Leadership and Listening: Spiritual Foundations for Church Governance AL414 | $17.00 Church leaders must fundamentally change the way they view leadership, governance, and management in their organizations if they are to take seriously the need to listen to God’s desires…
Read MoreReaching Recommendations from the Congregational Resource Guide
Belsky, Scott. Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality (New York, NY: Portfolio, 2010). Creative people frequently generate visionary ideas and strategic plans. Less frequent, however, is making these ideas and plans happen. Implementation requires hard work, argues…
Read MoreCENTERview | One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Selecting Resources Just Right for Your Congregation
Several years ago, I served as pastor of a small rural congregation in northern Indiana. Each Sunday a lay person read the scripture in worship from her or his own Bible. We heard a variety of translations and paraphrases. One…
Read MoreReviews, Congregations Issue 2, 2011
Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results by Lovett H. Weems, Jr. and Tom Berlin If our congregations are faithful, does it matter if their work is fruitful? Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Tom Berlin answer this question in their new…
Read MoreFaith and Environmental Impact: Congregations Learn About, Celebrate, and Care for Creation
What are congregations actually doing in the way of study, celebration, and action on environmental issues? People have produced many books, study guides, and curricula aimed at teaching congregations about creation care. New ones are being published regularly. Furthermore,…
Read MoreChanging Our Perspective
It had taken awhile—more pastoral visits than I could realistically fit into my schedule, endless committee meetings, strategic lunch, and coffee appointments. But after about three years as Senior Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in downtown Washington, D.C., I was beginning…
Read MoreBeyond Rubber Band Workshops: Finding a More Transformative Way for Continuing Education
I no longer attend continuing education events because I’m tired of rubber band workshops.” A pastor was describing his experience attending events in the past, being stretched and excited by what he heard, only to return home to the tyranny of…
Read MoreChange: Spontaneous or Designed in Advance?
In a time when so many congregations are declining, initiating change generally is spoken of in positive tones. Conversations about how to bring about these changes, however, do not yield as much unanimity. There are two prominent tendencies among the…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Issue 2 2011
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 MoreWhat is a Congregation Worth?
Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting with groups of congregational or civic leaders around the country to talk about the role of congregations in our lives. Often I ask them to imagine what their community’s skyline would…
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