"Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age is a great resource for congregational leaders. Cultivating a conversation between virtual management lessons from within business and the wisdom of current ministry leaders, Wimberly invites readers to revisit their understanding of management, expand their approaches to managing ministry, and reimagine their management practices. Believing twenty-first-century ministry will include both in-person and virtual dimensions, he provides guidance for discerning a thoughtful and meaningful approach to ministry management that is timely and vitally important."
Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age
In Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age, John W. Wimberly Jr. draws on the experience of the business community, and on a diverse group of skilled pastors and rabbis, as he lays out the opportunities and challenges of working from home for congregations and staff, offering principles and best practices for successfully managing remote workers and ministries.
The move toward working from home is part of a rapidly changing work environment for employers and employees alike. Large parts of the business world have mastered managing their staff, located around the country and the world, virtually. For many faith communities, however, the sudden move to working from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic involved significant upheaval. Fortunately, various forms of technology and productivity tools can make this shift easier.
Wimberly focuses on how congregational leaders can ensure accountability and productivity, create a sense of staff as a team, help older staff members learn how to work from home, and determine what hardware and software staff members and the congregation need to support effective communication.
This comprehensive guide will serve congregations well into the future, even as technology and circumstances change.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9781506472638
- eBook ISBN 9781506472645
- Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5
- Pages 151
- Publication Date July 20, 2021
Endorsements
Terri Martinson Elton, professor of leadership, Luther Seminary
"With a career's experience in the pulpit and keen insight into both the ways congregations functioned best in the twentieth century and the ways they will need to rethink their work going forward, Wimberly provides clergy and congregational lay leaders with a true bible for the workplace. This comprehensive overview of what it means to 'toil in the (virtual) vineyards of the Lord' is sure to become an essential go-to volume for all charged with the responsibility of managing a twenty-first-century congregation."
Aaron Bisno, rabbi of Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburg, PA