November 2, 9, 16 | 7:00-8:30 pm | ZOOM

Facilitator: Iona Harding SPHR, GPHR, President, Harding Resources LLC 

Being a lay, staff, or clergy, leader in a small one-or-two person-staff or multi-staff church has many joys and challenges. It is a blessing to work with motivated laity, staff, and clergy who are committed to the mission of the United Methodist Church and the local church. It is a joy to be part of a church with a healthy culture. We have been through so much over the past few years – COVID, pivoting to new ways of doing church, finding new ways to grow disciples, loss of members, to name a few. Yet, too often, we remain bound by the past – the way we used to do things and by the culture of a church the way it was a hundred years ago.

In this highly interactive course, we will begin by addressing the basics for creating a healthy church culture. We’ll start by learning what organization culture is, how we identify it in our churches, what creates and sustains the culture, and grapple with what the culture needs to be for your church.

We’ll explore tangible building blocks for creating and sustaining the culture you need, linked to your church mission and vision, through your processes for recruiting, developing, leading and retaining staff and laity leaders and volunteers. Then we will progress to the less tangible elements of how to align your church’s culture with the mission of the UMC and your local church, how to fully engage all members of the team, and how to ensure a culture that is so strong and healthy you can feel it. 

You will leave with actionable steps to take to build a healthy church culture. 

This course is recommended for clergy, the chairperson and members of staff parish relations, the members of church council and leaders of other church committees, and any other church staff members who coach others in a multi-staff church setting.