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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
pastor's leaving and another's arrival. In this revised edition, A
Change of Pastors, Mead shares the wisdom he gained from
thirty-five years of studying congregations, wisdom that he hopes
will allow congregations to take full advantage of this time during
which incredible congregational change can happen.
Congregations today face a multitude of challenges in trying to
adapt to a quickly changing world. Balancing new concerns with core
values is a complicated process that can leave too many members
feeling that their voices and needs are not being met. Loren B.
Mead and Billie T. Alban have developed Creating the Future
Together to share their knowledge of how congregations can use
large group methods to navigate these new waters. Large group
methods involve getting all the stakeholders together to work on
major issues of common concern. Mead and Alban outline four such
methods--two for identifying a preferred future and two designed to
create community and discover common interest. This book is not
meant to be a how-to volume; its primary purpose is to familiarize
leaders with these whole-system approaches and to provide a
conceptual framework for evaluating their potential usefulness
against any given challenge. The authors also share stories from a
variety of Christian and Jewish faith communities where ordinary
religious leaders, lay and clergy together, have faced issues
related to change using large group methods. Combining their wealth
of experience in leading religious and secular bodies through times
of change, Mead and Alban bring hope to faith communities as they
work to embrace, and even thrive through, the need for change.
The Alban Institute expands its look at how congregations tackle
the issue of money as it relates to faith and lifestyles. Several
renowned experts offer fresh perspectives on various aspects of
this issue, with innovative ideas and solutions for congregations
and their leaders. Along with previous Money, Faith, and Lifestyle
titles, the new series entries offer something for everyone
concerned about this most pressing issue.
Intentionally provocative, Alban founder and former president
Loren Mead's dynamic work sets out dramatic and compelling
challenges for today's churches. Mead chose the word "melt-down" --
a strong term, indeed -- very carefully and consciously. His
clarion call urges congregations to direct attention to their
dwindling financial resources and their unreliable fiscal
practices, and to take major action now -- or face disaster in the
future. Mead addresses changing church giving patterns; the
inconsistent ways congregations keep financial records; the lack of
coordinated short- and long-range planning; the need for knowledge
of sound financial techniques such as accounting for inflation; an
over-reliance on "restructuring" to fix problems; and lack of
defensive planning for operational costs.
Mead explores what church growth and evangelism really mean in a
time when it is mathematically impossible for every congregation to
achieve significant numerical growth. He argues provocatively that
spiritual, organizational, and missional growth are just as
important as numerical growth, and that all four are needed for a
truly healthy and growing church. Case studies and discussion
questions are included.
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 of foreign mission, now encounter the mission field in the
layperson's workplace and the community surrounding the local
congregation. Thus, the church is called to reinvention for this
new mission frontier
"Our goal is the Kingdom, the completion of God's creative vision,
and we are God's hands in bringing that vision to pass, " wrote
Urban Holmes in Spirituality for Ministry, originally published in
1982. But, Holmes warned, ministers who are not rooted in the
intimate knowledge of God will have a hard time being God's hands
and serving the congregation well.
This timeless and still timely book examines the spiritual base
that allows ordained clergy to be interpreters of God's message and
symbol-bearers of God's presence in their congregations. Based on
interviews with clergy from many denominations, Holmes explores the
role of spirituality in the vocation of the ordained, the classic
virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the place of worship,
prayer, and parish piety, and finally the necessity of spiritual
companionship in the life of the clergy.
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