Parish Papers

The Virginia Conference now has a subscription for the Parish Paper. Each month, ideas and insights for active congregations are included in this publication edited by Herb Miller, Lyle Schaller, Cynthia Woolever.

The Virginia United Methodist Conference’s purchase of a subscription to The Parish Paper INCLUDES:

1. Permission to provide copies to our staff and to the congregations within our jurisdiction in any of the following ways: E-mail, Postal, newspaper, newsletter, meetings, training events, and our Web site.

2. Permission for each congregation within our jurisdiction to (a) photocopy or electronically distribute for local use as many copies as it needs, (b) post them on its Web site, and (c) quote sentences and paragraphs.

Congregations within our Virginia United Methodist Conference jurisdiction to which we distribute The Parish Paper do NOT have permission (a) to delete the copyright ownership notice, (b) to re-write, paraphrase, delete, or change the wording of sentences and paragraphs, or (c) to give ANY THIRD PARTY — other than our staff and constituents — permission to photocopy or reprint (in any quantity, no matter how small, whether for free distribution or for sale).

These will be posted on the conference Web site to be used by the conference congregations. They are pdf files.

Download documents from the “Free Resources” section of the http://www.theparishpaper.com/

June 2013 - Making Informed Decisions    
May 2013 - Important Conversations: How to Avoid the Sand Traps   
April 2013 - Oral Communication      
March 2013 - What Leadership Style Works     
February 2013 - Downsize Staff Without Destroying the Church    
January 2013 - How to Avoid Pastor Burnout   
December 2012 - How to Use Our Five Senses to Experience the Wonder of Advent  
November 2012 - How to Maintain Church Health in a Declining Population County 
October 2012 - Preventing Church Fraud  
September 2012 - Where Are the Unchurched? 
August 2012 - Keys to Growing a Small Church
July 2012 - What Message Are We Sending About Giving?
June 2012 - Mission Possible: More Men in the Pews
May 2012 - How to Turn Bystanders Into Active Disciples
April 2012 - How Is Your Congregation's Health?
March 2012 - What Type of Future Are We Building?
February 2012 - How to Manage Change Resistance
January 2012 - How to Perfect Your Leadership Triangle
December 2011 - How Do We Successfully Launch a New Project?
November 2011 - Should We Unleash the Power of Congregational Planning?
October 2011 - Why Do Smart Churches Make Dumb Decisions?
September 2011 - Why Do People Connect with Christ and a Congregation?
August 2011 - How to Prevent Bad Behavior During Times of Change
July 2011 - How to Select Quality Staff
June 2011 - What is the Pastor's Role in Church Finances? 
May 2011 - When Does Success Lead to Failure?
April 2011 - Incoming Pastors: Building Smoother Transition Bridges
March 2011 - Does a Congregation's Location Influence Its Effectiveness
February 2011 - Accomplishing Worth Goals: Being Smart is not Enough
January 2011 - What is Your Uncounscious Intent?
December 2010 - Fifty Years Later: What Has Changed?
November 2010 - What Are the Big-Picture Trends in Congregations?
August 2010 - How Much Should We Pay Our Pastor?
July 2010 - Should Congregations Use Internet Social Media?
June 2010 - Why Does Mentoring Succeed and Fail?
May 2010 - Generous Givers: A Product of Motivation and Methods
April 2010 - What Can We Learn from The Emerging Church Movement?
March 2010 - New Trends in Belonging
February 2010 - Should We Fine Tune our Church's Internal Culture?
January 2010 - Become Comfortable with Conflict - Step One to Moving Beyond It
December 2009 - Are We a Leader-Sending Congregation?
November 2009 - Seven Roads to a Multicultural Congregation
October 2009 - Women Pastors: Are Our Assumptions Accurate? 
September 2009 - Are We Singing the Right Hymns?
August 2009 - Shepherding Congregations Through Grief Storms
July 2009 - Lay Testimonials Strengthen Giving
June 2009 - One Congregation: Many Locations
May 2009 - Permanent Endowment Fund
April 2009 - What Do People Want in Their Pastors?
March 2009 - Church Website Basics
February 2009 - Should Our Congregation Offer More Choices?
January 2009 - How to Identify Our Church's Unstated Assumptions
December 2008 - Does Your Window Limit Your View?
November 2008 - The Fun Factor Asset in Congregational Climate

"We envision faith communities where all God's people are welcomed at table, nurtured and transformed to be Christ to others in the world."
— Virginia Conference Vision Statement

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Virginia United Methodist Center
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Physical Address: 10330 Staples Mill Rd, Glen Allen, VA 23060
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