Resources and Comments in Response to “Why Blog?”

Lynne Baab, author of Reaching Out in a Networked World (from which “Why Blog” was excerpted for the June 28, 2010 Alban Weekly), argues that blogs can be wonderful communication vehicles for congregations. They can function as newsletters, as stories and testimonies, and as building blocks for communicating “a piece of what the congregation considers to be valuable and essential for faith.”

In addition to pastoral blogs, there can be congregational blogs which are produced by a team. However they are produced, and whoever produces them, they should be conversational and personal in tone.

What resources would help congregations considering blogging? In addition to the items listed at the end of the article, we suggest you take a look at “The Networked Congregation,” a web resource developed by Andrea Useem for the Congregational Resource Guide.

What are your thoughts and stories about blogging? And what resources do you suggest? We look forward to hearing from you!

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“The Vision to Embrace Change” (the June 21, 2010 Alban Weekly article adapted from Kenneth McFayden’s Strategic Leadership for a Change: Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future) highlights several components of effective visioning processes. Each component, believes McFayden, needs to be utilized as congregations embrace change and move into a transformational future.

The first of these components is honoring the past and discovering vision “in existing values and stories.” This component aims to identify core values that reside in the congregation’s history and form its current identity. The second of these components is focusing on the future and discovering vision in emerging values and stories. And a third component is discerning, through studying Scripture and in other ways, how God is calling the congregation to faithful service.

What resources might support you and your congregation as you engage in each of these components in your visioning process. Some valuable resources are listed at the end of the article. In addition, we invite you to consider the “Change” and “Mission and Vision” sections of the Congregational Resource Guide. You might especially enjoy the latest edition of Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change as well as The Dance of Change.

What are your stories and thoughts on this topic? And what resources do you suggest? We look forward to hearing from you!

In the June 14, 2010 issue of Alban Weekly (“The POWR of Planning Worship“), Barbara Day Miller examines the processes that can lead to truly life-giving worship. These processes, which Miller explores more fully in Encounters with the Holy: A Conversational Model for Worship Planning, involve holding in tension two divergent but important movements in worship preparation: the imaginative, free-form, and circular movement by which ideas are generated; and the structured, orderly, and linear movement by which ideas are arranged.

She calls the first movement “planning” and the second “ordering.” The first letters of these two words form the beginning of the acronym, “POWR.” After Planning and Ordering comes Worship itself, in which all of the liturgical elements are played out. What follows Worship is Reflection, when the worship planning team gathers to “pray and to reflect on what happened in the community’s gathering before God.”

Resources for helping you and your congregation’s worship planning team to become more POWR-ful are listed at the end of the article. We also invite you to consider the resources in the Worship and Liturgy sections of the Congregational Resource Guide. You might especially enjoy Gail Ramshaw’s Reviving Sacred Speech and Cheryl Kirk-Duggan’s The Undivided Soul.

What are your thoughts and stories on this topic? And what resources do you suggest? We look forward to hearing from you!

The June 7, 2010 issue of Alban Weekly (“Rev. Mackay’s Dilemmas“) demonstrates what can go wrong when sensitive information is not handled in a responsible way. Using the example of a small-town pastor, the authors explain why key questions need to be asked when determining what to do about potentially harmful secrets.

Kibbie Simmons Ruth and Karen McClintock, authors of Healthy Disclosure: Solving Communication Quandaries in Congregations, outline a four-step process for leaders who may find themselves facing dilemmas such as Rev. Mackay’s: (1) assess the specific situation; (2) consider the options and determine a plan; (3) take action; and (4) evaluate the results. Taking these steps consciously and intentionally can help to ward off the anxiety that would otherwise drive hasty or irresponsible decisions.

For more insights on responsible and authentic communication in congregations, we suggest you check out an earlier Alban Weekly article by the same authors, “Speaking the Truth in Love.” We also suggest that you consider the excellent resources listed at the end of today’s article, as well as When a Congregation is Betrayed and How Your Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems.

What are your experiences with, and thoughts about, this topic? And what resources do you suggest? We look forward to hearing from you!