INJOY Study Revisited 14 years later

Posted on February 17, 2010 by tomsterbens

Over nine years ago the Church of God leadership secured INJOY denominational consultants to provide an analysis of our organization. After two years of research the following report was presented to the Executive Council and published. The is posted below.
• Do you think the report was objective/accurate
• How do you think we as a denomination responded to the findings
• What do you think has changed in seven years since the report was presented
COG Leadership Development:The Consultants View
7/12/02
For the past two years, the Church of God has benefited from an association with INJOY denominational consultants Dr. Conrad Lowe and Dr. Ron McManus. Recently they presented a comprehensive report with the Church of God Executive Council, which is shared here with COG News readers.
John Maxwell Denominational Partnerships wishes to thank God and the leaders of the Church of God for the privilege of working closely together in the leadership development initiative. This endeavor has been a highlight of our ministry.
As your consultants, we have seen the International Executive Committee—Dr. Lamar Vest, Dr. Bill Sheeks and Dr. Gene Rice—offer visionary leadership to the Church of God during these two years of partnership. In Dr. Vests vision statement, Charting the Course, the Church of God has a godly aggressive map to a great future. If implemented, the Church of God will not only experience transforming leadership development but will be the leader of Christian ministry in the USA.
During Phase I, we witnessed this great vision cast across the entire Church of God in North America. Visionary leadership was modeled by the Executive Committee and the Executive Council. State overseers have invested in extensive training. Approximately 2,000 pastors and lay leaders have been trained in various ministry skills. Mentoring groups have begun in most states. Many growing churches have begun to grow, and many declining churches have accelerated, many plateaud churches have begun to grow, and many declining churches have stabilized. Finances, conversions and membership have increased. Church health and excellence have also improved for many churches.
The future goal is that additional pastors and churches will be added as we move to more intensive leadership training. In addition, the leadership development initiative will add leadership coaching to the mentoring strategy.
One of our tasks as consultants is to bring awareness of potential barriers to the vision of the Church of God. At this juncture in the process, we suggest there are five areas that should be addressed by the Church of God.
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