PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS
The top five stories of 2019
 
"I am about to do something for the first time, but probably not the last. In a month, I will retire after eleven years as a non-profit executive. I wish now that I had written a good set of rules for myself ten years ago, when retirement was something old people did, and I wasn't bouncing back and forth between anxiety and elation. But like most people, I've acted as if this day would never come. Now that it is finally happening, I'm forced to make up the rules as I go." 

 
As we enter a new chapter in the life of the church, an author and professor works to answer the question: "How do we help those who no longer need a God encounter the living God in their lives?"

 
An Episcopal "clergypreneur" innovates a new model of pastoral care in which congregations run their own churches and contract with her for services such as worship, Christian education and leadership formation.

 
"Report after report reveals this difficult truth: church attendance is going down. Many leaders are considering what to do with congregations that are in the midst of dramatic decline. While church planting offers hope, is starting new churches really the only answer? Is congregational rejuvenation possible? As someone who has both planted a new church and entered into the rejuvenation of another, experience has taught me that disruption, though difficult, can be the key to breathing new life into a stagnant system."

 
"How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning -- when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? I call such in-between times liminal seasons -- threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season, it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead."

 
NEW IN THE ALBAN LIBRARY IN 2019
 by Leah D. Schade

Preaching in the Purple Zone is a resource for helping the church understand the challenges facing parish pastors, while encouraging and equipping preachers to address the vital justice issues of our time. This book provides practical instruction for navigating the hazards of prophetic preaching with tested strategies and prudent tactics grounded in biblical and theological foundations. Key to this endeavor is using a method of civil discourse called "deliberative dialogue" for finding common values among politically diverse parishioners. Unique to this book is instruction on using the sermon-dialogue-sermon process developed by the author that expands the pastor's level of engagement on justice issues with parishioners beyond the single sermon. This book equips clergy to help their congregations respectfully engage in deliberation about "hot topics," find the values that bind them together, and respond faithfully to God's Word. 
 
by Kenneth Reeves

The Whole Church offers congregational leaders an understanding of a church system as a whole community composed of interacting members in which change in one influences all. This understanding helps church leaders navigate change and conflict, while also supporting the congregation's wholeness and safety. This book addresses how effective leadership coincides with personal and spiritual development, and ultimately emphasizes the significance of one's own spirituality and faith in supporting and fulfilling the congregation's mission. 
 
by Susan Beaumont

How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning-when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Beaumont calls such in-between times liminal seasons -- threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead.

How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution. 
 
by Matt Bloom

Pastoral work can be stressful, tough, demanding, sometimes misunderstood, and often underappreciated and underpaid. Ministers devote themselves to caring for their congregations, often at the expense of caring for themselves. Studies consistently show that physical health among clergy is significantly worse than among adults who are not in ministry. Flourishing in Ministry offers clergy and those who support them practical advice for not just surviving this grueling profession, but thriving in it.

Matt Bloom, director of the Flourishing in Ministry project, shares groundbreaking research from more than a decade of study. Flourishing in Ministry draws on more than five thousand surveys and three hundred in-depth interviews with clergy across denominations, ages, races, genders, and years of practice in ministry. It distills this deep research into easily understandable stages of flourishing that can be practiced at any stage in ministry or ministry formation. 
 
From all of us at Alban at Duke Divinity School, we wish you the best in this new year! We thank you for the leadership and ministry you offer through communities of faith around the world. Your ministries inspire everything that we do here.
 Follow us on social media: 

Follow us on Twitter       Like us on Facebook
Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Alban at Duke Divinity School, 1121 W. Chapel Hill Street, Suite 101, Durham, NC 27701
SafeUnsubscribe™ newsletter@newslettercollector.com
Forward This Email to a Friend | Update Profile | About our service provider
Sent by alban@div.duke.edu in collaboration with
Constant Contact
Try email marketing for free today!