Alban members receive a subscription to Congregations, our award-winning magazine. Our mission is to provide clergy and lay leaders with practical, research-based information and ideas for effective ministry as they grapple with an ever-changing environment. Congregations is sent quarterly to all members of the Alban Institute. It is the successor to Action Information, published since 1975.
“I cannot recommend this magazine and this institute to you highly enough!” — The Rev. Jan Smith Wood, Dean of Students, Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
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Featuring:
From Stressed to Blessed, Transforming Volunteer Service in the Congregation
By Larry Peers
CONTENTS:
From Stressed to Blessed (READ NOW)
Alban senior consultant Larry Peers explores creative ways to engage church members in volunteer service that has meaning for all concerned
Pitfalls and Possibilities (MEMBERS ONLY)
Pastor and author Donna Schaper offers unique insights on
understanding and managing the second-chair role
Specialist or Generalist? (MEMBERS ONLY)
Alban senior consultant Susan Beaumont examines how church
size affects the role and relationships of the associate pastor
A Chosen Chair (READ NOW)
Michael McCullar, executive pastor at Johns Creek Baptist
Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, shares his passion for the secondchair
role and offers sage advice to others who occupy it
Saving the World One Church Garden at a Time (READ NOW)
Congregational consultant and author Bob Sitze shares how his
church’s plan to create a church garden presented an opportunity
for a reexamination of congregational purpose
The Truth Beneath the Myths (MEMBERS ONLY)
Mark Sundby, executive director of North Central Ministry
Development Center, and Alban senior consultant Susan
Nienaber offer new insights from their study of seminarians’
emotional health and interpersonal functioning
Emotional Intelligence and Effective Conflict Management (MEMBERS ONLY)
Consultant Chris Gambill and newsletter editor Molly Lineberger,
both of the Center for Congregational Health in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, explore the intersections between conflict
management styles and emotional intelligence
We Look for the Resurrection of the Dead (MEMBERS ONLY)
Episcopal priest Anjel Scarborough shares the many gifts and
lessons one congregation received as they consciously disbanded
COLUMNS
The Leading Edge (READ NOW)
Alban Institute president, James P. Wind, explores the work of congregations and the changes that congregations have brought about throughout the years.
CENTERview (READ NOW)
Nancy Armstrong, Finance Director for the Indianapolis Center for Congregations, discusses technology platforms and approaches that forward mission and ministry.
Ask Alban (READ NOW)
Dan Hotchkiss, Alban Senior Consultant, answers questions regarding leadership retreats.
DEPARTMENTS (READ NOW)
Have you enjoyed what you’ve read so far? Join Alban Now!