You felt something before you understood it.
This was intentional
The Rooted Path™ is a formation framework designed to help congregations move with clarity, structure, and purpose..
Formation Before Mission
Most communities already carry what they need. They simply cannot see it.
Before you can be formed, you must surrender. Before the work can begin, the posture must change. This is not a program to deploy. It is a journey of becoming.
"The gate is not a barrier. It is an invitation."
— A. Damian Curd, Founder
Every generation solved a piece. No one built the operating system.
For decades, brilliant thinkers and practitioners invested in congregational development. Each made a real contribution. But the field kept stalling at the same place. The gap between inspiration and sustained, structured action.
Luther Snow gave the field a philosophy. Start with what is already present, not what is missing.
McKnight and Kretzmann gave the field a methodology. Asset based community development put neighborhoods at the center.
Chalmers Center gave the field a conviction. Poverty and formation are connected. Spiritual formation must accompany community work.
Partners for Sacred Places gave the field a revelation. Faith institutions hold physical and relational assets far beyond what they recognize.
Thriving Congregations Initiative gave the field an investment. Lilly Endowment funded the formation of leaders across hundreds of congregations nationwide.
The Rooted Path™ gives the field an operating system. The integrated framework that brings formation, discovery, and implementation together in the right order.
Snow gave the field a philosophy. Perkins gave it a conviction. The Rooted Path™ gives it an operating system.
The congregational development infrastructure gap.
Why leadership investments alone cannot produce lasting congregational impact.
Layer 1 — Field Investment
Foundations | Seminaries | Leadership Cohorts | National Faith Initiatives | Lilly Endowment | Thriving Congregations Initiative
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Layer 2 — The Rooted Path™
Recognize | Observe | Organize | Transform | Engage | Discern | Reflect
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Layer 3 — ClearPath Intelligence™
Asset Mapping | Gift Discovery | Community Opportunity Mapping | Network Learning | Shared Intelligence
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Healthy Congregations Creating Community Impact
Ready to see the framework?
The nine steps of The Rooted Path™ were built for congregations ready to stop running programs and start doing the deeper work of FORMATION.