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 MoreReviews, Congregations, Issues 3 & 4, 2011 (Double Issue)
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz with Joanne Gordon During our stewardship campaigns at Western Church, one of our thirty-something elders always brings up Starbucks as she speaks to…
Read MoreCenterView: Let’s Survey the Congregation!
I still remember how excited and hopeful I felt when my congregation embarked on the assessment process that was going to transform our ministry and lead us into a bright future. And I still remember the disappointment and let-down I…
Read MoreClosing Time: A Congregation’s Witness to Ending Well
If your congregation had only three months to live, how would you spend your last days together? It is common to pose such a question about a human life. If you had only one year to live, what would you…
Read MoreA Place for Everybody: A Church at the Intersection of Faith and Disability
The historic First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey, organized in 1717, sits literally at the intersection of faith and disability. Next door is the Elizabeth M. Boggs Center, a University Center for Excellence in developmental disabilities education, research,…
Read MoreThe Three Rs and Your Congregation’s Future
The Past Used to Be the Future Let us begin with a deceptively simple question: “What has changed in the last fifty years?” Perhaps you are old enough to reflect on this question directly. Fifty years ago, John F….
Read MoreFrom the Editor
What makes a congregation vital? The very notion of vitality is fluid. It ebbs and flows through communities; projects, programs, and approaches to ministry that work in one congregation can fail miserably in another just a couple miles away. Even…
Read MoreFaith, Family, and Food
A six-year-old boy was famished when he arrived for camp on the morning of Aug. 1 at Washington United Church of Christ. After devouring four bowls of cereal, toast, and fruit, he caught his breath and explained, “We didn’t have…
Read MoreCabbages, Theology, and Me: A Pastor Ventures through the Looking Glass of Social Networking
The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings— And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings.”1 While social media (SM) has become de riguer for…
Read MoreOur Practice of Havruta
1. “Sorry I’m late,” Rachel announces as she joins her colleagues around the table. “It’s one of those days. I’ve had three difficult situations this morning,” she adds, glancing at her iPhone; “and it’s barely noon.” “Can you afford…
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