Administrative Practices in Religious Organizations
The purpose of this course is to call attention to administrative practices in the context of religious organizations; more specifically, the skills and assets that social workers bring to administrative leadership and management practices in religious organizations. The articles contained in this course address those administrative practices, congregational social work planning, and church-based program planning.
As a result of this training, participants will be able to:
1. List ways in which assets and skills intrinsic to the field of professional social work inform the operational framework of faith-based organizations dedicated to inter-communal reconciliation.
2. Describe the emergent alternative to the rationalist models of planning that are dominant today among contemporary organizations, including congregations and small religious nonprofit organizations.
3. Describe the context of evangelical organizations providing social work services and the unique role of research in those settings.
The following text-based course contains five separate readings pertaining to the use of a faith perspective when looking at social work. The articles are as follows: A Study of Administrative Practices in Religious Organizations by Gaynor Yancey, Robin K. Rogers, Jon Singletary, and Michael Sherr, Blessed are the Peacemakers: How Assets and Skills Intrinsic to Professional Social Work are Informing International RAOs and the Work of Inter-communal Reconciliation by Aaron Tyler, Developing Community Partnerships with Religiously Affiliated Organizations to Address Aging Needs: A Case Study of the Congregational Social Work Education Initiative by Jay Poole, John C. Rife, Fran Pearson, and Wayne R. Moore, The Emergent Journey of Church-Based Program Planning by Jon E. Singletary, and Exploring the Role of Research in Evangelical Service Organizations: Lessons from a University/Agency Partnership by Michael E. Sherr, Robin K. Rogers, Angela Dennison, and Daphne Paul.