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Strengthening Your Congregation

Church leaders wear many hats -- educator, cheerleader, spiritual advisor, manager -- the list goes on and on. It's easy to get wrapped up in these jobs and lose sight of the big picture -- making disciples.

But how do you know where to focus your time and energy? How do you align the skills and talents of all the leaders in your church to deliver the greatest impact on your congregation? How do you put all the pieces together and create a strong, vital church?

We offer a variety of tools that can help you assess your strengths and give you focus. Need some help deciding which one is best for you? Contact us at Help@GBOD.org

Spiritual Gifts Assessment
This online assessment helps individuals identify their God-given gifts for living faithfully as Christian disciples day by day and to find meaningful ways to use their gifts in connection with others through the community of faith. The process helps people understand the nature of spiritual gifts and ways to enhance the effectiveness of their gifts by linking together with others. (Produced in cooperation with United Methodist Communications.)

Equipped for Every Good Work
Building a Gifts-Based Church
It's useful to understand one's own personal spiritual gifts - but it's much more powerful when we understand -- as a group -- how our spiritual gifts compliment each other and work together. Equipped for Every Good Work builds on the Spiritual Gifts Assessment with three additional tools that give groups clarity on using their individual gifts for the good of the congregation.
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FaithQuest
A Journey Toward Congregational Transformation
This 18-week Bible study is based on a single, critical, concept: re-creating the church, not as an institution, but as faithful community centered in Jesus Christ. The focus of the church is not the church but God. The institution of the church exists to bring people into a healthy relationship with God so that they may live transformed and transforming lives in the world. FaithQuest helps us remember why we are the church, and it challenges us to be the best church we can be.View a sample chapter (pdf).
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L3 Leadership Incubator
Loving • Learning • Leading: L³
An intensive, 18-month program, the L³ Leadership Incubator is a small-group process where new spiritual leaders and ideas are born, nurtured, and developed. Six to twelve leaders meet together in regular sessions, focusing on their spiritual growth and leadership skills and developing an action plan for their ministry. Once completed, L³ graduates take the program back to their congregations, conferences, or ministry team.
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Church Vitality Indicator
The Church Vitality Indicator is an online assessment and discernment tool that helps identify and build upon your church's strengths. CVI shows you where to focus your time and energy on areas of ministry that have the most potential for strengthening and reshaping your church, providing useful information that allows your leaders to make informed decisions to move your congregation forward.
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Companions in Christ
The Small-Group Experience In Christian Formation
"In a world becoming ever more filled with how-to books for spiritual formation, it's a pleasure to lift up a resource that at its core recognizes the need for community, that different people learn in different ways, and that pastors are not the only ones who can guide such a group. Companions in Christ is such a resource." -- Steve Shussett, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
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Fifty Characteristics of Disciple-Making Congregations
We asked our staff, "What are the characteristics of a United Methodist congregation that is successfully engaged in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?" We didn't want philosophy, theology, or theories. We wanted short, specific, practical answers. Here's what we found...

Strategy 101: Ten Simple Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Most strategic planning efforts in local congregations fail, not due to poor work or lack of knowledge or commitment, but due to simple mistakes. Here is a list of the top "don'ts" when planning for your congregation ...