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Adapt or Die
By Ken Howard
Doing things the same way is unlikely to produce different results, yet often organizations are unsure about how to break out of old patterns. In “Adapt or Die,” Ken Howard shares the process congregational leaders at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Germantown, Maryland use to live into a more incarnational Christianity.
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Apostolic Selection? Choosing Vestry Members
By John Mark Wiggers
Some congregations find it difficult to recruit nominees for vestry and other leadership positions, John Mark Wiggers shares a different method of vestry selection that has been working at his congregation.
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Discernimiento Constante: La Manera de Jesús
By Blair Pogue
Por los últimos doce años el pueblo de St. Matthew se ha comprometido a iniciar todas las mañanas en oración y a dedicar tiempo a “cavilar” sobre las Escrituras. En este sentido, cavilar consiste en ver las Escrituras de maneras imaginativas, preguntándose sobre ellas y prestando atención a las palabras y las imágenes que les presentan. Uno de los objetivos es demostrar a los líderes legos que participar en las Escrituras no requiere un “experto” formado en un seminario. Dios puede hablarles y dirigirse a sus experiencias cotidianas mediante las Escrituras.
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Feeling Valued
By Ariana Gonzales-Bonillas
Making people feel valued and welcome is key to building community. In “Feeling Valued,” high school senior Ariana Gonzales-Bonillas invites congregational leaders to reflect on the ways youth are valued – or not – in their congregation.
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Ongoing Discernment: The Way of Jesus
By Blair Pogue
How might a congregation ‘refresh’ it’s spiritual identity, keeping it front and center in all that they do? “Ongoing Discernment: The Way of Jesus” by Blair Pogue shares how St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church keeps Christ at the center of all they do through their practices Dwelling in the Word and The Way of Jesus.
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Orientación Para Coadjutores Principales
By Demi Prentiss
Así que se acaba de enterar de que está por convertirse en el flamante coadjutor principal de su feligresía. ¡Oh! ¿Y ahora qué?
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Roadmap for Senior Wardens
By Demi Prentiss
You’ve been elected or selected senior warden for your congregation. You’re eager to take on this challenge and, truth be told, a bit anxious. Demi Prentiss’ “Roadmap for Senior Wardens,” weaves the collective experience of senior wardens into a practical orientation tool to help you get started.
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Sentirse Valorados
By Ariana Gonzáles-Bonillas
A menudo los líderes de las feligresías están interesados en aprender más sobre atraer – y retener – a nuestros jóvenes y adultos jóvenes interesados en la iglesia. Después de ‘conocer’ a la estudiante de último año de la escuela secundaria y diputada lega Ariana Gonzales-Bonilla mediante las páginas del Episcopal Journal de noviembre de 2013 y de haber sido introducida a su experiencia en todos los niveles de nuestra iglesia -- desde grupos de jóvenes de la feligresía hasta la Convención General --, la invité a que reflexionara sobre cosas que las juntas parroquiales podrían considerar en lo referente a reforzar la presencia de jóvenes y de adultos jóvenes.
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Stirrings of the Spirit
By Tom Ely and Susan Ohlindal
Can the Episcopal Church learn something from Tevye of “Fiddler on the Roof?” In “Stirrings of the Spirit” Tom Ely and Susan Ohlindal use Tevye’s struggle to adapt to the changes he faces to introduce the ways the Episcopal Church in Vermont is “open [ing] ourselves to new understandings and expressions of what it means to be spiritual beings.”
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The Consent Agenda: More Efficient Meetings
By Bob Schorr
Could the way you run your meetings be keeping people away from leadership positions? Many of us have sat through meetings that drone on and one, spending valuable time dealing with routine reports or rehashing business from earlier meetings. To help congregational leaders break that cycle, Bob Schorr offers “The Consent Agenda: More Efficient Meetings.”
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Why Not, if it is for Christ?
By Denis C. Brunelle
Discernment is the spiritual discipline of seeking clarity in identifying the mission of the parish and how the parish (vestry) will respond to God’s call. Our hope is to insure that when we step aside, our congregations exist stronger and more faithful for the next generation.
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¿Selección apostólica? Cómo elegir miembros
By John Mark Wiggers
Al reclutar gente para el ministerio de la junta parroquial encontré varios puntos de vacilación en los posibles candidatos. A menudo oí historias de personas que habían presentado candidatura y lo dolidos que se habían sentido al no ser elegidos.
