The world in which we live is a place of beauty. It contains the resources necessary to sustain life and has the capacity to absorb the waste that living forms produce. The earth’s design is truly elegant and often mysterious….
Read MoreThe Danger in “Getting By”
Many congregations — maybe yours—are tempted to “play it safe” or “tweak” a little here and there during this time of unprecedented change in our culture and in our various religious traditions. Not so different from many of us in…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: Where Least Expected
First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey has had a long run. Founded in 1717, the congregation occupies a sanctuary that once seated 600 people. Seventy members show up regularly, leaving many empty pews in a building that is…
Read MoreNew and Noteworthy
Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today Hayim Herring | AL426 $17.00 In the past decade many intelligent people who care deeply about synagogues have written about them. So how is this book different from all other books? Many books take the overall mission…
Read MoreCenterView: The Congregation of Theological Coherence
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 MoreUnconventional Wisdom: Is Conflict a Bad Thing?
Conflict is not bad” has been a consistent teaching of the Alban Institute and many others in the conflict field for years. It’s a natural, inevitable consequence of having more than one idea in the room at the same time….
Read MoreRecommended Reading from the Congregational Resource Guide
Beaumont, Susan. Inside the Large Congregation (Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2011). Inside the Large Congregation addresses the organizational dynamics of congregations whose average weekend worship ranges from 400 to 2000. It presents a typology within the “large” framework that defines…
Read MoreRethinking Transitional Ministry
The irony is that some speacialists in transitional ministry are having a hard time making a transition,” says Dr. Ken McFayden, Professor of Ministry and Leadership Development at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond. He is not alone in saying that…
Read MoreReviews: Congregations 2012 Issue 1
The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins New York: NY, Scholastic Press, 2008 Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Rue, Prim … if these names are not familiar to you now, they will be soon. Now also a major motion picture, The Hunger Games introduces Katniss…
Read MoreThe Case for Becoming a Type Watcher
Extending the Reach of an Alban Classic. We are well aware that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is not a new idea and that people have been gaining insights into how type and ministry interact for many years. One of the…
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