Download or read book To Transform a City written by Eric Swanson and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To Transform a City is a valuable guide for those who dream big about the spiritual and social changes possible for the cities and towns that surround their churches. Two visionary leaders examine the foundations, history, theology, and practical methods of community transformation.
Download or read book Together for the City written by Neil Powell and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We need a bigger vision for the city. Pastors Neil Powell and John James contend that to truly transform a city, the gospel compels us to create localized, collaborative church planting movements. The more willing we are to collaborate across denominations and networks, the more effectively we will reach our communities—whatever their size—for Jesus.
Download or read book Center Church written by Timothy Keller and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2012-09-04 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor. Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many "church growth" and "effective ministry" books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight. Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness. Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit. "Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than "how-to steps" for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town." — Tim Keller, Core Church
Download or read book The Hybrid Church in the City written by Christopher Richard Baker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The era of post-colonialism and globalisation has brought new intensities of debate concerning the existence of diversity and plurality, and the need to work in partnerships to resolve major problems of injustice and marginalisation now facing local and global communities. The Church is struggling to connect with the significant economic, political and cultural changes impacting on all types of urban context but especially city centres, inner rings and outer estates and the new ex-urban communities being developed beyond the suburbs. This book argues that theology and the church need to engage more seriously with post-modern reality and thought if points of connection (both theologically and pastorally) are going to be created. The author proposes a sustained engagement with a key concept to emerge from post-modern experience - namely the concept of the Third Space. Drawing on case studies from Europe and the USA primarily, this book examines examples of Third Space methodologies to ask questions about hybrid identities and methods churches might adopt to effectively connect with post-modern cities and civil society. Particular areas of focus by the author include: the role and identity of church in post-modern urban space; the role of public theology in addressing key issues of marginalisation and urbanisation as they impact in the 21st century; the nature and role of local civil society as a local response to globalised patterns of urban, economic, social and cultural change.
Download or read book Why Cities Matter written by Stephen T. Um and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2013-03-31 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in a unique moment in history. Right now, more people live in urban centers than ever before. This means that we have an unprecedented opportunity to influence the majority of the world through the church in the city. Helping us to make the most of this moment, urban pastors Justin Buzzard and Stephen Um lay out a compelling vision for cultural engagement and church planting in our world’s cities. If you’re looking for motivation to maintain a commitment to the city or for guidance as you consider going all in, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of urban life that informs, instructs, inspires, and answers questions including: Why cities are so important What the Bible says about cities How to overcome common issues and develop a plan for living missionally in the city Instead of retreating from or taking from our cities, here is a call to make the cities our home, to take good care of them, and to participate in God’s kingdom-building work in the urban centers of our world.
Download or read book The City of God Books VIII XVI written by Saint Augustine and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2008-09 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No description available
Download or read book Beautiful Resistance written by Jon Tyson and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a time of compromise and disillusionment, God is calling his people to a movement of beautiful resistance. We live in a time when our culture is becoming increasingly shallow, coarse, and empty. Radical shifts in the areas of sexuality, ethics, technology, secular ideologies, and religion have caused the once-familiar landscape of a generation ago to be virtually unrecognizable. Yet rather than shine as a beacon of light, the church often is silent or accommodating. This isn’t a new phenomenon. During World War II, pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was deeply troubled by the compromise in the German church. Their capitulation to the Nazi party brought shame and dishonor to the gospel. In response, he helped create an underground movement of churches that trained disciples and ultimately sought to renew the church and culture of the day. In our compromised church, we need new underground movements of discipleship and resistance. Widely respected New York pastor Jon Tyson unveils a revived vision for faithful discipleship—one that dares to renew culture, restore credibility, and replace compromise with conviction. For all who have felt this conflict in the soul between who we are and who God calls us to be, Beautiful Resistance is a bold invitation to reclaim what’s been lost—regardless of the cost. Praise for Beautiful Resistance “Beautiful Resistance is one of the most compelling and defiant books I’ve read in a long time. I love Jon’s radical, no-messing vision of the church as a prophetic community. This is a wake-up call for us all from the heart of a man who lives his message, loves his city, and serves his Lord with a passion and intelligence destined to become less rare.”—Pete Greig, founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement
Download or read book The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York written by Peter J. Paris and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2004-05-01 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was from the pulpit of the Riverside Church that Martin Luther King, Jr., first publicly voiced his opposition to the Vietnam War, that Nelson Mandela addressed U.S. church leaders after his release from prison, and that speakers as diverse as Cesar Chavez, Jesse Jackson, Desmond Tutu, Fidel Castro, and Reinhold Niebuhr lectured church and nation about issues of the day. The greatest of American preachers have served as senior minister, including Harry Emerson Fosdick, Robert J. McCracken, Ernest T. Campbell, William Sloane Coffin, Jr., and James A. Forbes, Jr., and at one time the New York Times printed reports of each Sunday's sermon in its Monday morning edition. For seven decades the church has served as the premier model of Protestant liberalism in the United States. Its history represents the movement from white Protestant hegemony to a multiracial and multiethnic church that has been at the vanguard of social justice advocacy, liberation theologies, gay and lesbian ministries, peace studies, ethnic and racial dialogue, and Jewish-Christian relations. A collaborative effort by a stellar team of scholars, The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York offers a critical history of this unique institution on Manhattan's Upper West Side, including its cultural impact on New York City and beyond, its outstanding preachers, and its architecture, and assesses the shifting fortunes of religious progressivism in the twentieth century.
Download or read book Exegeting the City written by Sean Benesh and published by . This book was released on 2015-12-11 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the tide has turned and a wave of church planters have washed up on the shorelines of city centers many are learning to navigate the intricacies of urban life for the first time. Many of today's North American church planters are migrating in from the suburbs, smaller cities, and rural towns as they are confronted with a culture, lifestyle, and built environment that is more foreign than they thought ... or would admit. What do church planters need to know about the city in order to be effective? Exegeting the City was written for you, the church planter, to expand your understanding of the city. This will aid you in the process of contextualization as you discern how to embody, teach, and proclaim the Gospel in the city. Besides, your city needs you to do this. Throughout the book you will be exposed to different trends that are reshaping the city both in culture and urban form. This in turn influences how people experience and live in the city which then has direct bearing in how you plant a church. Exegeting the city today is of critical importance.
Download or read book Heavenly City written by Denis Robert McNamara and published by LiturgyTrainingPublications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This visually stunning and carefully researched book encompasses some of the most significant Catholic churches of Chicago, addressing both their architectural and theological significance. Color photographs beautifully illustrate the insightful text. It is a book suitable for those interested in local history, architectural achievement, theological awareness, or those who simply desire to glory in the visual beauty of Chicago's historic churches.
Download or read book What Is a Healthy Church written by Mark Dever and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2024-09-26 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Key Traits of a Healthy Church to Develop within the Local Body What is an ideal church, and how can you tell? How does it look different from other churches? More importantly, how does it act differently, especially in society? Many of us aren't sure how to answer those questions, even though we probably have some preconceived ideas. This book answers those questions and many more. Author Mark Dever seeks to help believers recognize the key characteristics of a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a right understanding of the gospel. Dever then calls us to develop those characteristics in our own churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing all members of the church, pastors and laity alike, Dever challenges all believers to do their part in maintaining the local church. Part of the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series, What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help each of us fulfill our God-given roles in the body of Christ. Offers an Ideal Church Model: Encourages pastors and members to implement healthy church qualities within their local body Written by Mark Dever: Pastor, bestselling author, and president of 9Marks From 9Marks: Other titles in the Building Healthy Churches series include Church Discipline; Deacons; and Church Membership Replaces ISBN 978-1-58134-937-5
Download or read book A Creative Minority written by Jon Tyson and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-09 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How should the church engage our culture? The recent political cycle has shattered the lens through which the American church has looked at politics through much of our lifetimes. If we return to the Scriptures, we see Jesus offers us a compelling, alternative vision. His heart was that His followers would be a city on a hill and that people would see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. This was not dependent on the laws on the books, the rulings of the courts, or the leaders in power. His heart was that we would influence culture through redemptive participation, being not just a faithful, but also a fruitful presence. His vision was that the church functions as a Creative Minority in a dominant culture. A Creative Minority seeks not to propose a way to regain cultural dominance, take back our world for God or revisit an unrealistic and nostalgic past. It humbly proposes that if we take on the posture and identity of a Creative Minority, we may rekindle the light in the bushel, and in so doing, cast a hopeful glimmer on the world. A Creative Minority paints a compelling picture of the way the church is called to participate in these challenging and demanding times - seeking neither to control nor abandon the world, but to love it to new life through redemptive participation.
Download or read book Church and State Education in Revolutionary Mexico City written by Patience Alexandra Schell and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2003-10 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revolution in Mexico sought to subordinate church to state and push the church out of public life. Nevertheless, state and church shared a concern for the nation's social problems. Until the breakdown of church-state cooperation in 1926, they ignored the political chasm separating them to address those problems through education in order to instill in citizens a new sense of patriotism, a strong work ethic, and adherence to traditional gender roles. This book examines primary, vocational, private, and parochial education in Mexico City from 1917 to 1926 and shows how it was affected by the relations between the revolutionary state and the Roman Catholic Church. One of the first books to look at revolutionary programs in the capital immediately after the Revolution, it shows how government social reform and Catholic social action overlapped and identifies clear points of convergence while also offering vivid descriptions of everyday life in revolutionary Mexico City. Comparing curricula and practice in Catholic and public schools, Patience Schell describes scandals and successes in classrooms throughout Mexico City. Her re-creation of day-to-day schooling shows how teachers, inspectors, volunteers, and priests, even while facing material shortages, struggled to educate Mexico City's residents out of a conviction that they were transforming society. She also reviews broader federal and Catholic social action programs such as films, unionization projects, and libraries that sought to instill a new morality in the working class. Finally, she situates education among larger issues that eventually divided church and state and examines the impact of the restrictions placed on Catholic education in 1926. Schell sheds new light on the common cause between revolutionary state education and Catholic tradition and provides new insight into the wider issue of the relationship between the revolutionary state and civil society. As the presidency of Vicente Fox revives questions of church involvement in Mexican public life, her study provides a solid foundation for understanding the tenor and tenure of that age-old relationship.
Download or read book City on a Hill written by Philip Graham Ryken and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2003-03-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are now living in post-Christian times, when Christianity no longer is the prevailing influence on the mind and heart of our culture. But we cannot compromise. More than ever before, it is imperative that Christians understand and embrace the biblical pattern for the church. Philip Graham Ryken knows that the changing face of America makes the need for the church to remain steadfast even more important. City on a Hill will provide readers with a deeper understanding of how to live for Christ in the twenty-first century: go back to the model set out in the first century. Sure to be an encouragement and challenge to anyone concerned about the effectiveness of the church today.
Download or read book Urban Ministry written by Harvie M. Conn and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-01-26 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Harvie M. Conn and Manuel Ortiz address the vital work of the urban church as they trace the history of the city around the world, examine the biblical basis for urban mission, unpack the multifaceted identity of the city and discuss particular issues and needs of urban leadership.
Download or read book Catechism of the Catholic Church written by U.S. Catholic Church and published by Image. This book was released on 2012-11-28 with total page 849 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.
Download or read book A New Day in the City written by Donna Claycomb Sokol and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many urban congregations remember days of fame and fortune—days when their prominence downtown or in city neighborhoods mattered. Population shifts, the decline of congregations and neighborhoods, and demographic changes depleted the dreams of many urban churches. But not all churches gave up hope. Many congregations are struggling to survive, but thousands of urban churches are thriving again. Churches with revived hope learn to let go of nostalgic dreams and tired habits and to walk with God into a new day of vibrant mission and ministry. Donna Claycomb Sokol and Roger Owens share lessons they’ve learned on the job and from other urban pastors. Along the way, they challenge clichés about church leadership and strategic planning by showing what congregational renewal can look like and how it can become a reality. Each chapter features a set of practical guidelines for leading a congregation to address the questions that matter most. “The urban church can be quite a challenge. I know because I’ve served a couple. Now, two thoughtful pastors with actual urban church experience take an affectionate, positive, honest, and hopeful look at the urban church and give practical wisdom for the revival of languishing urban congregations. There’s a remarkable revival of the urban church in North America. Donna and Roger can help you be part of it!” —William H. Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC; retired bishop, The United Methodist Church “Three things excite me most about this book: First, these two young pastors understand the strategic importance of urban ministry and are passionately committed to it. Second, they show that when you turn from tired ‘church growth’ and corporate paradigms, choosing rather to model your ministry on Jesus, new life happens. And third, they explain that transformation is about journeying faithfully with the questions rather than looking for quick-fix techniques. This book could change your ministry.” —Peter Storey, South African church leader; W. Ruth and A. Morris Williams Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC
