Ronald W. Richardson helps us to understand how congregations function emotionally. Without being simplistic, he gives clear directions on how to improve their quality of life together and function more effectively in achieving mission goals. This book offers: A theory about human behavior that will aid understanding of how things can get out of control in the human community of the church; A practical set of leadership ideas and behaviors; Guidelines for how to behave in the midst of upsetting and conflictual circumstances; Personal steps that leaders in the church can take to become more positive forces for healing and cooperation.

Creating a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory, Leadership and Congregational Life (Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling Series)

Religion & Spirituality

Richardson, Ronald W.

Christian Books & Bibles

Fortress Press

Among the most helpful and widely acclaimed resources for addressing church conflict and the quality of church life is Richardson's groundbreaking volume Creating a Healthier Church (Fortress Press, 1996). His application of family systems theory to congregational life has enormously clarified its operative systems and especially its emotional system. In this sequel, Richardson employs the same methodology to address the roots of personal issues that may hinder pastors' ability to function effectively as leaders within their congregations, and may in fact cause them deep difficulties. He especially addresses pastors' own families of origin, a major but often hidden component in how they function emotionally in their congregations. When anxiety arises, unresolved familial issues and old family patterns return, often unhelpfully. Richardson explores these patterns, how they operate in church situations, and how pastors can do their own family-of-origin assessment. His volume will become a standard tool for analysis of patterns in ministerial behavior and developing strong personal effectiveness.

Becoming a Healthier Pastor: Family Systems Theory and the Pastor's Own Family (Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling)

Parenting & Relationships

Perhaps no single issue is of greater importance for families in Western culture than the one of marital conflict. When couples fail to successfully negotiate the emotional difficulties of their relationship, it can lead either to years of unhappiness within the marriage or to the breakdown of the marriage and to divorce. Unhappy couples negatively affect their families and even their communities. Couples in Conflict describes the nature of the emotional processes leading to marital difficulties and how a minister or counselor can be a resource to help couples in conflict. The minister/counselor will be able to help them improve their lives personally, as well as their relationship and family life. By extension, couples will also develop skills that will improve their work life and their life in community. The book provides practical and specific approaches to helping these couples and the issues that a minister must deal with in order to be useful to them.

Couples in Conflict: A Family Systems Approach to Marriage Counseling

What makes for a good relationship? Author Ronald W. Richardson says that "good people make good relationships." Jane Austen would agree with him. Drawing on the insights of modern family systems theory, this self-help book for thinking people addresses the issues of emotional maturity, strength of character, values, and thoughtfulness in each partner and how these virtues each contribute to good relationships.
Richardson, a certified marriage and family therapist, relies on his thirty years of clinical experience,teaching, and supervision for relevant,contemporary examples as he illustrates how good people make for good relationships. In addition, selections from Jane Austen's many novels provide an entertaining perspective on timeless truths.

Becoming Your Best: A Self-Help Guide for Thinking People (Living Well)

Augsburg Books

Polarization is endemic in North American society. We see its effects in nearly every political, cultural, theological, and social issue. The polarized issues that exist today are not new; they have existed for all time, and some may never be resolved. What is different today, though, is the intensity of anger and hatred we experience. Society seems unable to deal with the problems and move forward. The approach Ronald Richardson describes here promotes neither a left nor right political agenda. Building on many of the strategies offered in his earlier book, Creating a Healthier Church, the practical strategies presented here are based on his own successful approach to guiding church leaders, congregations, and community groups from conflict to understanding and cooperation. Once again, the application of Bowen family systems theory to the work of church leadership provides them with effective approaches to resolving divisive issues before they do irreparable damage to the church community.

Polarization and the Healthier Church: Applying Bowen Family Systems Theory to Conflict and Change in Society and Congregational Life

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Really? Jane Austen? A woman who died in 1817? What can she tell us about relationships today? Our world is so different from hers. Her characters speak in what almost seems like a foreign language. And the romantic relations between partners back then were so restricted . . . how can their problems be relevant to us? Yet the men and women in her novels struggle with the same passions we have, and they ask the same questions: Is this person the one? What is love anyway? Do I want to spend my life with him (or her)? How can I nurture a satisfying relationship? A significant amount of our happiness in life depends on how good our relationships are. Just as in Jane Austen's time, learning to love and be loved and having truly close and committed partners are major goals in life, regardless of our material station. Austen had a keen insight into the ways we can create and maintain good relationships. In her books, she shows that to have good relationships, people need to have good character arising out of emotional maturity and a strong sense of themselves. In this book, Ronald Richardson draws on his experience as a marital counselor to unpack this knowledge for us, using examples from Jane Austen's stories to reveal how you can make your own relationships better.

Jane Austen's Guide to Good Relationships

Self-Help

We have all been in transit from the time of our birth. Life is one transition after another. We move from one way or form of life to another. There are a number of normal life cycle transitions that all individuals and families go through as they have children and raise them. Churches also go through certain predictable life cycle transitions as they grow and shrink and change. Sometimes, these changes goes smoothly, but at other times they can be very difficult and upsetting for those involved. I gave the three lectures in this little book on the occasion of a Lutheran Synod dealing with the retirement of one bishop and the installation of a new one. Everyone involved knew there would be transition issues related to this change. They invited me to speak on transitions from a Bowen family systems theory perspective. That is the substance of this short book. Bowen family systems theory offers concrete ideas around how to understand what makes transitions difficult and how to go through them in ways that are productive for all involved. In these lectures, I address specific examples in our own lives. I also relate how Bowen theory illuminates a significant transition in the life of the early church as de-scribed in the Book of Acts and in Galatians.

The Church in Transition: Three Talks on Bowen Family Systems Theory and Dealing with Change in the Church

Improve your personal relationships Most people’s lives are complicated by family relationships. Birth order, our parents’ relationship, and the rules” we were brought up with can affect our self-esteem and relationships with spouses, children, and other family members. Family of Origin therapy and techniques can help you create better relationships. This easy-to-read, practical book explains how families function and what you can do to change the way you act in your family and with other people. Exercises show how to apply the principles to your own situation and develop a more positive approach to all aspects of your life. Topics covered include: * What makes it so difficult to be myself with my family? * How is my relationship with my spouse affected by how my family acted when I was a child? * Will my parents still love me if I let them know my real feelings? * How has my birth order and my gender affected my personality? * What birth order in a spouse is the best match for me? * Why do I always feel rejected when my spouse disagrees with me? * How can I change the way I react? * What role does my family history play in my life? * How can I improve my communication skills? Step-by-step exercises show how to make contact with lost” family members, how to interview relatives to develop a clearer picture of how each member fits into the family tree, and how to find different and better ways of dealing with family relationships. Professionals will also find this book a useful companion to their therapy sessions with clients.

Family Ties That Bind: A self-help guide to change through Family of Origin therapy (Personal Self-Help Series)

Relationships

Self-Counsel Press

Our life can be viewed as three stages. In the first, we are told what to do and when to do it by our parents and teachers. In the second, our employers give us directions, usually with set working hours. In the third stage, when we retire, what we do with our time and lives is something we must decide. The transition into retirement, with seemingly endless options, can be challenging. Most books on retirement concentrate on the financial aspects of retirement. This is book does not. This is a workbook crafted to help you plan your own life after work: both long-term and day-to-day. It does not tell you what to do; it provides you with the tools to create your own action plan. The book leads you and your partner through a series of exercises designed to help you understand and focus on what is important to you, and make the decisions which will help give your retirement years a structure. The book includes access to a kit of forms and exercises; a workbook for planning your retirement. This book explains how to think about your retirement and provides a practical way of planning how you will live your retirement years. There is little written about this topic; the majority of books out there are aimed at financial planning, while the next largest cohort of books speaks to eldercare and housing for those who need assistance in their later years.

Creating a Happy Retirement: A workbook for planning the life you want (Eldercare Series)

Business & Money

Richardson, Lois A.

Personal Finance

Most books on pastoral care focus on individuals, or, in a few cases, couples, and families. However, I believe that when church leadership thinks of the congregation as an emotional unit in itself and can think in terms of caring for the congregation as a whole, then the individuals, couples, and families in that church will be better cared for. There are a huge number of good books on pastoral care of individuals. However, I don't know of any that speak of caring for a congregation as a whole. These two books (Volumes One and Two) will not focus on specific pastoral care practices and techniques. However, they may be the most "practical" books on pastoral care that you will ever read. They are practical in the sense that they will be highly useful in understanding the emotional ways of relating for people in your congregation. This understanding will illuminate how leaders can respond most effectively. The material in this two-volume collection is based on a consistent and coherent approach to understanding human relationships. What unifies all of these workshops is their basis in Bowen family systems theory.

Pastoral Care of Congregations: Selected Workshops: Volume 1

Religious Studies

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