It’s the fourth Sunday of June, Gay Pride Sunday, at The Riverside Church in New York City. This is a day for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people to celebrate their God-given, God-created essence as human beings. Moreover, it is…
Read MoreDeeply Rooted in the Old, Old Story
Dne day last summer, as my small children were taking naps, I had the chance to lie upon a creaky bed in a summer cottage and spend some precious moments in quiet. Gazing out a nearby window, I looked up…
Read MoreWrestling with the Next Chapter
During a recent trip to Israel, I participated in a three-week course at Pardes Institute,1 where I studied the life of Jacob, the halacha (laws) of Shabbat, the history of Jerusalem, and the theme of exile and return. Every day…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: Life-Giving Narrative: A Journey from Breakdown to Breakthrough
In The Languarge of God (Free Press, 2006), Francis S. Collins, the leader of the Human Genome Project, provides a passing account about the narrative failure of a pastor. Invited to speak at an annual men’s dinner at a “highly…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Winter 2008
Join Alban Now to receive Congregations four times a year Narrative Leadership: Rediscovering the Life-Giving Nature of Stories Contents IN FOCUS: Reclaiming the Story (Members Only Article)Alban research associate Larry Golemon explores how reclaiming the power of biblical, personal,…
Read MoreReclaiming the Story: Narrative Leadership in Ministry
Jewish and Christian ministries have used stories of faith to form communal identity and mission since their beginning. Jews continue to celebrate the founding story of the Exodus in their homes each Passover, and the rabbis tell us that God…
Read MoreCharacteristics of Christian Worship
Christians and congregations bring a host of assumptions about what constitutes Christian worship with them to the service. Rather than allowing these assumptions to catch us in conversation about “good” and “bad” or “right” and “wrong” worship, we can testify…
Read MoreThe Heart of Simple Living
Here’s the easiest way to describe the kind of simplicity I think we are called to live. One sentence, so you can remember: you know you are living simply when “enough” guides your decisions and when you know the difference…
Read MoreA Good Deal of Books
Dear Friends, Thank you for subscribing to Alban Weekly. It has been a busy and exciting year for publishing at the Alban Institute. We’ve published more books than ever before. We’ve shipped more copies of books than ever before. The…
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