How are you forming the members of your congregation? How did you become who you are? What influences shaped the way you see and show up in the world?
These provocative questions are the focus of a new book by Christina Jones Davis and Tim Shapiro. In “The Formative Power of Your Congregation,” Davis and Shapiro suggest that our lives are formed “throughout our experience, but particularly by congregational practices for the sake of our participation in God’s aims beyond the doors of the church.” In other words, the interactions we have with neighbors and the service we offer to people in our daily lives play a significant part in our spiritual formation.
As leaders, we are called to be attentive to specific formational practices as well as the kind of people we are forming. We do this by seeing human development holistically. According to Davis and Shapiro, human development happens within the context of “life arenas,” which may include family, vocation, finances, wellness, the arts, education and social justice.
Anyone leading a congregation in the modern era should understand that the church isn’t always the most significant factor in someone’s formation — even when that person was raised in church. “The Formative Power of Your Congregation” is written with the assumption that the purpose of your congregation is not to become bigger; it is “the development of human beings and the flourishing of the local community.” Davis and Shapiro offer a curriculum framework and powerful stories to help you and your congregation think about the important work at the intersection of faith and human development.
