About Lecture - DH-01 - Recreating The Church: Leadership For The Postmodern Age

by Dick Hamm

Mainline denominations in the United States are in crisis. These institutions -- created in and for modernity -- are now facing a changed, postmodern culture. Dr. Dick Hamm faces the crisis, examining its origins and offers sound advice on how to lead churches to make the adaptive changes needed to thrive in postmodern times.

This five-session course helps us make sense of the new context in which we of the Church find ourselves, provides practical models by which to understand how our congregations need to change, describes a visioning process by which we can discover what God is calling the church to be and do now, and provides practical advice and counsel to those who provide leadership for change. The course is based on the book by Richard L. Hamm entitled, "Recreating The Church: Leadership For The Post-Modern Age", TCP Leadership Series, Chalice Press, 2007, supplemented by up to date findings from recent consultations.

From the Back Cover of the Book

"Dick Hamm asks an essential-and deeply faithful-question of the church: Where are we going? Then, through analysis and insight into both past and future, and with an unwavering commitment to the mission of the church, Hamm points us in the right directions, where God's Spirit is at work, where lives are being transformed, and communities are finding healing and hope. It's a road map all of us in the mainline church should have...and a journey we all ought to be joining."
-Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in America.

"The 'perfect storm' in mainline denominations has stirred a need for deep change. Dick Hamm clarifies the factors that make up the 'storm' and gives us a clear view of how the church has lived through its history in a way that has contributed to the present status of the mainline church. In this text, he helps us see where we've been and gets us headed out of 'the storm' and into a readiness for change."
-Dani Loving Cartwright, regional minister and president, Christian Church (DOC).