Download or read book Between Congregation and Church written by Barry A. Ensign-George and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-12-14 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Denominations are one of the primary ways in which Christians attempt to live in a community based around God. Yet there is very little careful theological analysis of denomination available today. Between Congregation and Church offers a constructive theological understanding of denomination, showing its role as an intermediary structure between congregation and church. It places denomination and other intermediary structures within the doctrine of the church. Barry Ensign-George reviews work by theologians and church historians that can contribute to a constructive theological understanding of denomination. The book highlights particular developments in the history of the church that established preconditions for the emergence of denomination. Exploration of unity and diversity is central to this analysis, and individual chapters offer theological analyses of the unity and the diversity to which the Christians are called. Finally, denomination has often been a vehicle for sin, and the relationship between denomination and sin is considered. Between Congregation and Church addresses a major gap in contemporary theology: the failure to offer substantive theological analysis of denomination, a major way Christians together live their faith today.

Download or read book The Gifts of the Small Church written by Dr. Jason Byassee and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dizzying changes have taken place in American religious life in the last half century. Yet in spite of that fact, taking a snapshot of a “typical” Christian church in America would reveal a surprising number of small-to-mid-sized congregations, rooted in a local neighborhood or community, tied to a specific denomination, where most of the members know each others’ names, and hence are blessed (and cursed) with being the church together. In this clear-eyed, humorous appraisal, Jason Byassee contends that the “church around the corner” occupies a particular place in the divine economy, that it is especially capable of forming us in the virtues, perspectives, and habits that make up the Christian life. Not that he romanticizes these churches, however. Having been a rural, small membership church pastor, Byassee knows too well the particular vices and temptations to which they are subject. But he also knows the particular graces they’ve been given, graces like the “prayer ladies,” those pillars of the congregation who, “when one told you she was praying for you it meant something. When one hugged you, you remembered all week. When one cooked for you the casserole tasted like love. And when you were around them you were in the presence of Jesus.” Anyone who serves, or belongs to, a “church around the corner” will find their ministry strengthened by this enlivening, inspiring book.

Download or read book Understanding the Congregation s Authority written by Jonathan Leeman and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2016-01-15 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congregational authority is less about the meetings and more about the mission. Congregationalism has a bad rap for well-known reasons: inefficient meetings, upstart members, browbeaten ministers. But biblical congregationalism isn’t so much about the meetings. It’s about empowering the whole church to promote and protect the gospel. Pastors lead and equip. Members get to work strengthening one another and pursuing Christ’s mission in the world.

Download or read book At Your Best written by Carey Nieuwhof and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

Download or read book Church and Congregation written by Cyrus Augustus Bartol and published by University of Michigan Library. This book was released on 1858 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Church Jesus Built written by United Church of God and published by United Church of God. This book was released on 2014-02-03 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus Christ said that He would build His Church and that it would never die out. Is today's Christianity, with its hundreds of denominations with widely differing beliefs and practices, the Church Jesus promised that He would build? -- Inside this Bible study aid booklet: -- A People Special to God -- The Historical Background of the Term Church -- 'Church' and 'Congregation' in the Scriptures -- A Spiritually Transformed People -- The Apostles: A Case Study in Conversion -- The Responsibility and Mission of the Church -- What is the True Gospel? -- Is Today the Only Day of Salvation? -- The Rise of a Counterfeit Christianity -- Changes in Christian Scholars' Perspective on God's Law -- Early Trends That Affected the Future of the Church -- The Church of God Today -- What Did the Early Church Believe and Practice? -- The Church as the Bride of Christ

Download or read book Deacons and the Church written by John N. Collins and published by Gracewing Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is the deacon a minister for our times? Written for deacons of all denominations, this book has implications for the whole church as the issues it raises go beyond the diaconate and touch on the nature of the church itself, on its ministry and its use of the scriptures. It is essential reading for bishops and members of synods with responsibilities for deacons as well as for those who develop or deliver programmes for deacons, for those who might be considering becoming a deacon and for all those who like to be informed about what is going on in the church today.

Download or read book Congregation written by James F. Hopewell and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishing. This book was released on 1987 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is the congregation a kind of machine? This metaphor is implicit in those studies that assume congregations operate by rational cause-effect principles, have certain outcomes given certain inputs, and can be made more productive if these principles are understood and the inputs controlled. Hopewell proposes that we study congregations under an entirely different metaphor. He says we should think of a congregation as a conversation, a discourse, an exchange of symbols through which meaning is both expressed and created. Hopewell means by this something more intricate than simply that people talk to each other in church and the subject matter of this talk ought to be analyzed. That's part of it, but he suggests that all the interactions that go on in congregations (including the rituals and gestures of both daily and formalized life together as well as the architecture and artifacts of the physical space in which they take place) say something, mean something, are symbolic expressions. Furthermore, each such expression is responsive to and dependent upon other expressions, to the point that no symbolic expression stands alone. In other words, the symbolic discourse is patterned-and in different ways in different congregations. These patterns are basic to the identities of particular congregations. Hopewell's hunch is that if you can discern the patterns in and through the constant flow of symbolic discourse, you can hear who a congregation is and understand what it is all about. from a review in Perkins Journal by Craig Dykstra

Download or read book A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States written by Williston Walker and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Singing the Congregation written by Monique M. Ingalls and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-17 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary worship music shapes the way evangelical Christians understand worship itself. Author Monique M. Ingalls argues that participatory worship music performances have brought into being new religious social constellations, or "modes of congregating". Through exploration of five of these modes--concert, conference, church, public, and networked congregations--Singing the Congregation reinvigorates the analytic categories of "congregation" and "congregational music." Drawing from theoretical models in ethnomusicology and congregational studies, Singing the Congregation reconceives the congregation as a fluid, contingent social constellation that is actively performed into being through communal practice--in this case, the musically-structured participatory activity known as "worship." "Congregational music-making" is thereby recast as a practice capable of weaving together a religious community both inside and outside local institutional churches. Congregational music-making is not only a means of expressing local concerns and constituting the local religious community; it is also a powerful way to identify with far-flung individuals, institutions, and networks that comprise this global religious community. The interactions among the congregations reveal widespread conflicts over religious authority, carrying far-ranging implications for how evangelicals position themselves relative to other groups in North America and beyond.

Download or read book The Congregational Quarterly written by Joseph Sylvester Clark and published by . This book was released on 1859 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Churches That Make a Difference written by Ronald J. Sider and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2002-04-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Churches over the past generations have been weakened by a failure to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of their communities. Many have adopted a narrow vision, focusing on only one aspect of ministry. But in today's environment of faith-based opportunities many Christians are eager to start reaching out to their world with both Good News and good works, and therefore they are searching for appropriate ways to integrate both into their ministry. In Churches That Make a Difference, best-selling author Ron Sider and his coauthors give those involved in community outreach a comprehensive resource for developing holistic ministry--a balance of evangelism and social outreach. Illustrations and helpful organizational tips detail the how-to's of an effective holistic ministry. Case studies that show how different churches across the United States reach out to their communities provide a variety of ideas and practical applications. User-friendly tools are included as well for congregational studies, surveys, evaluations, and community assessments. The authors draw on extensive experience with church ministries and faith-based organizations as they share the life-changing vision and biblical mandate for living the whole gospel. Church leaders will be encouraged in their process of developing and maintaining a holistic ministry, and local churches will rediscover a passion for loving the whole person the way Jesus did.

Download or read book Still Time to Care written by Greg Johnson and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the start of the gay rights movement in 1969, evangelicalism's leading voices cast a vision for gay people who turn to Jesus. It was C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer and John Stott who were among the most respected leaders within theologically orthodox Protestantism. We see with them a positive pastoral approach toward gay people, an approach that viewed homosexuality as a fallen condition experienced by some Christians who needed care more than cure. With the birth and rise of the ex-gay movement, the focus shifted from care to cure. As a result, there are an estimated 700,000 people alive today who underwent conversion therapy in the United States alone. Many of these patients were treated by faith-based, testimony-driven parachurch ministries centered on the ex-gay script. Despite the best of intentions, the movement ended with very troubling results. Yet the ex-gay movement died not because it had the wrong sex ethic. It died because it was founded on a practice that diminished the beauty of the gospel. Yet even after the closure of the ex-gay umbrella organization Exodus International in 2013, the ex-gay script continues to walk about as the undead among us, pressuring people like me to say, "I used to be gay, but I'm not gay anymore. Now I'm just same-sex attracted." For orthodox Christians, the way forward is a path back to where we were forty years ago. It is time again to focus with our Neo-Evangelical fathers on care--not cure--for our non-straight sisters and brothers who are living lives of costly obedience to Jesus. With warmth and humor as well as original research, Still Time to Care will chart the path forward for our churches and ministries in providing care. It will provide guidance for the gay person who hears the gospel and finds themselves smitten by the life-giving call of Jesus. Woven throughout the book will be Richard Lovelace’s 1978 call for a "double repentance" in which gay Christians repent of their homosexual sins and the church repents of its homophobia--putting on display for all the power of the gospel.

Download or read book Don t Fire Your Church Members written by Jonathan Leeman and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2016-01-15 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Church membership is not just a status, it’s an office. Leaders shouldn’t fire members from the responsibilities given to them by Jesus—they should train them! When members are trained, the church grows in holiness and love, discipleship and mission. Complacency and nominalism are diminished. Jesus gives every church member an office in the church’s government: to assume final responsibility for guarding the what and the who of the gospel in the church and its ministry. Similarly, Jesus gives leaders to the church for equipping the members to do this church-building and mission-accomplishing work. In our day, the tasks of reinvigorating congregational authority and elder authority must work together. The vision of congregationalism pictured in this book offers an integrated view of the Christian life. Congregationalism is biblical, but biblical congregationalism just might look a little different than you expect. It is nothing less than Jesus’ authorization for living out his kingdom rule among a people on mission.

Download or read book Wisconsin Congregational Church Life written by and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 772 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Dr David Yonggi Cho written by David Yonggi Cho and published by Bridge Logos Foundation. This book was released on 2008 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A commemorative look at 50 years of Dr. Cho¿s min-istry of hope, released in time for his retirement this summer. Over the years, as he struggled to bring hope to people and build his church, God taught Dr. Cho not to depend upon himself but totally upon the Holy Spirit. In this book Dr. Cho tells the stories of his temptations and doubts, failures and successes, and how the Holy Spirit was with him in every situa-tion. The teaching in this book will inspire the reader to stand strong in the face of adversity, doubt, and fear. Followers worldwide will add this highly antici-pated autobiography to their collection of Dr. Cho¿s coveted works.

Download or read book Maximizing the Midsize Church written by David J. Peter and published by Kregel Ministry. This book was released on 2019-01-26 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly one in four congregations in the United States is a midsize church (150-400 worshippers per week), and the midsize church has its own distinctive culture, dynamics, and characteristics. Drawing on years of research and pastoral ministry, David J. Peter has written a comprehensive handbook for pastors and staff who direct these churches. Peter covers the most important issues leaders encounter, including: - The important role they play in advancing the kingdom of God - Common cultural characteristics - Typical problems and productive solutions - Advantages over both small and large churches, and how to capitalize on them - Practices for developing healthy programs - The responsibilities of the pastor - Guidance for hiring staff and recruiting volunteers Pastors of midsize congregations will find effective resources and encouragement for successful leadership.