Congregations cannot exist without finances, priorities, leadership, worship, and decision making, yet these five aspects breed the most conflict between church members and clergy. These conflicts unf
Leadership, observes Jeffrey Jones, is never about you. What happens to you as a leader stems from a vast array of issues and dynamics over which you have little or no control. Leadership, Jones also
With the number of large congregations rising in the U.S., these congregations are increasingly dependent upon a greater number of staff to meet the needs of their diverse collection of members. As le
There comes a point at which leaderhsip can break down precisely because of our success as leaders. When confidence turns to pride and arrogance, we lose sight of the people that we have been called t
A Generous Presence is a collection of story-driven essays about the philosophy, tools, and work of coaching that is designed to support all spiritual leaders in deepening and enriching their personal
What does it mean to say that a pastor is competent? And how does a competent pastor function? This book is intended to help pastors, seminarians, and lay people who work with pastors understand and a
In our postmodern, experience-oriented culture, people are longing for greater authenticity, integrity, and depth in their pastors and leaders. Board directors, church members, and staff alike are all
Twenty years after Critical Moment of Ministry was first published, Loren Mead returns to his groundbreaking work on one of the most important times in a congregation’s life—the time between one pasto
In a postmodern culture shaped by consumerism, it’s little wonder that there is confusion about what the church is supposed to be in the 21st century. In A New and Right Spirit, Rick Barger argues pas
The ever-provocative author and presenter Bob sitze explores the question: What does the human brain have to do with the beliefs, practices, and structures of congregations? Weaving together clear, ac
Much more than a "how-to" for worship planners. Drawing on more than two decades of collaborative worship planning, as well as numerous conversations with other worship planners. Pastor Howard Vanderw
Untangling the day-to-day issues in our multifaceted lives can seem daunting. Time to sit quietly and reflect is rare. If we are fortunate, we have good friends or close family members with whom to ta
Projects That Matter introduces project leaders and teams to the five basic elements of project design and describes in detail a six-step process for designing and implementing a project evaluation an
Almost every congregation is experiencing tension over worship. Many congregations have been participating in a renaissance of worship known as the "liturgical movement" and have reclaimed worship for
In a time where violence is increasing at an abnormal rate, this book helps address the issues that unravel after traumatic events in order for a community of faith to recover as smoothly as possible.
Mead presents five key challenges facing today’s churches-and how they represent opportunities for the evolutionary, transformative changes he believes must take place in congregations if the church i
Each congregation must evaluate itself in light of its own mix of gifts, backgrounds, talents, and opportunities. Presenting the best of evaluation theory past and present, Woods shows clergy and lay
From Urban T. Holmes's spiritual typology and her own experience as a spiritual director and pastoral counselor, Ware provides a framework for people to name and understand their spiritual experience-
Mead takes a broad look at past and present changes in the church, and postulates a future to which those changes are calling us. Denominations, once structured to deliver resources to far-off lands o
Much has been written about the changing landscape the church finds itself in, and even more about the church's waning influence in our culture. From her vantage point as an under-40 pastor, Carol How
Tells how eight American synagogues became visionary congregations -- 'entrepreneurial, experimental, and committed to engaging members' -- and serves as a primer for other congregations seeking to jo
The synagogue remains a central institution in Jewish life as a place of study, worship, and assembly, but each day brings word of a new challenging development within each of the larger movements to
Knowledge is power, and the way knowledge is shared in a congregation can build up or break down community. When congregational leaders are sensitive to the ways that information should be shared, the
Carol Howard Merritt, a pastor in her mid-thirties, suggests a different way for churches to be able to approach young adults on their own terms. Outlining the financial, social, and familial situatio
Drawing on the work of Bowen and Friedman, and on his own many years of counseling experience, Peter Steinke shows how to recognize and deal with the emotional roots of such issues as church conflict,
Lillian Daniel shares how her congregation re-appropriated the practice of testimony one Lenten season, a practice that would eventually revitalize their worship and transform their congregational cul
In The Practicing Congregation (Alban, 2004), Diana Butler Bass explored the phenomenon of "intentional congregations," an emerging style of congregational vitality in which churches creatively and in
Nadiv Lev. “Offerings of the Heart.” This phrase sets the tone for the Jewish spiritual perspective that money is a tool for actualizing God’s presence in the world. Building on this core value and se
So You’re on the Search Committee focuses on the experience of pastoral search committees and the unique role that laity in most denominations play in this crucial process. Because a change of pastors
In a culture marked by what many call “attention-deficit disorder,” congregations and their leaders are subject to distractions that detract from their mission and lead them in directions that have li
Pastors and others who want to develop their skills as teachers of prayer and spiritual practices will find in this book not only wisdom for themselves but easily accessible lesson plans, enabling the
At times, a congregational transition looms so large in a sermon that it becomes the lens through which scripture is interpreted, the congregation is addressed, the preacher is heard, and God is exper
In this profound yet practical book, Mary Sellon and Daniel Smith make the case that the health of churches and synagogues depends on congregations learning how to live out love in "right relatio
Faced with crisis, lack of direction, or just plain "stuckness," many congregations and their leaders are content to deal only with surface issues and symptoms—only to discover that the same problems
The conventional wisdom about mainline Protestantism maintains that it is a dying tradition, irrelevant to a postmodern society, unresponsive to change, and increasingly disconnected from its core fai
Asset mapping isn't a new system or theory. It's a way of thinking, a doorway into an "open-sum" perspective rooted in the Bible and common experience. The Power of Asset Mapping, by long-time communi
Many sociologists and a growing number of church scholars have noted that we live in a time of transition—from the modern era to the postmodern. Whenever a shift of this magnitude occurs, it leaves al
