Category: Book Collection
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The Alban Personnel Handbook For Congregations
Today’s congregations increasingly are finding themselves serving as human resource managers for both ordained and non-ordained persons. This handbook provides practical and proven strategies for managing church staff and addresses the particular ethical and theological issues that faith communities need to consider to be effective stewards of those whom the employ. Among this books invaluable…
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How Do We Worship?
From the Introduction: …These pages also have the potential to release much needed conversations in our religious communities about very important issues surrounding and embedded within the worship of every congregation. America is the great worship smorgasbord – endless choices, endless competition. Increasingly, people come to any congregation, to any worship service, with a wide variety of…
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How We Seek God Together
Every congregation has a certain “tone” or “feel,” because its members do things a particular way. How We Seek God Together identifies and explores congregational worship style, providing a unique resource for congregations seeking to answer the question “Why do we do things the way that we do?”How We Seek God Together was developed by three researchers who…
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Multigenerational Congregations
Congregations need to learn new cultural languages and practices in order to speak to and be heard by new generations of people. But how do congregations enter the wilderness of ministry with these new generations when many of those in the entourage do not appreciate the trip? In contrast to many writers about church growth,…
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Leading Change In The Congregation
Many books have been written about leadership and change, but until now none have come from the perspective of leading a community of faith through the kind of change that tears at the very fabric of the community. Senior Alban consultant Gil Rendle provides a respectful context to understanding change, especially the experiences and resistances…
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In Search Of The Unchurched
What’s working and not working in your congregation? You’ll explore the factors that inspired and motivated changes to reverse decline as other congregations wrestled with the same issues you’re facing: ministry to current members, ministry to the unchurched, worship, changing neighborhoods, and more.
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Healthy Congregations
In this sequel to How Your Church Family Works, Peter Steinke takes readers into a deeper exploration of the congregation as an emotional system. He outlines the factors that put congregations at risk for anxiety and conflict. Learn ten principles of health, how congregations can adopt new ways of dealing with stress and anxiety, as…
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Discerning Your Congregation’s Future
This is a rare book – combining practical tools for parish planning with equally practical help for the spiritual dimension of what parishes are all about. It can be a revolutionary book for congregational leaders who are serious about wanting to become an effective religious force in the future of their communities. The real surprise…
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Five Challenges For The Once And Future Church
Loren Mead presents five key challenges facing today’s church – and how they represent opportunities for the evolutionary, transfortmative changes he believes must take place in congregations if the church is to remain a viable institution into the twenty-first century.
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Discerning God’s Will Together
Imagine making decisions about your church based on the question, “God, is this your will?” This idea is the premise behind Discerning God’s Will Together. This contemporary book offers a fresh alternative to the often-rancorous parliamentary procedures many church groups use when making important decisions. Structured around church traditions and biblical examples of decision-making, this book…
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Attending Parishioners’ Spiritual Growth
In this clarion call to tend to spiritual growth, Williamsen provides a much-needed resource for clergy. Discover how to assist parishioners in their prayer and spiritual lives. Learn how individual spiritual growth can flow back into the congregation’s growth as a community. Explore new ideas and practical approaches to using Christian education, worship, retreats, devotional…
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Saying Goodbye
Leaving a pastorate is hard on both congregation and pastor. Learn how to make this transition a growth experience for all. Written for congregations and pastors, Saying Goodbye skillfully weaves accounts from clergy, laity, and educators of seven denominations with White’s own insight as a former General Presbyter to create a resource for meaningful and…