Do you and your congregation prefer to “go it alone,” or do you have intentional ways of connecting with other leaders and organizations for support and collaboration? That’s the question behind an insightful new book by Jennifer McClure Haraway, “No Congregation Is an Island.” This book is a timely resource for leaders and congregations who feel overwhelmed or unprepared for the cultural shifts that have taken place within and around faith communities in recent years. Readers will discover concrete ideas to help churches explore how they can be better when they work together than when they work in isolation.
Haraway uses her expertise as a sociologist of religion to provide qualitative and quantitative data from in-depth interviews she conducted with 50 ministers from 19 denominations and traditions located in eight counties in central Alabama. Two questions shaped Haraway’s research: What impact do relationships have on leaders and congregations? And what kind of relationships exist?
Taking her cue from Thomas Merton’s “No Man Is an Island,” Haraway explores congregations and discusses five types of institutional relationships: relationships primarily within religious groups, relationships exclusively within distinctive religious groups, relationships between religious groups, relationships within racial groups and relationships among racial groups. Although the data was collected from a unique population in the South, the author makes a good argument that the findings of her study can offer guidance beyond the geographic borders of central Alabama.
“No Congregation Is an Island” will benefit any clergyperson who understands the mental, physical and emotional stresses of ministry. As congregations seek new ways of meeting current challenges, many will discover new approaches through informal and formal partnerships with other congregations.
