Conversations for ministry leaders

If you lead a congregation or ministry and would like someone to think with, I would be glad to talk. There is no cost.

I have spent my career studying congregations: how they form people, how they care for their members, and how they hold together when commitment cannot be required. I also work between two languages that do not always meet, the language of social research and the language of faith. Much of what I can offer is translation. I can help you sort out what research can and cannot tell you about your setting, and help you put words to what you are already noticing.

A conversation might help if you are working through a change in your congregation, weighing how research on formation, belonging, or mental health applies to the people you serve, or simply want a thoughtful outside perspective before a decision.

I am a trained spiritual director. These conversations are not spiritual direction, but that training shapes how I listen: slowly, with attention to what sits beneath the question, and without an agenda of my own.

These conversations are not part of any research study, and nothing you share will be used as research data. I offer them as part of my service to the church.

To start a conversation, email me with a few sentences about your ministry and what is on your mind.