Some years ago, advice columnist Ann Landers published a letter from a college student who was pondering his career choices. “My classmates are all in a race for the biggest salaries. I want security, a stable salary, and peace of…
Read MoreAddressing the Housing Crisis: Resources for Community Outreach
General Background Building Prosperity and Abundance in Your Community: A Guide to Launching a Financial Education Program in Your Church. Published by the Faith Center for Community Development, Inc., and the Fannie Mae Foundation. For ordering information, call (212) 785-2782….
Read MoreHousing Initiatives: Four Congregations with Heart
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church Housing Program: From Homelessness to Wholeness Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church (OSLC) in Minneapolis has acted on the biblical injunctions to care for those in need. Located in the Phillips neighborhood—notorious for drugs, crime, and intense poverty—this…
Read MoreGetting the Relationship Right: Helping Congregations and Foundations Understand Each Other
At the Alban Institute Consultation with Foundation Executives, held in March 2002 at the Bolger Center in Potomac, Maryland, the Institute’s vice president for programs, Gil Rendle, offered the following comments on the “potential and challenge” of building better working…
Read MoreAsk Alban: The Difficult Art of Saying "No"
Q: We are developing a new vision of ministry for our congregation. In the past, new initiatives sometimes faltered because we didn’t stop doing some things that misspent time, talent, and money. How can we make choices this time that…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: The Missing Link
We hear much talk these days about the role of congregations in public life. For good or ill they are active agents in shaping our shared life. President Bush and Charitable Choice advocates seek to remove legal barriers so that…
Read MoreDoes Your Church Need a Bill of Rights?
When I came to serve the West Richmond Friends Meeting in 1993, the church was recovering from a major fight that had resulted in the non-renewal of the pastor’s contract. Two years later, we were shattered by a case of…
Read MoreCongregations and Foundations: Meeting in the Spaces Between
“Everything is connected…no one thing can change by itself.” —Paul Hawken, entrepreneur The nation’s clergy and congregations might be dismayed or exhilarated by what foundation leaders had to say at a recent meeting convened by the Alban Institute. The meeting…
Read MoreThe Congregation as Public, in Public, among Publics
Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once suggested that people usually approach life with routine but sometimes need to draw upon understanding. It saves time to tie my shoes without reflection. But let me injure my hand, and reflection comes into play:…
Read MoreBeyond Outreach: Worship, Justice, and Radical Hospitality
“As we seek to discover the true meaning of ministry, and as we struggle with what it means to be powerful servants of the servants of God, we do well to bear in mind that, as faithful Christians, we are…
Read More