The process of deciding a budget sets priorities for the year. Yet the process can be routine and boring. How can the conversations be livelier, more Spirit-inspired? “Let’s Talk About Resources” — part of Lake Institute on Faith & Giving’s “Shifting Ground”…
Read More
Creation care should be an urgent preaching, teaching and pastoral priority for all of our congregations. In this Weekly, we explore how congregations and other faith-based organizations participate in protecting the planet. In our current ecological crisis, theologian Grace Ji-Sun Kim…
Read More
In a recent interview project with Christian congregational leaders, I heard repeatedly that they found navigating interfaith spaces a challenge. They worried about unintentionally offending their neighbors. They were anxious about what they did not know about the other person’s…
Read More
It was William Bridges who helpfully named that there is a difference between change and transition — change is situational, whereas transition is psychological. Change can happen in a moment, but transition — adapting to that change — lasts much longer. In…
Read More
In a recent essay in Faith & Leadership, Patrick Reyes concludes with an admonition to celebrate constellations rather than stars. He writes, “As a society, we gaze at those who shine brightest — the glittering star, the influencer, the genius among us….
Read More
Today’s polarized climate often frustrates leaders in their efforts to bring about meaningful and lasting change within their congregations and communities. Opposition can rise quickly and unexpectedly even to seemingly benign initiatives and programs. So how do we help lead…
Read More
My colleague Dave Odom recently wrote that, to begin the process of rehabilitating from the past year, congregations and other organizations need a plan that attends to integrity, mission and morale. In this Weekly, we explore those three focal points of…
Read More
“If your vision is ambitious, you will always need more staff than you can afford, no matter what resources you have at your disposal.” So says Dan Hotchkiss, a former Alban senior consultant and now one of the consultants of…
Read More
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have learned a great deal more about the inequities and injustices in American society. As in-person life resumes in much of the country, we are forced to ask how we will live and…
Read More
In the United States, last weekend — Memorial Day — marks the unofficial beginning of summer’s season of vacations, travel, and (hopefully) rest. We at Alban hope that you have something planned that feels renewing and life-giving in the weeks…
Read More