{"product_id":"how-your-21st-century-church-family-works-understanding-congregations-as-emotional-systems-2nd-ed","title":"How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems (2ND ed.)","description":"\u003cp\u003eby: Peter Steinke\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003ePeter L. Steinke's daughter brings together the final writings from her father in this update of his classic book How Your Church Family Learns. The new edition includes a foreword from Steinke's longtime colleague Emlyn A. Ott at Healthy Congregations-the nonprofit consultancy founded by Steinke.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first edition of \u003ci\u003eHow Your Church Family Works \u003c\/i\u003ewas 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 \u003ci\u003eHow Your Church Family Works\u003c\/i\u003e is based--has not changed, but its application has to be revised for the twenty-first century. \u003ci\u003eHow Your 21\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003est\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e-Century Church Family Works\u003c\/i\u003e, 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. \u003ci\u003eHow Your 21\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003est\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e-Century Church\u003c\/i\u003e family works embraces the anxiety caused by change, transforming it from a source of anguish to a font of opportunity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rowman \u0026 Littlefield Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46086782091460,"sku":"9781538149133","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0109\/4752\/files\/Screenshot2026-04-24at9.45.22AM.png?v=1777041956","url":"https:\/\/covbooks.com\/products\/how-your-21st-century-church-family-works-understanding-congregations-as-emotional-systems-2nd-ed","provider":"Covenant Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}