Q: Our board spends too much time reviewing and approving work that should be done by staff and committees. We know we shouldn’t micromanage, but we can’t seem to help it. How can we change? A: You have a lot…
Read MoreA Discerner’s Guide to Congregational Governance
The envelope please! Runner-up for Most Influential Book as rated by American clergy is … “Ladies and gentlemen, will it be a book on spiritual practices? Biblical studies? The ever-popular ‘How to Blame Lay Leaders’? No, the topic of the…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: Faith and Work—Can We Dance?
One of the unresolved stories of the 20th century is that of the changing role of the laity in the church and the world. The American (and largely Christian) version of this story is full of denominational subplots, ecumenical endeavors,…
Read MoreBecoming Mutually Accountable: Strengthening Clergy and Congregations through Evaluation
Assessment is often viewed as a dirty word, but it is a necessity and even a positive tool. Without it we don’t know how to measure what has happened to us, through us, or around us. Assessment, or evaluation, is…
Read MoreA Saving Remnant: Vitality in Small Congregations
Some of the smallest congregations in North America are places of subtle vitality and frequent surprises. St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church in the village of Winn, Maine, is one such congregation. St. Thomas’s has stood on a rise above the Penobscot…
Read MoreLeaving Behind Left Behind: Reclaiming the Book of Revelation in a World Left Behind
When you spend year after year preaching, teaching, and worshipping in a church, there are patterns that emerge. Listen to enough sermons and Sunday school lessons and one pattern becomes obvious: more often than not, the Book of Revelation is…
Read MoreWhatever Happened to Humility? Rediscovering a Misunderstood Leadership Strength
Can we be humble and still be leaders? As a pastor given the charge to lead a congregation, this is a question that has consumed me for more than two decades. I’ve been curious about the connection between humility and…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Spring 2007
Humble Leadership: The Forgotten Strength? Contents IN FOCUS: What Happened to Humility? Pastor, author, and seminary professor N. Graham Standish explores the misunderstood strengths of leadership grounded in humility Leaving Behind Left Behind New Testament expert Fred Schmidt offers an…
Read MoreWhat’s Systems Theory Got to Do with It? Addressing Congregations’ Emotional Processes in Our Preaching
Bowen Family Systems Theory continues to influence thinking about the practice of ministry, especially clergy leadership functions. Although many pastors may not realize it, one of those key functions is preaching. The act of preaching holds a number of interesting…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Summer 2006
The Good Fight: Transforming Congregational Conflict Contents IN FOCUS: Leading into the Promised Land Alban Institute senior consultant Susan Nienaber shares the inspiring stories of congregations who chose to heal after trauma and conflict A Pioneering Spirit Kathryn Palen, director…
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