In the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible, Habakkuk ends with the prophet uttering the following words: Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the…
Read MoreBeyond the Lone Ranger: Lifelong Learning for Ministry
You are the solo pastor of a small-town congregation. It’s Epiphany and the snow is piling up in drifts outside your study window. You are glad that the rush of the annual stewardship drive, Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s is…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: Risking Our Souls
A new book by G. Jeffrey MacDonald provocatively picks up one of the most powerful New Testament images—Jesus’ head-on collision with thieving merchants in the Temple at Jerusalem—and applies it to American congregational life, especially its Protestant versions. In Thieves…
Read MoreCENTERview: Thinking about Congregations: Using Bowen Family Systems Theory
Ideas developed in one discipline can be successfully and widely applied in an entirely different field. During the 1950s, a psychiatrist named Murray Bowen created a new treatment plan for those with family members suffering from schizophrenia. A decade later,…
Read MoreAsk Alban: Evaluating Our Pastor
Q: How do we go about evaluating our pastor? A: For pastoral evaluation to help, rather than harm, the mutual ministry of the pastor, the board, and the congregation, it is important to remember several key principles: 1. The purpose…
Read MoreReviews, Congregations, Spring 2010
A Cross-Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching By Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Hauerwas is among the most prolific theologians of our time: he puts it “I have written more than anyone should write” (page 146). This book is somewhat…
Read MoreChurch for the Under-Forty Crowd: Attracting Younger Adults to Congregational Life
On the cubicle where she works all day, Abby has pinned a picture of a church. Where many would keep a photo of family members or beloved pets, Abby has an image of a brownstone building on the Cambridge Common,…
Read MoreCongregational Leadership: Ten Observations from a Practitioner and Teacher
I am both a practitioner and teacher of congregational leadership. In my most recent pastorate I was Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational Church (UCC) in downtown Seattle. In 2008–2009 I taught congregational leadership at Emmanuel College in the Toronto School…
Read MoreThe Vision to Embrace Change
I had always thought I had perfect vision—or at least near-perfect vision. As an adolescent I sometimes “manipulated” my eyes a little during eye examinations to read the 20/20 line on the eye chart. Corrective lenses? I wanted nothing to…
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