Richard Bass, Editor, Leadership in Congregations. Alban Institute, 2006.
Referenced in: Church Leadership Foundations, Church Dynamics, Research
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This is an insightful collection of articles from seasoned scholar-practitioners among mainline Protestants on the changing leadership situation facing American congregations. It is a result of a ten-year research project on congregational leadership. Several of the articles are excellent descriptions of the changing leadership climate. I have highlighted a few of them below:
- What Kind of Pastor Will Most Likely Empower Laity? by Edward A. White
- Pastors and Managers: An Executive Coach Assesses Leadership Skills, by Scott Eblin
- Telling the Better Story, by Gil Rendle
- Power Principles for Pastors, by Art Gafke and Bruce McSpadden
- The Myth of Competence, by Israel Galindo
- Committing to Mutuality: An Interview with Eugene Peterson, by David J. Wood
- Leading for the Future, by Jeffrey D. Jones
From the Publisher
“The challenge before us is to shift from preoccupation with institutional problem solving to a new committment to capturing people’s imagination and providing wellsprings of hope. To make this shift requires a new calling of leaders, a new training of leaders, and a new supporting of leaders who can stand with poise and fidelity.”—James P. Wind and Gil Rendle
This new book in Alban’s Harvesting the Learnings Series, edited by Richard Bass gathers the collected wisdom of more than 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, the report argued, we need to see leadership in new ways and learn a new set of adaptive skills that allow leaders 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.
About the Editor
Richard Bass the director of publishing at the Alban Institute. He is also editor of Congregations magazine.
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