Download or read book Merging Mission and Unity written by Donald Black and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Diversity of Discipleship written by Milton J. Coalter and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume considers three issues in the Presbyterian Church that have proved to be perplexing to the witness of faith: outreach, ecumenism, and pluralism. The first four essays illustrate that troubling questions about the church's witness arose in this century and divided Presbyterian opinion in the midst of American social problems. Thus, verbal and physical outreach became competing priorities. The final five essays examine racial/ethnic Presbyterian experiences. Examples of the interlocking and sometimes interfering interplay of outreach, ecumenism, and pluralism in the quest for distinctive Presbyterian discipleship are discussed. Through its examination of American Presbyterianism, thePresbyterian Presenceseries illuminates patterns of change in mainstream Protestantism and American religious and cultural life in the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Church in the Movement of the Spirit written by William R. Barr and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1994 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of seven essays exploring how the Spirit moves in an amazing variety of ways through the church's life and witness. Based on a four-year study by the Faith and Order Working Group of the National Council of Churches, this volume offers an ecumenical view of the Spirit at work in the church and of the wider movement of the Spirit in creation and in human history.
Download or read book Better Together written by Jim Tomberlin and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thousands of Protestant churches are perplexed by plateaued or declining attendance, while other congregations nearby thrive. Is there a way for them to combine forces, drawing on both their strengths, in ways that also increase their missional impact? Church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin, with co-writer Warren Bird, makes the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church. In this new book, they provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a "second life."
Download or read book Presbyterian Missions and Cultural Interaction in the Far Southwest 1850 1950 written by Mark T. Banker and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The primary concern of Banker's book is, as he states in its preface, "not the Presbyterian impact on the Southwest, but instead the impact of the Southwest on the Presbyterians."
Download or read book The Pluralistic Vision written by Milton J. Coalter and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays in this valuable book examine the results of research on theological education in the twentieth century, spiritual formation among seminarians, and the changing nature of Presbyterian-related colleges. Several essays review Christian education among Presbyterians, focusing on the forming of curricula and publications from denominational presses. Through its examination of American Presbyterianism, the Presbyterian Presence series illuminates patterns of change in mainstream Protestantism and American religious and cultural life in the twentieth century.
Download or read book Context and Contextuality written by Vyacheslav Tsvirinko and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2018-01-31 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1988, hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians have migrated to the United States of America from former Soviet Union countries, establishing many Russian-speaking immigrant congregations across the country. This study analyzes how these immigrant churches function in their new cultural, social, and religious context. Dr Vyacheslav Tsvirinko, a Russian who lived in the USA for over twenty-five years, examines the holism, authenticity and contextuality of the mission work done by churches in the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association (PCSBA) in America. He defines authentic mission in light of three major Christian groups – the World Council of Churches, the Lausanne Movement, and Anabaptists – and uncovers startling insights on how PCSBA churches engage in mission, both back in their homeland and in the USA. The findings and conclusions of this work are invaluable to diasporic Christian communities who wish to address their authenticity in the way they do mission, both internationally and in their local context, creating a path to more fruitful gospel and kingdom work.
Download or read book Witnessing to Christ Today written by Daryl M. Balia and published by OCMS. This book was released on 2010 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Centenary of the World Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh in 1910, is a suggestive moment for many people seeking direction for Christian mission in the twenty-first century. Since 2005 an international group has worked collaboratively to develop an intercontinental and multidenominational project, now known as Edinburgh 2010, and based at New College, University of Edinburgh. Essential to the work of the Edinburgh 1910 Conference, and of abiding value, were the findings of the eight think-tanks or 'commissions'. These inspired the idea of a new round of collaborative reflection on Christian mission - but now focused on nine themes identified as being key to mission in the twenty-first century. The study process is intended to contribute, from a research perspective, to the aim of Edinburgh 2010 - witnessing together to Christ in the twenty-first century - and to the development of a new vision in terms of God's purposes for creation in Christ and a renewed spirituality and mission ethos in the life of churches worldwide. Witnessing to Christ Today contains a summary of what has been achieved through the study process up to the end of 2009 and forms the preparatory volume for the centenary conference to be held in Edinburgh on 2-6 June 2010. There the material will be subjected to rigorous critique from various transversal perspectives and engaged with by church and mission delegates from around the world.
Download or read book To Merge Or Not to Merge written by Lewis B. Ware and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The movement towards Arab unity is not a recent phenomenon. The conditions and circumstances under which it has taken many of its modern forms change from day to day; nevertheless, the concept of Arab unity is based on a socio-historical rationale as old as the Arab people. Arab unity today reflects this rationale as a historical imperative and symbolically represents a desire to recreate the links to a past which many believe has never been broken. In the broadest sense, this study seeks to clarify the socio-historical rationale upon which the ideological superstructure of Arab unity rests and to show how its unifying thread runs through a seemingly unintelligible diversity of events. Insofar as recent happenings in the Middle East have contributed to the revival of the Arab unit movement, a discussion of its historical genesis cannot be avoided. Still, history itself does not provide the only answers because Arab unity is a response to the heartfelt psychological needs of a historic people. (Author).
Download or read book American Evangelicals in Egypt written by Heather J. Sharkey and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1854, American Presbyterian missionaries arrived in Egypt as part of a larger Anglo-American Protestant movement aiming for worldwide evangelization. Protected by British imperial power, and later by mounting American global influence, their enterprise flourished during the next century. American Evangelicals in Egypt follows the ongoing and often unexpected transformations initiated by missionary activities between the mid-nineteenth century and 1967--when the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War uprooted the Americans in Egypt. Heather Sharkey uses Arabic and English sources to shed light on the many facets of missionary encounters with Egyptians. These occurred through institutions, such as schools and hospitals, and through literacy programs and rural development projects that anticipated later efforts of NGOs. To Egyptian Muslims and Coptic Christians, missionaries presented new models for civic participation and for women's roles in collective worship and community life. At the same time, missionary efforts to convert Muslims and reform Copts stimulated new forms of Egyptian social activism and prompted nationalists to enact laws restricting missionary activities. Faced by Islamic strictures and customs regarding apostasy and conversion, and by expectations regarding the proper structure of Christian-Muslim relations, missionaries in Egypt set off debates about religious liberty that reverberate even today. Ultimately, the missionary experience in Egypt led to reconsiderations of mission policy and evangelism in ways that had long-term repercussions for the culture of American Protestantism.
Download or read book What Unites Presbyterians written by Clifton Kirkpatrick and published by Geneva Press. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and former missionary and denominational executive William Hopper provide a cogent account of the distinctive features of Presbyterianism that define this theological tradition and present a basis for the renewal of the church. This book is ideal for use in church officer training and must reading for all Presbyterians who want to understand their faith tradition more fully, and for non-Presbyterians interested in a succinct presentation of the Reformed theological tradition.
Download or read book Church Mergers written by Thomas G. Bandy and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-12 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The need to merge churches is growing ever more crucial as congregations assess how to thrive in cultural diversity and ever-changing times. Every denomination faces the urgency to shift from maintenance to mission, and from survival to renewal. Church Mergers offers churches of all sizes and traditions practical advice on how to merge successfully. Authors Thomas G. Bandy and Page M. Brooks draw on decades of experience to illustrate why and how missional mergers are possible. Church Mergers guides congregational leaders and regional planners through the process of successful mergers. It shares the stories of four churches in the merger process, explaining the steps to assess their situations, build trust, and discern vision. The book offers guidance to assess the potential for merger, explore contextual relevancy and lifestyle compatibility, overcome internal and external obstacles, define strategic priorities, create new boards, build leadership teams, combine assets, and more. Church Mergers shows that a faithful, healthy, missional merger is possible, and it illustrates that the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts.
Download or read book The Organizational Revolution written by John M. Mulder and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the organizational character of American religious history and points to a tentative but significant conclusion: The Presbyterian Church has been undergoing an organizational revolution, and the roots of this revolution seem to have preceded the dramatic membership decline that began in the mid-1960s. Through its examination of American Presbyterianism, the Presbyterian Presence series illuminates patterns of change in mainstream Protestantism and American religious and cultural life in the twentieth century.
Download or read book Racial Integration in the Church of Apartheid written by Marthe Hesselmans and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Racial Integration in the Church of Apartheid Marthe Hesselmans uncovers the post-apartheid transformation of South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church. This church once constituted the religious pillar of the Afrikaner apartheid regime (1948-1994). Today, it seeks to unite the communities it long segregated into one multiracial institution. Few believe this will succeed. A close look inside congregations reveals unexpected stories of reconciliation though. Where South Africans realize they need each other to survive, faith offers common ground – albeit a feeble one. They show the potential, but also the limits of faith communities untangling entrenched national and racial affiliations. Linking South Africa’s post-apartheid transition to religious-nationalist movements worldwide, Hesselmans offers a unique perspective on religion as source of division and healing.
Download or read book Ecumenism A Guide for the Perplexed written by R. David Nelson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-27 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed is a comprehensive introduction to the methods, achievements, and future prospects of the modern ecumenical movement. The authors begin the volume by charting out a serviceable definition of ecumenism, a term that has long been a source of confusion for students of theology and church history. They review the chronology of the modern ecumenical movement and highlight the major events, figures, accomplishments, and impasses. This historical survey is followed by critical examinations of three significant challenges for contemporary ecumenical theology and practice. Along the way, the authors provide commentary upon the difficulties and prospects that the ecumenical movement might anticipate as it enters this new millennium.
Download or read book Mission Partnership in Creative Tension written by Samuel Cueva and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Samuel Cueva has refined his concept of ‘partnership in mission’ by advocating the use of reciprocal contextual collaboration in this important contribution to scholarly reflection on contemporary missiology. Referencing historical, theological and functional aspects of how mission has been carried out, as well as analyzing its impact on the evangelical movement, the author identifies that mission always develops with positive and negative tensions. Emphasizing an understanding of current missions which include traditional, networking and emergent models, and how they can be combined, interconnected and interchanged, the author proposes a fresh model that ensures the suitability for every mission context.
Download or read book Better Together written by Jim Tomberlin and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thousands of Protestant churches are perplexed by plateaued or declining attendance, while other congregations nearby thrive. Is there a way for them to combine forces, drawing on both their strengths, in ways that also increase their missional impact? In Better Together, Expanded and Updated: Making Church Mergers Work, church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin and award-winning writer Warren Bird make the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church. This much-needed resource describes the range of mergers for strong, stable, stuck, and struggling churches. No matter what type of merger a church may be considering, the authors address key questions about the process: How can a merger help a church go forward? How will a merger process unfold? Where can a declining church find another congregation to join? What are the pitfalls that both pastor and congregation should avoid? How can "better together" lead to more, rather than fewer, life-giving, high-impact, reproducing churches? They provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches, so they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute mergers for church expansion and renewal--ultimately, so they can reinvigorate declining churches and give them a "second life." No matter what your motivation for merging your church with another--to begin a new church life cycle, cross racial lines, reach more people for Christ, multiply your church's impact, or better serve your local community--Better Together will give you the tools you need to create a thriving new entity.
