Fieldwork Projects
Morning Hope
Psalm 130:5 “My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, * more than watchmen for the morning.” As I sit in darkness awaiting the morning light this verse often wanders into my mind. This morning as it came in I remembered actually serving as a...
All Saints’ – By Rev. Alan Mead
Today is All Saints’ Day. It is a day when Christians around the world remember and give thanksgiving for those who have died. In many churches I have served the names of all that had died since the previous All Saints’ Day were read aloud during the worship service...
Psalm 52:8-9 – By Rev. Alan Mead
Psalm 52:8-9 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;* I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will give thanks for what you have done * and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly. I am coming through a time of grief and...
Power in Words
The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4 NIV “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” What a lie! The words we speak for better or worse will come to pass. Words elevate or...
Don’t Just Talk About Mission-Act With Passion! By Susan Beaumont
Don’t Just Talk About Mission-Act With Passion! By Susan Beaumount Congregations waste precious time forming mission statements that fail to inspire action. Writing a mission statement produces clarity, but rarely generates energy. It’s time to move beyond mission and...
Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations – By Martin Homan
Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations Gil Rendle and Alice Mann The Alban Institute, 2003. xxvi & 289 pages. The authors provide the Intentional Interim Pastor with an extremely useful book filled with numerous tools....
Don’t Wait until the Pastor Leaves – By Alan Mead
Don’t Wait until the Pastor Leaves Planning for Ministerial Transition Helps Ensure that One Successful Minister Follows Another Written by Michael Durall Book Review by Rev. Alan Mead Although it doesn’t appear by the title to be a book of interest to interim...
10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Reduce Anxiety in Your Congregation, By Susan Beaumont
10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Reduce Anxiety in Your Congregationby Susan BeaumontThe effects of anxiety on human thinking and behavior are both observable and predictable. In his book Congregational Leadership in Anxious TimesPeter Steinke describes the impact of...
The American Congregation 2015: Thriving and Surviving
The American Congregation 2015: Thriving and Surviving Reviewed by Rev. Alan Mead Have you wondered lately what in the world is happening in congregational life and mission? There are continuing reports of decline, both in numbers of people and in resources, with an...
Transformational Task Forces: Leading Congregations Away from Minefields
Transformational Task Forces: Leading Congregations Away from Minefields by N. Graham Standish When I was an associate pastor, I witnessed first-hand how a congregation with everything going for it could let its own growth lead to decline. We think of church growth as...