Communication matters more than you think

In the words of the playwright George Bernard Shaw, “The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Have you had this problem before? You have meetings and make presentations. You think that everyone is…

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Creation care & congregational life

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…

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Working in interfaith spaces

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…

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Leading change in a polarized world

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…

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Being in and for your neighborhood

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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Congregations can help stop COVID-19

Powerless. Helpless. That’s how many of us have felt during the long months of the COVID-19 pandemic. What can we as congregational leaders do beyond providing pastoral care, supporting connections that come from being part of a faith community, and…

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Shifting the place of formation

What if the primary place for faith formation was not church but home? How would congregations adapt our approach to religious education? What kinds of support would households and families need? What resources could we develop?  Sarai Rice of The Congregational…

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What is God doing in your neighborhood?

This week, we continue to explore the relationship between our congregations and our communities. Tim Soerens from the Parish Collective invites us to consider how our neighborhoods may teach our churches about the dream of God in the world. Jonathan Brooks’s church…

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