What does it mean for a congregation — particularly a predominantly white congregation — to participate in the work of racial justice? In this week’s Weekly, we begin with the stories of three congregations that are excavating their pasts and finding…
Read MoreThe Sunday after Tuesday
While Americans have been cautioned that the results of the 2020 election may not be known for some time after Election Day, pastors and other congregational leaders will have to say something next weekend to the faithful who assemble either…
Read MoreDealing with conflict during COVID-19
In this week’s edition: how congregational leaders can respond to conflict in the age of COVID-19. Professor Leanna Fuller of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary offers four suggestions and a warning for leaders. We also look back into the Alban archive to hear…
Read MoreSpiritual Dissonance: When Conflict between Clergy and Congregation Is about Vocation
by Diane J. Strickland Some years ago I attended a worship service in which the organist played the music for one anthem while the choir opened their music and sang a completely different one. At first it sounded like the performance…
Read MoreEmbracing Conflict
Q: Ever since our congregation was divided over a conflict some years ago, I have this sense that we now avoid conflict at all costs. I’m sure that this impacts our own vitality as a congregation, but I’m not sure how…
Read MoreUnconventional Wisdom: Is Conflict a Bad Thing?
Conflict is not bad” has been a consistent teaching of the Alban Institute and many others in the conflict field for years. It’s a natural, inevitable consequence of having more than one idea in the room at the same time….
Read MoreIs Conflict a Good Thing?
“Conflict is not bad” has been a consistent teaching of Alban and many others in the conflict field for years. It’s a natural, inevitable consequence of having more than one idea in the room at the same time. The goal…
Read MoreMyth-Busting: Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Competence, and the Clergy
Bill sat across from his counselor and recounted the pain of the last eighteen months. After nine years at First Church, he had taken a well-deserved sabbatical to travel, reflect, study, and pray. On his first Sunday back at the…
Read MoreComing Together: Healing Division and Forming Union through Story
The first Methodist Society was formed in the log cabin home of Wheeling, West Virginia’s founder, Ebenezer Zane, in 1786. That initial gathering of the faithful became the first organized church in the area and the first Methodist appointment west…
Read MoreEnduring All Things, Even Each Other
Not long ago I was invited to preach at a denominational conference whose purpose was to encourage “civil discourse” in the church. The brochure for the event described its aims: While our times call for passion and conviction, they also…
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