At lunch, the pastor tells me he has finished reading almost all of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s works. He hasn’t read Sanctorum Communioyet, but he just turned the last page of the Christmas Sermons. Beginning in Lent, the council is going to…
Read MoreYour Minister at Walgreens
A friend told me the story of encountering a woman who works at a Walgreens pharmacy. The woman told a heart-warming story of her work and of her concern for what she saw as “her congregation,” that is, the customers…
Read MoreSoul Food and Southern Hospitality
Venture a few blocks north of the neon signs and honky-tonks in downtown Nashville to the corner of 5th and Church streets. If you happen to be there around noon on Wednesdays, you’ll witness the doors to the fellowship hall…
Read MoreJesus with Skin
Brian Becker is not your run-of-the-mill grant-maker. A vice president for ministry programs at Wheat Ridge Ministries (www.wheatridge.org), a Lutheran organization located just outside Chicago, he has, since 2006, overseen the grant programs and resources aimed at supporting budding health-related…
Read MoreWhat Type of Visionary Are You?
Visionaries are in high demand. They have been for quite some time now, to the extent that supply and demand has impacted the visionary role of leadership. Organizations demand visionaries, and leaders in the marketplace have learned to supply organizations…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine 2012 Issue 1
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…
Read MoreA Backdrop of Loss
Many congregations find themselves in crisis. Their crises may be related to significant changes in the surrounding community or culture, or within their own walls and structures. The heart of the crisis centers on years of accumulated losses that have…
Read MorePreaching Is Not Fund-Raising from the Pulpit
I am genuinely impressed at the way public radio stations unabashedly ask for the money they need. They highlight public radio’s unique mission, excellent quality, and public service. They appeal to listeners’ self-interest in terms of both the time that…
Read MoreThe Problem Trap
To effect deep change, leaders must be able to stand outside the dominant story of whatever it is we are trying to change—rather than being so immersed in it that we cannot truly observe how to lead a particular group…
Read MoreWorship and Education for All
Over the past decade, worship attendance, annual giving, and participation in Christian education have doubled at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Massachusetts. We have learned that tending to growth requires tending to worship and education for all ages….
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