Leadership in Congregations

Richard Bass

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2006
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781566995689
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

This new book in Alban's Harvesting the Learnings Series gathers the collected wisdom of over 10 years of Alban research and reflection on what it means to be a leader in a congregation, how our perceptions of leadership are changing, and exciting new directions for leadership in the future. With pieces by such diverse church leaders as Graham Standish, Diana Butler Bass, Jeffrey Jones, Donna Schaper, Gil Rendle, Ann Svennungsen, Mark Lau Branson, and many others, this volume gathers in one place a variety of essays that approach the leadership task and challenge with insight, depth, humor, and imagination. The book also includes the full text of Alban's 2001 special report, "The Leadership Situation Facing American Congregations" by James P. Wind and Gil Rendle. That report examined the evidence for turmoil on the one hand and ferment on the other. The Alban Institute, it declared, stood on the side of ferment. To live into the ferment, we need to see leadership in new ways and learn a new set of adaptive skills that allow them to shape new patterns of congregational life and new leadership roles. Based in research and experience, this volume makes available the best of Alban's learning on how the leaders of congregations can go about this important work.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Foreword: Living the Story
• The Leadership Situation Facing American Congregations: An Alban Institute Special Report
• The Leadership We Need: Negotiating Up, Not Down
• Leading from the Bottom Up: Bureaucracy and Adhocracy
• What Does It Take to Lead a Congregation Today?
• Action and Reflection: A Rhythm of Ministry
• When Consensus Fails
• Learning to Pastor a Small Congregation
• Leadership in a Non-Staff-Dependent Congregation
• When Women Lead the Flock
• Forming God’s People
• What Kind of Pastor Will Most Likely Empower Laity?
• Pastors and Managers: An Executive Coach Assesses Leadership Skills
• Telling the Better Story
• Dimensions of Pastoral Authority: What It Means to Become a Congregation’s Pastor
• Power Principles for Pastors
• The Myth of Competence
• Committing to Mutuality: An Interview with Eugene Peterson
• A Congregation of Mystics: Reigniting Our Passion for Encountering and Experiencing God
• Leading for the Future
• Leading Theologically: Does It Really Matter?
• Lift High the Flag . . . Oops, the Cross!
• Contributors