It’s been our core work at Alban for more than four decades now — strengthening congregations by supporting and equipping their leaders for the challenges and opportunities before them. This week, we pause our look at the future for hybrid…
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One of the changes that the pandemic has brought to many congregations is that geographic proximity is no longer a primary factor in determining who participates in our congregational life. A family-sized congregation reports that former members who moved across the country…
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In congregational strategic planning processes, eventually a version of this question gets asked — “What do you need to stop doing in order to live out your mission as faithfully as possible?” In some congregations, this “stop doing” list is easily generated…
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Early in the pandemic, the question I heard most from congregational leaders around the United States and from the members of my own congregation in North Carolina was, “When will things get back to normal?” As days of sheltering at home became…
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“We are about to mark the first time in the COVID-19 era when we have ‘lapped’ a Christian holiday, having completed one full circuit of the liturgical track,” writes my colleague Gretchen Ziegenhals. Even though this second Easter of the…
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When facing a truly complex challenge — the kind of challenge that is sometimes referred to as a “wicked problem” — one of the temptations for a leader is that we endeavor to solve the problem on too small a…
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It was one year ago today that COVID-19 was first mentioned in the Alban Weekly. Now, as then, we depend on our colleagues at Faith & Leadership to help us think about the opportunities, challenges, griefs and — yes — moments of…
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Congregational leadership is seldom dull. Even before the pandemic, congregational life brought weekly challenges, opportunities and surprises. How leaders lead when the unexpected happens … well, that’s improvisation. This week, we hear from several leaders about what it takes to…
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As congregations developed online worship offerings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many learned that their reach could be far greater online than it had been previously. Some churches report people regularly logging on from across the continent or across…
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Sometimes our friends and colleagues have a way of helping us see something in a new way. They take the question we’ve been stuck asking personally or organizationally, reframe it and help us see possibilities that were always there but…
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