During a Developing Spiritual Communities class I was teaching at Episcopal Divinity School in Burlington, Vermont, my students and I were considering the role of silent prayer in worship when we became distracted by concerns over the noise of children…
Read MoreCENTERview: Encountering God through a Shared Silence
Silence. In a noisy world, folks from various faith traditions are craving it. Groups from Bridgeway Community Church in Fishers, Indiana regularly take silent retreats at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, made famous by Thomas Merton. An adult Sunday…
Read MoreAsk Alban: Leadership as More than Being in Charge
Q: Leadership has never been easy, but at least I always thought I knew what it was. It meant being out in front with a vision—and expecting to turn around and find people behind me. What does it mean for…
Read MoreListserv Lessons: Pluses and Minuses for Congregations
Recently an e-mail arrived in my in-box from a woman in my congregation who wanted to know if anyone had camping gear she could borrow. Within 24 hours she had arranged to borrow the needed equipment and sent out a…
Read MoreThe New Connectivity: How Internet Innovations Are Changing the Way We Do Church
It’s no longer news that the Internet has ushered in a digital revolution, reshaping everything from the business landscape to social relationships to personal habits. Our world today is profoundly new. And in these transformations, nothing is sacred. Just as…
Read MoreLeadership as More than Being in Charge
For many congregational leaders, leadership means being out in front with a vision—and expecting to turn around and find people behind them. But what does it mean to be an effective leader today, when “being in charge” seems to be…
Read MoreThe Church in Exile: Being a Missionary to the Dominant Culture
A colleague of mine at the seminary where I work recently presented a paper on the places in the world where the church had once been a strong and vibrant entity but, for various reasons, had become extinct within a…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: Taking the Long View
The Beijing Olympics filled late summer with an amazing array of images, none more compelling than Michael Phelps’s winning lunge for the wall in the 100-meter butterfly. His decision to lunge, while Serbia’s Milorad Cavic chose to glide home, made…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Fall 2008
Join Alban Now The New Connectivity: How Internet Innovations Are Changing the Way We Do Church Contents INFOCUS: The New Connectivity (Members Only Article)reelance religion writer Andrea Useem examines the latest Internet innovations and how they are changing the…
Read MoreOur Worth Comes from God, Not Money
In many congregations, talking about money is taboo. That we don’t talk about money doesn’t mean we don’t worry about it, though. In fact, most Americans worry about it constantly. Are we saving enough? Will Social Security be there for…
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