Reflections & Research:
Sustainability
October 15, 2019
Why storytelling matters
Poet and writer Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros and her daughter, Brooklyn Yesenia Cisneros. Hinojosa-Cisneros says a story can be a thread between generations. Photo by Erasmo Cisneros When the church uses storytelling, it becomes a shared space where each person is a part of history, writes a poet and author. My grandmother tells a story, entirely in […]
read moreabout Why storytelling mattersAugust 6, 2019
What makes an institution trustworthy?
Predictability and transparency help people know how to do their work and why decisions have been made. And they set the stage to create a sense of agency, writes the executive director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. We need institutions, and they disappoint us. That puts all of us in a bind. We depend […]
read moreabout What makes an institution trustworthy?May 14, 2019
The path to increased pastoral agency
Pastors operate in highly complex social systems, and even with formal authority may not feel empowered to lead change. The key to building their sense of agency is to build trust among stakeholders and cultivate habits of care. Pastors serving in congregations have much more freedom in their daily work routines than teachers in classrooms or […]
read moreabout The path to increased pastoral agencyMarch 19, 2019
Reframing evaluation
Effective evaluation is about learning from one’s work, not judgment. It is a process that must be in place from the beginning of a project and be done in community, writes the director of the Evaluation & Communication Project at the Center for Congregations.
read moreabout Reframing evaluation