In April of 1998, the Alban Institute, in partnership with the Indianapolis Center for Congregations and with the support of a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., began to develop a guide to the best resources for helping congregations address their most pressing and critical issues. This guide began as a simple listing of what congregations have found to be the most useful resources (books, Web sites, videos, consultants, and other congregations) on the dozen issues we found that congregations ask about most often. This guide—now grown to include over 800 resources in more than 100 topic areas—is shared with the public through an interactive Web site (www.congregationalresources.org). Yet, in spite of this growth, the Congregational Resource Guide (CRG) has retained its original purpose: to recommend to congregations the best resources—from whatever source—on those issues congregations tell us are most pressing to them and to help guide congregations in the use of those resources.

We have been pleased at the great diversity of people who have come to us for recommendations about resources. However, this diversity has also been a challenge. It has reminded us that the guide needs to be expanded to serve a greater range of congregations. In addition, we are reminded that all these diverse groups not only need resources but also have resources to share with other congregations. As part of this work to broaden the Congregational Resource Guide, we commissioned two special reports: a report concerning resources for and from African American congregations, and another concerning resources for and from Jewish congregations. For each report a partner worked with us to collect what we already knew about such resources and then to consult with many others regarding both the most pressing issues and the best resources to address them.

We have been pleased indeed by the resources uncovered in areas both expected and unexpected. And yet these reports were only a beginning. The continuing purpose of this updated version is to let colleagues see what we know so that they can tell us what we have missed. Like the CRG as a whole, we expect these reports to be living, growing documents. So please let us know whether you have found this report useful. Let us know what we have omitted. And let us know how we might further develop this work to better serve the congregations you serve.

We would like to thank all those who have worked on these reports. For this Report on Resources for and from African American Congregations we would like to thank Rowena Martineau. Ms. Martineau conducted the early research for this project and developed the initial offering. Her commitment, creativity, and dedication inspired everyone who worked on this project. The Rev. Dr. Zina Jacque has assisted us by updating the project through online and library research. We thank both of these women and the staff of both the Alban Institute and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations who helped guide the project and who contributed their knowledge about resources. We thank the many people across North America with whom we conferred in the process of this work. Finally, and most especially, we thank Lilly Endowment Inc., whose generous support made possible the development of this free resource for congregations.

-- Claudia Greer, Resource Associate, Congregational Resource Guide
-- Alban Institute; (cgreer@alban.org); 1-800-486-1318, ex. 266