Download or read book Dear Church written by Lenny Duncan and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work--drawing a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part manifesto, part confession, and all love letter, Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of Duncan's denomination and the broader mainline Christian community of faith. Dear Church rejects the narrative of church decline and calls everyone--leaders and laity alike--to the front lines of the church's renewal through racial equality and justice. It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice. Duncan gives a blueprint for the way forward and urges us to follow in the revolutionary path of Jesus. Dear Church also features a discussion guide at the back--perfect for church groups, book clubs, and other group discussion.

Download or read book The Episcopal Way written by and published by Morehouse Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores seismic shifts in American life and the opportunities and challenges each presents to the church today. And calls for a return to Episcopal basics and insist that faithfully engaging a changing world might be the most truly Anglican practice of all.

Download or read book Decolonizing Christianity written by Miguel A. De La Torre and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “How curiously different is this white God from the one preached by Jesus who understood faithfulness by how we treat the hungry and thirsty, the naked and alien, the incarcerated and infirm. This white God of empire may be appropriate for global conquerors who benefit from all that has been stolen and through the labor of all those defined as inferior; but such a deity can never be the God of the conquered.” Echoing James Cone’s 1970 assertion that white Christianity is a satanic heresy, Miguel De La Torre argues that whiteness has desecrated the message of Jesus. In a scathing indictment, he describes how white American Christians have aligned themselves with the oppressors who subjugate the “least of these”—those who have been systemically marginalized because of their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status—and, in overwhelming numbers, elected and supported an antichrist as president who has brought the bigotry ingrained in American society out into the open. With this follow-up to his earlier Burying White Privilege, De La Torre prophetically outlines how we need to decolonize Christianity and reclaim its revolutionary, badass message. Timid white liberalism is not the answer for De La Torre—only another form of complicity. Working from the parable of the sheep and the goats in the Gospel of Matthew, he calls for unapologetic solidarity with the sheep and an unequivocal rejection of the false, idolatrous Christianity of whiteness.

Download or read book Recovering the Lost Art of Reading written by Leland Ryken and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Christian Perspective on the Joys of Reading Reading has become a lost art. With smartphones offering us endless information with the tap of a finger, it's hard to view reading as anything less than a tedious and outdated endeavor. This is particularly problematic for Christians, as many find it difficult to read even the Bible consistently and attentively. Reading is in desperate need of recovery. Recovering the Lost Art of Reading addresses these issues by exploring the importance of reading in general as well as studying the Bible as literature, offering practical suggestions along the way. Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes inspire a new generation to overcome the notion that reading is a duty and instead discover it as a delight.

Download or read book People of the Way written by Dwight J. Zscheile and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By exploring the Episcopal Church’s mission and precepts in the context of 21st century and its challenges, this thoughtful book deepens the Church’s relationship with its people and makes the faith more relevant. Society and culture are constantly evolving so must religion and its mission to remain meaningful. The legacies of establishment, benefactor approaches to mission, and the ‘national church’ ideal are no longer adequate for the challenges and opportunities facing the 21st century church. But if the Episcopal Church is no longer the Church of the Establishment and the benefactor model of church is dead, what is the heart of Episcopal mission and identity? Scholar and Episcopal priest Dwight Zscheile draws on multiple streams of Anglican thought and practice, plus contemporary experience to craft a vision for mission that addresses the church’s post-establishment, post-colonial context. With stories, practices and concrete illustrations, Zscheile engages readers in re-envisioning what it means to be Anglican in America today and sends readers out to build new relationships within their local contexts.

Download or read book Being Interrupted written by Al Barrett and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with a ‘Street Nativity Play’ that didn’t end as planned, and finishing with an open-ended conversation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Being Interrupted" locates an institutionally-anxious Church of England within the wider contexts of divisions of race and class in ‘the ruins of empire’, alongside ongoing gender inequalities, the marginalization of children, and catastrophic ecological breakdown. In the midst of this bleak picture, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley open a door to a creative disruption of the status quo, ‘from the outside, in’: the in-breaking of the wild reality of the ‘Kin-dom’ of God. Through careful and unsettling readings in Mark’s gospel, alongside stories from a multicultural outer estate in east Birmingham, they paint a vivid picture of an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods and our imaginations, and offers new possibilities for repentance and resurrection.

Download or read book A People Called Episcopalians written by John H. Westerhoff III and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2014-10-15 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A straightforward, easy-to-understand introduction to the Episcopal Church. What are we as Episcopalians? This concise booklet explores five main areas of Episcopal life: identity, authority, spirituality, temperament, and polity. A great introduction to the Episcopal way of thinking in readable prose for any newcomer or seeker in the Episcopal Church who may wonder what makes Episcopalians different than Roman Catholics or other protestants.

Download or read book The Church Cracked Open written by Stephanie Spellers and published by Church Publishing. This book was released on 2021-03-17 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book will make a profound difference for the church in this moment in history." — The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry Sometimes it takes disruption and loss to break us open and call us home to God. It’s not surprising that a global pandemic and once-in-a-generation reckoning with white supremacy—on top of decades of systemic decline—have spurred Christians everywhere to ask who we are, why God placed us here and what difference that makes to the world. In this critical yet loving book, the author explores the American story and the Episcopal story in order to find out how communities steeped in racism, establishment, and privilege can at last fall in love with Jesus, walk humbly with the most vulnerable and embody beloved community in our own broken but beautiful way. The Church Cracked Open invites us to surrender privilege and redefine church, not just for the sake of others, but for our own salvation and liberation.

Download or read book One Body One Spirit written by George A. Yancey and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2009-12 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AS SOCIETY DIVERSIFIES, LOCAL CHURCHES FIND THEM SELVES INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE FROM EVERY TRIBE AND TONGUE. But not every church is equipped to handle the realities of ethnic and racial diversity in its congregational life. Sociologist George Yancey's pioneering research on multiracial churches offers key principles for church leaders wanting t...

Download or read book Cracked Up to Be written by Courtney Summers and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2008-12-23 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classic Courtney Summers with a brand new look and exclusive bonus material! This ebook edition of Cracked Up to Be includes updated text, an afterword from the author and a discussion guide. The high price of perfection is one 'Perfect' Parker Fadley always believed she was willing to pay until the events of a party during junior year fractures the lives of her family and friends. Something terrible has happened and only Parker knows it's her fault. If being a perfect daughter, student, friend and girlfriend couldn't keep her from making an unforgivable mistake, Parker hopes becoming a perfect mess will at least keep her loved ones from discovering the truth. But when the arrival of a curious new student and the unexpected return of an old enemy threaten her tenuous grip on control, Parker must decide just how far she'll go to keep her secret from surfacing. Also available from Courtney Summers: I'M THE GIRL, the new "brutally captivating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) queer thriller based loosely on The Epstein case.

Download or read book You re Not Enough And That s Okay written by Allie Beth Stuckey and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the sharpest Christian voices of her generation and host of the podcast Relatable comes a framework for escaping our culture of trendy narcissism—and embracing God instead. We're told that the key to happiness is self-love. Instagram influencers, mommy bloggers, self-help gurus, and even Christian teachers promise that if we learn to love ourselves, we'll be successful, secure, and complete. But the promise doesn't deliver. Instead of feeling fulfilled, our pursuit of self-love traps us in an exhausting cycle: as we strive for self-acceptance, we become addicted to self-improvement. The truth is we can't find satisfaction inside ourselves because we are the problem. We struggle with feelings of inadequacy because we are inadequate. Alone, we are not good enough, smart enough, or beautiful enough. We're not enough--period. And that's okay, because God is. The answer to our insufficiency and insecurity isn't self-love, but God's love. In Jesus, we're offered a way out of our toxic culture of self-love and into a joyful life of relying on him for wisdom, satisfaction, and purpose. We don't have to wonder what it's all about anymore. This is it. This book isn't about battling your not-enoughness; it's about embracing it. Allie Beth Stuckey, a Christian, conservative new mom, found herself at the dead end of self-love, and she wants to help you combat the false teachings and self-destructive mindsets that got her there. In this book, she uncovers the myths popularized by our self-obsessed culture, reveals where they manifest in politics and the church, and dismantles them with biblical truth and practical wisdom.

Download or read book Mirror to the Church written by Emmanuel Katongole and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We learn who we are as we walk together in the way of Jesus. So I want to invite you on a pilgrimage. Rwanda is often held up as a model of evangelization in Africa. Yet in 1994, beginning on the Thursday of Easter week, Christians killed other Christians, often in the same churches where they had worshiped together. The most Christianized country in Africa became the site of its worst genocide. With a mother who was a Hutu and a father who was a Tutsi, author Emmanuel Katongole is uniquely qualified to point out that the tragedy in Rwanda is also a mirror reflecting the deep brokenness of the church in the West. Rwanda brings us to a cry of lament on our knees where together we learn that we must interrupt these patterns of brokenness But Rwanda also brings us to a place of hope. Indeed, the only hope for our world after Rwanda’s genocide is a new kind of Christian identity for the global body of Christ—a people on pilgrimage together, a mixed group, bearing witness to a new identity made possible by the Gospel.

Download or read book The Cracked Cup written by Mike Mazzalongo and published by BibleTalk Books. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This mini book outlines some of the attitudes Christians need to cultivate in order to promote unity and peace within the church. Based on Ephesians 4:31-5:2.

Download or read book Inheritance of Tears written by Jessalyn Hutto and published by Cruciform Press. This book was released on 2015-03-01 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a woman becomes pregnant, miscarriage is usually the furthest thing from her mind. Such was the case for Jessalyn Hutto when she became pregnant with her first baby. But as is all too common in our post-fall world, the life she carried came to an abrupt end. Death had visited her womb, and the horrors of miscarriage had become a part of her life’s story. ••• Ultimately, she would lose two children in the womb, at 6 and 15 weeks gestation. Through these painful losses, a whole new world of suffering opened up to her. It seemed that everywhere she looked women were quietly mourning the loss of their unborn children. Yet this particular type of loss has been grossly overlooked by the church. ••• Couples navigating the unique sorrow of losing a child are often left with little biblical counsel to draw upon. Well-meaning friends and family often offer empty platitudes and Christian clichés. But what these couples truly need is the hope of the gospel. ••• Short, sensitive, and theologically robust, Inheritance of Tears offers hope and comfort to those who are called to walk through the painful trial of miscarriage, and shows pastors and church members how to effectively minister to these parents in their time of need.

Download or read book Preaching Black Lives Matter written by Gayle Fisher-Stewart and published by Church Publishing. This book was released on 2020-07-17 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology that asks, “What does it mean to be church where Black lives matter?” Prophetic imagination would have us see a future in which all Christians would be free of the soul-warping belief and practice of racism. This collection of reflections is an incisive look into that future today. It explains why preaching about race is important in the elimination of racism in the church and society, and how preaching has the ability to transform hearts. While programs, protests, conferences, and laws are all important and necessary, less frequently discussed is the role of the church, specifically the Anglican Church and Episcopal Church, in ending systems of injustice. The ability to preach from the pulpit is mandatory for every person, clergy or lay, regardless of race, who has the responsibility to spread the gospel. For there’s a saying in the Black church, “If it isn’t preached from the pulpit, it isn’t important.”

Download or read book Unsettling the Word written by Heinrichs, Steve and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2019-02-20 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "For generations, the Bible has been employed by settler colonial societies as a weapon to dispossess Indigenous and racialized peoples of their lands, cultures, and spiritualties. Given this devastating legacy, many want nothing to do with it. But is it possible for the exploited and their allies to reclaim the Bible from the dominant powers? In Unsettling the Word, over 60 Indigenous and Settler authors come together to wrestle with the Scriptures, re-imagining the ancient text for the sake of reparative futures."--

Download or read book Cracked Open written by Miriam Zoll and published by Interlink Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-17 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A WOMAN’S BATTLE WITH THE BILLION-DOLLAR BABY BUSINESS Cracked Open is Miriam Zoll's eye-opening account of growing into womanhood with the simultaneous opportunities offered by the U.S. women's movement and new discoveries in reproductive technologies. Influenced by the pervasive media and cultural messages suggesting that science had finally eclipsed Mother Nature, Zoll postponed motherhood until the age of 40. When things don't progress as she had hoped, she enters a world of medical seduction and bioethical quagmires. Desperate to conceive, she surrenders to unproven treatments and procedures only to learn that the odds of becoming a mother through reproductive technologies are far less than she and her generation had been led to believe.