We continue to examine ways to encourage congregations to infuse asset building into many areas of congregational life. It doesn t seem to be an initial priority to develop strategies to reach out to disconnected youth. Most youth workers do not have the power within a congregation to introduce major change on their own. Most need the active support of senior clergy and others in the congregation. We encourage congregations to build teams to integrate the assets into their congregation.
Many congregations appear to struggle with systematic planning.
Congregational leaders want simple, short, practical tools to help them apply and use the assets. A decision to form a network must come from congregational leaders who would be the core of that network and whose congregations will support network involvement. Networks build slowly. It likely takes at least two years for a network to become established, and it likely takes decades before it is fully functioning. Networks are built one person at a time.