Consulting Services
Faith communities utilize church consulting, the Congregation Assessment Tool, and clergy coaching for help in a variety of situations and circumstances including:
- Leadership transitions
- Planning
- Personnel issues
- Internal conflicts
- Team building
- Leadership development in the church
What is the CAT?
Establishing a baseline of information about a congregation and its clergy is a significant part of the consulting work of the Clergy & Congregation Care program. Often, the journey toward or maintaining transformation begins with the use of the Congregational Assessment Tool, or CAT, followed by a discernment process.
The CAT, is provided through Holy Cow! Consulting, provides data-driven insights based on the organizational intelligence collected through the church assessment tool. This approach helps to measure the vitality, capacity, orientation, and flexibility of congregations, and to create a plan to further develop the characteristics of a transformational congregation.
Typical situations when organizational intelligence is used within a congregation include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Your congregation is in the process of a leadership transition.
- The call committee is unsure of how to match the needs of parishioners with the skills and passions of candidates.
- Your congregation wants to plan ahead.
- Your congregation needs to update its model of governance to better fulfill its mission and enhance the church’s sustainability.
The CAT is also a great tool for providing a health check for a congregation. It flags both signs of health and potential trouble spots. Ideally, a congregation will engage in a CAT discernment process every 3 to 5 years.
Using the CAT with Regional Associations
All work with regional associations is customized and geared toward proven models of ministry with a focus on serving the needs of member congregations and clergy. In association with Holy Cow! Consulting, organizational intelligence may be gathered and used in situations such as:
- Assisting with leadership transitions.
- Establishing a foundation for planning.
- Finding a good alignment between clergy and congregation.
- Identifying congregations that can most benefit from engagement with association staff.
- Creating a map showing which congregations can mentor others.
- Revealing depleted congregations that may not be able to be turned around.
What does the process entail?
The process for church consulting and coaching may includes the following steps:
- A meeting with a leadership team to discuss the process.
- An orientation session helping leadership understand what to expect and what is involved in the process.
- When an assessment tool or church survey is used, assistance in the administration of the assessment and interpretation by a trained interpreter of the reports generated from the assessment process.
- Follow-up with leadership after implementation of consulting-related activities, including a discernment session, to look at possible next steps.
Contact Us
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