Marie Fleming

This collection of essays, testimonies, and reflections offers inspirational and practical tools for congregations and individuals who feel compelled to fight against poverty.

Urban Ministries, Inc. provides this website that publishes African American resources for a wide range of African American denominations and congregations.

This website aims to serve children's ministry leaders, teams, teachers, and parents by providing classroom tools, teaching tips, and activities, all helpfully geared to age-level groupings from birth to 12 years.

This resource outlines a five-step method any family can use to create "a home where every person feels loved, valued, and heard."

This resource uses biblical and contemporary frameworks to help congregations minister to families.

Scripturally-based, this book equips congregations to attend to the family as the center of faith formation.

This website of practical training packs quickly equips leaders and teams for effective ministry. Content spans over 100 topics including staff orientation, facilities management, and discipling in a digital age.

This user-friendly resource sets to inform, inspire, and guide parents, covering a range of themes involving faith formation in children.

This book introduces a Montessori-style curriculum for children, connecting their capacity for wonder and spiritual engagement with Scripture's ability to communicate meaning on multiple levels.

This how-to guide offers tips and tools for integrating special needs children and youth into worship and other programs and activities.

This resource offers practical tools and approaches that will help any children's ministry leader who wants to serve students and teachers whose learning styles are better suited to visual, aural, and active lesson formats.

This chart contains a comprehensive list of currently available children's faith formation curricula with descriptions of each.

This practical book contains information and tools to assist congregations in their quest for inclusive ministries, providing descriptions and challenges of a variety of disabilities.

My Jewish Learning is a one-stop resource for individuals and families looking for information on Jewish culture, beliefs, history, news, views, and more.

In a voice addressed to children, this resource introduces a form of purposeful doodling that serves as a mean of prayer, making the practice of prayer accessible.

This organization connects congregations with at-risk children for mentorship opportunities.

Addressed for Catholic children, this resource contains richly illustrated entries featuring a tradition or saint related to the liturgical or popular calendar.

This resource discusses the six principles needed to help children develop a three-dimensional faith, looking at each principle through biblical and scholarly lenses.

This book seeks to restore a relationship between children and their food, offering wisdom and information in addition to recipes using seasonally available produce.

This web resource provides books which take on universal topics like grief and loss, forgiveness, mystery, humanity’ s role in the world, and even whether God ever sleeps, in ways that understand and respect their younger audience.

This organization provides resources for and fosters connections among children's ministry leaders at the local, regional, and national level.

This resource combines knowledge of the African American Sunday School tradition with insights from modern child development theory to create a guidebook for today's religious educators.

Written by a children's ministry specialist, this resource launches a conversation on a range of topics congregations should address for effective childhood ministry.

This book offers practical tips and tools for children's ministry staff, covering topics such as networking and working with a senior pastor.

This resource draws from a 2012 conference on Children, Youth and a New Kind of Christianity, bringing together 21 presentations from the conference.

This resource draws from the authors' experience in addition to a range of traditional and popular sources to explain what a children's ministry could look like and why it matters.

This series of essays weaves wisdom and practical suggestions from dozens of experienced children's ministry workers on topics ranging from administration, spiritual formation, and technology.

This web resource offers topics and trends in youth ministry - from Holy Week devotional videos to a discussion on dangerous phone apps.

This web resource provides an interview with the author of a book and ground breaking study which highlights three components of youth and young adult ministry that are most likely to keep them engaged through high school and beyond.

Based on a study of more than 800 congregations, this resource draws from the experience of successful congregations to offer useful practices for youth ministry.

This resource turns to scripture for examples of people who encountered and overcame difficult circumstances, extracting lessons of encouragement and hope for young people with similar struggles today.

Relational youth ministry at its most authentic is not a means of influencing young people. It is a caring presence in their lives. Youth ministry expert and parent, Andrew Root, calls this approach “place sharing” and, in this interview series, he elaborates upon what such an understanding might mean for congregations and youth leaders today.

This resource provides over 100 different activities to foster developmental assets in middle and high school youth. Developmental assets are defined as qualities or circumstances that help young people grow up healthy and principled.

This resource seeks to optimize the impact of short term mission trips on young people by helping participants connect their travel experience to their ongoing life of faith.

Using the game of football as a conceptual framework, this resource guides young male teenagers on an exploration of coming-of-age issues.

This resource details characteristics of successful youth ministries, offering tips and reflection questions for 12 different areas of youth ministry.

Patterned after the Talmud, with multiple voices and opinions from the past and present, the reader encounters a wide variety of perspectives on topics such as identity, parents, and faith.

This interactive workbook helps young people discover and celebrate their leadership style and guides them to build their capacity for leadership.

First Third is a web resource based on a national congregational study entitled "Exemplary Youth Ministry (EYM)", completed in 2003, which explores the question, "what are the marks of effective congregational ministries that establish faith as a vital factor in the lives of young people?"

This web resource by Faith5 organization offers up-to-date understandings of adolescent development and features art, music, games, and skits, service suggestions, and home-based components for use by parents.

This book offers how-to information to hire a youth pastor, ranging from sample job descriptions to how to conduct an interview.

This resource encourages readers to view youth ministry from a practical theology perspective to ground it within the larger vision and mission of the congregation.

This resource compiles voices from scripture, tradition, and from women past and present to address the challenges of adolescence with humor, wisdom, and joy, guiding readers through what it means to become a Jewish woman.

This organization provides a wide variety of resources, such as coaching, workshops, and blogs, to help congregations and youth ministers build a sustainable youth ministry.

This research-based resource identifies steps leaders and parents can take to help students sustain their faith from home to college.

This resource looks at the role grandparenting plays in passing faith to future generations, discussing what it means to be a grandparents today and ways to nurture faith in children.

This book invites parents and their children to embark on a journey toward deeper family communication and intentional action.

The Ungame is a non-competitive communications game that uses questions to prompt the sharing of values, thoughts, feelings, and ideas among friends, family, and acquaintances.

Through story and reflection, this resource invites moms to cherish their child-raising years as the God-given ministry and mystery that they are.

This book encourages an intergenerational approach to ministry and explores that idea through scripture, theology, theories, and stories.

Kveller.com is a website for “information and inspiration that is right for your family.” The website gets its name from kvell, a Yiddish word meaning “to beam with pride and pleasure, as over one’ s children.” It offers a rich range of resources, with dozens of articles available under the general topics: Pregnancy, Baby and Toddler, Baby Names, Interfaith, Holidays, and Recipes.

This collection of essays explores a range of topics that impact the well-being of individuals and families, equipping the congregation for ministry in the black community.

This five-page booklet from Interfaith Family encourages parents to use bedtime as an opportunity to form lifelong Jewish identity and practices.

This web resource, provided by the congregational resource center of the Southern Baptist Convention, provides more than 200 entries written by experienced children’ s ministry leaders that touch upon topics such as motivating volunteers, helping kids get ready for camp or deal with loss, behavior issues, and ministry basics.

This organization provides consulting and online resources for leaders who serve large congregations. Consulting addresses a wide variety of issues such as staff assessments, board development, pastoral transitions, planning, and visioning.

This resource combines theoretical and practical information to cover what a congregation needs to know about adult faith formation and why it matters.

This article draws from a study and key findings to detail 15 ways congregations can reach young men and practical paths for effective ministry.

Written by senior adult experts, this resource points to seven paths to a flourishing old age while drawing from scripture, the authors' experiences, and wisdom from mystics and other spiritual forebearers.

This thoughtful guide offers tips and tools for congregations ministering to elder congregants.

This training pack contains eight stand-alone assessment tools designed to guide conversations on congregational practices and attitudes that can make or break an effective singles ministry.

This website, by National Public Radio’ s Next Avenue, is a one-stop shop for information and tools aimed at senior adults and those who care for them.

This resource equips caregivers for having difficult conversations with one's aging parents, ranging from topics such as how to discuss the need to give up driving, to moving into assisted living.

This 5 minute video lists facility improvements that can enhance an older person's experience of congregational life.

This resource provides congregations with information and strategies to protect older members from elder abuse.

This brief article provides rationale and models for imaginative and fruitful engagement with and by young adults today.

This DVD invites viewers to adopt a perspective of later life that is both practical and hopeful.

This book explores how Baby Boomers reimagine life after 50 and offers guidance to minister to this demographic.

This guide for congregational leaders addresses how to minister to and with single adults.

Faith Communities Today is a web resource that examines congregations across an interfaith spectrum from Protestant Christian and Catholic to Jewish and Muslim, and spotlights congregations which are effectively engaging young adults and provides clues and cues to best practices.

This article details the story of an elderly man as a case study of how family, friends, and the faith community can assure the well-being and independence of elders who live alone.

This collection of essays offers Jewish perspectives on aging, ranging from intergenerational relationships to midlife passages.

This organization provides consulting for congregations in conflict, needing structural overhaul, or facing or recovering from a crisis.

This resource turns towards scripture for inspiration and direction related to humanity's role in creation stewardship, specifically looking at the current environmental crisis.

This web resource, provided by Annie Leonard, details her Story of Stuff Project and has added seven offerings on topics related to modern consumerism, its costs, and its alternatives.

This 10-minute presentation focuses on key words of the Genesis 2 and 3 stories that illuminate humanity's God-given relationship with the created world.

This video tells the stories of grassroots environmental initiatives led by people of faith from a variety of religious traditions.

This resource reflects on the sanctity of eating, alongside the moral, spiritual, and environmental implications of modern food production and consumption.

This resource guides individuals and congregations towards a path of responsible environmentally-friendly actions, drawing the connection between poverty and environmental degradation while arguing for a coherent Christian response.

This government publication provides congregational facility managers with useful information and guidance for improving energy efficiency.

The goal of this website is to express a united commitment to “seek justice and healing for the whole community of life” by offering a kind of one-stop shop for resources from five religious traditions: Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Mainline and Evangelical Christian.

This website offers resources to equip leaders to engage their communities for meaningful action addressing climate change.

This web resource is perfect for any denomination and persons of faith who are looking for ways to put their convictions to work on behalf of the environment by exploring a variety of suggestions in this simple yet wide-ranging list from a Presbyterian minister and earth care activist.

This collections of essays calls for urgent and cooperative action among disparate faith communities, with insights and guidance from contemporary activists, theologians, and eco-organization leaders.

This book provides spiritual direction and practical tools to address causes of climate change, including concrete steps to nurture the planet.

This resource urges readers to respond to the present and future challenges of sustaining life on earth, arguing that true reconciliation puts humanity in a relationship with the earth and all its creatures.

This resource intertwines personal story and biblical insight with tools for leadership development, all of which culminates to help facilitate missional conversations.

This ecumenical website resource includes a focus on “God the creator, Christ the redeemer of creation, and the Spirit as sustainer of creation” and worshiping God “with all creation.” Its three- year cycle corresponds with the Common Lectionary and is usually observed during September, although the Season can be celebrated at any time.

This organization provides extensive resources and consulting to promote missional church insights among congregations changing from being church-oriented to community-oriented.

This website offers discussion guides for adult milestones, such as buying a home or retiring.

This website for Jewish youth and leaders contains curricula reviews and recommendations, topical reflections, and practical tools for creating safe environments for all people.

Written in a small group format, this resource helps kids learn to self-regulate their behavior by teaching to identify anger triggers and giving them tools to respond in healthy ways.

This four-session curriculum is designed for teenagers and adults, equipping participants with tools to define, identify, prevent, and intervene in bullying behavior. It also contains lesson plans for volunteers or staff leading sessions.

This book provides the reader with knowledge and inspiration to start a missional church from the ground up, a process that starts by asking what God is already doing in the neighborhood and how you can help.

This book calls Christians to embrace the "dirt, worms, and compost" and to serve the world with flesh and blood in order to "heal contemporary society's increasingly disembodied existence."

This book outlines six postures that will spark a shift from consumer Christianity to a missional-based congregation with the ability to make an impact on the community, detailing real life success stories of faith communities going against the grain.

This article looks at the loss of neighborliness and offers analysis to support the missional call to join God in the community.

This web resource offers a collection of articles that explore a featured missional topic or theme from six perspectives (Practices, Culture, Place, Theology, Review and Story) and includes contributors from a vast network of veteran practitioners, teachers, researchers, and innovators with experienced missiologists who provide a seasoned perspective on the evolving missional landscape.

The text of this akathist, or hymn, evokes tender and joyful images of humankind's kinship with creation and its Creator, using creation as a framework for praise.

This essay presents a spiritual framework for thought and action regarding climate change.

This resource presents a new method of oral storytelling to connect teens with the Bible, encouraging young people to find their own place in God's ongoing story.

This book advocates for practices and policies that ensure a sabbatical for every pastor, citing why they are necessary and addressing common fears such as maintaining ministry and planning for funding.

This program for clergy offers a weeklong residential retreat that takes a holistic approach to pastoral self-care.

This organization provides annual sabbatical grants for Christian clergy of up to $50,000, including as much as $15,000 for congregational expenses.

This resource uses the journal entries of the author in addition to interviews with sabbatical recipients to delve into the benefits of sabbatical leaves for clergy and their congregations.

This well-researched article makes a clear and compelling case for the ministry sabbatical while providing the nuts and bolts of planning for one.

This web resource offers free study help curated by the professors at Luther Theological Seminary where readers can "enter" every book of the Old and New Testaments for summaries, outlines, theological themes and more.

This book provides a thoughtful and thorough guide to the narrative thread that connects the Bible's stories into a meaningful message for Christians today.

Written by experienced teachers and biblical experts, this multi-volume series explores the Bible and themes of particular importance to Catholics.

Designed for children, this illustrated book retells over fifty Bible stories from the Old and New Testament.

Based on a curriculum developed by veteran college teachers, this resource explores the Bible story-by-story to provide a unified biblical narrative.

The YouVersion app offers free mobile application from the folks at LifeChurch.tv and makes scripture available anytime, any place, and on any mobile device. Different languages are offered.

This brief video is a compelling introduction to the concept of congregational garden ministries.

Prepared by nearly two dozen experienced disaster relief practitioners, this guide gives congregations the information they need for effective action, addressing both faraway and local tragedies.

Written by a military chaplain, this book argues that the return of military service members can present opportunities for enriched community life through the transition process home.

This resource summarizes the findings the National Study of Youth and Religion to foster informed conversations and effective ministry with teens.

This resource advocates for charitable approaches that create systemic change, describing examples of each model.

This article explores a variety of research-based strategies to help congregations gain a deeper understanding of what their community and members needs.

This article introduces and describes five church-planting models.

This resource equips congregations with sensitive and informed approaches to military veterans, focusing on how congregations can help veterans transition into civilian life.

This three-volume set examines the Revised Common Lectionary through the lens of "God's life-giving intentions for the social world."

This article offers a five-point argument in favor of increasing the quantity and quality of public scripture reading.

This article explains why climate change is a Gospel issue and offers suggestions for framing it as such in sermons, arguing that preachers have unique opportunities to reframe climate change as a moral issue.

This resource argues that the best children's sermon is written by the one who presents it, and offers practical tips and tools for the sermon giver.

This sensitive and informative book is designed to help preachers deepen their skills and impact during sermons.

This conference offers extensive workshop options, speakers, and lectures focused on examining and celebrating the practices of preaching and worship.

The Festival of Preaching is an ecumenical event for Christian teens and young adults who discern a call to preaching. The festival offers opportunities for participants to preach, receive feedback, connect with peers, and develop mentorships.

This web resource offers a panel discussion by preachers, teachers and denominational leaders focusing on the financial aspect of stewardship because it is the area preachers report finding hardest to address.

This four-week liturgical will help congregations connect more fundamentally with creation.

Written by a pastor, this article offers suggestions for pastors considering using computer tablets during their sermons.

This resource uses a two-fold approach to form the basis for a thoughtful and practical guide on ways to communicate the power of God in today's setting.

This column offers a reflection on why it is important to end a sermon as thoughtfully and deliberately as it is begun.

Based on the Revised Common Lectionary, this six-volume set of liturgical resources contains two volumes for each lectionary year.

This collection of 26 essays and sermons offers wisdom and practical advice for pastors leading their congregation through change.

This resource argues for more interactive preaching practices, offering a new way to tell meaningful stories through progressive dialogue.

This practical book for clergy in small congregations identifies and describes the ten roles that the preacher fulfills.

This resource draws upon Ezekiel 37 and African American spirituals to offer a unique insight into the way hope works amidst tragedy and death.

This web resource is a practical search tool that allows users to find out when a particular scripture passage will appear in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle.

This free “sermon preparation resource” features commentary on at least one of the assigned texts from the Revised Common Lectionary every week. Written primarily by pastor and theologian, Kathryn Matthews Huey, these reflections synthesize her own scholarship and pastoral insights with those of a variety of other commentators.

This resource offers a bite-sized tutorial on expository preaching.

This resource describes three genres found in the Bible and explains how to shape a sermon that honors each one's particular voice.

This resource equips preachers to lead, teach, and offer hope during economic highs and lows.

This resource identifies and describes the seven goals of missional preaching.

This center helps congregations find potential funders for special ministry projects, as well as learn strategies for finding grants and writing proposals.

This resource presents a home-centered faith formation approach as a way to establish lifelong faith among young people and their families.

Written by a long-time justice advocate, this family-friendly guide connects everyday tasks to specific poverty-related issues and offers suggestions for fun and practical action.

This guide walks leaders through basic considerations to make before engaging an outside consultant and offers tools for entering into a consulting relationship.

This brief guide inspires and offers practical help for individuals seeking personal transformation through gratitude.

Based on research of millennials and their patterns of giving, this resource helps readers understand why people get involved to make a difference and how to sustain positive changes.

This book offers a conceptual framework for faith formation in a changing world. Practical insights will help leaders understand and implement effective ministry strategies.

In this book, five youth ministers discuss, compare, and contrast how to foster spiritual growth.

Aimed at religious educators, this resource identifies 121 instructional behaviors that positively impact learning.

This resource provides a theological framework to understand prophetic ministry and urges congregations to create and uphold a more just society, drawing inspiration from the biblical prophets, Jesus, and modern-day issues.

This social media overview expands on how modern-day platforms can impact the congregational mission and ministry, providing guidance on websites like YouTube.

This brief article offers common sense advice that can help any congregation welcome and engage young adults.

Using the metaphor of a bicycle pedal clip, this book frames hospitality as a powerful way to promote growth while reviving current members.

This organization is a incubator program and consulting group for early-stage missional entrepreneurs. They help congregations facilitate the move from ministry concept to implementation through coaching, peer learning communities, consulting and events.

This organization strengthens congregations by surveying congregants, planning for growth, and providing coaching.

This organization provides resources for parents to jump-start ministry at home for their children.

This organization gives church planters resources to address the organizational, administrative, and legal matters that come with starting a new church.

This youth curriculum is designed to help young people develop their spiritual roots, creating an opportunity for youth to experience the beauty and freedom of Christian life through prayers, meditation, and simplicity.

Choosing the church management software (CMS) that is right for your congregation can both ease the administrative load and enrich the ministry of the congregation. This article, from a veteran software provider, offers practical tips on making the best possible choice. Each of the five "mistakes" launches a discussion on how to think about the issues it raises. For example, Mistake #1, "Selecting a system that is not powerful or flexible enough" leads to an in-depth look at what the congregation needs in a CMS. What features are available vs. what features are needed? A sample chart shows how to plot this information for a customized, at-a-glance comparison. This article is a must-read for novice CMS users as well as those who want fresh insights. It is aimed at Christian ministry leaders, administrators and volunteers, but its principles and practical tools transcend theological particulars. Online sign-up is required to request this white paper.

This organization provides resources for youth ministers, congregations, and parents to help instill a lasting faith in students and children.

This organization provides congregations with legal means for utilizing copyrighted music in worship, including a Church Copyright License which grants access to more than 300,000 songs.

This resource promotes positive public discourse through "convicted civility," the belief that we can treat strangers with kindness because they are human.

This book brings together history, current events, and faith resources to address America's racism and offers a guide to change.

This article discusses four effective processes that leaders can use to take a positive approach toward non-technical issues in their congregation.

Written by the resource experts at the Center for Congregations, this article details things to think about when engaging an architect.

This article provides practical guidance on how to get the most out of educational events.

This website provides free resources to educate women coming out of abusive relationships about finance and employment.

Through this website, decade-long ministry pastor and master storyteller Tom Boomershine and his colleagues provide practical tools for biblical storytelling for Christian educators, worship leaders, pastors and laity.

This website hosts a rich assortment of church relocation resources, from technical to adaptive, making it the perfect launching point for congregations considering relocation.

This article urges congregations to examine their identity and mission before moving locations. It also provides keys to a successful move.

This article offers insights and practical tools to guide leaders through the intricacies of the merger process.

This book offers a proven model to ensure the success of a church merger, one that looks more like a fresh start versus a last-ditch effort that will only delay decline. Here, a merger is likened to a marriage, and the book provides a step-by-step guide towards commitment.

This article argues that congregations seeking additional space may find their answer in vacant commercial facilities.

This article asks 16 questions to help congregations think clearly about their options when it comes to remodeling or relocating.

Part of a four-part series on ministry in changing neighborhoods, this article offers five points for leaders to consider before moving the congregation to a new location.

This book uses the biblical story about rebuilding Jerusalem's wall as a guide for how congregations can engage with the larger community, creating a ministry in partnership, rather than to or for them.

This resource paints a compelling portrait of servant leadership, using inspiring stories from real-life examples like George Washington and Harriet Tubman to illustrate its positive effects.

This curriculum equips congregations and families for faith-based conversations on human sexuality, examining the topic from theological, ethical, biological, and practical perspectives.

This organization assists congregations in discerning and implementing the hospitality potential of their property, in order to foster neighborly interaction.

This article examines current research on the faith and attitudes of boomers and identifies important implications for ministry.

"The Jewish community garden is a hands-on classroom to teach about Judaism's relationship to creation." This 70-page document is the culmination of a three-year grant project that established community garden programs at eight Baltimore area Jewish institutions. It provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a community garden, from initial readiness and resource assessments, to design, planting and ongoing care. True to the project's educational mission, the authors, who are Pearlstone Center gardeners and educators, share insights and offer curriculum resources throughout. A "spotlight" section features stories on the garden projects. A resource page provides links to further information. The manual is woven through with connections to Jewish "ritual, blessings, liturgy, holidays and mitzvoth." Its goal is to inspire and equip every Jewish community to take up gardening. While written from a Jewish perspective, this beautifully designed work could be of use to anyone exploring the religious and practical aspects of gardening.

This collection of nine articles breaks through myths and stereotypes to inform church leaders in reaching out to young adults.

This garden and farm acts as a local community center and offers a space for spiritual growth and leadership training.

This organization provides educational resources to equip and inspire congregations in the work of Earth stewardship and sustainability.

Baby Boomers are "the healthiest and best educated generation of evangelical retirees in history" and they have a passion for making a difference in the world. As such, they constitute a powerful pool of potential mission workers. The Finishers Project exists to connect them to short- and long-term mission opportunities. Special discernment events are held at various locations across the country to attract participants and challenge them to invest their gifts in service to others. Once on board, Finishers helps them navigate the process of finding and securing assignments that fit their skill sets and circumstances. A network of dozens of approved non-profit partners provides the placements. Now that the next generation is approaching retirement, Finishers is reaching out to them through {{MissionNext | http://missionnext.org/}}, a website with links to a variety of service opportunities and support. Both sites are great resources for congregations looking for service opportunities for senior adults.

This organization trains youth ministry leaders, creates dialogue about the contemporary church, and offers research-based youth ministry resources.

This organization provides resources for Baby Boomers and their families within the Jewish community, including online blogs and podcasts about aging, and consulting services for congregations.

This organization offers online resources and a conference to bring together storytelling scholars and foster the practice of oral scripture presentation.

This organization helps dying congregations foster new life through utilizing the assets of a declining congregation to begin a new one.

This organization provides training and resources for effective ministry within communities of urban and at-risk youth.

Virtual Ministry Assistants provides administrators and information technology experts to aid in a range of tasks, including worship setup, website maintenance, and logging financial information.

This article presents a life cycle model that can help leaders understand their congregation's current life stage and anticipate inevitable transitions.

This article provides guidance for Bible study leaders looking for a study resource, challenging them to look for three primary characteristics.

This web resource offers a community dialogue and information for the Alliance of Baptists.

This online warehouse is geared mostly towards Catholic parishes, but serves non-Catholic churches as well, selling a variety of products such as stoles and communion supplies.

This thin volume celebrates the church's legacy of social innovation and calls for current Christians to draw from this history to address today's pressing social concerns.

This brief guide gives readers an introduction to facilities assessment and addresses what to do with the completed assessment.

This self-assessment tool helps leaders measure their congregation's capacity for reaching seniors through service.

This resource draws insights from a study of congregations and young adults to present helpful touchstones congregations can use to energize their ministry with young adults.

This article written by a preservation specialist explains what a building conditions survey offers.

This 6-session, web-based curriculum brings together biblical scholars, community leaders, seasoned practitioners and those who experience poverty to “transform the charity paradigm.”

This resource focuses on story as a fundamental force in identity-formation, hope, love, and learning, offering readers a new perspective on narrative and its role in life.

This concise book provides tips and tools on a variety of administrative topics --- communication concerns, problem-solving, and specific issues like how to protect against embezzlement.

This resource uses improvisational activities to build trust, find focus, and evoke creative responses to real-life issues, providing descriptions and purposes for each activity.

This two-page guide from congregational experts offers commonsense tips and tools to get the relationship and project off to a solid start and proceed to a satisfactory finish.

This two-page guide examines what to consider when beginning the strategic planning process, outlining the virtues of self-led and consultant-led processes.

Compiled from interviews with consultants and congregational leaders, this article is designed to help congregations find the best person to lead a capital campaign.

This document from a Seattle-based food and nutrition group helps congregations make the most of their gardens.

This podcast presents a weekly 30-minute broadcast addressing an issue of practical importance to older adults and their congregations.

This resource offers insight on how to identify a bully or antagonist and guidance to address that individual's behavior.

This article looks at ways to maximize congregational resources by minimizing the building's carbon footprint.

This organization helps clergy and congregations understand their challenges and possibilities through offering educational events and grants for clergy renewal and study.

This 12-page guide breaks down the planning and building process into manageable steps.

This resource offers neighborhood engagement strategies, such as identifying concerns you hold in common and exploring similarities and differences, for six faith communities: Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity.

This article equips congregations to determine what type of building professional to hire after conducting a preliminary facilities assessment.

This organization provides grants for pastoral and academic leaders to study and pursue projects that are of interest to them and their community.

This resource provides leaders with the tools to cultivate a healthy congregational culture that will ultimately revive their ministry.

This book outlines how to strategically plan your building project by sharing practical wisdom and planning tools that consider your ministry, finances, and sustainability.

This resource combines theology and practical suggestions to help congregations build a culture of acceptance and validation.

This resource compiles books, articles, websites, and more to equip congregations for mutual community ministries.

This website for the National Human Trafficking Hotline provides concerned congregations with free resources for education and response.

This e-book shares common youth ministry mistakes and how to avoid them.

This resource helps congregations strategically plan for and establish a relationship with a local school, focusing specifically on at-risk children.

Written in 12 sections, this pastoral guide for cancer patients and their caretakers offers a pathway through the complex process of diagnosis and treatment.

This guide offers congregations a relationship-rich model for community ministry that can transform both community and congregation.

This practical article shares the insights of six congregations who hired strategic planning consultants.

This resource presents a picture of emerging adult life, looking at the five common markers while addressing topics ranging from social class issues to the impact of a college education.

CPYU's wesbite, founded by youth ministry veteran Walt Mueller, offers guidance to parents, teens, and youth workers by bridging the "cultural-generational" gap and by providing a window and interpretive framework on contemporary culture.

This organization facilitates conversations and trainings for congregations to address race issues within the community.

Written by an expert on young adult development, this resource focuses on the important role that mentors can play in helping these individuals navigate the journey to maturity.

This YouTube channel, provided by Small Group Network (SGN), aims to enrich congregations’ capacity for small group ministry with the conviction that "we are better together".

This website provides up-to-date information on all things related to facility management, ranging from roofing to grounds management.

Written by an educator, this book reveals racist tendencies in how we speak, and details the author's journey to eradicate her racist language in order to deepen communications.

This 8-page article from a church architect offers tips and a research-based approach for congregations seeking to create intimate meeting spaces.

Based on a survey of young adults, this resource reveals what congregations and parents can do to keep young people from leaving church.

This story-based approach to fundraising will help churches tackle capital campaigns, endowments, and general fund drives.

This book details how to elicit more giving by building trust.

This organization provides members with educational events, training and networking opportunities, resource guides, and a certification program all related to managing your congregation's facility.

This organization provides research and resources for congregations that help young people develop social and emotional skills for success.

This book urges congregations to treat guests with "acceptance and respect," and can be used as a guide to help churches welcome people as Jesus welcomes them.

Filled with proven techniques, this book is a guide on how to welcome guests, providing additional insight on how to follow up in inviting and sensitive ways through tools like correspondence and connection cards.

This go-to family ministry resource offers blogs, curricula, events, and podcasts to nurture children from pre-school to high school.

This book draws upon the expertise of a web usability professional and provides instructions on how to make a website as user-friendly as possible, with examples.

This website offers statistics and information about millennials in a collection of easy-to-read articles.

This research-based guide dives into how to strategically engage Millennials as constituents, volunteers, donors and employees.

This resource combines research-based findings with practical tools to examine what makes for effective faith transmission and why, proposing that congregations put families at the center.

Playmeo is a web resource, provided by experiential educator Mark Collard, that offers activities leaders can use to amp up the pleasure and productivity of any group learning activity.

This 42-minute video puts a human face on immigration by featuring the stories of individuals and families who have experienced life in the United States without legal status.

“Just a Phase” is a collaborative, research-based website that features contributions by a variety of child development experts whose goal is to equip families and congregations with practical tools and insights for age-appropriate engagement with children.

This 18-minute TedTalk frames community engagement positively with compelling stories and theory. Speaker Cormac Russell teaches that communities are rich in gifts, capacities, and potential rather than deficits.

The Circle Way provides a process to foster open conversations and communal decision-making.

This article reveals how validation fosters flourishing congregations and lists three ways leaders can infuse validation into congregational life.

This collection of essays forms a pastoral care crash course for clergy and chaplains, starting with a reflection on one's foundational theology, and concluding with a discussion related to professional standards.

This compilation of essays and interviews looks at seven novel ways that congregations are expressing what it means to be communities of faith.

This research-based book looks at the practical and spiritual implications of emerging adulthood for congregations and emerging adults themselves.

"A community garden is not just a place to grow food. It is a way to express our faith and interact with God and God's good creation." Gardener and spiritual guide, Christine Sine, has compiled a ‘one-stop shop' for anyone interested in this topic. The narrative showcases her personal faith-based gardening experience, while referencing experts, organizations and practical information from dozens of regional, national and international sources. There is guidance on everything from how to get organized to where to find non-genetically-modified seeds. "Gardening with Kids" offers leaders of children and family ministries links to research-based evidence on the benefits of gardening for young people, as well as plentiful activity options. Recommended books on gardening and spirituality point to possibilities for adult study. There is even a selection of prayers for the garden. Links to further learning offer exceptional opportunities to explore more deeply in any number of directions. The article is accessible only after filling out an email form.

This brief article urges congregations to look at their facilities with the eye of a first time visitor.

This blog post argues that congregations should pay attention to building cleanliness and order so guests feel welcome.

This free download provides checklists and tools to proactively manage your congregation's facilities, creating a preventive maintenance system. Use this e-book with the in-depth manual "Facility Stewardship: Managing what God has Entrusted to You."

This book offers insight to manage a budget, organize personnel, and deal with the technical aspects of running an organization.

This printable page reminds youth leaders of healthy developmental strategies to nuture young people.

This resource combines the author's leadership experience with biblical principles to provide insight on project management and how congregations can create a cooperative culture that will further the mission of the ministry.

This article reveals what information hospital staff and patients need visiting pastors and pastoral care volunteers to know.

This web resource offers an inspirational and practical on-the-go podcast with insights from an eclectic pool of practitioners.

Written by a communications expert, this book sharpens congregational practices to better spread messages and achieve communication goals.

This website by veteran youth leaders provides timely and affordable resources across 20+ youth ministry categories: Games, Teaching, Training, Mission, Social Media, and more.

Through this pastor's story, learn how to confront exclusive attitudes and build inclusive congregations.

This collection of essays explores themes of stewardship through various lenses using contemporary examples and scripture.

This light-hearted TedTalk is an important reminder of the skills required to have a meaningful, quality conversation with others.

The United Church of Christ offers a free, downloadable curriculum for White faith communities wishing to “engage in safe, meaningful, substantive, and bold conversations on race” and privilege.

This book looks at generational realities through a faith lens, exploring the ways congregations can bring younger and older generations together using universal responses.

This article presents a simple, ten-step framework to guide congregations through an annual communications strategy audit.

This book draws from the author's experience in reconciliation work around the world, offering inspiration and tools for readers to resolve conflict, whether it be interpersonal or international.

This blog post discusses things to think about when considering a nonprofit startup.

This brief video from PBS looks at the challenges and opportunities that arise when the pastor has a second job.

This five-part guide provides technical and creative insights to manage personnel, budgets and IRS compliance to retain the best possible staff.

This 11-page guide offers a process and tools to engage in important conversations regarding race.

This website aims to prepare students and families for the transition from high school to college in an informational and supportive way.

This book analyzes four personality types as they relate to why individuals act and why they don't.

Congregations concerned with the security of their facilities and the safety of their people can engage Cool Solutions Group for assessment, recommendations, training, and implementation.

This book argues that the multi-site church is biblically and theologically faithful while illuminating some of its challenges. This resource draws upon the experience of one multi-site church along with others, to shed light on the model.

This resource uses the Enneagram personality assessment to help individuals discover and develop their God-given selves, focusing on each of the personality types in addition to their worldviews and spiritual gifts.

This resource provides congregations with the tips and tools to build a children's ministry that lasts, drawing upon the experience of two ministry veterans.

Written by a facilities management expert, this 16-page document lists common-sense ways congregations can save money and protext the environment.

This one-year program uses a variety of tools like instructional handouts and training sessions to coach small group leaders.

This resource offers practical suggestions to engage volunteers for youth ministry.

This resource presents the testimony of young activists and local clergy who joined forces in the wake of Ferguson, illustrating examples of moral influence and personal courage.

This thorough resource, covering 12 different aspects of conflict, identifies negative and positive aspects of congregational conflict to help create a culture of conflict resistance.

This pack of eight articles educates readers about conflict and how to mitigate it in a congregation.

This board game empowers teams to tackle problems by generating creative solutions, drawing on congregational assets and teamwork.

This resource provides insights and stories to help pastoral caregivers and clergy walk wisely and compassionately with those who are suffering.

This resource lays out the seven lifecycle phases of a congregation, beginning with "Launch" and ending with "Life Support." It also provides tools for churches to map out a strategic response to each stage.

New Churches, brought to you by veteran church start pastor and educator Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im, director of church multiplication services at Lifeway, is an online hub for church multiplication resources and offers a podcast archive of nearly 350 presentations on church planting.

This event is part outdoor music festival, part retreat, and part justice conference. It brings speakers and performers from across the theological spectrum, and hosts interactive workshops.

This three-day conference is focused on reimagining evangelism in a local setting, and features keynote speakers and workshops on Church Planting, Emerging Leaders, and Justice and Evangelism.

This comprehensive guide is grounded in scripture and tradition to help transform organizational life from being program-driven to becoming "engagement-driven," which makes people feel welcome and builds stronger relationships with one another.

This searchable database for congregations with paid staff contains information on salary levels, retirement, and debt calculators.

This organization provides workshops and online resources focused on leadership building for young adults.

This brief article offers practical wisdom to take the pulse of the congregation and its community as a first step to do ministry "with not for" the target audience.

This article equips leaders to navigate conflict in the congregation.

This practical guide helps congregants create their own sacred spaces and rituals from home or far away.

This go-to site for loss and grief during COVID provides re-imagined rituals, practical guidance, and pastoral care considerations.

This resource contains various sessions and activity options to help facilitate conversations between parents and children on a variety of important topics.

This website provides two portals visitors can enter, “Introducing the Reformation” and “Resources for Deeper Study”, each providing a range of information in a variety of formats. It is a go-to site for leaders charged with helping their congregations observe the 2017 Reformation anniversary and for anyone wishing a deeper understanding of the historic Protestant-Catholic divide.