MARGARET HARRIS is Assistant Director of the Centre for Voluntary Organisation at the London School of Economics where she also runs the MSc degree in Voluntary Sector Organisation. Before moving into academia in the early 1980's, she worked as an administrator and policy analyst for the Greater London Council and as a trainer and volunteer adviser in the Citizens Advice Bureau service. She has conducted collaborative research with numerous local and national voluntary agencies including many academic journals on a range of topics including voluntary management committees (boards); the impact of public policy on the voluntary sector; volunteering; and the work of religious congregations. She is co-editor with David Billis of Voluntary Agencies: Challenges of Organisation and Management (Macmillan, 1996).

'Margaret Harris has clearly delineated the role of congregations in social welfare, and her findings are an important contribution to the current debate on public policy.' - Dr Jonathan Gorsky, Church Times

• Acknowledgements PART I: ORGANIZING CONGREGATIONS Local Churches and Synagogues Cause for Concern - Emerging Organizational Issues Three Churches and a Synagogue - Four Case Congregations PART II: CHALLENGES FOR CONGREGATIONS Mission Impossible? - Choosing Goals and Implementing Them King Pin or Facilitator? - The Ambiguous Role of Ministers of Religion Willing Spirits? - The Position of Lay Staff and Volunteers Taking Things Gradually? - Change, Growth and Organizational Structures Serving a Useful Purpose? - Dilemmas of Caring PART III: CONGREGATIONS IN PERSPECTIVE An Organizational Perspective on Congregations A Public Policy Perspective on Congregations Appendix Notes to Chapters Glossary Bibliography