Position Papers

During the ordinary life of a church, you’ll regularly run into a question that doesn’t have an obvious answer. And the question could come from just about anywhere: what will the role of deacons be in your church relative to elders, what do you believe about spiritual gifts, how should women participate in the public ministry of the church, and questions about divorce are just a few examples.

The challenge is not simply that it can be hard to identify key principles or guidelines for answering these questions, although that is true enough. It is also that on many of these issues it is likely that many congregants already have some strong views. So you not only need to answer the hard question; you also need to answer it in a way that helps congregants who have strong views understand where you’re coming from and why you arrived at your specific conclusions.

Docent has extensive experience working with large churches to craft position papers that communicate church belief and policy in clear, easy-to-follow terms. We work with a team of research assistants to develop a statement and then review the work with the pastoral team of the church before the church releases the statement for their congregation to read. This process allows the church leadership to work with a team of writers to draft a strong statement that communicates both clearly and sensitively with church members.