by Dan Hotchkiss 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,…
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CenterView: How Your Congregation Learns
by Tim Shapiro 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?…
Read MoreCongregational Logic
by James P. Wind To suggest that congregations have logic or that they are logical is to invite debate, or even ridicule. Indeed, many folks who lead congregations, or belong to them, or ignore them, stand ready to pounce with countless…
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 MoreCongregations Magazine 2012 Issue 2
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 MorePutting How Before What
Before my arrival as pastor at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Massachusetts, the congregation had plans underway to revamp its organizational structure. Their experience was one that is true for so many Christian communities today: Too few people…
Read MoreThe Work and Calling of Ministry
What has been apparent to me over the years is the extent to which the question of calling is the fundamental, ongoing, but often hidden issue of pastoral ministry. This question of what God calls us to be and to…
Read MoreDiscernment, Theology, and Prayer
This approach is based on the premise that all of us are in a relationship with a God who is ever more ready to communicate with us than we are to listen, a God who is ever more ready to…
Read MoreWeighing the Giant Fly
One of my math teachers in high school was also the football coach. Mr. Clark liked to liven up the classes with some sort of action, so he showed us part of a horror movie and asked us to estimate…
Read MoreFinding the Right Blend of Action and Contemplation in Ministry
Recently I met with a congregational search committee that was deadlocked in its discernment of the qualities needed for its next pastor. A segment of this progressive congregation saw social activism as a necessity for its pastoral leadership. One of…
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