As this issue of Congregations went to press, many in this country marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the first “permanent” English colonial settlement in North America. Marking anniversaries is such a routine part of life that…
Read MoreGiving up the Myth: How One Congregation Saw Itself as It Was and Created Itself Anew
No congregation will ever enjoy an abundant mission life until they have first discovered who they are. Sounds simple enough—a little history and geography and the job’s done, right? Maybe not. In the case of the church I was called…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Summer 2007
Changing the Conversation: Nurturing a Third Way for Congregations Contents Changing the Conversation Noted preacher, speaker, and author Anthony B. Robinson offers 10 conversations he believes congregations need to have to learn what it means to be church in the…
Read MoreChanging the Conversation: Nurturing a Third Way for Congregations
Changing the culture of organizations,institutions, or a society is about changing the conversation. Different topics are introduced, new language is employed (or old language recovered), and alternative ways of framing the situation are offered. One might observe that each week…
Read MoreNavigating Congregational Identity: Cultivating Growth and Excellence in Times of Change
Navigating the changing waters of congregational identity is never a task for the faint of heart. As congregations grow and shrink, neighborhoods ebb and flow, cultures shift, and staffs evolve, churches struggle in overt and covert ways to discern who…
Read MoreLost and Found: Responding to the Dynamic Evolution of Call
I received my calling—to preach God’s Word—when I was 13. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the call was so formidable that it became more than the voice of God concerning my future. It became me, and I…
Read MoreJourney to Jerusalem: Risking Everything for Resurrection
The resources for how to revitalize, reinvigorate, redevelop, re-imagine, and re-create the local congregation are plentiful. We can read books and magazine articles on the subject, peruse any number of Web sites, hire a coach or consultant, take a class…
Read MoreHospitality to the Stranger
In his thoughtful book The Company of Strangers, Quaker educator Parker Palmer launches a critique of what he calls our culture’s “ideology of intimacy”—a nest of attitudes that together posit that the main purpose of human life is the development…
Read MoreTeaching the Congregational Choir: The Role of Musicians in Multicultural Worship
Church musicians have always had particular titles—cantor, Kapellmeister, organist-choirmaster, director of music, precentor, song leader, minister of music, or worship leader. But this office is so important to the experience of culturally conscious worship that a new title, free of…
Read MoreFollowing the Spirit's Leading
Sometimes, without our prompting, life will alter our pace for us. The birth of a child, a promotion at work, sickness, marriage, divorce, the death of someone we love—these things make us stop in our tracks. All forward motion ceases…
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