Pastoral Resources From the Alban Institute
Ending Well, Starting Strong: Your Personal Pastorate Start-Up Workshop.
A Complete Self-study in Six Audiocassettes and Guide
By Roy M. Oswald
ISBN 1-56699-143-9; 6 cassettes, 60 min each
Alban research shows that the first 12 months in a new pastorate determine the course of one’s entire ministry in that congregation. This 2-day workshop in audiocassette format prepares you to face the issues and develop your strategies for leaving one pastorate and going to another. You will:
- reflect on how you left earlier pastorates, closure style, termination stress, and emotions (yours and the congregation’s);
- explore appropriate management styles for various church sizes, reflect on your management and leadership styles;
- discover the key tasks of the first 9 to 12 months that are critical to a successful beginning; and
- learn how to develop a ministry plan for the first year of a new pastorate.
The accompanying study guide provides self-scoring assessment instruments and supplemental material. This is a must for all clergy contemplating or in the midst of changing pastorates. Six audiocassettes, 60 minutes each.
New Beginnings: The Pastorate Start-Up Workbook
By Roy M. Oswald
ISBN 1-56699-032-7
Getting off to a good start in your new pastorate is crucial. This book draws on years of field experience, research, and time-tested methods that will help you to:
- understand your entry style,
- respect and understand your new congregation’s history and system,
- assess your leadership style,
- know when to make changes,
- create support systems,
- get through first “pinches,”
- take care of yourself in stress,
- get along with those you don’t like, and
- celebrate with the search committee.
Includes stress and strain inventories you can self-administer and score on the spot.
Clergy Renewal: The Alban Guide to Sabbatical Planning
By A. Richard Bullock and Richard J. Bruesehoff
ISBN 1-56699-223-0
Planned time away from the parish for study, rest, and spiritual renewal can be beneficial — and often necessary — for any pastor, as well as for the congregation. In this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Alban’s popular Sabbatical Planning for Clergy and Congregations, Bullock and Bruesehoff provide the definitive guide to putting together refreshing pastoral sabbaticals that can help keep ministry vital and growing for the long term.
