| | | | | | | | | | | | PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Loren B. Mead -- priest, educator, author and founder of the Alban Institute -- died at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 5, 2018.
A native of South Carolina, Mead attended the University of the South, the University of South Carolina, and Virginia Theological Seminary, before being ordained an Episcopal priest. He served for fifteen years in parish ministry before he was appointed by the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church to direct the denomination's experimental "Project Test Pattern" for its full three-year life. The project sought to renew congregational vitality by pooling information, sharing ideas, developing alternative strategies for ministries, and deploying consultants to work in and alongside congregations.
With his learnings from Project Test Pattern, Mead went on to found the Alban Institute in 1974, developing its national, ecumenical and interfaith work of research, publishing, education, and consulting. He taught globally and developed a number of resources still widely used by congregations and denominations about the role and work of the interim pastor, the use of conflict management, clergy stress and burnout, concepts of change and development in congregations, and training methods for senior church leaders and bishops. He published more than ten books, including his most recent The Parish is the Issue (2015).
He was also instrumental in the founding of the Interim Ministry Network, the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes, and the National Association of Endowed Presbyterian Churches, all of which continue their ministries today.
When he stepped down as president of the Alban Institute in 1994, the Institute had over 8,500 members in North America, Europe, and Australasia. At that time, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Edmond Browning called him "one of the greatest thinkers and innovators in the history of the Episcopal Church."
Mead was married to the former Polly Ayres Mellette. They were the parents of four children, grandparents to seven, and great-grandparents to four. |
| | LOREN MEAD: THE LAST INTERVIEW |
In 2016, Loren Mead was interviewed about his life and ministry by Alban. In that conversation, he returned to the themes that marked his life, his ministry, and his teaching. It is shared here for the first time.
Read the last interview » |
| | MEAD IN WRITING: THE ONCE & FUTURE CHURCH |
The Once and Future Church Collection by Loren B. Mead
In 1991, The Once and Future Church by Alban Institute founder and former president Loren B. Mead created an instant sensation in congregational circles with its prophetic insights into the life of the church in a post-Christendom era. Still often-quoted and in demand, the book stands as Alban's all-time best seller. Two subsequent titles, Transforming Congregations for the Future and Five Challenges for the Once and Future Church, extended Mead's original vision with similar success.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the publication of The Once and Future Church, Alban released all three of these books as a single, special edition hardcover. In addition to these classic texts in beautiful, newly designed formats, this collection features an interview with Loren Mead discussing how his views have changed since the books' first publications and his current thoughts on directions for the church in the twenty-first century.
Learn more and order the book » |
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