Dear Reader, We get some great mail here at Alban Weekly headquarters. Just this week, a reader wrote to thank us for Alban Weekly and to let us know how important it has been for him in interim ministry with…
Read MoreThere Once Was a World
There once was a world where the church functioned according to what some have called the “attractional” model (others have named it the participatory model). People come to a place, consume the spiritual goods, and serve as patrons to “meet…
Read MoreSinging an Eclectic Repertoire
While congregations often want to cling to the safety of still waters, the vision of vital and life-transforming worship and music calls them to an adventure of the spirit. As every traveler knows, even small steps can lead to adventurous…
Read MoreWhen Is a Pipe Organ Just a Pipe Organ?
I believe that a passion to help people experience the Holy, however it is defined, is at the root of every form of worship. Every liturgy developed by every movement at one point was designed to help people experience the…
Read MoreVirtual Community
My pastoral care professor in seminary instructed us to meet each member in his or her home during our first year at a new church. It was sound advice at the time. But there has been a change, a deep…
Read MoreExpeditions into What is Possible
Where Moses stood, “the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed” (Ex. 3:2). In that holy encounter, he was being summoned into an experience of leadership that he would rather not pursue. After all, he was tending his father-in-law’s…
Read MoreDying as the Way to Life
Jesus spoke challenging words to those who would follow him. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34-35). The cross had only one purpose in the ancient…
Read MoreThe Importance of Outcomes
An old saying goes “If you don’t know where you are going, any path will get you there.” This suggests that if you are not clear about what you, your staff, and your congregation are to “produce” in ministry—what the…
Read MoreNurturing the Tree of Life
When I was starting out as a twenty-seven-year-old pastor, all I could think of was how much our congregation needed to grow, change, revitalize, and transform. Then I attended a small-church seminar, thinking that this would teach me how to…
Read MoreAsk Alban: The Personnel Committee
Q: What is the purpose of a personnel committee, and what is it supposed to do? A: The personnel committee has the potential to be one of the most helpful or most dysfunctional committees at work in the life of…
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