The letter was crystal clear: “You have precipitously dismissed the most valuable member of the church staff. And now you will pay the price.” So it seemed. After 40 years of employment, the choir director at Sunnyvale Church was being…
Read MoreA Pioneering Spirit: Speed Leas Celebrates Four Decades of Conflict Management Consulting
What would motivate someone who never has enjoyed being in a conflict—whether his own or someone else’s—to spend almost four decades in the midst of congregational conflicts? “I’m curious,” explains Speed B. Leas, a long-time Alban Institute consultant who has…
Read MoreA Time to Every Purpose: Competent Time Management
For many of us, the most serious challenge in competent time management is neither finding a block of time to take a sabbatical nor making the effort to create a healthy daily schedule on paper. The most serious challenge is…
Read MoreChanging Emotional Systems
by Peter L. Steinke I doubt Sir Isaac Newton ever expected his theories to be used to explain human behavior, but in my experience working with more than a hundred conflicted congregations, two Newtonian principles do indeed seem to apply. When…
Read MoreAsk Alban: The Spiritual Challenge of Clergy Transition
by Dan Hotchkiss Q: I’m the spiritual formation intern at a medium-sized Episcopal church whose rector is about to retire. Do you have recommendations for what I can do to support the congregation as the rector prepares to leave? Most of…
Read MoreReimagining the Rabbi-Lay Leader Partnership
by Robert Leventhal While attending a rabbinic conference, I joined a group discussion on what lay leaders expect of rabbis. The rabbis described various stories of unfair one-sided reviews that had injured their self-esteem and weakened their relationship with the congregation….
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