging issues and commitment to the creative dissemination of learning." Many Episcopalians have participated in the seminary's programs and made use of the Institute's research.
Alban Institute was founded in 1974. Alban carries out work in research, training, publishing, consulting. Loren Mead was the first director. He was joined by Celia Hahn, Roy Oswald, and Speed Leas in breaking new ground in our understandings of religious communities. Consultations and action research provided a means for new ways of looking at and helping congregations. Alban held a commitment to the idea that trained consultants working with the people facing a particular challenges in a congregation were together, best suited to discover ways to approach that challenge. Action research projects addressing issues such as: visioning and planning, congregational growth, welcoming and involving new members, congregational dynamics when clergy leave, managing conflict in congregations, exploring the role of lay leadership, financial crises, etc. Incorporating new knowledge in the fields of sociology, human relations, and organization development, Alban shares its research through publications and training events.
Church Development Institute -- Started By Bob Gallagher in Philadelphia in 1978 as a program for training diocesan consultants; later used in Connecticut to train parish leaders and consultants (1981 - 1993, and 2000); was also co-sponsored by the Order of the Ascension and General Seminary as a national training program in NYC (1985 -1995), this becomes the first intensive and broad training resource in Congregational Development for the Episcopal Church. CDI is another program that has roots in the MATC OD program. All of the early CDI trainer-consultants had completed the MATC program. The content and design of CDI drew on the MATC program and integrated understandings of religious dynamics in the congregation and Anglican spirituality. Early CDI's make significant use of the work of Martin Thornton in pastoral theology, Bruce Reed's "The Dynamics of Religion". Jim Anderson's "To Come Alive" and Urban Holmes "The Priest in Community". CDI starts at Sewanee in 1995 under the leadership of Peggy Bosmyer and Dennis Campbell. With the formation of CDI Trainers in 2000 that group becomes the primary system for initiating and supporting a number of diocesan based CDI's. All CDI's offer 110 workshop hours, common worship, readings in OD and CD, the development of CD projects, reports on the projects, participation in a participant Learning-Application Team between sessions. Diocesan CDI's tend to draw parish teams of lay and clergy leaders. CDI Trainers sponsors the Deer Isle - CDI as an open registration program that people from dioceses without a CDI might attend..
Office of Congregational Development offers national meetings to explore methods; produces material on size, life cycle and new congregations; etc. Leads to Start Up- Start Over, sponsored by the Church Building Fund and congregational ministries. Initially lead by Arlin Rothauge.
Seabury Institute (of Seabury-Western) with Arlin Rothauge offers an D'Min in Congregational Development beginning in 1995. A program of three summer sessions, back home work reading and writing projects; provides an understanding of the factors related to the decline and growth of congregations, theological reflection on the nature and meaning of congregational development, and practical skills necessary for starting new congregations and revitalizing churches in transition and decline.
Reemergence of "three phase training" -- LTI (Leadership Training Institute) Is offering human relations, group development and experiential education design skills training. A critical event in re-launching lab training was the Next Harrah Conference in November of 1998 at Kanuga. Loren Mead and Bill Yon convened about 50 people for several days

Some Reflections

A Process

There has been a building process going on. The early NTL programs attracted some Episcopalians, that contributed to the development of the MATC OD training program, the research of Project Test Pattern, etc. All that provided the base for something like CDI. Ten years of CDI as a successful summer national program suggested possibilities about DMin programs. etc. etc.

The building process involves programs, the development of theory and methods, and people who collaborate and compete in the field.

The early efforts did bear fruit. Each helped church organizations address issues, opportunities and problems in new and more effective ways. They also provided the base for later innovation and development.

One participant in the 1976 MATC OD training shared his experience this way -- "Other than Verna Dozier, there was no other trainer/consultant who spoke of the spiritual part of the equation of OD. It was assumed ....... When I took the Congregational Development Course (later becomes CDI) in Connecticut, '83-84, there was more integration that spoke of the spiritual issues such as the Christian Life Model. When I decided to do it again in '96-97 (in NYC), there was definitely that piece. The centrality of the Eucharist, the Benedictine Promise, the Order of the Ascension and the life of the worshipping/studying community. I think Alban Institute and the others have also sought that integration as I read their material and take their course offerings." This person's experience was shared by many other church members going through the human relations and OD training that was offered in the 70's and early 80's. While the skills and methods were seen as very valuable, there was not an explicit exploration that related it all to faith and practice. The Church Development Institute was the first large program that addressed that issue. In many places in the church we simply stopped making use of human relations and OD training. The focus shifted to a variety of approaches, some around spiritual renewal and others around new structural forms for leadership and parishes. Training that was rooted in the base provided by the earlier HR and OD work began to be offered around topic areas and in shorter, smaller segments. The skills and knowledge that these programs rested on was shared by a smaller and smaller group in the church. At the same time the reverse was happening in the rest of society -- increasing numbers where going through advanced degree programs and certificate programs in Organization Development and related field.

In addition to CDI's integration of these resources there is the work of LTI (Leadership Training Institute) which has begun to offer Human Relations Lab training again and has skillfully integrated worship and theological reflection.

Better Off?
So, are we better at congregational development now than in earlier periods? The answer may be "Yes" and "No".

"Yes" ----
--We have more focus on it now. There are more dioceses with congregational development staff and trained people.
--There is a deeper and broader range of skill and knowledge available to draw on. There are more resource centers -- Alban, CDI, academic programs, etc.

Has all this led to healthier, more faithful congregations in our age than in earlier ages? We have little research, mostly stories. Practitioners who have been in regular contact with congregations and congregational leaders over the past 25 years report that the struggles sound much the same over the years.

If we define this in terms of establishing new congregations -- we may be doing better. It is unclear to what extent this is related to our efforts vs. demographic and cultural changes in some areas of the country vs. grace vs. luck vs. all of the above. Again we lack real research.

Why also "No"? --
-- In earlier periods congregational development was seen as, a field grounded in Organization Development, that required the development of certain competencies for a person to be a practitioner. Now we are more likely to hear some people thinking it is a matter of ideology or opinion. There use to be more trained CD consultants in diocesan networks than is true now. [Note 6/02 - I hear that changing a bit from when I wrote this in 2000. There are several dioceses using CDI and LTI to help them train consultants.] Political pressure and lack of judgment in diocesan staffs led to giving the label "consultant" to people with little or no training in too many places. There are also more practitioners of CD around that seem to have little sense of the knowledge and methods of Organization Development.

It is understandable that people trained early on in the MATC OD program (and other similar programs) would take what they had learned and repackage it for use by various constituencies. The problem that developed was that those who went through the repackaged programs usually last touch with the broader base of knowledge and skills. This had two results: 1. The overall level of competence has decreased while at the same time there is a broader use of some of the language; 2. Some of the packaged programs have a tendency to get so caught up in a particular approach that they become ideologically driven; they lose the ability to see new ways, to innovate, etc. because they have not established the processes and structures within the program what would assist continuing adaptation.

-- There is increasingly a concern coming from diocesan leaders about our common competency for effective meetings, teamwork, and collaboration. Our collective skill seems lower now than it was 20 years ago. The ability to see and understand the "here and now" dynamics of a group, the process of group development, feedback skills, awareness of the impact one's behavior has on others all appear weaker. There has simply been less training available in human relations, group development, etc. That may be about to change with the work of LTI (Leadership Training Institute)

That suggests a few issues
-- How can the church system pass on its skills and knowledge for congregational development from one generation to the next so we can more intentionally build on earlier learning and efforts? It happens but not nearly as well as in the field of OD. I think the difference might be that OD has emerged as a discipline with: many advanced degree programs available, that are usually taught by scholar-practitioners (these programs are generally more demanding than what we offer in the church system); there are several OD professional associations that exist; there are a number of journals, etc. OD is still an emerging discipline but it is developing the structures needed for its own development.
-- How can we develop more congregations with a healthy/faithful organizational culture; an increased capacity to use methods of self-renewal; with leaders trained in each? How to produce some level of stability in these things so we are freer for conversion and new life in the rest of our common life?