Parish Planning

Church planner and consultant Lyle E. Schaller offers suggestions and guidelines on how the people in a given local church can improve the quality of the decision-making process in that parish. His emphasis is on finding "handles" for beginning the planning process, on the importance of self-evaluation, and on the implementation process itself. First, he looks at "the covenant and the pilgrimage" taking place in the church. Other topics include the church budget; institutional blight; the importance of self-evaluation and accountability; the ability to implement ideas, plans, and programs; a look at four types of congregations: Old First, small rural, neighborhood, and metropolitan; evangelism - the most "neglected task"; and the need to increase quality of performance. Parish Planning-a self-help course in planning for a parish of any size-will enable members of a church board or congregation to re-evaluate their purpose, mission, and methods and put new ideas into action.