This course explores what faithful church leadership might look like when a congregation finds itself facing challenging situations and difficult seasons. Its main purpose is to help pastors and lay leaders think clearly about their church's present situation, discern what it means for them to be faithful in their current context, and develop a path forward. 
 
Course objectives
Help participants identify and describe a dilemma in their church's context that requires a leader to take significant action.
Identify and describe who and what the church is as a community of faith, and what it means for her participate in God's mission in the world. 
Summarize what Rev. Dr. Powe Jr. means when he describes churches as either 'swamps,' 'reservoirs,' or 'canals,' and have participants evaluate their church's culture by describing how each term reflects one or more of its programs and activities.
Identify the main components of 'generative influence' and how it might apply in one's own context.
Help participants identify and describe at least two things that their church needs to change in order to lean into its missional identity. 
Help participants identify and develop at least three steps that will help shift their church's culture towards a more faithful participation in God's mission in the world. 
 
Learning goals
Participants will study Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr’s book The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and Hard Place and reflect upon how its insights may be useful for effecting fruitful change in the local church today. Moreover, participants will learn 1) how to diagnose church dilemmas that require action; 2) how to think theological about the church's life and mission; 3) how to discern what steps need to be taken in order to either overcome or resolve the dilemma at hand; and 4) how to develop a practical and faithful plan of action that will help shift a church's culture towards a more faithful participation in God's life and mission in the world. 
 
About the course
This course is a self-paced learning experience. It consists of six learning modules, and in addition to your Bible, you will need also to secure for yourself a copy of Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr.’s book The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and Hard Place. Everything else you need will be provided within the learning modules, each of which includes a combination of readings, videos, journal prompts, and other forms of media designed to captivate the imagination and stimulate the mind.
 
Course outline
Learning Module One: Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Learning Module Two: The Church – A Swamp, A Reservoir, or a Canal?
Learning Module Three: The ‘Adept’ Congregation
Learning Module Four: The ‘Influential’ Congregation
Learning Module Five: The ‘Missional’ Congregation
Learning Module Six: What now?
 
If you have any questions or problems, please email pathways@wesleyseminary.edu.