One Hundred Or So Reflections From The Pastor S Desk Taken From Sixty Years Of Ministry In Minnesota And Pennsylvania

The author retired on June 11, 2017, on the sixtieth anniversary of his ordination to the Presbyterian ministry in the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Philadelphia. Over the course of some forty years, serving congregations in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, each month he contributed an editorial for the monthly congregation's newsletter. This book contains what he considers to be the best hundred or so of those writings. Within these pages, you will find reflections on history; the traditional "hatch, match, and dispatch" columns; some humor ("The Twelve Days of a Lenape Valley Christmas"); some spiritual insights into temporary personal setbacks (auto breakdown, open-heart surgery); as well as challenges to better investments of time, talents, and treasure; and, undergirding it all, inspiration for a deeper walk with Christ. May these Spirit-inspired very human words draw you closer to fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

John Piper pleads with fellow pastors to abandon the professionalization of the pastorate and pursue the prophetic call of the Bible for radical ministry.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

This book is a song of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for the people whose courageous witness has transfigured this community-and this pastor. Thanksgiving for the gift of these stories that cry out to be told and retold because in the midst of death they rise to fill the air with life. Breathing Space is the story of a young woman, Heidi Neumark, and the Hispanic and African-American Lutheran church-aptly named Transfiguration-that took a chance calling on a pastor from a starkly different background. Despite living and working in a milieu of overwhelming poverty and violence, Neumark and the congregation encounter even more powerful forces of hope and renewal. This is the story of a church and a community creating space for new life and breath in a place where children suffer the highest asthma rates in the nation. It's also the story of a young woman-working, raising her children, and struggling for spiritual breathing space. Through poignant, intimate stories, Neumark charts her journey alongside her parishioners as pastor, church, and community grow in wisdom and together experience transformation.

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.