INDIANAPOLIS – Leaders of congregations, churches, synagogues, parishes and other faith communities have a new helper within their reach. The Congregational Resource Guide is an easily accessible web-based application that highlights the best congregational resources and encourages conversation and cooperation in congregations.

The Congregational Resource Guide (CRG) is a project of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations and is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. The CRG offers interactive features allowing congregational teams to search, save, organize and discuss the discovered resources and issues that are relevant to them.

“This is a unique tool for congregations and an exciting initiative for us,” stated Center President Tim Shapiro. “We hope that the CRG will help congregational leaders, members and teams enhance their capacity to blend excellent resources with their own ingenuity.”

Since 1997, the Center has helped strengthen Indiana congregations as their leaders address the challenges and opportunities of congregational life. The Center helps congregational leaders, staff and members through resource consulting, educational events and grants. Center staff and consultants have evaluated and selected the CRG resources and serve as CRG resource experts. The Center has worked with 3500 congregations and organizations in its 18 years of service. Top issues include Community Ministry, Youth Ministry, Technology, Capital Campaigns, Building Issues and Strategic Planning.

The CRG helps users find the right resources for the challenges they identify. Resources can be books, articles, websites, organizations and more. These resources are chosen for the CRG by Center staff and evaluated based on the Center’s extensive work with congregations.

By creating a free account, users can set up topical workspaces, save resources, share the information with others, invite those from their congregational teams to participate, discuss the topics, and request expert advice if additional assistance is needed.

“Congregational life is busy and challenging and full of opportunity,” Shapiro says. “The CRG is an easily accessible application that highlights the best resources and encourages conversation and cooperation.”

The CRG can be found at www.thecrg.org.

For more information about the Congregational Resource Guide, contact CRG Project Manager Doug Hanner at [email protected].

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