Alban Reponses to Economic Uncertainty

These are times of stress and uncertainty. They also are opportunities to refocus on what is most essential to congregational life and the myriad ways that churches can both continue and grow their ministries and service opportunities even during a time of dramatically shrinking financial resources.

In addition to our long-standing collection of resources on Faith and Money in our Congregational Resource Guide, the Alban Institute recently has taken several concrete steps to make sure that we are even more available to help congregations to respond to the stresses of uncertainty in healthy and productive ways. “Alban’s Response to the Economic Situation” includes:

• An ongoing series of Alban Weekly newsletters on helpful approaches to leadership.
• Increased resources available through the www.Alban.org website.
• A series of online webinars beginning with “Ministry and Mission in Uncertain Times“
• Downloadable articles from past issues of Congregations magazine.
• An upcoming special issue of Congregations on ministry and mission in uncertain times.

We also know how important it is for clergy, in particular, to attend to their own particular vocational challenges and the stresses of leadership in uncertain times. One concrete response is our upcoming webinar on January 29, 2009, “Start the New Year Right: Clergy Care in Uncertain Times”.

We invite you to join us in that web seminar to share with us your experiences in the face of the economic situation we all share, especially the ways you have chosen to respond to the shifting needs, resources, and opportunities you face — and the challenges you face in remaining healthy for your role of leadership.