Church Consultancy
Church consultancy describes the working together between Church Consultancy facilitators and the leadership and members of a congregation toward a church strategy determined by the church leadership and in consultation with the congregation. A Church Consultancy would normally involve an initial assessment of your church through the collection of data from church records, surveying church leadership and interviewing church staff. From this assessment, objectives for the consultancy would be set by church leadership under the direction of the facilitators. The broad areas for objectives might be: connecting the church with the community, welcoming and integrating newcomers, growing a small group culture, training, pastoral care and all issues contributing to Sunday worship. A consultancy may also be focused on a specific issue such as developing Mission, Vision and Values documents or assisting congregational recovery following a conflict or crisis.
A church consultancy would usually involve two visits to the church on a Friday and Saturday or when the leadership and congregation are most available. The process would include meetings with leadership, congregational meetings to invite input and provide teaching, comment groups to share ideas and focus groups to develop strategy, depending on the specific objectives of the consultancy.
The consultants provide a report with recommendations at the end of their time in your church.
Dave and Kathy Thurston have both been trained in church consultancy as part of the church consultancy team in the Presbyterian Church in NSW and Kathy has remained an active member of the team since 2003. They will be supervising the CMR church consultancies as part of the development of a team of facilitators for PCQ.
The cost of a church consultancy is $250 plus the cost of travel and accommodation for the facilitator.