Resources Frame

Mike Mather has spent most of his adult life pastoring churches in neighborhoods most people would call ”deprived.”  Not Mike.  When he greets someone at the food pantry or on the street, he’s more apt to see their gifts than their ”needs.” And he sees those things in part because he asks the right questions. I’ve gotten to know Mike over the last couple of years, and I’ve constantly been amazed at his ability to […] Read More →

A new collaborative project at BU School of Theology is bringing together teams of innovative leaders who are seeking new ways to live faithfully in their own unique contexts. Participants in ’Creative Callings’ are designing creative hub learning events, assembling resources, and mentoring each other. StudyingCongregations.org is proud to be a core resource for this project.  Groups that do this creative work need to have a clear vision of what vocation and calling look like […] Read More →

Over the last couple of decades, the field of practical theology has increasingly drawn on methods from the social sciences.  Most especially, people seeking to understand the theological wisdom of a community have practiced ethnographic methods for gathering information and analyzing what they find – much as we describe in this website on ”studying congregations.”  By interviewing people and directly observing what they do together, practical theologians seek to understand and critique the implicit theologies […] Read More →

Feature Photo Information: Muslim women perform Ramadan prayers at Heartsong Church, suburban Memphis. Heartsong Church: Source: https://www.npr.org/2011/08/21/139831309/a-ramadan-story-of-two-faiths-bound-in-friendship. Photo by Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal.   Written by Paul D. Numrich, Methodist Theological School in Ohio and Capital University My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t just about parking. More than that, any kind of property-sharing arrangement, whether with outside groups or diverse internal groups, requires careful assessment of why and […] Read More →

As disasters strike – all too often, it seems – we often see churches, synagogues and mosques in the news. They may be shelters or food distribution centers or coordinators of volunteers or places to comfort and grieve. As the most ubiquitous form of voluntary organization in the U.S., congregations are present in every community, and never moreso than when the local world gets turned upside down. A couple of decades of research has explored […] Read More →

Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post wrote an article about a small Jewish community in Western Maryland. Cumberland Maryland had been a Jewish enclave in the Appalachian Mountains, with four synagogues and many Jewish-owned stores and businesses. But now the Jewish community has mostly left, likely to larger cities, with only around 50 families — many of whom are older couples — left to support the remaining synagogue. The article raises a few important issues […] Read More →