Clergy must remember the importance of the calling to study, writes pastor Bruce Epperly
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Nathan Kirkpatrick: Beginning Your Board’s Leadership Together
Before getting down to business in the new year, invest some time in board development, writes the managing director of Alban at Duke Divinity.
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Andrew Kort: Yoked — We are in this together
Being yoked to another person and congregations being yoked in ministry to other congregations is essential for flourishing ministry, writes the co-author of a new Alban book
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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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Yoked: Stories of a Clergy Couple in Marriage, Family, and Ministry
This collection of true stories is written by Mihee Kim-Kort and Andy Kort, a married clergy couple who met while they were in seminary. They share their unique perspective on the joys and challenges of ministry in alternating segments, forming a collective narrative that illuminates the inner workings of a clergy marriage, even as it inspires with heartfelt tales of life in ministry.
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Entering Wonderland: A Toolkit for Pastors New to a Church
The first year or so of a pastor’s tenure in a new congregation is precarious; many pastors stay at a new congregation for fewer than five years. This handbook helps coach both experienced and new pastors to enter a new congregation effectively. Drawing from organizational systems leadership material in religious and secular worlds, it offers nearly 50 tips and tools designed to help new pastors analyze their congregation’s system and then to lead leaders within the congregation to affect positive change.
Read MoreThe Congregation as Resource Center
A recent phone conversation with a pastor revealed a unique ministry. The pastor told me about their “teacher’s group.” “Do you mean your Sunday School teachers?” I asked. She explained “No, this is our group of elementary public school teachers….
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Spiritual 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 MoreSeparation Anxiety
Pastors say good-bye to congregations. Sometimes our good-byes are timely and sweet; sometimes they are jarring and painful. But as we hear the click of the front door of God’s house and stand on the sidewalk, we face a unique…
Read MoreHealthy Practices for Practicing Balance
Achieving a healthy work-life balance eventually comes down to personal responsibility and discipline. We must make the right choices, and our choices must be influenced by our attitudes and values. Behaviors that flow from our deeply held beliefs help us…
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