The following list is a sampling of resources for those who preach. The Resource Center maintains a large collection of additional resources on preaching and homiletics. Your inquiries, suggestions, and input are welcome!

• Preaching, worship planning, Christian education resources and more at TextWeek.com (external link)
• Additional preaching helps from Luther Seminary at WorkingPreacher.org
• The annual Festival of Homiletics features “best preaching” from pastors across the church. Check out information for the next event on the Good Preacher website (external link).
• A rich well of resources including preaching helps can be found online at the Congregational Resource Guide (external link) including the web resource, “Preaching Today: Sorting It Out (external link)”
• SundaysandSeasons.com (external link) now includes a preaching module with reference tools and a flexible platform for writing sermons
• Series of videos on particular texts: “Preaching from the Periscopes” available for loan from the Resource Center
• Series of videos on the art and practice of preaching called “Great Preachers” available for loan from the Resource Center
• Books of children’s sermons
• Sundays and Seasons follows the church year and the three-year Revised Common Lectionary to help worship planners, preachers, lay leaders, and others as they prepare for weekly worship—available for loan
• Sermons and presentations including sermons from the annual Festival of Homiletics are available on CD – for loan from the Resource Center
• Copies of lectionary preaching aid, New Proclamation, are available for loan from the Resource Center

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Creation Waits with Eager Longing (external link) is a set of resources from Living Earth: A Lenten Journey. It includes a worship series and weekly themes of reflection, remembrance, rediscovery, repentance, reconciliation, and recommitment about becoming more faithful stewards of God’s creation.

For helpful information about the season of Lent, Palm/Passion Sunday, the Three Days and services of daily prayer, take a look at the third volume in the Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship series, Keeping Time: The Church’s Years.

A Lenten devotional series called Holy Lent Holy Land Holy People: A Journey Through the Sermon on the Mount includes true stories from the Holy Land, journeys through the Sermon on the Mount with copy-ready biblical commentary and preaching reflections, and original art from Bethlehem. The adaptable Word document (download .doc file) also contains music, prayers, litanies, questions for reflection and discussion, and can be used for Lenten mid-week worship or Bible study. It was developed in 2008 by the Peace Not Walls task force of the Southwestern Texas Synod (external link) and is offered as a free resource to the church at-large. Visit the ELCA Peace Not Walls (external link) for more information and resources.

For a Lenten DVD series on grace, check out Down and Out: Where Grace Takes You. This six part series reintroduces viewers to the life-changing reality of God’s promises and points the way to a completely different view of life in light of grace. Sessions are 19-25 minutes each. Available for loan.

In the six part series, What’s God Up To? Bible Stories Through New Eyes, provocative and thoughtful biblical teacher, Amy-Jill Levine asks edgy questions about familiar bible stories. Sessions are 25 minutes each. DVD available for loan.

Many additional series are available for small groups, individual study, and reflection. See the online catalog and the e-resource for December 2009, Open for Exploration for additional recommendations.

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

For a rich Lenten worship experience, be sure to consider the new Holden Prayer Around the Cross, a set of resources by Susan Briehl, Tom Witt, and Marty Haugen adapted from Holden Evening Prayer and Prayer Around the Cross. It includes fourteen sample liturgies that could be used in a variety of settings. To accompany Holden Prayer Around the Cross, a set of musical resources is available in Singing Our Prayer: Companion to Holden Prayer Around the Cross.

Ask about a new Lenten series called Water for Your Soul: Living in Baptism Every Day by Glenn Borreson. It’s a powerful way to focus on baptismal catechesis and includes material for Ash Wednesday to Holy Week.

Brand new from Augsburg Fortress, Worship Guidebook for Lent and the Three Days is a must-have for worship planners and leaders. The Music Sourcebook for Lent and the Three Days is also new. Preview copies available.

The 40 Day Journey books for small group study or individual use are ideal for Lent. The newest is Book of Faith Lenten Journey: Marks of the Christian (based on Romans 12). Additional titles include 40 Days with the Lord’s Prayer;

40 Day Journeys with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Joan Chittister, Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther, Madeleine L’Engle and others.

Find complete worship planning beginning with Ash Wednesday see the newly expanded resources online at Sundays and Seasons (external link).

Gail Ramshaw’s 40 Days and 40 Nights is a beautiful collection of readings for the weeks of Lent.

The Three Day Feast (by Gail Ramshaw) from Worship Matters gives worshipers and worship planners much to ponder – a feast itself!

Lutheran poet and writer, Herb Brokering, has given us Stations of the Heart, a beautiful book of devotional reflections.

Finally, take a look at From Death to Life, a new book about resurrection hope by EaND synod pastor Scott Block, Grace / Oakes and Nazareth/Cogswell.

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

• The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder is a wonderful read about a magical Advent calendar and an incredible journey for individuals and families. (B3457)
• For worship planners and others involved in creating sacred space for Advent and Christmas, be sure to check the updated Sundays and Seasons (external link) from Augsburg Fortress. It includes many more resources for comprehensive planning including music, images, and background information.
• Prophets and Angels: An Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols from AFP includes an audio CD, the service of lessons and carols, and full instrumental score.
• Family Advent-ures is a guide to help families observe each day of Advent. For all ages, it includes scripture, storytelling, and activities. (PR1010)
• Check out Text Week: Year C (external link) for texts, images, articles, preaching helps, reflections and more.
• Check out the Saint Nicholas Center (external link) For unique ideas for giving and celebrating
• Visit www.elca.org and search for Advent resources (external link), especially ideas (external link) for alternative Christmas giving (external link).
• Discover new stories that embrace the joy of the Christ child’s birth while uncovering your own personal Advent stories in In My Heart I Carry a Star: Stories for Advent by Derek Maul. (B3649)
• Resources for midweek Advent worship include Joyous Light by Ray McKeever; Holden Evening Prayer by Marty Haugen; Prayer Around the Cross, a reflective service of prayer and meditation; and Unfailing Light by Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl. Additional options include a midweek service based on the O Antiphons in Sundays and Seasons 2010; and evening prayer in LBW and ELW.

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Open for Exploration!

Connect with the Resource Center: Ways to Help Your Congregation

• Find topical collections of resources for all areas of congregational life
• Include the synod website, brochures and bookmarks, and resource collections in your church communications
• Bring your church council, parish education committee, worship leaders, women’s group, youth leaders for a tour of the center. We’re happy to share resources and we welcome input and requests.
• Use the Resource Center for meetings, sharing and learning together.
• Julie Aageson, Director of the Resource Center, welcomes invitations to share resources with pastoral conferences, women’s and men’s groups, and in other congregational settings. Call to make a date!
• Check out the synod website and online catalog

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Updated November 19, 2009

One of the most difficult faith issues of our day centers on matters of sexuality and our differing perspectives. Trying to determine exactly what it means to welcome gay and lesbian people to full participation in the life of our congregations continues to be a challenge for us. We have asked for discerning conversation within the church and called for an end to discrimination, assault, and harassment of homosexual persons. But questions related to leadership issues of ordination as well as blessings for same-sex unions remain. How will we as Christians continue to grapple with these complicated issues of human sexuality? How can we be faithful, compassionate, gracious as we wrestle with the place of homosexual persons in the community of faith?

This collection of resources includes materials that reflect the church’s ongoing conversation. It is meant to further productive dialogue. This is by no means a comprehensive list. It is one of many compilations of thoughtful resources. Our hope is that these materials will contribute to understanding and insight. As we continue to work toward a satisfactory policy for including gay and lesbian persons in the life of the church, we invite our congregations to pray for discernment and to use the many resources meant to help address this issue confronting both church and society. Then perhaps we can begin to move beyond divisiveness and politically correct ideologies (whatever they are) to talk about human faces and about justice for and reconciliation with all God’s people.

Featured Resources:

• The Blue Book – What We Wish We Had Known: Breaking the Silence, Moving Toward Understanding
• Congregational Hospitality to Gay and Lesbian People: Resources for Congregations
• Congregations Talking About Homosexuality by Beth Ann Gaede
• Now the Silence Breaks: Toward A Pastoral Understanding of Homosexuality
• Beyond the Bible: Parents, Families and Friends Talk About Religion and Homosexuality
• When Christians Disagree by Harvey and Lois Seifert
• “My Journey Isn’t Over” by Gwen Sayler
• “Sexuality in Ministry” – Spring 2001 issue of dialog: A Journal of Theology
• “Same Gender Unions? Ordination?”
• Bishop’s Pastoral Letter on Resolution #1: The Recognition and Blessing of Relationships by Peter Rogness
• A Call for Dialog: Gay and Lesbian Christians and the Ministry of the Church
• I Belong by Janet Blair
• Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection edited by James B. Nelson and Sandra P. Longfellow
• “There is Almost No Justice for Homosexuals in Christianity” by Clark Morphew
• Breaking Silence: A Message to Clergy from a Lesbian Lutheran
• Statement to the Conference of Bishops by Jane Ralph and Delaney Dean
• Gay and Lesbian Ministry in the ELCA by Verlyn Smith
• Homosexuality, Science and the “Plain Sense” of Scripture, edited by David L. Balch
• Homosexuality in the Church: Both Sides of the Debate, ed. by Jeffrey Siker
• Homosexuality and the Christian Faith: Questions of Conscience for the Churches edited by Walter Wink
• The Church and the Homosexual by John J. McNeill
• Sexual Fulfillment by Herbert Chilstrom and Lowell Erdahl
• The New Testament and Homosexuality by Robin Scroggs
• Homosexuality and Christian Community edited by Choon-Leong Seow
• Living in Sin: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality by John Shelby Spong
• The Church and Homosexuality: Searching for a Middle Ground by Merton P. Strommen
• Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology by James B. Nelson
• Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? Another Christian View by Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott
• Pastoral Care of Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families by David K. Switzer
• Can We Just Talk About It: The Church and Homosexuality (video)
• Call to Witness (video)
• Lutherans Reflect on Human Sexuality (video)
• May We Talk? A Reflection on Human Sexuality (video)
• My Son, My Son (video)
• One Christian’s Journey (video)
• Talking Together as Christians About Homosexuality: A Guide for Congregations (video)
• Water on the Desert Road: Acts 8 and Unauthorized Ministries with Barbara Lundblad (video)

Featured Links:

• ELCA Journey Together Faithfully (external link)
• Lutherans Concerned / North America (external link)
• The Leaven Center (external link)
• Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (external link)
• Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (external link)
• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (external link)

Recent Additions:

Added November 19, 2009

• Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust Social Statement (external link) adopted at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly
• ELCA Ministry Policies (external link)
  This page provides the ELCA’s current ministry policies and information on the process for implementing changes in ministry policies mandated by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.
• Reflections on the ELCA Churchwide Assembly and the Bible (external link) by Timothy Wengert
• Frequently Asked Questions about the 2009 Churchwide Assembly (external link) actions regarding human sexuality
• Beyond the Bible and Homosexuality: A Journey into the Heart of God
  A presentation at Seminary of the Prairie by the Rev. Steven Kindle (Open Files, 2004)
• The ELCA in Dialogue: We Need to Talk (VT2482)
  Dialogue, stories and experiences of individuals and families from the Red River Valley of ND and MN. Copies may be ordered from dialoguevideo@yahoo.com
• For the Bible Tells Me So (DVD272)
  This award-winning documentary addresses questions of homosexuality and Biblical scripture. It deals with questions like “is the chasm separating Christianity from gay and lesbian persons too wide to cross?” and “does God condemn loving homosexual relationships?” It offers stories and experiences of healing, clarity, and understanding to anyone “caught in the cross hairs of scripture and sexual identity.
• What Does This Mean? A Lutheran Way of Approaching Scripture, the Christian Faith, and 2009 ELCA Decisions
  A PowerPoint presentation prepared by synod leaders, Shar Gumke and Rich Fitzer, for congregations discussing the actions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. DVD includes PP, sexuality documents, and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson’s presentations. (Open Files)
• Homosexuality: Perspectives for the Church (DVD4)
  These four perspectives reflect conservative notions of issues related to sexuality including what presenters call “the pseudo-identity of homosexuality.” It supports therapy to change sexual orientation.
• Listening to the Spirit: A Handbook for Discernment (B3654)
  Presents a process of discernment for guidance in considering the question, “what is the gospel message to our church as we relate to gay and lesbian Christians?”
• And God Loves Each One (PR1011)
  A resource for dialogue about sexual orientation.
• “Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?” (external link)
  An article by Tony and Peggy Campolo
• Made in God’s Image (PR1012)
  A resource for dialogue about the church and gender differences.
• What Do You Say When Someone You Love Says, I’m Gay? (VT2309)
  A father, pastor and bishop discusses the issue of homosexuality and the struggle in church and society to make sense of the issue.
• Dealing with Tough Issues as Christians (VT2283)
  Demonstrates a process for helping people discuss tough controversial issues honestly and without fear. Part two focuses on homosexuality. Guide.
• Taking a New Look: Why Congregations Need LGBT Members (B3655)
  Invites congregations to welcome and affirm gender differences, helping members see the blessings differently gendered persons bring to the church.
• Greater Milwaukee Synod Sexuality Discussion (VT2416)
  This three part presentation includes helpful reflections on various aspects of homosexuality and the role of the church. Speakers include former bishops, John Beem and Herbert Chilstrom and Drs. Gordon Lathrop and Bruce Malchow.
• As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same Gender Marriage by Chris Glaser (Seabury Books)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

When budget is closely tied to the vision of ministry—particularly by those responsible for making that vision reality—then two positive outcomes result: staff can be held more accountable for what happens, and the annual fund drive can be based on the vision of ministry.

» Download: Planning and the Budget (download pdf file)

Planning and the Budget

by Dan Hotchkiss

Congregations often plan and budget as though planning were one thing and budgeting another. Bringing the two together calls for a comprehensive calendar for goal-setting and evaluation.

A key event in the sequence is the annual planning retreat. Typically, this event includes the board and senior members of the staff, including lay staff as appropriate. Ideally, the group spends at least a day and a half off-site with a strict no-cell-phone rule. The agenda varies from year to year; the focus is always on discernment and strategy, the two zones of responsibility shared by board and staff. Some special attention to the mission is appropriate every year—but it is rarely a good use of time to tweak the wording of the mission statement that often; once every five years is more than enough, unless something is terribly wrong with the existing statement.

A more necessary work product from the retreat and related activities is the annual vision of ministry, an answer to the question, “In what new and different ways will we transform lives in the next one to three years?” To put it differently, the vision of ministry is the board’s short list of priorities. Why a short list? Because when a list of priorities is long, they’re not priorities! The vision of ministry is a short list of things the board means to accomplish, no matter what. The fact that something does not make the list does not mean that it won’t happen. While creating the vision, the board will bank a number of ideas for the future: pieces of a long-term vision to which the board is not prepared to make an ironclad commitment now. There is no way to do this without sometimes saying no.

The exact process for creating the vision of ministry will change from year to year. In some years, the ministry priorities may be so obvious that the board creates the vision quickly and uses the planning retreat for other purposes. Most of the time the vision of ministry emerges from a yearlong conversation, followed by deeper reflection and exchange during the retreat.

In addition to a vision of ministry, the planning retreat produces “open questions.” In discussing the congregation’s work and drawing out the hopes and worries of its leaders, retreat participants may find technical challenges surfacing that all but suggest their own solutions. If the boiler is broken, you fix it. Other challenges do not lend themselves to quick or even slow decision making. Perhaps your congregation needs to decide whether to abandon, renovate, or replace a building that has been the main symbol of its identity for 150 years. Or you may wonder how to serve a neighborhood whose residents are different from the people of your congregation. You may have a nagging sense, as Jonah did, that God is calling you to make radical changes, but the subject is too hot to push it to decision making. The board could make up its mind and announce a solution prematurely, but that seems likely to increase division rather than encourage movement toward a decision. With such challenges, the board can make a major contribution simply by stating the issue clearly as an open question—one it expects the congregation to address sometime in the future, but not now. For now, the next step is sustained, reflective, and inclusive conversation.

After the retreat, everyone has work to do. The staff needs to translate the board’s vision of ministry into goals and objectives. In larger churches, the senior staff has goals of its own. Even a simple common slogan, like “We will integrate social outreach into everything we do,” can be a good counter to the tendency of busy staff members to draw back into their departments. The staff’s goals take the board’s vision of ministry and move it to a more practical level. If the vision of ministry says, “We will make room to welcome more people,” the staff might say, “After the first of the year, we will add a second session to our children’s Sunday school. By then we will be ready to double the number of parking-lot greeters skilled at hospitality to families with children.”

Individual staff members set goals next. Beginning each staff member’s goal-setting conversation with the board’s vision of ministry and goals set by senior staff helps put parochial concerns into the context of the wider mission. It is the job of every ministry team leader to set the stage for goal setting in this way. Then the team proceeds to set goals for itself, and the staff member (in consultation with his or her team, supervisor, and colleagues) sets goals for himself or herself. A practice that promotes a sense of permission and autonomy among teams and their leaders is to presume that their goals will be consistent with the board and senior staff goals, and to deal only with exceptions, instead of sending all goals up the line to be approved.

The budget itself may be assembled by a finance committee and presented to the board for approval. A better process, though, is to put responsibility for creating the budget in the same place as responsibility for achieving the vision of ministry: the staff. At the very least, the head of staff should be required to sign off on the budget, saying to the board, “I believe this budget is a reasonable plan to achieve our vision.” Or not. In many congregations the budget process sails right from the committees to the board without the clergy leader (or other head of staff) even having to express an opinion. Under that procedure, it is a stretch to hold the head of staff accountable for much of anything.

With a budget created in this way, the annual fund drive can be based on the vision of ministry as well. Contributors are asked for amounts that, if most of them say “yes,” will make the vision possible. The board, clergy, and staff make it clear that the vision is not just something they hope to shoot for; it’s a goal they mean to reach. Year after year, people learn that when the congregation asks for gifts, it means what it says. If the members give what is asked, the results promised—the vision of lives changed through ministry—will happen.

Comment on this article on the Alban Roundtable blog (external link)

Other Resources:

Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership
by Dan Hotchkiss
In Governance and Ministry, Alban Institute senior consultant Dan Hotchkiss offers congregational leaders a roadmap and tools for changing the way boards and clergy work together to lead congregations. Hotchkiss demonstrates that the right governance model is the one that best enables a congregation to fulfill its mission—to achieve both the outward results and the inward quality of life to which it is called.

When Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision for Large Congregations
by Gil Rendle and Susan Beaumont
In When Moses Meets Aaron, Gil Rendle and Susan Beaumont help clergy responsible for several-member staff teams learn to be both Moses and Aaron—both a visionary and a detail-oriented leader—in order for their large congregations to thrive. They immerse the best of corporate human resource tools in a congregational context, providing a comprehensive manual for supervising, motivating, and coordinating staff teams.

Discerning God’s Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church
Danny E. Morris and Charles M. Olsen
Bible study, research, and fieldwork merge in this book of practical principles for decision making by spiritual discernment. The step-by-step approach can be used to help any size group learn a new way to make decisions—a way that is interactive, spiritual, and rooted in faith practices and community.

When Better Isn’t Enough: Evaluation Tools for the 21st-Century Church
by Jill M. Hudson
Approaching the postmodern era as a tremendous opportunity, Hudson identifies 12 characteristics by which we can measure effective ministry for the early 21st century. Based on those 12 criteria, Hudson has created evaluation tools to help congregations improve their ministry, help members and staff grow in effectiveness, deepen a sense of partnership, and add new richness to the dialogue about a congregation’s future.

Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders
by Charles M. Olsen
Olsen presents a bold vision of leadership—one that offers church board work as an integral part of congregational leaders’ faith experience and development. Board or council members’ faith is engaged and informs the way they conduct the church’s business. Discover inspiring, practical ways your board can make its meetings become opportunities for deepening faith, developing leadership, and ultimately renewing your church.

Copyright © 2009, the Alban Institute. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from the Alban Institute. (external link)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

“A healthy [church] is one that actively and responsibly addresses  or heals its disturbances, not one with an absence of trouble.”
- Peter Steinke

It’s a reality of life that the Body of Christ, the church, wrestles continually with difficult issues and challenging times.  Whether it’s economic hardship, mission and outreach, interpretation of scripture, denominational decisions, or any of many other challenges, “being church” has always been fraught with disagreements, anxiety, and differing points of view.  Our Lutheran heritage is one of ongoing  reformation.  We are a church known for asking hard questions and struggling with real issues of life and faith. The following resources are a sampling of print and media materials meant to help provide some leadership tools for dealing with anxious times.

Julie K. Aageson
Director, The Resource Center
Coordinator, ELCA Resource Centers

• Peter Steinke’s work for church leaders is invaluable.  His book and accompanying video reflections, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What will be especially helpful.  Steinke’s video, The Balancing Act, also provides good background. (B3302, DVDs146, 147)
• Additional articles, books, and media resources related to anxiety and family systems are described in the resource sheet: Family Systems and Healthy Congregations
• The video Reinventing Leadership with Rabbi Edwin Friedman describes how congregations become dysfunctional when gripped by anxiety.  (VT1689)
• Transitions and change are themes in Craig Satterlee’s When God Speaks Through Change, a “must read” for preachers and others who want to help congregations experience God’s presence, grace, power, and direction in challenging times. (B3078)
• Two Nooma films may help address some of the anxiety of difficult issues. These ten minute DVDs include You and Whirlwind. You deals with heated debates and disagreements. Whirlwind addresses how much we want certainty and answers in a world that often is uncertain.  (DVD 174 & 278)
• For worship, Stilling the Storm: Worship and Congregational Leadership in Difficult Times by Kathleen Smith shows how difficult times affect the worship life of a congregation and how worship can be a key part of healing.  (B3310)
• A short read, Difficult Conversations by Katie Day provides concrete direction for initiating, cultivating, and sustaining discussion of troubling issues.  (B3564)
• “Called to Deal With Difficult Issues” is a four-session method for congregational theological reflection and decision making.  It could be adapted to fit a number of topics.  (PR871)
• Differences is the title of a 4-minute DVD to help people explore and discuss their own differences through the ‘voices’ of dogs. It begins by exploring differences and ends by discovering how much we have in common.  It also helps point to common ground on which to build unity.  Supplementary materials at www.differencesfilm.com (external link) (DVD269)
• Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations by David Brubaker helps leaders manage conflict in the face of change.  (B3608)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

When pastors leave, a congregation begins the process of looking for new leadership.  Similarly, clergy leaving and clergy being considered for call begin a process of evaluation.  The following resources help both clergy and congregation through this important process.

Books

• Considering a New Call by James Antal (Alban) (B2480)
• Change of Pastors and How It Affects Change in the Congregation by Loren Mead (Alban) (B3121)
• Alban Guide to Managing the Pastoral Search Process by John Vonhof
• Elephant in the Boardroom: Speaking the Unspoken about Pastoral Transitions by Carolyn Weese and J. Russell Crabtree
• Pastors in Transition by Dean Hoge and J. Wenger (B3193)

Printed Resources

• Running Through the Thistles: Terminating a Ministerial Relationship with a Parish by Roy Oswald (PR808)
• So You’re on the Search Committee by Bunty Ketcham (PR1007)
• Ending Well, Starting Strong (Alban) PR1008

Organization

Interim Ministry Network (external link)
Dedicated to encouraging and educating congregational leaders during interim periods, the Interim Ministry Network provides education and information on the interim process, professional support and development, and practice standards.  Call synod office for contact information.

Other Media

• “To Call a Pastor: Helping Call Committees” (VT1620)
• Why You Should Develop a Pastor-Parish Relations Committee (VT2466)
• Many Voices Discussion Video for “The Congregation” (VT2466)
• “Ending Well, Starting Strong” (C299)
• Clergy/Staff Selection Tips (articles from Net Results) (K75)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog

The following resources are available immediately by calling the Resource Center in the synod office.  These are for worship, individual use, and community gatherings.  Most are reproducible and can be adapted to fit different community and congregational settings.

Worship Resources:

• Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl’s Turn My Heart is a collection of worship litanies, hymns and scripture that can be used in small groups, for community prayer, or individually. CD and book for loan.
• Suggested hymns:
  • Healer of Our Every Ill (ELW, WOV)
  • Shepherd Me, O God (ELW)
  • Out of the Depths I Cry to You (ELW)
  • Thy Holy Wings (ELW, LBW)
  • You Are Mine (ELW)
  • On Eagle’s Wings (WOV, ELW)
• A Rite for Marking a Time of Natural Disaster by Pastor Linda Henke (from Marking Time: Christian Rituals for All Our Days) includes a prayer and liturgy that can be reproduced for one-time use with the inclusion of a copy statement.
• Services that can be adapted and/or reproduced include the following:
  • A Light to Lighten Our Darkness
  • Paraphrases from Psalms 61 and 62
  • A Prayer for Those Distressed (said or sung to “Take My Life, That I Might Be”
  • A Service of Word and Prayer based on Isaiah 35, 2 Corinthians, and Psalm 23
  • A Community Gathering to Share Winter Stories, Offer Help, Encourage One Another, and Give Thanks for the Gifts God Has Given Us to Share

Web Resources:

• ELCA.feautor.org > Resources in times of disaster
  Two downloadable hymns for times of disaster
• ELCA Disaster Response
  Multiple downloadable resources that may be helpful during this difficult time
• Lutheran Disaster Response
  Additional resources appropriate for worship and individual use

See also, Resource Center Recommended Collection: “A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance: Resources for Difficult Times“

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the Resource Center | Search the Catalog