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Summer 2003: Reading Recommendations |
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“What shall I read?” Wondering what books would most inspire and inform you—and other leaders—as you enjoy the summer while planning initiatives for the fall? Congregational Resource Guide staff offer you our "top pics" of the season. (Simply click on the book's title or image to access the publisher's Web site and ordering information.) We at the Alban Institute and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations wish you and yours a summer of rest and renewal. |
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Becoming a Congregation of Learners: Learning as a Key to Revitalizing Congregational Life Isa Aron asserts that in many communities, synagogues are transforming themselves into houses of learning where adults, as well as children, may pursue a deeper understanding of their faith. Delving more deeply into Torah and other texts, they have embarked upon inter-generational learning as part of, or instead of, the traditional religious school. But this kind of transformation requires lay and clergy leadership, ongoing congregational participation, and grass roots support. Beginning with an assessment of who should be involved in the process, Aron creates a clear vision of what the congregation may wish to accomplish. Case studies, sample meeting agendas, recommended study resources, and reproducible hand-outs make this book a complete resource for leaders of learning congregations. |
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Bridging Divided Worlds: Generational Cultures in Congregations Can congregations appeal to different generations? Jackson Carroll and Wade Roof tackle this issue through detailed case studies of various congregations in California and North Carolina. After presenting sociological portraits of pre-boomers, baby boomers, and Generation X, the authors divide the congregations studied into three types. Congregations of inherited traditions seek to preserve their traditions and are least likely to alter their worship. Blended congregations try to preserve tradition while making some concessions to current culture. Generation-specific congregations target a specific generation, but as members age or their life circumstances change, these congregations may have trouble with retention or with appealing to new generations. While easy answers to intergenerational conflicts do not exist, congregations that learn to understand their type can discern their drawbacks and opportunities. |
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A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why "Facts matter," the authors write in this guide, an accessibly written and designed overview of congregations, who attends them, and what they do in the community. It is based on the results of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, which was distributed to congregants during worship services and records the responses of 300,000 people from a broad range of denominations and faith groups. The book is not just a collection of facts; it also offers context for understanding them. An interesting feature of the book is the discussion of "myth traps": conventional wisdom that is not supported by the data. This book will be helpful to all who want a picture of congregations today and seek solid data for strategic planning. |
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Generous Saints: Congregations Rethinking Ethics and Money James Hudnut-Beumler shifts notions of parish finance from green eyeshade budget-balancing to perennial religious questions undergirding mission and life. He would have congregations enable members to clarify and communicate their ideas about money, work, mission, stewardship, and congregational practice. We are enriched by our possessions, by our capacities, but mostly by what God and others have entrusted to us. What choices do we make about how we live with what we have? And what consequences follow from our choices? The book's calm but challenging analysis and its insightful exercises belong in the hands of a stewardship committee months before a stewardship campaign is designed and launched. And if clergy and boards also read it, more than a church's financial circumstances may benefit. |
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Imagination & Spirit: A Contemporary Quaker Reader This collection of essays, meditations, and fictional pieces is much more than a textbook on Quaker traditions. The educational component is presented stealthily, through J. Brent Bill's selection of writings and his introductions to each author and story. The book features choices from a wide historical and style range of Quaker authors—including D. Elton Trueblood, Jessamyn West, James A. Michener, Scott Russell Sanders, and Philip Gulley. Before each selection, Bill gives a brief biography of the author, emphasizing his or her relationship to Quaker tradition. He also sets up each piece by noting its relevance to some aspect of Quaker life, such as the particularities of a Quaker wedding. Persons interested in exploring the prolific literature from the Quaker tradition will be educated and enriched by this volume. |
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The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium Walter Wink reminds us that congregations and denominations are among the institutional powers that create order in our society. Although such powers do enormous good, they also can do profound evil. By looking at the soul of an institution, one can discern whether it has served God's people or it has "fallen" and needs to be redeemed. Fallen powers are dominating, self-serving, and idolatrous. And in order to sustain their privileged position, they must rely on a culturally accepted hierarchy—maintained, however indirectly, by violence. Wink finds in Jesus' teachings a way to unmask the powers for what they are and offer opportunities for redemption. This book may be useful to congregations engaged in social justice issues or seeking to clarify their positions on domination, violence, and war. |
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Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence Emotionally intelligent leaders have the awareness, sensitivity, and capacity to manage people's primal, physiological responses to the environment and to one another. Primal Leadership outlines the abilities of the emotionally intelligent person who leads with resonance rather than dissonance. Shared, contagious laughter is one example of a physiological mental connection facilitated by an emotionally intelligent leader through resonance. Research shows that in settings where there is laughter, there is more positive emotional connection, resulting in higher productivity. The authors highlight four competencies of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. With these competencies, leaders can determine the best leadership style to use in a variety of situations. Congregational leaders will benefit from the book's illustrations for building individual, team, and organizational emotional intelligence. |
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The Rhythm of God's Grace: Uncovering Morning and Evening Hours of Prayer Summer is a time when many of us break loose of the habits and routines that we follow through the rest of the year, so that life takes on a different, more relaxed rhythm. What better time to bring a new spiritual practice into one's life? In this slim, readable book, Boers, a Mennonite pastor and teacher, makes a personal and persuasive case for adopting a practice of fixed-hour prayer. Rather than giving the reader a "how to" book, Boers talks about his own introduction to the practice, and explores the historical and theological dimensions of this style of prayer in an easygoing and encouraging fashion. An excellent annotated resource list at the end of the book leads the reader to more specific guides and helps. |
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Sacred Acts, Holy Change: Faithful Diversity and Practical Transformation Defining a "grace margin" as the "space between what is and what can be," Eric Law asserts that such a margin is necessary for congregational change. It is in the "grace margin," says Law, that God dwells. Law's blueprint for the process of congregational analysis and discernment emphasizes the importance of theological reflection, Bible study, and prayer. The author provides concrete tools for change —including documents, agendas, goal statements, and action plans. At the same time, he points out that by carefully speaking and listening to one another, change agents can draw into the "grace margin" together and see God's will come alive for their church. Both spiritual and practical, this book is for congregational leaders, denominational leaders, and lay persons engaged in transforming their churches and their lives. |
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Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment, and Moments of Grace In these two volumes, Nora Gallagher offers insights and reflections on faith from two vantage points. In Things Seen and Unseen, the author traces a liturgical year in the life of one congregation. As she enters into the life of that community—working in the soup kitchen, participating in worship services, developing relationships—Gallagher comes to understand faith as "not about belief in something irrational or about a blind connection to something unreal. It's about a gathering, an accumulation of events and experiences of a different order . . . the longing a soul has to find its shape in the world." In Practicing Resurrection, Gallagher explores faith from a more personal perspective. She shares the process of discernment and discovery she entered following her brother’s death. As she sets out to find "a new way to spend herself," she explores the possibility of ordination to the priesthood, her work as a writer, her marriage, and the world around her. |
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Uncovering Your Church’s Hidden Spirit While insights on management have helped many congregations to change, some leaders have wondered where God was in the change process. Celia Allison Hahn’s book is a refreshing voice in this conversation. Hahn presents methods for seeking the church’s hidden spirit: spiritual companionship; discerning first and acting second; moving from the center (the heart, soul, spirit) of the congregation rather than from the head; letting stories surface; listening to many voices; and identifying spiritual leaders among the laity. Based on case studies of five Episcopal congregations, the book demonstrates different ways the Spirit manifests itself and provides instruments for beginning the congregational spiritual discernment process. This book honors the presence of the Holy Spirit in churches and offers practical help for discovering and engaging the Spirit. |
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