Pastors' Workshop
About this Workshop
The number one issue facing the mainline church is church decline. No other issue is as critical. As our churches shrink, our voices fade and our influence wanes. Decline isn’t inevitable. Our churches can grow again, but it requires changing how we lead and what we emphasize.
Rooted in actual experience in significantly growing three previously declining churches and a counseling center, Dr. Graham Standish will share five emphases that can help pastors lead their churches to grow again:
-
Emphasizing spiritual experience over religious participation.
-
Church as transformational rather than preservational.
-
Becoming motivational rather than obligational.
-
Integrating others’ successes.
-
Becoming a guide not a pilot.
Thurs.,
May 21, 2026
9am-Noon
Sewickley Presbyterian Church
Ansby Hall
Lower Level
Samaritan’s Caring for Clergy
and Congregations program
is led by our executive
director, The Rev. Dr. Graham
Standish, Ph.D., M.S.W., M.Div.,
M.A. He was senior pastor of
Calvin Presbyterian Church in
Zelienople, PA for 22 years, a
church that almost tripled in
size during his time there. He
is an internationally known
speaker and has written 10
books on congregational and/or personal spiritual transformation. The Rev. Dr. Standish has worked with clergy for over 27 years in transforming their ministries and congregations.
Questions? Contact Beth at bhealey@samaritancounseling.net
Enter parking lot at 202 Beaver Street. Head past the playground on your left toward main double doors, up steps. Inside, take stairway on the left, or walk to your right to locate the elevator.
