Most congregations engage in some form of social ministry—or believe they should. Some call it missions, others outreach, social action, or benevolence. From relatively modest actions like collecting canned goods for the local food bank to major projects like building…
Read MoreA Ministry of All
The headline read “Lay Ministry Is at a Dead End.” I took a deep breath before reading the accompanying article. This was not how I had expected to begin my participation at a national convocation of people working in the…
Read MoreAsk Alban: Creating a Vision that Makes a Difference
Q: Why does our congregation need to have a vision? How can we ensure that it is not only worth the effort and time it takes to develop one—but that it also makes a difference for our congregation? A: Visioning…
Read MoreCongregation Size: What the Research Tell Us
While considerable attention has been paid in recent years to small churches and megachurches, far less has been given to large churches—those with a minimum average attendance of 350 but not reaching the 2,000 mark often used as the cut-off…
Read MoreAsk Alban: The Shortage of Capable Clergy: Root Causes
Q: We keep hearing that there is a growing shortage of capable clergy. Why are so many clergy burning out, dropping out, retiring as soon as possible, or shifting to doing interim ministry? And why aren’t more bright young people…
Read MoreDimensions of Pastoral Authority
After intense years of study and sacrifice, he turned in his last seminary papers. The master of divinity diploma is framed, ready for hanging. Behind him also are the yearly meetings with the denominational committee whose interrogations earnestly and prayerfully…
Read MoreCreating the Conditions for New Pastors' Success
Two classmates graduate from seminary. Each has done well academically, and received glowing recommendations from the faculty. Each was affirmed by a field placement parish during the seminary experience. And each performed well amid the challenges of clinical pastoral education….
Read MoreWhat Seminaries Do Well
How often have you heard a new pastor, priest, or rabbi say, “Seminary was fabulous, even life-changing, but it didn’t prepare me for what I face in the local congregation”? Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement…
Read MoreThe First Five Years: Four Programs Offering Support to New Pastors
The first five years of parish ministry set an entire ministry. The habits, the inclinations, the dispositions, the way of understanding vocation is set in those first five years, and it lasts.1 That core belief—or a similar variation—is at the…
Read MoreA Strong Start: Transition into Ministry Program Aims at Helping Young Ministers Thrive
In 2001, the Alban Institute published an issue of Congregations highlighting the significant decline in the number of young people (those in their twenties and thirties) choosing pastoral ministry as their vocation. At the time, this precipitous decline in mainline…
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