Integral Ministry: The Integral Model of Ministry By Gary Simmons The distinctive application of the principles of Spiral Dynamics and Integral Psychology to developmental strategies for creating thriving, coherent and integral church organizations has transformed the author's understanding of how churches function in times of growth / decline, transition and conflict. Ministry is a living system, a matrix within which the fields of organizational structure, intimacy and care-giving bonds, cultural imperatives, and communal psychology play out in a complex array of interactive dynamics. Churches possess an innate capacity to evolve as well as an inherent tendency for homeostasis. They are dependent upon the inflow of new energy, yet they are resistant to change and uncertainty. Our challenge as church leaders is to learn how and when to align with these systemic forces at work within ministry rather than work against them. As I will illustrate, an integral approach to church development allows us to engage the entire living system that ministry is and to avoid the triggers and stressors that often undermine our efforts to create healthy churches. Please click here to read full article complete with diagrams and graphics. About Rev. Gary Simmons: Gary Simmons is an ordained Unity minister and is the Director of Peacemaking Services for the Association of Unity Churches International where he promotes the implementation of peacemaking and integral leadership programs for Unity, Religious Science, and New Thought communities world-wide. In his 26 years of professional ministry Gary has pioneered four Unity ministries and served on the board of trustees of the Association of Unity Churches. In 1992, Gary began working within the Unity moment to develop a new model and process for assisting churches and spiritual organizations in embracing the energies of conflict and interpersonal difficulty as a means of creating authentic community. His unique program of conflict transformation later lead to the establishment of the Department of Peacemaking Services, a full-time department within the Association of Unity Churches empowering ministers, lay leaders, and their communities to demonstrate Truth principles in the presence of conflict. Gary is the author of The I of the Storm: Embracing Conflict, Creating Peace, a Unity best-seller, now in its seventh printing, Day-By-Day Reconciliation Journal—A 21 Day Spiritual Practice, and the audio program Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain-Spiritual Conflict Management, plus numerous articles and papers on the subject of peacemaking, integral leadership and church growth. He was the 2004 recipient of the prestigious Myrtle Fillmore Award. Gary has a BA degree in Transpersonal Psychology and also holds a fourth degree black belt in the martial art of tae kwon-do (pronounced tie kwon doe). He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his wife Rev. Jane Simmons, where he enjoys being an experimental aircraft builder and private pilot. Please visit Gary's website for more information: www.unitypeaceworks.com This article was republished with permission of the author. Posted May 10, 2006 - 08:25 PM  Print this story    Email this to a friend