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Resource Spotlight
Recommended reading from www.alban.org


The Power of Asset Mapping:
How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts
by Luther K. Snow

A New and Right Spirit:
Creating an Authentic Church in a Consumer Culture
by Rick Barger

Redeveloping the Congregation:
A How-to for Lasting Change
by Mary K. Sellon, Daniel P. Smith and Gail F. Grossman

Booklist
click here for list in pdf format
There are many excellent books to assist us in our learning. The following annotated bibliographies focus primarily on leadership development and transformational ministry.

= new listing 

Barger, Rick    

Rick Barger is lead pastor at Abiding Hope Lutheran Church in Littleton, CO and founder of Abiding Hope’s Transformational Leadership Academy.

• A New and Right Spirit:  Creating an Authentic Church in a Consumer Culture Copyright © 2005 by the Alban Institute, All rights reserved.

“In this book Rick Barger argues passionately for congregations to reexamine what it means to be an authentic church in a culture where authenticity is hard to come by. He demonstrates the pitfalls of technical solutions to congregational problems and shows the way to making adaptive change.  As the key to congregational transformation he boldly reclaims and lifts up an ecclesiological vision of the church as a witness to the resurrection. Driven by that authentic story, the church becomes a powerful witness to God’s love for all and an effective minister to the needs of the world.”

Bass, Dorothy C. 

Dorothy C. Bass is director of Valparaiso University’s project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith.

• Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People (The Practices of Faith Series) Copyright © 1997 Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers , San Francisco, CA 

  Dorothy worked with an ecumenical and interracial group of authors to develop Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People (1997). This book addresses the contemporary hunger for a way of life that can be lived with integrity amidst the many changes of our time by advocating the retrieval of twelve Christian practices.

• Way to Live: Christian Practices for Teens. Copyright © 2002 by Dorothy C. Bass and Don C. Richter.  Upper Room Books. Nashville, TN

Eighteen teens and 18 adults share their different points of view and personal stories in the hope of helping others to live a Christian life REAL.

• Leading Lives That Matter: What We Should Do and Who We Should Be© 2006 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Cambridge, U.K.

Burtness, Eric

Eric Burtness, senior pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, OR writes a Lutheran application of the Purpose-Driven framework.

• Leading on Purpose: Intentionality and Teaming in Congregational Life Copyright © 2004 Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, MN

Brueggeman, Walter

Walter Brueggeman is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is the world’s leading interpreter of the Old Testament and is the author of numerous books.  Here are a few we would like to bring to your attention.

• An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination ©2003 Walter Brueggeman

The outline alone is worth the price of the book.

• The Prophetic Imagination ©   Fortress Press

A must read for every Christian seeking to differentiate Christian from cultural religions.

• Mandate to Difference: An Invitation to the Contemporary Church. ©2007 Walter Brueggeman

The essays in this book call the church to courageously defy political polarization, consumerism, and militarism. “If this is God’s world and if the rule of love is at work, then our mandate is not to draw into a cocoon of safety; rather, it is to be out and alive in the world in concrete acts and policies whereby the fearful anxiety among us is dispatched and adversaries can be turned to allies and to friends.”

• Biblical Perspectives on Evangelism: Living in a Three-Storied Universe. © 1993 Abingdon Press

 “Evangelism is a drama in three scenes, concerning (1) God’s victory over the forces of chaos and death, (2) the announcement of that victory, and (3) its appropriation by those who hear the announcement.  This same dramatic sequence is many times re-enacted in the Bible; the times and circumstances of the re-enactment may differ, but the essential message, as well as the structure of its presentation, remains the same.”

Daubert, Dave

Dave Daubert is Executive for Renewal of Congregations for the Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

• Living Lutheran: Renewing Your Congregation © 2007 Augsburg Fortress

Daloz Park, Sharon

Sharon Daloz Parks is Director of Leadership for the New Commons – an initiative of the Whidbey Institute in Clinton, WA. She has held faculty and research positions at the Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Business School, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

• Leadership Can Be Taught © 2005 Harvard Business School Press

In Leadership Can Be Taught, Sharon Daloz Parks invites readers to step into the classroom of Harvard leadership virtuoso Ronald Heifetz and his colleagues to experience a dynamic type of leadership and a corresponding mode of learning called “case-in-point.” This unique approach utilizes students’ own experiences – and the classroom environment itself – as a “studio-laboratory’ for working through the types of challenges people actually face in today’s workplace. In this setting, failures become active experiments not just in learning, but in living leadership.

Erlander, Daniel

• Manna and Mercy: a brief history of God’s unfolding promise to mend the entire universe. ©1996

Hand printed and Bible survey written with imagination, clarity, humor, and cartoons. Built around the twin themes of food sharing and forgiveness. Junior high through adult. 100 pages

• Let the children come: A baptism manual for parents and sponsors © 1996

35-page booklet on infant and young child baptism. Includes the origin of baptism, baptism in the New Testament, infant baptism, Luther’s teaching, the baptism service, and “raising children wet

• By faith alone: A Lutheran Looks at the Bomb © 1983

• Bapized, We Live: Lutheranism as a way of life © 1995

  Refreshingly describes Lutheranism as a way of seeing, hearing, teaching, and following. For individual reading, adult classes, new member instruction. 28 pages.

• A Place for You: My Holy Communion Book ©

A “welcome book” of how Jesus invites all to his special meal called “Holy Communion.” For children to read, look at, color, and learn about the meal of Jesus, for parents (and grandparents and others) to read to and discuss with children, and for teachers to use with classes studying Holy Communion. 18 pages.

•  It’s All about Love: The Christian Journey – a Lutheran Perspective ©  Augsburg Fortress

This review of Lutheran teaching in the form of a game board — a joint project with Outdoor Ministries—gives adults and youth a simple “refresher course” on Lutheran theology.

• Water Washed and Spirit Born: A Baptism Manual for Youth and Adults © 2006

A 40-page booklet for youth or adults preparing for baptism.  Also useful for adult classes on baptism and individual study.  Includes Biblical background, a special section on baptism in the context of the Roman Empire, and chapters on Reformation baptism practice and contemporary baptism practice.  Closes with a discussion of "living wet" - the baptism way of life.

Foss, Michael W.

Michael W. Foss is senior pastor of prince of Peace, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Burnsville, MN. He is a frequent speaker in the areas of leadership development and redesigning the church for a new age of mission and ministry.

• Power Surge: Six Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church © 2000 Fortress Press

“From his storehouse of experiences as pastor of one of North America’s great teaching churches, Mike Foss has crafted a highly personal call for Western Christianity to move its ministries from the codependency of membership to the “power surge” of discipleship…” Leonard Sweet

•  Real Faith for Real Life: Living the Six Marks of Discipleship © 2004 Augsburg Books

  “Mike Foss’s heart for discipleship and love for the church is well articulated in Real Faith for Real Life. Through the use of stories, biblical texts, and reflections, this book offers the reader an experience of learning that can influence a lifetime of living as a follower of Jesus. I recommend its use for both personal faith development and congregational faith formation opportunities.” Rev. Dr. marion Wyvetta Bullock

• A Servant’s Manual: Christian Leadership for Tomorrow © 2002 Augsburg Fortress

  “Mike Foss challenges the ‘stuck’ thinking of the past and explores a new way of thinking about the biblical role of the church in an emerging new world that has spawned a crisis in leadership. He makes his point very clear – our role is to disciple people to be productive for Christ. This is a great lay leader’s complement to his earlier book, Power Surge.”  Bill Easum

Fryer, Kelly

Kelly Fryer (M.Div., MTh) is a teacher, author, and motivational speaker with nearly twenty years of experience leading organizations into renewal. Kelly is a member of the faculty at Spertus College in Chicago, IL, where she teaches leadership and organization in the Nonprofit Management Graduate Program; she has also taught on the faculty of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. Kelly is the Executive Director of ARE. She is a member of The Author’s Guild, The National Federation of Press Women, and The National Speaker’s Association.

• No Experience Necessary Bible Study © 2006 Augsburg Fortress
  

  Listen up! God's on a mission to bless and save the world, and we're called to take part. No Experience Necessary immerses participants in this story and helps them find their place in God's mission.

• Reclaiming the “L” Word: Renewing the Church from Its Lutheran Core © 2003 Augsburg Fortress
  
  Reclaiming the "L" Word is a book about renewing congregations by recognizing and living out the core teachings of the Lutheran faith. In the introduction, the author states:

  "I hope that people of every denomination will find this book helpful as they wrestle with these important issues within their own traditions. But this little book is primarily written for those who call themselves Lutheran and, specifically, those who are members of ELCA congregations, and it is intended to help us answer central questions: Who are we? What DOES it mean to be a Lutheran today, anyway? And, why does it matter?"

• Reclaiming the “C” Word: Daring to Be Church Again © 2006 Augsburg Fortress
  

God is up to something! God is on a mission to save and bless the world, and God calls the church to be part of this mission. That means getting focused, setting people free, taking action, expecting surprises, and being hopeful. A church on God's mission isn't a building or a building plus a pastor. It's people–people who carry out God's mission in the world.

Building on her bestselling book, Reclaiming the "L" Word, Kelly A. Fryer gives practical advice on how to transform our idea of church and what that means for our lives as Christians.

Goodwin, Steven J.

Steve is a national speaker, consultant and pastoral coach and is experienced in leading congregational reform with 15 years of pastoral ministry. He is the author of Catching The Next Wave: Leadership Strategies For Turn Around Congregations (Augsburg 1999) and Overcoming Resistance (ChurchSmart Resources 2003) with Prof. Chuck Ridley. He is a D.Min. candidate at Fuller Seminary where he teaches Leading Turnaround Churches

• Catching the Next Wave: Leadership Strategies for Turn-Around Congregations © 1999 Augsburg Fortress
  
  Create a vision for mission; study your congregation and community; connect ministry with community needs; motivate lay leadership; address obstacles; and implement a mission plan.
  

Guder, Darrell L.

Darrell L. Guder is the Peachtree Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia

• Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America © 1998 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

  North America as a mission field…is a call for the church to recognize its radically different cultural and theological situation…and to redefine and reform its understanding of its identity and direction.

Hall, Douglas John

Douglas John Hall is Professor Emeritus of Theology at McGill University, Montreal. He is the author of numerous Fortress Press books.

• The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World © 2003 Augsburg Fortress
  
  This book assists readers to think afresh through the basics of the Christian theological traditions. It is particularly rewarding for a post-9/11 world.
• Why Christian? For Those on the Edge of Faith © Fortress Press
  

In these dialogues with doubt, Douglas John Hall enters into an earnest search with a young inquirer who is on the edges of Christian faith. Half familiar with superficial aspects of Christianity, hopeful of there being greater depth than found so far, this individual is curious, insistent, looking for something to believe in but not ready to leap without good reason. Such a person is asking, “Why be Christian?”

Kivel, Paul

• Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work For Racial Justice. © 2002 by Paul Kivel
  
  Uprooting Racism is a supportive how-to book for white people who are willing to work to end racism. This book helps us understand the dynamics of racism in our society, institutions and daily lives, and it shares stories, suggestions, advice, exercises and approaches for working together to fight racism. “At once gentle and provocative, Uprooting Racism will help you intervene strategically wherever racism occurs in public policy, institutional settings or interpersonal interactions.

Kyllo, Terry

Terry Kyllo is pastor of Celebration Lutheran, Anacortes, WA

• Being Human: The Image of The Serving God © 2004 Cold Tree Press
  

Law, Eric H.F.

Eric H. F. Law is an ordained Episcopal priest and internationally known professional consultant in the area of multicultural leadership and organizational development. He conducts workshops in a variety of ecumenical settings.

• The Wolf Shall Dwell With The Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community © 1993, St. Louise: Chalice Press
  

  Using a combination of theology and cultural anthropology, Law explores why certain cultures tend to dominate in multicultural situations, and what can be done about it.

  Una guía de liderazgo spiritual en una comunidad multicultural
  
  En utilizando una combinación de teología y antropología cultural, Law descubre por que ciertas culturas—principalmente los blancos de origen norte-europeos—tienen una tendencia a dominar en situaciones multiculturales, y propone una solución a este problema.

• Inclusion: Making Room for Grace © 2000 Eric H. F. Law
  
  This is an excellent resource for church leaders and ministers seeking better understanding and processes to respond to the diversity of people they serve. Eric Law helps us rediscover that diversity is a gift from God that is to be cherished, not a gift to be ignored or feared – it is making room for grace.” Ronaldo Cruz
  
  
• The Word at the Crossing: Living the Good News in a Multicontextual Community © 2004 Eric H. F. Law
  
  This book offers practical ideas, resources, models, and techniques for all involved in building inclusive communities in multi-contextual environments. How do we preach and teach in a pluralistic environment? Law maintains that the important question is not what you teach, but how you teach. Law invites readers to follow him on a journey to clarify this pattern of preaching and teaching that seeks to align oneself with God.
  
  
• The Bush Was Blazing but Not Consumed

Eric Law explores the dynamics of multicultural misunderstandings and how different cultures perceive and use power. He shows how to work with those dynamics to create a truly inclusive community.

• Sacred Acts, Holy Change: Faithful Diversity and Practical Transformation ©2002 Chalice Press
  
  Eric Law offers practical guidelines for change and transformation. Sacred Acts applies the techniques and theories from his three previous books to spell out the processes for achieving genuine transformation.

Mann, Alice

Before joining the staff of the Alban Institute, Alice Mann served for two decades in the dual roles of local pastor and nationally recognized consultant-trainer in the field of congregational development, with emphasis on incorporating new members, redeveloping struggling congregations, defining judicatory roles in growth and revitalization, breaking through size plateaus, and deepening parish spirituality. She engages large and small groups in practical learning and candid conversation about the choices church leaders face today.

• The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations © 1998 by the Alban Institute, Inc.
  

Alban Senior Consultant Alice Mann draws on her lengthy experience in helping congregations deal with the hurdles and anxieties of expansion or contraction in size. Often, congregations experiencing size change do not recognize the need to change culture and form as part of the successful adaptation process. Mann details the adjustments in attitude—as well as practice—that are necessary to support successful size change.

McIntosh, Gary L.

• One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Bringing Out the Best in Any Size Church © 1999, Fleming H. Revell
  

Framed as a discussion between a pastor six months out of seminary and a veteran pastor One Size Doesn’t Fit All tackles the issues of how churches grow and how church size determines effective strategy for ministry.

McLaren, Brian

Brian D. McLaren is a sought-after speaker and highly respected author focusing on the church and the postmodern cultural shift surrounding it. He is founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church, an innovative, nondenominational church in the Baltimore Washington region. He is also a senior fellow with emergent emergentvillage.org, a growing generative group of missional Christian leaders.

• The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything © 2007 Thomas Nelson
  
  In The Secret Message of Jesus you'll find what's at the center of Brian's critique of conventional Christianity, and what's at the heart of his expanding vision. In the process, you'll meet a Jesus who may be altogether new to you, a Jesus who is
  

• Not the crusading conqueror of religious broadcasting;
  
• Not the religious mascot of partisan religion;
  
• Not heaven's ticket-checker, whose words have been commandeered by the church to include and exclude, judge and stigmatize, pacify and domesticate.
  

McLaren invites you to discover afresh the transforming message of Jesus-an open invitation to radical change, an enlightening revelation that exposes sham and ignites hope, an epic story that is good news for everyone, whatever their gender, race, class, politics, or religion.

• A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN ©
  

To be a Christian in the generous, orthodox way is not to claim to have the truth captured, stuffed, and mounted on a wall. It is, rather, to live and grow in a loving community of people who are seeking the truth on the road of mission, and who have been launched on the quest by Jesus, who, with us, guides us still. Do we have it – have we taken hold of it? Not fully, not yet, of course not. But we keep seeking. We’re finding enough to keep us going. But we’re not finished. That, to me, is orthodoxy – a way of seeing and seeking, a way of living, a way of thinking and loving and learning that helps what we believe become more true over time, more resonant with the infinite glory that is God. (Taken from the introduction)

• A New Kind of Christian: A Take of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey © 2001 by Brian D. McLaren, Jossey-Bass Inc.
  

For all those who are burned out on church or who want to be spiritual without being “religious,” this book offers a tale of spiritual renewal that both instructs and inspires. After many years as a church planter and pastor, author Brian McLaren has found – as more and more Christians are finding – that neither the conservative evangelical nor the liberal mainline stream of Christianity fully expresses his own developing faith. McLaren’s engaging story give voice to this emerging understanding of what it can mean to be a Christian in these dynamic times, offering a constructive vision of what a postmodern Christian might look like.

Rainer, Thom S. and Geiger, Eric

Thom Rainer, Ph.D., is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. He has consulted with more than five hundred churches, served as pastor in four churches and interim pastor in seven churches, Spokane in hundreds of venues, and authored numerous books.

Eric Geiger, Ed.D., serves as executive pastor of Christ Fellowship, a large and growing multicultural church comprised of more than seventy nationalities in Miami, Florida. He has also worked with churches in Ohio, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

• Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples © 2006 Broadman & Holman Publishers
  
  Simple Church calls Christians to make a clear return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. The simple revolution has begun. From the design of the iPod to the uncluttered Google home page, simple ideas are changing the world.
  
  Simple Church clearly calls for Christians to return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No bells or whistles required, so to speak.
  
  Based on case studies of four hundred American churches, authors Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove that the process for making disciples has quite often become too complex.
  
  Simple churches are thriving, and they are doing so by taking these four ideas to heart: Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.
  
  Each idea is examined here, simply showing why it is time to simplify.

Richardson, Ronald W.

Ronald W. Richardson is former Clinical Director of the North Shore Counseling Center, pastoral counselor, author of many books on family systems theory and is currently a retired pastor living in West Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is a member of various groups including North Puget Sound Presbytery, a Diplomat for American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor for American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He also held many workshops for his work in many different organizations.

• Family Ties That Bind: A Self-Help Guide to Change through Family of Origin Therapy © 1984 Self Counsel Press
  
  Most people’s lives are complicated by family relationships. Birth order, our parents’ relationship, and the "rules" we were brought up with can affect our self-esteem and relationships with spouses, children, and other family members. Family of Origin therapy and techniques can help you create better family relationships.
  
  This easy-to-read, practical book explains how families function and what you can do to change the way you act in your family and with other people. Exercises show how to apply the principles to your own situation and develop a more positive approach to all aspects of your life.
  
  
• Creating a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and Congregational Life © 1996 Fortress Press
  

(From Amazon.com) Among the most helpful and widely acclaimed resources for addressing church conflict and the quality of church life is Richardson's groundbreaking volume Creating a Healthier Church (Fortress Press, 1996). His application of family systems theory to congregational life has enormously clarified its operative systems and especially its emotional system.

• Becoming a Healthier Pastor: Family Systems Theory and the Pastor’s Own Family (Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling) © 2004 Fortress Press
  

(From Amazon.com) In this sequel to Creating a Healthier Church, Richardson employs the same methodology to address the roots of personal issues that may hinder pastors' ability to function effectively as leaders within their congregations, and may in fact cause them deep difficulties. He especially addresses pastors' own families of origin, a major but often hidden component in how they function emotionally in their congregations. When anxiety arises, unresolved familial issues and old family patterns return, often unhelpfully. Richardson explores these patterns, how they operate in church situations, and how pastors can do their own family-of-origin assessment. His volume will become a standard tool for analysis of patterns in ministerial behavior and developing strong personal effectiveness.

Rodriguez, Nelson M. & Leila E. Villaverde

Nelson M. Rodriguez is assistant professor of Education at Ohio University.

Leila E. Villaverde is assistant professor of cultural foundations in the Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations Department at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC.

• Dismantling White Privilege: pedagogy, politics, and whiteness. ©2000 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
  
  (from Amazon.com) Dismantling White Privilege critically interrogates whiteness across contexts, from the experiential level to the different ways in which whiteness is deployed in contemporary cultural politics. The editors and contributors contend that "marking" whiteness is an important step in dismantling white privilege within the context of concerns for equity and social justice. Significant to this anthology is linking analyses of whiteness to the discourse of critical pedagogy, especially around constructing "pedagogies of whiteness." Investigating whiteness in its many manifestations, Dismantling White Privilege represents a necessary advance concerning the intersection among race, culture, and pedagogy.

Snow, Luther K.

Luther K. Snow served as director of the Congregational Asset Mapping Project for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and has over 25 years of experience in asset building in communities, congregations, and faith-based organizations. He now conducts workshops and offers direct consulting to congregations and community organizations.

• The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts ©2004 Alban Institute
  

This book attempts to make us believe, once again, in miracles…Snow asks simply that we refocus on our half-full rather than half-empty realities, that we appreciate anew our own gifts and capacities and those of our neighbors, that we connect those gifts to one another in creative combinations, and that we activate those connections to strengthen our congregations and communities. (Excerpt from Foreword)

Steinke, Peter L.

Peter L. Steinke is an internationally respected congregational systems consultant who ahs also served as a parish pastor, an educator, and a therapist for clergy.

• Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being calm and courageous no matter what. © 2006 The Alban Institute
  
  “If your congregation is experiencing smooth sailing right now, this will be good preventative medicine. If you are feeling some of the cold winds of controversy, it will help you navigate them and stay healthy. If you are afraid you are about to capsize, this may help you right the ship. In any case, you will find the practical wisdom in this book to be a gift.” (from the Foreword by Bishop Rick Foss, ELCA)

Curriculum

Troubling the Waters for Healing of the Church: A journey for White Christians from privilege to partnership written by Joyce Caldwall, AIM and The Rev. Paul Benz © 2004, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Ms. Joyce Caldwell, project coordinator and lead writer, is an associate in ministry in the ELCA, serving as Director of the Multicultural Urban-Suburban Emerging Youth Leaders (MUSEYL) program of the Nehemiah Project in Milwaukee, WI.

The Rev. Paul Benz, co-facilitator and secondary writer, is currently serving as Director of Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State.


This curriculum includes a Leaders Guide and Participants Handouts. This study is an invitation to explore who we are. The 18 sessions in this resource follows the church year,

1. Season of Advent: A time of new beginning. These sessions engage participants in looking at God’s promise and vision and in beginning the journey to examine White privilege.
2. Season of Christmas and Epiphany: A time of new insights and understanding. These seasons provide time and guidance for remembering one’s own story and for listening and learning from people of color and for hearing history and stories often untold.
3. Season of Lent: A time for repentance. Weekly sessions lead participants in Bible study and discussion to examine the legacy of racism and white privilege in the United States, both in the church and in one’s own personal history.
4. Season of Pentecost: a time for action. The story of Peter and Cornelius will guide participants in prayer and vision and in taking steps to live out the vision of an inclusive church.

 

One Body Many Members: A journey for Christians across Race, Culture and Class © 2006 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

http://www.elca.org/onebody/

This on-line resource is different from most.  You won’t be immersed in a book and you won’t have pages to turn in sequential order. As in our life journeys, we start where we are – often not in the same place as someone else heading toward the same destination. We stop at different gas stations and refreshment places along the way, see different sites, take different routes, and even take different modes of transportation. Sometimes we join a tour group, but even then we have opportunities for individual sight-seeing.

Divided into three sections, this guided assessment tool will help you click and zoom in on the section “One Body-Similar Members.” Additional clicks will take you to parts of the map where you need more guided direction. As you complete one focus area of the map, you can zoom in on another section. Your response to the assessment tool will guide you to particular exercises, discussions, and reflection pieces.

Websites

Alban Institute www.alban.org/bookstore.aspx

Teaching Tolerance www.tolerance.org

Congregational Resource Guide www.congregationalresources.org
A free online guide to resources for faith communities.

Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith www.practicingourfaith.org

Violence Prevention - Paul Kivel - www.paulkivel.com – Paul Kivel, Violence Prevention Educator, offers workshops, books for sale, and free resources for those seeking materials on social justice.

Daniel Erlander - www.danielerlander.com

ARE: a renewal enterprise - http://arenewalenterprise.com – Kelly Fryer, Tana Kojas, and Dave Daubert

Reforming Hope www.reforminghope.com/contact.html - Steve Goodwin

Kaleidoscope Institute - www.ladiocese.org/ki/ - Eric Law

Natural Church Development www.ncd-international.org

The Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission Unit of the ELCA (EOCM) introduced the use of Natural Church Development (NCD) in 2003. NCD is a valuable ministry process-development tool. NCD offers a five-step process, six natural organizing principles, eight quality characteristics and an NCD coach to assess and develop congregational vitality. NCD is not a program, magic bullet, or a quick fix. It is recommended that any congregation using this tool to assist in their ministry development agrees to a three-year commitment and the use of an NCD coach. For more information, contact your mission director.

Grants

Contact your mission director

The 2009 EOCM Grant process opened September 1, 2007. Normally, the Grant applications deadline is February 1 one year prior to the funding cycle. Each synod has their own time-line based on their outreach committee and synod council meetings and synod assembly dates.

If interested in applying for an EOCM grant, contact your mission director before February 1, 2008.

Download the general instruction sheet: Instructions 2009 EOCM Grant Application.pdf

The Grant application form is available in two styles – narrative and table. Use whichever is most helpful. Early and regular contact with your mission director is recommended.

· Option A - 2009 EOCM Grant Application Form - Table in Word document

· Option B - Form: 2009 EOCM Grant Application Narrative in Word

All requests for an EOCM grant must address the EOCM purpose and ministry goals found on the ELCA EOCM web site at http://www.elca.org/eocm/.

Congregations may apply for an EOCM Grant under one of the following categories:

Categories for Grant Application & Activities (pdf)

If interested in applying for an EOCM grant, contact your mission director before February 1, 2008.

 

Time-line:

If you would like to talk to someone about mission and ministry, please contact the mission director in your synod:

2009 EOCM Grant Programs and Activities
click here for list in pdf format

Evangelical Outreach & Congregational Mission
Programs and Activities Categories

 

100 Development of New Congregations

100-110 New Start
100-120 Maturing Grants
100-130 Authorized Worshiping Communities
100-150 Mission Satellites

220 Fast-Growth

220-110 Fast-Growth Grants

300 Renewal of Strategic Congregations

300-110 Ministry Adjustment
300-120 Transformation of Congregations
300-130 Consolidations/Mergers/Relocations
300-140 Synod Administration

410 Ethnic Strategies

410-110 African American/Black
410-120 Hispanic/Latino
410-130 Asian
410-140 American Indian/Alaska Native
410-150 Middle East Arab

600 Ministry with the Poor

600-110 Strategic Synod Word & Sacrament
600-120 Word and Service Ministry
600-130 Churchwide/Synod Collaboration

700 Mission Services

700-110 Global/Ecumenical Partnerships
700-120 Institutional Alliances
700-170 Specialized Ministries

Brief Description of
Evangelical Outreach & Congregational Mission
Programs and Activities Categories

100-130 Authorized Worshiping Communities

Synod strategies may identify locations for approved worshiping communities in response to needs for local Lutheran worship. A small local group will be gathered to design an appropriate response to those needs. The local group shall be responsible for the costs.

220-110 Fast Growth Grants

This activity serves new congregations that have proven to be on a fast growth trajectory.

300-110 Ministry Adjustment

Ministry adjustments involve congregations that are ready, willing and able to made mid-course corrections in outreach ministry with short-term guidance and minimal outside financial support. Ministry adjustments can occur in a variety of rural, suburban or urban settings, and shall focus on making or keeping the congregation reflective of and responsive to its service area. 

300-120 Transformation of Congregations

Congregations that intend to turn their ministry around by initiating change in its staff, operating procedure, program, and outreach may apply to become a Transformation Congregation.

300-130 Consolidations/Mergers/Relocations

This activity will assist congregations through the consolidation, merger or relocation process leading to the renewal of the congregation.

300-140 Synod Administration

This strategy takes seriously the need to develop a new culture for ministry. This strategy does not recommend closure of the congregation and a fresh start of a totally new community but rather sees the potential strength in the lay membership to warrant renewal of ministry

600-110 Strategic Synod Word & Sacrament

EOCM will use this activity to work in partnership with synods to support ministries of Word and Sacrament located in communities where financial self reliance of the congregation/ministry may not be possible.

600-120 Word and Service Ministry

This activity may support word and service ministries which reach out in service, support and with invitation to participation in the body of Christ with people living in poverty.

EOCM Calendar