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Category Archives: Civic Engagement

What We’re Reading

African American Churches, Buildings & Spaces, Civic Engagement, Growth & Decline, Latinx Congregations, Leadership, Networks & Relationships, Social Service & ActivismBy Nancy AmmermanSeptember 2, 2020

For all the emptiness and chaos, this is also proving to be a time of creative reassessment. Many religious leaders are discovering the benefits of sharing insights with each other, and a number of organizations and programs are helping to make that possible. At the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) at USC, the…

News for the Studying Congregations Community

Buildings & Spaces, Civic Engagement, Commitment & Belonging, Culture FrameBy Nancy AmmermanMarch 30, 2020

Just about every religious group out there is producing materials to assist congregations in this difficult time. In addition to whatever your own denomination may be providing, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is compiling things that many Protestant leaders may find useful. Click here. If you want to learn from someone who’s already been…

Seeing & Staying:
Rural Congregations and Rural Communities

Attendance, Buildings & Spaces, Civic Engagement, Clergy, Ecology Frame, Neighborhoods & Contexts, Resources Frame, Rural Congregations, Surveys, Theology Frame, United States & Canada, Walking ToursBy Nancy AmmermanOctober 23, 2019

Many students of congregational life focus their attention on religious gatherings in the city. It’s where the action is! Where there are exciting challenges and new opportunities. Where your innovations will get noticed and rewarded. But what about the thousands of gatherings in tiny places that we imagine are doomed to nothing but decline? Pastor…

Competition in the Neighborhood?

Buildings & Spaces, Census Data, Civic Engagement, Ecology Frame, Growth & Decline, History, Uncategorized, Urban Congregations, Walking ToursBy Mark T. MudlerFebruary 21, 2019

Why would a church ask a departing pastor to sign a non-compete agreement? In December 2018, World magazine, a touchstone periodical for a conservative swath of the evangelical world in the United States, published an exposé on leadership issues at Harvest Bible Chapel—a Chicago-area megachurch and the catalyst for a church planting network that counts…

Who is Your Neighbor? Who Decides?

Civic Engagement, Ecology Frame, Neighborhoods & Contexts, Networks & Relationships, Process Frame, Social Service & ActivismBy Nancy AmmermanNovember 27, 2018

Immigration has become one of the most difficult issues facing people throughout Europe and North America. And congregations are on the front lines in many ways. Whether offering services to immigrants and refugees once they arrive or protecting those facing deportation, being involved with these neighbors also brings congregations into conversation with a larger public…

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