Download or read book Invading Secular Space written by Martin Robinson and published by . This book was released on 2004-06-09 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A clarion call for the church to harness Christ's passion to invade the secular space around them, transforming isolated saints into a powerful, life-changing body of believers.
Download or read book A Sociology of Mystic Practices written by Dann Wigner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-06-08 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the process of spiritual borrowing between the emergent church (EC) and the Christian mystical tradition. From its inception, the EC has displayed interest in mystic practices, but the exact nature of this interest or how these practices are appropriated and reinterpreted in the EC context has not been researched. My research shows that the emergent church is appropriating Christian mystic practices by investing these practices with their own theological content. The practices themselves are changed to fit in their new context, showing that EC belief shapes EC behavior. My study adds a new case study perspective to the sociological examination of the process of spiritual borrowing, especially through close inspection of how a spiritual practice changes to fit a new theological context. Additionally, my book contributes to the study of the complex relationship between belief and behavior.
Download or read book Post Christendom Studies Volume 4 written by Steven M. Studebaker and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-Christendom Studies publishes research on the nature of Christian identity and mission in the contexts of post-Christendom. Post-Christendom refers to places, both now and in the past, where Christianity was once a significant cultural presence, though not necessarily the dominant religion. Sometimes “Christendom” refers to the official link between church and state. The term “post-Christendom” is often associated with the rise of secularization, religious pluralism, and multiculturalism in western countries over the past sixty years. Our use of the term is broader than that however. Egypt for example can be considered a post-Christendom context. It was once a leading center of Christianity. “Christendom” moreover does not necessarily mean official public and dominant religion. For example, under Saddam Hussein, Christianity was probably a minority religion, but, for the most part, Christians were left alone. After America deposed Saddam, Christians began to flee because they became a persecuted minority. In that sense, post-Saddam Iraq is an experience of post-Christendom—it is a shift from a cultural context in which Christians have more or less freedom to exercise their faith to one where they are persecuted and/or marginalized for doing so.
Download or read book God s Empowered People written by Steven M. Fettke and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-12-15 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professional ministers and their work as church leaders have dominated church and pastoral ministry studies. Lay ministry studies have been neglected. In the local church, lay ministries are often defined solely by their voluntary service in the local church, and even then are regarded as secondary to the work of the professional minister(s) leading the local church. This study proposes that the word "minister" should be applied to all believers and that professional ministers and their ministries should serve the larger group doing ministry: the laity. Lay ministry should not be understood only as that service done in the local church, but should be understood as a call received and obeyed by the laity to "do the work of ministry" in their work places and their neighborhoods, as well as their local churches. Following Amos Yong's theology of disability and the formation of the L'Arche communities found throughout the world, this God's Empowered People will show how the local church can welcome all in Christ's name into a community of the Spirit in which people are loved and respected for who they are. From such a welcoming, loving, and respectful community can come people of varying abilities who discover their special gifts of ministry, then take their gifts into the work world, market place, and neighborhoods to "do the work of ministry" in Christ's name. They will be able to go places and do things no professional minister could go or do, yet still need the professional minister to help prepare them to "do the work of ministry." Thus, professional and lay ministries are not competitive but complementary. In such a community of professional and lay ministries operating cooperatively, all have the opportunity to express wisely their gifts in their arenas of calling and influence.
Download or read book Following Jesus to Burning Man written by Kerry D. McRoberts and published by Hamilton Books. This book was released on 2011-03-04 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book places the author, a Pentecostal/evangelical minister, in a thoroughly pagan context in the Nevada desert where he discovered the presence of God in a way that transformed his understanding of ministry in the twenty-first century context. This book is about our culture's recovery and transformation.
Download or read book Power and the Powers written by Andrew R. Hardy and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Missio Dei by its very nature requires the church to come to terms with the exercise of power, both internally and externally, as it confronts the world. Tune in to any newscast or glance at the daily newspaper and it immediately becomes clear that the use and abuse of power is a live issue. The more we focus on the twists and turns of current events, the more it appears that uncorrupted exercise of power eludes the human race. All too often we become uneasily aware that there are powers lying behind the power that any of us wields, whether it is in the family, the classroom, on the shop floor, in the boardroom, or in churches. Effective missional leadership involves creative engagement with the powers at work in the world without being debased by them. This book sets out to address the issue of the use and misuse of power from biblical, theological, and practical perspectives. The authors bring their theological, pastoral, missionary, and personal experience to their task in order to inform, challenge, and invite readers into a responsible use of the powers that God has put into the hands of each one of us to achieve his purposes in the world.
Download or read book So Beautiful written by Leonard Sweet and published by David C Cook. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 50 years ago scientists made a remarkable discovery, proclaiming, "We have found the secret of life ... and it's so pretty!" The secret was the discovery that life is helixical, two strands wound around a single axis—what most of us know today as the model for DNA. Over the course of his ministry, author Leonard Sweet has discovered that this divine design also informs God's blueprint for the church. In this seminal work, he shares the woven strands that form the church: missional, relational, and incarnational. Sweet declares that this secret is not just pretty, but beautiful. In fact, So Beautiful! Using the poignant life of John Newton as a touchstone, Sweet calls for the re-union of these three essential, complementary strands of the Christian life. Far from a novel idea, Sweet shows how this structure is God's original intent, and shares the simply beautiful design for His church.
Download or read book What on Earth is the Church For written by David Devenish and published by Authentic Media Inc. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A radical approach to church mission and social action that asks, 'If mission is not the central purpose of the church, then what is?' David Devenish believes that the church exists as a means of taking the gospel message to every people group. He believes that the church is very much at the centre of God's purposes, and in this book presents the church, not as a static pastoral community, but as a vibrant, active body totally committed to world mission. David investigates the importance of church planting to reach the nations, looks at Church-based mission and how to make local churches missional in both thinking and practice. Set within a framework of the Kingdom of God, David demonstrates what the kingdom down to earth really implies for Church-based kingdom social action. Finally, he examines the culture and contextualisation of social action along with some of the dangers and difficulties of apostolic mission, before asking the fundamental question, Who will go?
Download or read book Canadian Pentecostalism written by Michael Wilkinson and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2009 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most significant transformations in twentieth-century Christianity is the emergence and development of Pentecostalism. The fastest-growing form of Christianity, with over five hundred million followers worldwide, this widely diverse movement has influenced many sectors of Christianity, flourishing in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and also affecting Canada. Bringing together a previously scattered and somewhat hidden literature, Canadian Pentecostalism provides the first comprehensive overview of the subject. The collection is broad in focus, examining classical Pentecostalism, charismatic movements in the Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant traditions, and neo-Pentecostalism. Contributing authors examine historical debates about the origins of the movement, the response of Pentecostalism to institutionalization and globalization, and the roles of women, aboriginals, and immigrants within the Canadian movement. A multi-disciplinary study - with contributions from scholars in history, sociology, cultural studies, theology, and religious studies - Canadian Pentecostalism provides an important window into the Pentecostal / Charismatic movement and fills a gap in our general understanding of religion in Canada. Contributors include Peter Althouse (Southeastern University), Peter Beyer (University of Ottawa), Robert K. Burkinshaw (Trinity Western University), Michael Di Giacomo (Valley Forge Christian College), Bruce L. Guenther (Trinity Western University), Randall Holm (Providence College), Pamela M.S. Holmes (Th.D. candidate, Toronto School of Theology), Stephen Hunt (University of the West of England), Martin Mittelstadt (Evangel University), David Reed (University of Toronto), Thomas A. Robinson (University of Lethbridge), Donald S. Swenson (Mount Royal College), and Michael Wilkinson (Trinity Western University)
Download or read book A Heart for the Community written by John Fuder and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2013-08-28 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our nation used to look at violence, poverty, and gentrification and assign those problems to urban centers. Today, these issues concern the suburbs, too. The Christian community is responding to this reality. Churches and parachurch ministries are actively working to transform lives and restore communities throughout the city and suburbs. In A Heart for the Community: New Models for Urban and Suburban Ministry, you will be challenged by a collection of voices seeking community renewal. These individuals are involved in creative church planting initiatives, and they are serving the growing Hispanic and Muslim populations. Additional endeavors include serving racially changing communities, economic development strategies, and more. As anyone who has been in ministry for any length of time can attest, tackling some of the most challenging issues of our times is no mere academic exercise. The voices within these pages write from experience and offer workable, vibrant models of ministry that make a difference.
Download or read book Smitten written by Rodney Hessinger and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-12-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Smitten, Rodney Hessinger examines how the Second Great Awakening disrupted gender norms across a breadth of denominations. The displacement and internal migration of Americans created ripe conditions for religious competition in the North. Hessinger argues that during this time of religious ferment, religious seekers could, in turn, play the missionary or the convert. The dynamic of religious rivalry inexorably led toward sexual and gender disruption. Contending within an increasingly democratic religious marketplace, preachers had to court converts in order to flourish. They won followers through charismatic allure and making concessions to the desires of the people. Opening their own hearts to new religious impulses, some religious visionaries offered up radical dispensations—including new visions of how God wanted them to reorder sex and gender relations in society. A wide array of churches, including Methodists, Baptists, Mormons, Shakers, Catholics, and Perfectionists, joined the fray. Religious contention and innovation ultimately produced backlash. Charges of seduction and gender trouble ignited fights within, among, and against churches. Religious opponents insisted that the newly converted were smitten with preachers, rather than choosing churches based on reason and scripture. Such criticisms coalesced into a broader pan-Protestant rejection of religious enthusiasm. Smitten reveals the sexual disruptions and subsequent domestication of religion during the Second Great Awakening.
Download or read book The Necessity of Theater written by Paul Woodruff and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is unique and essential about theater? What separates it from other arts? Do we need "theater" in some fundamental way? The art of theater, as Paul Woodruff says in this elegant and unique book, is as necessary - and as powerful - as language itself. Defining theater broadly, including sporting events and social rituals, he treats traditional theater as only one possibility in an art that - at its most powerful - can change lives and (as some peoples believe) bring a divine presence to earth. The Necessity of Theater analyzes the unique power of theater by separating it into the twin arts of watching and being watched, practiced together in harmony by watchers and the watched. Whereas performers practice the art of being watched - making their actions worth watching, and paying attention to action, choice, plot, character, mimesis, and the sacredness of performance space - audiences practice the art of watching: paying close attention. A good audience is emotionally engaged as spectators; their engagement takes a form of empathy that can lead to a special kind of human wisdom. As Plato implied, theater cannot teach us transcendent truths, but it can teach us about ourselves. Characteristically thoughtful, probing, and original, Paul Woodruff makes the case for theater as a unique form of expression connected to our most human instincts. The Necessity of Theater should appeal to anyone seriously interested or involved in theater or performance more broadly.
Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities written by Katie Day and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like an ecosystem, cities develop, change, thrive, adapt, expand, and contract through the interaction of myriad components. Religion is one of those living parts, shaping and being shaped by urban contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities is an outstanding interdisciplinary reference source to the key topics, problems, and methodologies of this cutting-edge subject. Representing a diverse array of cities and religions, the common analytical approach is ecological and spatial. It is the first collection of its kind and reflects state-of-the-art research focusing on the interaction of religions and their urban contexts. Comprising 29 chapters, by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into three parts: Research methodologies Religious frameworks and ideologies in urban contexts Contemporary issues in religion and cities Within these sections, emerging research and analysis of current dynamics of urban religions are examined, including: housing, economics, and gentrification; sacred ritual and public space; immigration and the refugee crisis; political conflicts and social change; ethnic and religious diversity; urban policy and religion; racial justice; architecture and the built environment; religious art and symbology; religion and urban violence; technology and smart cities; the challenge of climate change for global cities; and religious meaning-making of the city. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies and urban studies. The Handbook will also be very useful for those in related fields, such as sociology, history, architecture, urban planning, theology, social work, and cultural studies.
Download or read book Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia written by Juliana Finucane and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-10-21 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together a range of critical studies that explore diverse ways in which processes of globalization pose new challenges and offer new opportunities for religious groups to propagate their beliefs in contemporary Asian contexts. Proselytizing tests the limits of religious pluralism, as it is a practice that exists on the border of tolerance and intolerance. The practice of proselytizing presupposes not only that people are freely-choosing agents and that religion itself is an issue of individual preference. At the same time, however, it also raises fraught questions about belonging to particular communities and heightens the moral stakes in involved in such choices. In many contemporary Asian societies, questions about the limits of acceptable proselytic behavior have taken on added urgency in the current era of globalization. Recognizing this, the studies brought together here serve to develop our understandings of current developments as it critically explores the complex ways in which contemporary contexts of religious pluralism in Asia both enable, and are threatened by, projects of proselytization.
Download or read book Losing Our Religion written by Kevin Ronald Ward and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-10-22 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Church-going in most Western societies has declined significantly in the wake of the social and cultural changes that began in the 1960s. Does this mean that people in these societies are losing any religious dimension in their lives, or is it being expressed in other forms and places? This study begins by looking at comparative data on how church-going patterns have changed in five countries--Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand--examining reasons for the decline, how churches have responded to these changes, and why some churches have shown greater resilience. It then explores some of the particular challenges these changes pose for the future of churches in these societies and some of the responses that have been made, drawing on both sociological and theological insights. The conclusion is that, despite the loss of belonging, believing persists and religion continues to play a significant role in these societies, mediated in a variety of diffuse cultural forms. Cases illustrating these changes are largely drawn from New Zealand, which as the country most recently settled by Europeans has always been "secular" and thus provides helpful insights.
Download or read book A Generous Orthodoxy written by Brian D. McLaren and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-05-18 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A confession and manifesto from a senior leader in the emerging church movement. A Generous Orthodoxy calls for a radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice in a missional, generous spirit. Brian McLaren argues for a post-liberal, post-conservative, post-protestant convergence, which will stimulate lively interest and global conversation among thoughtful Christians from all traditions.In a sweeping exploration of belief, author Brian McLaren takes us across the landscape of faith, envisioning an orthodoxy that aims for Jesus, is driven by love, and is defined by missional intent. A Generous Orthodoxy rediscovers the mysterious and compelling ways that Jesus can be embraced across the entire Christian horizon. Rather than establishing what is and is not “orthodox,” McLaren walks through the many traditions of faith, bringing to the center a way of life that draws us closer to Christ and to each other. Whether you find yourself inside, outside, or somewhere on the fringe of Christianity, A Generous Orthodoxy draws you toward a way of living that looks beyond the “us/them” paradigm to the blessed and ancient paradox of “we.”
Download or read book Mediarchy written by Yves Citton and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-11-11 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We think that we live in democracies: in fact, we live in mediarchies. Our political regimes are based less on nations or citizens than on audiences shaped by the media. We assume that our social and political destinies are shaped by the will of the people without realizing that ‘the people’ are always produced, both as individuals and as aggregates, by the media: we are all embedded in mediated publics, ‘intra-structured’ by the apparatuses of communication that govern our interactions. In this major book, Yves Citton maps out the new regime of experience, media and power that he designates by the term ‘mediarchy’. To understand mediarchy, we need to look both at the effects that the media have on us and also at the new forms of being and experience that they induce in us. We can never entirely escape from the effects of the mediarchies that operate through us but by becoming more aware of their conditioning, we can develop the new forms of political analysis and practice which are essential if we are to rise to the unprecedented challenges of our time. This comprehensive and far-reaching book will be essential reading for students and scholars in media and communications, politics and sociology, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the multiple and complex ways that the media – from newspapers and TV to social media and the internet – shape our social, political and personal lives today.
