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:

Church for the Under-Forty Crowd

By Sarah Drummond

CONTENTS

When the Fields Yield No Food  (Member Only Article)
Brett Opalinski tells the story of the end of one congregation, and its hope for resurrection as it merges with another, with a list of principles for leaders of congregational mergers from Alice Mann.

Congregational Leadership  (Member Only Article)
Anthony B. Robinson offers ten observation on congregational leadership, reminding us—perhaps most importantly—that leaders lead.

Church for the Under-Forty Crowd  (READ NOW)
Sarah Drummond reports on one congregation’s efforts to find out what draws younger adults to congregational life.

Resurrected Lives  (Member Only Article)
Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook reports on an effort to reshape evangelism with young adults, based on engagement, not conversion.

Beyond the Lone Ranger  (Member Only Article)
Gary Eller reviews current continuing education options for congregational leaders and offers advice for them to construct an effective learning plan.

COLUMNS

The Leading Edge  (READ NOW)
Alban Institute president James P. Wind considers the ways the American lifestyle can overwhelm our religious communities as presented in G. Jeffrey MacDonald’s Thieves in the Temple: The Christian Church and the Selling of the American Soul.

CENTERview  (READ NOW)
Tim Shapiro, president of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations, explores the use of Bowen Family Systems Theory to challenge the way we think about congregations.

Ask Alban  (Member Only Article)
Alban consultant Ed White provides key principles for accurately and effectively evaluating your pastor.

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