The Peter L. Steinke Memorial Scholarship
Church leadership is hard.
What Healthy Congregations offers is help that is practical and even transformative.
WHAT IS THE NEED TODAY?
Anxiety and conflict are rampant in congregational life. As the anxiety increases, the challenge intensifies. Clergy and congregational leaders are often held responsible for the disagreements and strife that inevitably occur. The need for relief in church leaders is enormous, and our organization offers that needed support.
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Relationships are the essence of congregational life. Today, it is crucial to educate church leaders in understanding the powerful ways in which people are connected and the predictable ways that systems behave. People in leadership positions may find themselves stuck in highly conflicted and reactive situations. This can result in congregations splitting or closing; clergy and leaders suffering from burnout; and declining numbers of pastors and congregational members.
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Healthy Congregations has the capacity to equip leaders to respond to these conditions and to potentially improve these outcomes.
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“The Rev. Dr. Peter L. Steinke created Healthy Congregations and developed programs that make a monumental difference in the lives of congregations. As one who sat in his seminars and workshops, I learned more than one could imagine about the essentials of leading healthy congregations. In a presbytery where I served several years ago as an Executive Presbyter and Congregational Vitality professional, we sponsored Pete on two separate occasions. The response to his arrival and time with the presbytery was outstanding. Pastors from other denominations attended the events and remained in connection as a result. His effect on the presbytery was profound and long-lasting."
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Rev. Dr. Mary Newbern-Williams
PC (USA)
ABOUT PETER L. STEINKE
(1938-2020)
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Peter L. Steinke was an internationally recognized leadership consultant who served as a parish pastor, therapist, director of a counseling center, educator, and founding Director of Healthy Congregations. A frequent lecturer and public speaker, Steinke helped many pastors and lay leaders better understand their work in the church. Much of Steinke's scholarship and writing applied Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Theory to understanding the way a church community works as an emotional system. He is the author of more than fourteen books, including Uproar: Calm Leadership in Anxious Times; Teaching Fish to Walk: Church Systems and Adaptive Challenge; and How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems.​
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"Pete Steinke and the teachings of Healthy Congregations transformed not only my ministry and the congregations I served, it saved my personal and professional life by giving me a sustainable new lens through which to see myself and others in the various systems of which I am a part."
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Pastor Bill Snyder
ELCA
FORMING LEADERS WHO:
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Have a clear sense of self.
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Embrace life with principles, values, and beliefs that guide their daily life and ministry.
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Stay connected with others and work amid disagreements.
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Calm the congregation’s emotional system with a thoughtful spiritual presence, allowing the congregation to access its best responses and the presence of God at work.
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Challenge people to move towards creativity and cooperation rather than conflict.
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Increase members' capacity to identify, communicate, and invest in the mission of the church.
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In this time in the life of many communities of faith, leaders are particularly challenged by clergy resignations and the reality of reduced resources. The Healthy Congregations training opportunities are designed to impact local congregations through the application of family systems thinking.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
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Dr. Steinke retired as Executive Director of Healthy Congregations in 2005. In 2006, Healthy Congregations was incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization in Ohio under the leadership of Executive Director and CEO Rev. Dr. Emlyn Ott. Healthy Congregations is an ecumenical and interfaith organization with a Board of Directors that
represents a variety of traditions
and backgrounds.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
We invite you to join us in providing opportunities for timely and relevant training for church leaders that is partially supported by scholarship aid. By donating to our new Peter L. Steinke Memorial Scholarship, your gift will support leaders and their vocations at a crucial time in the work of the church.
How to Donate:
Send a check made payable to:
Healthy Congregations, Inc.
6580 Columbus Pike
Lewis Center, OH 43035
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Please indicate “Peter L. Steinke Memorial Scholarship” in the memo line.
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Donate on our website:
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