Fyrir nokkrum árum endaði ég fyrir tilviljun á aðalsafnaðarfundi í lútherskri kirkju. Fyrir fundinum lá að samþykkja eða synja hugmynd um að leyfa félagasamtökum í bænum að nýta lítinn skikka af kirkjulóðinni fyrir ákveðið verkefni. Enginn á fundinum var í sjálfu sér mótfallinn verkefninu, en margskonar áhyggjur voru viðraðar.
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via Margaret Marcuson.

Recruiting volunteers still requires work, but the context has changed. Now there is awareness and pride where before was obligation. And that makes all the difference both for those who recruit and those who say "yes" to this opportunity for ministry.

From Leading Ideas: A Resource for Church Leaders.

Árið eftir að ég hætti störfum sem framkvæmdastjóri ÆSKR (Æskulýðssambands kirkjunnar í Reykjavíkurprófastsdæmum), notaði ég mikið af tíma mínum í lestur og skrif um persónuleikabresti, velti upp spurningum hvað það merkti að kirkjan væri öllum opin og að allir væru velkomnir. Brennipunkturinn í vangaveltum mínum var mjög einstaklingsbundin og undir sterkum áhrifum einstaklingshyggju pietismans.
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Unless we are able, as Christians, to discover ways of conducting our life and our mission that differ radically from the Christendom form of the church that has dominated throughout most of Christian history, we shall be doomed in the future to be part of our world’s problem, and not its solution.

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Perhaps if ecumenism was less concerned about the union of tired, old institutions and more concerned about the calling of the Christian movement in the world as a whole, ecumenicity itself would be more vital to all who take this faith with some degree of seriousness.

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We Christians, who have imposed ourselves and our faith on so many, for so long, must now earn the right to explain the reason for our hope.

Finding Our Way into the Future by Douglas John Hall.

Some people are put off by the blatant appeal to power, which is an integral part of congrega tion-centered organizing. We tend to think of power as manipulative, as domineering, as too political, as “power over” someone else, and we suspect such power is out of keeping with our Christian values. We recall Lord Acton’s famous dictum: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.”

More recently, however, we have come to recognize that power in and of itself is neither good nor bad. Power is nothing more than the ability to accomplish something.

Whether the goal is to accomplish something helpful or harmful is another question, but power itself is a necessary ingredient for any action. Power is constitutive of life. (Mark I. Wegener)

from  Congregation-Centered Organizing: A Strategy for Growing Stronger Communities via The Gamaliel Foundation an organizing institute.

Which decisions about dying are morally acceptable to concerned Christians, and which ones go beyond morally acceptable limits? Which medical practices and public policies allow for more humane treatment for those who are dying and which ones open the door to abuse and the violation of human dignity? Proposals in various states to legalize physician-assisted death [4] point to renewed interest in these old questions. ELCA members, congregations, and institutions need to address these questions through prayer and careful reflection.

End of Life Decisions – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a social message from ELCA to help deal with those questions.

Another more complete resource on End-of-Life Decisions and especially Euthanasia is a book edited by Tom L Beauchamp called Intending Death.

Paul W. Mulvey, John F. Veiga, and Priscilla M Elsass address why teams don’t work in this well known article. One of their findings is that a lack of status symbols inside a team, increases change of success. Similarly, the right size of a group is important, and team members have to be aware of why they are part of the team, if they are to succeed. There is more to it, mostly obvious, but someone has to say it.

JSTOR: The Academy of Management Executive (1993-2005), Vol. 10, No. 1 (Feb., 1996), pp. 40-49.

The heart of the Joint Declaration is surely paragraph 15, and more particularly the sentence: “Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.” This consensus does not go beyond the clear conclusions of the dialogues. While it is in perfect accord both with the Augsburg Confession and with the Decree on Justification of the Council of Trent, it dispels some false stereotypes inherited from the past. Lutherans have often accused Catholics of holding that justification is a human achievement rather than a divine gift received in faith, while Catholics have accused Lutherans of holding that justification by faith does not involve inner renewal or good works. By mentioning both faith and works, both acceptance by God and the gift of the Holy Spirit, this sentence strikes an even–handed balance calculated to satisfy both sides.

via Two Languanges of Salvation: The Lutheran-Catholic Joint Declaration.

Avery Dulles addresses critically the difference in languages used by Lutheran Churches and The Roman Catholic Church when it comes to interpreting what JDDJ really says.

* Join Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.