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After the Storm
By Melanie Barnett Wright
When the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth split apart, many continuing Episcopal congregations, including St. Alban’s Church in Arlington were shut out of the church buildings they had worshipped in for years. In “After the Storm,” Melanie Barnett Wright, writing during a recent tornado watch, reflects on how the choices made following the split have helped St. Alban’s grow and thrive.
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Becoming a Resurrection People
By Katherine Schnorrenberg
With churches often seen as places of sanctuary and safety, the May 2012 shooting at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, Maryland was devastating. For the families of the three people killed, the congregation, and the community, their grief and shock at this senseless, terrible act, united them in mourning. Together, they asked: How can we recover from this? How can we make these senseless deaths somehow have a deeper meaning? How can we overcome this tragedy? A year later, Katherine Schnorrenberg reports on the congregation’s commitment to “Becoming a Resurrection People.”
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Crisis Communications: Managing In
By Linda Hanick and Nathan Brockman
“Crisis Communications: Managing In” by Linda Hanick and Nathan Brockman offers congregations practical recommendations for managing the sometimes overlooked aspect of crisis communications: how and when you communicate within your own organization.
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Después de la Tormenta
By Melanie Barnett Wright
Así que en St. Alban’s abrimos nuestros ojos para ver quiénes estaban necesitados a nuestro alrededor. Adoptamos esta declaración de misión: “Estamos llamados a ser las manos del Señor en este lugar, abiertas a todos, extendiéndolas a la comunidad y al mundo”.
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Finding God in the Raging Storm
By Frank Wade
The April 2013 events in Boston and West, Texas have again attuned our minds to the reality of crises in our lives. When crises occur, people often turn instinctively to the church, in the same way a stumbling person reaches for a handrail. Are our churches prepared to provide spiritual leadership in a time of crisis?
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From the Ashes
By Michael Sniffen
The sense of powerlessness that sets in following a crisis can be paralyzing. At St. Luke and St. Matthew Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, the fire not only caused significant damage, having been ruled arson, it also threatened to engender fear. “From the Ashes” by Michael Sniffen relates the congregation’s decision to embrace rather than fear their neighbors, choosing to stand in the prophetic line of faithful communities who have given themselves up in service to the Gospel.
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Leap of Faith
By Jack Hauber
Emmanuel Church in Moorefield, West Virginia is a tiny church with an older congregation, unable to support even a half-time rector. Yet each week for over five years, in response to significant and increasing unemployment in their community, this congregation has provided a free lunch to people who are hungry. In “Leap of Faith,” Jack Hauber shares the secret of how this small congregation sustains its own loaves and fishes story.
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Resilency
By Bill Livingston
“Resiliency” by Bill Livingston helps congregations consider the potential impact of a devastating disaster, looking beyond the immediate physical needs and issues related to long term recovery, to the church’s unique role of offering a theological understanding and assistance with emotional and spiritual recovery.
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Suwa Bona… I See You, I Hear You
By Kay Collier McLaughlin
“Suwa Bona… I See You, I Hear You” by Kay Collier McLaughlin introduces ‘Holy Conversations,’ a process developed in the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington to help congregations paralyzed by conflict, anger, grief, and/or fear begin the healing process necessary for them to live fully into their ministry.
