Congregations, or perhaps more precisely, congregational leaders, need to learn new skills all the time. Such are the demands on congregational life. What do you do when your congregation either needs or chooses to do something new? Perhaps your congregation…
Read MoreLearning from (Dis)ability
On July 26, Mark I. Pinsky will receive a Justice for All Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities. The award, which recognizes individuals who have proven to be extraordinary champions in advancing the goals of the ADA,…
Read MorePlanning: Six Assumptions, Six Realities
As a congregational leader—a pastor, a rabbi, or a congregational member who holds a formal or informal position of leadership—you have to think about planning. Planning is de rigueur, a nearly obligatory responsibility of leaders across all faith and denominational boundaries….
Read MoreWhither Interim Ministry
A file-drawer label popped out at me as I moved into my new office. It said, “VACANT CHURCHES.” For a moment, I imagined empty buildings all across the continent. Then I opened up the drawer, flipped through folders, and realized…
Read MoreGospel-Driven Communities: Being a Church with the Biblical Vision of Justice
by Jack Jezreel Is it possible to truly worship God and not care about our vulnerable sisters and brothers and the gift of the earth we all share? Is it possible to follow Jesus and not find ourselves linked and in the company of sisters…
Read MoreLiving into Interfaith
by Martin Davis The trees surrounding All Saints Church, like the driveway weaving around them, were frozen. A dusting of snow atop the ice made people’s walks from their cars to the church’s side door precarious. None of this is uncommon…
Read MoreTransformational Task Forces: Leading Congregations Away from Minefields
by N. Graham Standish When I was an associate pastor, I witnessed first-hand how a congregation with everything going for it could let its own growth lead to decline. We think of church growth as a good thing, as a self-perpetuating…
Read MoreReviews: Congregations 2012 Issue 2
Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening Diana Butler Bass HarperOne, 2012. In this fine volume, Diana Butler Bass begins with sobering news, alerting us to her belief that the end of…
Read MoreReading Recommendations from the Congregational Resource Guide
Armstrong, Karen. Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life (New York, NY: Anchor Books, 2011). In 2008, religious historian and scholar Karen Armstrong began the “Charter for Compassion,” a project dedicated to activating the Golden Rule worldwide. This book is an outgrowth of…
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