You may have read earlier this year from our new director, Beth Kennett, that we are headed in some new directions as The Center for Congregational Health. In recent years, we have found ourselves in the same place many of our congregations have. The realities around us and affecting us are quickly changing. Last spring we worked with one of our consultants using a process similar to what we do with congregations. Through that work, we created a strategic plan that we used to write a scaling grant for Thriving Congregations with the Lilly Foundation, which we have now received.
Like we do with congregations, we looked back at our history. The Center for Congregational Health was founded with the idea of blending the best of social science with the best of congregational research. The Center has had two previous distinct seasons and we recognize that we are moving into a new, third season. In the past, The Center provided intentional interim ministry, consulting and coaching at a time when those were thriving and in a model that was designed to meet the congregations where they were. While the work we do with congregations is still the vital life blood of what we do and who we are, some of that reality has changed. How we do this work needs to change to come alongside new realities that congregations and ministers are facing.
Next we took a look around us where we are now. The Center for Congregational Health is based out of a health system and over the years we have moved from being a subsidiary to the hospital, to being firmly connected to the hospital. In that same time, community health divisions in hospitals have grown. They recognize that in order to have healthy outcomes for patients, community support is critical and much of the work they do is through congregations. Our hospital system knows how to do the health piece, but we at The Center know how to do the congregational piece.
We also realize that in this very polarizing times, we are uniquely positioned because we are not tied to a theological body with defined belief system. We are able to bring varied voices together around the table to share resources to help all of us meet the needs in a more impactful way. This is true for congregations, denominations and institutions.
Deepening our partnerships within the health system and expanding the collaborations beyond it allows us to help secure a future for The Center’s work with all congregations. Utilizing partners within our health system allows us to expand the types of people that we are working with. We can now offer people who are trained consultants that are also trained in mental health, working on the front lines in nonprofits across the country, etc.
With this unique position in connection to the health system, we will strive to be a faithful and flourishing organization in the next three to five years, and beyond, and we will create a collaborative board. This will allow for the thriving of multiple organizations, denominations and institutions as they share resources and collaborate together in ways that have not been possible before.
Our mission and vision has always been “to help faith communities and their leaders thrive. [to create] a world where congregations transform their communities to be more compassionate, faithful and just.” We will partner with the hospital systems to do more of this work as we create hubs of The Center for Congregational Health throughout the health system. This will expand the expertise of people that can support all congregations. We will be able to offer a wider variety of training, support and consultant expertise while we work with congregations as we always have, inside and outside connections to the health system.
We will also create a future by making our work more accessible for a variety of congregations and experiences. We will develop training and shorter form processes, using the research and expertise of the last thirty-three years, to bring consulting work to a greater variety of congregations in a variety of ways.
This is a liminal space season. We are dreaming big because we believe that the work The Center for Congregational Health has always done is critical to the future of congregations and the health of ministers. We bring a level of expertise that is expanding as our network expands. We are hopeful and excited about the future and what it will mean for our health system, your denominations and your congregations.
I am a beneficiary of the Center – I am currently doing intentional interim ministry and some coaching-consulting. Therefore, I am thankful for the tools I have received. Since I am aligned with the SBC, the new direction of the Center rather disappoints me. However, I do have a state convention to partner with for training needs.
Wayne–Thank you for commenting on this post. The Center for Congregational Health will continue to offer the resources and training of which you are familiar. We will continue to serve congregations, clergy and faith-based organizations external to the health system. We will add to our work resourcing congregations and clergy who are connected to our growing health system. I welcome the opportunity for a conversation with you about our on-going work. Also, I hope that denominations, like SBC, will continue to be able to offer support and resources for the congregations and clergy which whom they are connected. Thank you for your service for congregations in transition.
Thank you for your work – and modeling new ways of thinking and doing.
Friends, the commendation I am about to offer to Rev. Dr. Charity Robertson and our new CCH Director, Rev. Dr. Beth Kennett is not prompted by the fact that I’ve been blessed to serve on the faculty with them and with former staff like Dr. B. Les Robinson, but they are to be commended on this new Strategic Plan because it is so extremely timely and is filled with new and emerging ideas that are certain to strengthen faith community leaders and other leaders and those with whom they serve for more years than we can imagine. The late Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, while serving as President of Morehouse College, often urged his students to fulfill their lifelong obligations in such a way that “no one living, no one dead, and no one yet unborn can do it any better.” This exciting and immerging Strategic Plan and the leadership currently extant at the Center for Congregational Health convinces me, beyond doubt, that Dr. Mays’ wise counsel is already embodied through the CCH. I trust and pray you share my enthusiasm and will do all you can to promote and support the Center in every way possible. Peaced be to all of you as we begin this new, shared journey.
Marvin–we are working to be faithful and true to who God calls us to be as individuals and as the Center for Congregational Health. Glad you are a part of the journey.