When the Rev. Dr. Julius C. Clay was called from Oklahoma City to the pastorate of Williams in 2006, he expected to be a caretaker of a once-vibrant congregation that had fallen on hard times.
In the 25 years since Father Pfleger started his work at St . Sabina transforming a dying Irish Catholic parish into a vibrant black congregation, some of the more conservative leaders of the archdiocese have regarded him as something of a troublemaker.
A few blocks north is the Second Baptist Church, the host of several N.A.A.C.P. conventions and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Today, the church remains one of the most vibrant black congregations in the city, its early Sunday service broadcast on local radio.
My research focus is on vibrant religious congregations.
In 2009, it was listed by Newsweek as one of America's 25 "Most Vibrant" Jewish congregations.
In April of that year, Beth Elohim was listed by Newsweek as one of America's 25 "Most Vibrant" Jewish congregations.
Reverend Slaughter is a vibrant preacher who loves his congregation.
In that speech, Mrs. Clinton was introduced by Bishop Richard B. Wilke, the pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Little Rock, Ark., who said she had been a Sunday School teacher, a youth worker and a "vibrant and vital" member of his congregation.
Congregations that exhibit a vibrant spiritual life embodying a living faith in practical ways succeeding, even in the religion bear market.
Still, Bennett Avenue remains a vibrant center for Orthodox Jews and two Reform congregations and a Conservative congregation meet in synagogues on Fort Washington Avenue.
The industrial space fills with life as about 30 different Christian congregations conduct an array of vibrant, perplexing holy services.
