• Change is all around us. The question is, will we change in ways that inspire confidence in the future. Change is never easy, but it is central to our traditions. Alban helps congregations navigate the currents of change and grow into a healthier and more effective congregation.

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  • BookStrategic Leadership for a ChangeStrategic Leadership for a Change

    Although vision points to what the future may hold, the best visioning processes look backward and forward. Strategic leaders, Ken McFaydon says, seek to cast a vision that builds upon the best of the past as the congregation moves toward the future.

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  • BookSacred StrategiesSacred Strategies

    Building a vital congregation requires long-term commitment to strategic change. Read about eight Jewish synagogues whose journeys of change began with a clarification of their “sacred purpose” for existing at all. Then explore with them the other five traits that helped them change from commonplace to extraordinary.

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  • ArticleSusan BeaumontThe Dangers of a Single Storyline

    Congregations are made up of many stories about “the past” and “how it brought us to where we are.” Susan Beaumont muses on our inclination to tell just one story, and shares how telling many stories – the “good, the bad, and the ugly” – can be more useful to the congregation.

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  • BookGod Speaks Through ChangeGod Speaks Through Change

    Sometimes change enters a congregation’s life so profoundly that it must be addressed in the sermon – at the center of worship. Craig Satterlee reflects on how to do this while ensuring that the sermon remains the lens through which scripture is interpreted, the preacher is heard, and God is experienced.

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  • ArticleThis Way or That WayWhy We Do What We Do

    A complex question – probably with as many different answers as there are questioners. Dan Hotchkiss lets this question prompt a brief but enlightening journey through the creative tension between theology (“the queen of sciences”) and economics (“the dismal science”). How do you and your congregation respond to this tension?

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  • ArticleThe Pastor as Narrative LeaderThe Pastor as Narrative Leader

    Great leaders do more than articulate goals and unite and motivate people to achieve those goals. Great leaders seem to craft a story, a story that inspires others to willingly become part of that story and to live it out in their work and lives.

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  • ArticleBob LeventhalWrestling with the Next Chapter

    Loss, transition, change of every kind is disorienting, difficult, and usually hard work. Bob Leventhal shares some wisdom dearly learned from difficult and challenging study of the story of Jacob.

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  • BookIn Dying We are BornIn Dying We are Born

    The North American church must die in order to be reborn. This bold suggestion takes seriously the centrality of the resurrection for the Christian faith. The church must understand that its death is possible – in fact, inevitable. Only then can the church experience the amazing power of the resurrection.

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