How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems

by Peter L. Steinke, Ren� Steinke (Editor), Emlyn A Ott (Foreword)

The first edition of How Your Church Family Works was written nearly thirty years ago, and the reach and velocity of change in the last three decades poses a new challenge for churches. Thirty years ago, churches functioned in a fairly stable environment and focused on growth an expansion. The tide has turned now, though, and supplanted increase with decline. Bowen family systems theory—on which How Your Church Family Works is based—has not changed, but its application has to be revised for the twenty-first century. How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works, the second edition of Peter Steinke’s landmark book, addresses the radically altered landscape of church sustainability with new introductory and concluding chapters bookending updates throughout the now-classic text. Core chapters of the book feature fresh examples of emotional process that are more exemplary of the current scene. One key addition is a new trigger of anxiety for churches—the change process. Change threatens the familiar and stable and suffers from negative connotations of endangering tradition. Where gradual change has been the norm for so long, churches now see a blistering pace of disruptions, some of which have forced change too early or too late, or sometimes in unproductive directions. How Your 21st-Century Church family works embraces the anxiety caused by change, transforming it from a source of anguish to a font of opportunity.

Genres: Church, Leadership

156 pages, ebook

Published November 27, 2021

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't studied psychology, so family system theory was entirely new to me. I found Steinke's approach easy to understand, overall light, concise, and easy to understand. He approaches the topic with good boundaries, a canny eye toward maturity, health, and motivation in congregations, and with lots of experience.

I was not expecting the idea of family systems applied to churches resulting in Steinke encouraging church leaders to take individual responsibility, but I appreciated that as a church leader myself. This book presents an interesting way to approach church life, a way that doesn't overspiritualize but clears the way for the Holy Spirit to move beyond dominant individuals stuck in unhealthy ruts.

[Doug Dunbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be reading this again. Speaks so clearly to what we have been going through over the past five years. Lots to ponder, process, and practice.

[Hannah Odell]

I’m mostly taking away a lot of (albeit more organized) rage at how unhealthy, secretive, & anxious the church where I spent my adolescence really was as an emotional system.

“Simple locusts can be meditative, quiet things, yet when locusts gather together, they become excited, change colors, undergo endocrine revisions, and intensify their activity. When a sufficient number of them are packed tightly in a group, they vibrate, hum, and take off like a jet airliner. Many congregations, caught in anxiety, are not much different from the locusts.”

[Jordan Hoyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a book that modern pastors must read to understand how the emotional systems work within their congregational contexts.
So much of this book would have benefited previous employers of mine, both inside and outside of the church.
Org psych, systems theory, and emotional intelligence is at an all time low, and works like this aid in combatting that sad truth.

[Bobby Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Seminary student, this book was enriching and informative. For me it reinforced the idea that imagination is healthy and important to not only living well, but understanding the emotional health of church congregations.

[JA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salem isn’t the same after this read

[Starla Gooch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super simple and easily accessible primer on family systems theory applied to churches and Christian theology. I’d rate 4.5 stars if I could.

[Laura Kisthardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for upcoming professional development week. Excellent application of family systems for churches.

[Jed Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant contextualization of Friedman’s family systems concepts to church leadership. A must-read for anyone in pastoral leadership who wants people to grow and mature through change.