Search: Heidi Unruh, Book

Ministry Inventory Guide: Assess Your Church?s Ministry Capacity and Identity

By Heidi Unruh  (Congregations, Community Outreach and Leadership Development Project, 2007)

Resource Type: workbook

Main Audience: Church leaders desiring to complete a thorough assessment of where their church is at currently in terms of holistic social ministry, in order to be positioned to improve and deepen that engagement.

Summary:

The Ministry Inventory consists of ten areas of questions related to the congregation's outreach (including all forms of evangelism and service). The questions focus on local outreach, but do not exclude international missions. Some questions ask about what the church does, others focus on how and why the church engages in external ministry.

1.      Ministry History

2.      Ministry Activities

3.      Ministry Organization

4.      Ministry Assets

5.      Ministry Connections and Collaborations

6.      Ministry Balance

7.      Ministry Involvement: Evangelism

8.      Ministry Involvement: Social Action

9.      Ministry Bridges and Barriers

10.  Ministry Outcomes

Ventures in Holistic Ministry: Becoming a Church That Makes a Difference

(by Heidi Unruh and Phil Olson, 2000)

Resource Type: CD with many profiles and tools

Main Audience: Church leaders wanting practical tools and models for moving into more effective church-based transformational community ministries

Purchase Now  (Call Evangelicals for Social Action at 1-800-650-6600)

Summary:

The CD includes a wealth of information and resources. Perhaps most valuable is the Toolkit. It is packed with short forms, assessments, and guidance sheets on church-based holistic ministry. In contains 45 tools in total, focused on the following arenas:

• Spiritual power for mission
• Learning about holistic ministry
• Assessing your church’s ministries & attitudes
• Learning your church’s capacity and identity
• Learning your community context for ministry
• Discerning a direction for ministry
• Planning a ministry program

The CD also includes 24 short stories of holistic congregations. The stories are “teaching stories,” meant to illustrate a learning point from the authors’ book, Churches That Make a Difference (i.e., they are not stories of models for replication by others). The CD also includes some quotes from church leaders/pastors about their experiences with holistic ministry, but this section is less valuable than other parts of the CD. The CD also includes a section providing some resources and recommendations regarding scripture study, to undergird a congregation’s launch into deeper holistic ministry.