| | | | | What are we learning as the pandemic persists? |
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Five assumptions failing us now
âWe need to sit in the uncertainty of not knowing for a while yet, as our new normal takes shape. While we wait, we can challenge the old assumptions and work to form better questions about our next chapter.â â Susan Beaumont |
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| The pandemic has challenged five long-standing assumptions about belonging, engagement and membership. As Susan Beaumont says, no doubt you can name others, but these five are worth paying attention to. |
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Pandemics have a lot to teach us about those who lead us |
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| The executive director of Sojourners, Adam Russell Taylor, helps us think about the kind of leadership that the country and our congregations need now. His is an unflinching indictment of what we have experienced but also a message of hope of whatâs possible â if leaders will listen and learn. |
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Resources to respond to the coronavirus.
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COVID-19 should remind us that life is holy, not disposable |
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| The author Paul Brodeur once said that âstatistics are human beings with the tears wiped away.â Almost 200,000 people have died in the United States from COVID-19; more than 900,000 have died globally. As a whole, those numbers are hard to imagine. Pastor and writer Mycal Brickhouse puts a human face on the grief of COVID-19 as remembers his âMomma,â who died of the virus on July 12, 2020. |
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How to Lead When You Donât Know Where Youâre Going
By Susan Beaumont |
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| How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning âwhen the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Beaumont calls such in-between times liminal seasons â threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead. How to Lead When You Donât Know Where Youâre Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution. |
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| Later this year, we will publish an edition of the Alban Weekly about starting ministry in a new setting during the pandemic. If you have moved to a new congregation or a new ministry during these strange months, we want to hear what you learned. Send us an email at [email protected]. Until next week, peace! |
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Managing Director, Alban at Duke Divinity |
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| | | | alban.org // [email protected] |
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