The Whole Church: Congregational Leadership Guided by Systems Theory

by Kenneth Reeves

Overview

Ministry can be challenging, especially when people are behaving badly or escalating conflicts. The Whole Church offers congregational leaders a way to resolve such difficult situations by first viewing the congregation as a whole, then interacting healthily with the congregation, knowing health in one area heals the whole community.

The Whole Church offers a way to diagnose the whole congregation, and ways to bring calm, clarify a congregation’s identity, create an effective congregational structure, resolve conflicts, handle difficult behavior, motivate change, address unconscious dynamics, and use the sermon all to support the congregation’s health and the fulfillment of its spiritual mission.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538127346
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/12/2019
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	793,345
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

The Rev. Ken Reeves, Ph.D., is an ordained minister and clinical psychologist. He has served congregations as senior pastor, taught courses on leadership and conflict resolution as an adjunct professor at Andover Newton Theological School, offered leadership training workshops for clergy across denominations, conducted psychotherapy, and provided psychological assessment and career counseling for clergy candidates.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Systems Theory

Chapter 2: Diagnosis

Chapter 3: The Healthy Church

Chapter 4: Working on Yourself

Chapter 5: Church Structure

Chapter 6: Calming Them

Chapter 7: Change

Chapter 8: Conflict

Chapter 9: Difficult Behavior

Chapter 10: The Unconscious

Chapter 11: Preaching

Chapter 12: The Spirit

Conclusion

Appendix A: Situations

Appendix B: Self-Definition Exercises

Appendix C: History of Systems Theory

Bibliography

Index

Author the Author

Editorial Reviews

[R]eaders interested in learning more about systems thinking will find in this book a helpful primer by which they can begin to play with systems ideas in their work and, if interested, start to explore them in more depth by reading the works of Bowen or Rabbi Edwin Friedman. The practical tips, real-life examples and ability of Reeves to get outside of his own systems enough to provide clear thinking about them can be a very useful tool in helping any reader of his book to do the same.

Lots of clergy and lay leaders find systems theory attractive; too few understand it in their bones. In his gentle, storytelling style, Ken Reeves unpacks key concepts like multiple causality, triangles, homeostasis, anxiety, reactivity, resistance, and systemic health. Wise leaders will look to The Whole Church for help as they wade through the troubled waters of congregational life.

Many find it difficult to grasp the idea that we are not just individuals operating out of free will, but we are all part of emotional systems that shape who we are. Lacking this subtle and nuanced understanding of how people interact, we find ourselves at a disadvantage in reading and functioning in the enmeshed systems in which we are called to lead. This book provides guidance for self-examination and leadership development in equal measure on the topic of emotional systems, rendering understandable some counterintuitive ways of thinking about individuals and communities.

Reeves's book The Whole Church leads to wise and healthy leadership. It matters what lens a leader uses to understand their setting, since what we see and understand determines our actions. This health-oriented systems approach is not only reason based--it supports a courageous leadership deeply needed in our congregations at this critical time.

From the Publisher

[R]eaders interested in learning more about systems thinking will find in this book a helpful primer by which they can begin to play with systems ideas in their work and, if interested, start to explore them in more depth by reading the works of Bowen or Rabbi Edwin Friedman. The practical tips, real-life examples and ability of Reeves to get outside of his own systems enough to provide clear thinking about them can be a very useful tool in helping any reader of his book to do the same.

The Presbyterian Outlook

Reeves’s book The Whole Church leads to wise and healthy leadership. It matters what lens a leader uses to understand their setting, since what we see and understand determines our actions. This health-oriented systems approach is not only reason based—it supports a courageous leadership deeply needed in our congregations at this critical time.

Gil Rendle

Many find it difficult to grasp the idea that we are not just individuals operating out of free will, but we are all part of emotional systems that shape who we are. Lacking this subtle and nuanced understanding of how people interact, we find ourselves at a disadvantage in reading and functioning in the enmeshed systems in which we are called to lead. This book provides guidance for self-examination and leadership development in equal measure on the topic of emotional systems, rendering understandable some counterintuitive ways of thinking about individuals and communities.

Sarah B. Drummond

Lots of clergy and lay leaders find systems theory attractive; too few understand it in their bones. In his gentle, storytelling style, Ken Reeves unpacks key concepts like multiple causality, triangles, homeostasis, anxiety, reactivity, resistance, and systemic health. Wise leaders will look to The Whole Church for help as they wade through the troubled waters of congregational life.

Dan Hotchkiss