The Congregation describes the fictional experiences of Reverend David Thomas during his initial six years as an ordained minister, while serving as pastor of a fictional congregation, the First Presbyterian Church of Ginsburg, Missouri.

His graduation from a denominational college and seminary provided David with an excellent fine arts and theological education; however, neither institution attempted to teach him what to expect about his pastoral role.

Only by confronting himself in human relationships could he begin to learn about how religion functions in society. What he learned offered little motivation to spend the remainder of his life working in a role defined by institutions and customs.

His marriage to Mary, a teacher in the local high school, provided the motivation for him to reassert his vow to spend his life telling the story of Jesus. The expectation of their first child calmed David's inner vocational turmoil and stimulated a renewed dedication to his initial vows.

Growing more content with the demands of his role, the news that Mary and their unborn baby had died in an automobile wreck, compelled David to evaluate his vocational commitment and to make decisions leading in other vocational directions.

According to the author of The Congregation, fiction may offer tools more effective than formal essays in communicating ideas about the role of the leader of a religious group. In his 2005 publication, The Christian Pastor's Work, Donald Corley stated that a history of the Christian movement suggests that Christian pastors always have faced tensions related to their social situation. The Congregation is a fictional treatment of this idea.