Changing congregational attitudes can be an essential leadership responsibility, writes an Alban author
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Lisa G. Fischbeck: The Season of Departures
A priest reflects on the perennial season of departures within the life of her mission church.
Read MorePrinciples for Leaders to Keep in Mind in Merging Congregations
Principles for leaders to keep in mind from Brett Opalinski’s story of Rader United Methodist Church: Prepare yourself spiritually. The pastor in this story began with prayer for personal guidance and an attitude of openness to many possible outcomes. This…
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Bruce Epperly: Finding Your Spiritual GPS
Faithful excellence in ministry is often as much a result of discovering a healthy and effective ministerial style as long hours and multitasking, says a pastor and author
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Jeffrey D. Jones: New Questions for a New Day
Better answers to the same old questions will not get us through the tumultuous times in which we live, says a pastor and author
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Alban Weekly: Jazz belongs in church
A pastor who is a trained pianist discovered that he did not have to choose between jazz and Jesus — and that the spiritual power of the creative, improvisational art form can be a tool to help his congregation experience God.
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Healthy Churches, Faithful Pastors: Covenant Expectations for Thriving Together
This book provides concrete steps to aid congregants and pastors communicate their mutual expectations. Keck presents fifty “expectation statements”—examples of what pastors and congregations can expect of one another; a vital resource to anyone who seeks to initiate a discussion of expectations in their own church. Elucidating goals and expectations allows congregations and pastors to support one another and flourish, and fosters church health and harmony.
Read MoreUnconventional Wisdom: Left Behind
It was an awkward moment. I stood in a glorious stone room with the remnant of a once-large congregation, doing my best to play the neutral as I facilitated their planning conversation. We went round and round, till finally an…
Read MoreBeing the Church Today
The numerical height of mainline Protestantism in the United States occurred in the year 1965.1 That was the year that the largest percentages of American people affiliated with and attended church. More Americans were going to church than at any…
Read MoreSigns of Vitality
What does small church vitality look like? To be sure, there is no one definition, and the variations on small church vitality are as numerous as the congregations themselves. Some are located in areas where numerical growth is possible and…
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