As a fractal of the Body of Christ St. John's United Church of Christ is called by God to be an embodiment of the living Jesus. Yet like so many mainline congregations St. John's United Church of Christ was in a state of entropy evidenced by a long decline in participation and a highly disengaged group of lay leaders. Simply placing their hope on tomorrow bringing a return of yesterday was not a realistic strategy for their future. Published church renewal strategies offered no hope for change to St. John's given the skill set, energy level, and mass of the active participants. St. John's needed a different kind of strategy. By equipping the congregation's leaders with a practical understanding of Robert Kegan's and Lisa Lahey's languages for transformational change and facilitating an ongoing process of practical theological interpretation as the method for integrating these skills into the culture of leadership within the church, St. John's would be able to generate the level of energy necessary to move from a path of decline to a path of congregational formation.
