Download or read book Congregations in Transition written by Carl S. Dudley and published by Jossey-Bass. This book was released on 2002-02-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This hands-on guide helps congregations meet the reality and challenges of today's constantly changing urban and suburban church communities. Congregations in Transition, written in an easy-to-follow workbook format, is designed to help communities of faith focus on the changing needs of their members and explore the opportunities and options open to them.
Download or read book The Naked Anabaptist written by Stuart Murray and published by MennoMedia, Inc.. This book was released on 2015-10-20 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Click here to read the introduction to The Naked Anabaptist. In churches and kitchens and neighborhood centers across the world, communities of Jesus-followers are crafting a vision of radical service, simple living, and commitment to peace. Many are finding a home in a Christian tradition almost five centuries old: Anabaptism. Who are the Anabaptists? What do they believe? Where did they come from? What makes them different from other Christians? And can you become an Anabaptist without leaving your own church? Follow Stuart Murray as he peels back the layers to reveal the core convictions of Anabaptist Christianity, a way of following Jesus that challenges, disturbs, and inspires. Glimpse an alternative to nationalistic, materialistic, individualistic Christian faith. If you are seeking a community of authentic discipleship, heartfelt worship, sacrificial service, and radical peacemaking, consider this your invitation. This new edition features: Voices and stories from North America and the global church. Updated and expanded definition and discussion of Christendom. Updated resource section. Free downloadable study guide available here.
Download or read book Planting and Growing Urban Churches written by Harvie M. Conn and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 1997-07-01 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the 120 million unchurched people in the United States. Planting and Growing Urban Churches is still virtually the only available text on church planting in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendices, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generation X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.
Download or read book Sabbath in the City written by Bryan P. Stone and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on their research involving urban pastors from across the United States, Bryan Stone and Claire Wolfteich identify and examine spiritual practices that foster excellence in urban ministry. After discussing the specific challenges facing urban pastors and presenting the kinds of excellence required of them, Stone and Wolfteich explore several practices that help sustain ministers working in urban contexts, such as cultivating holy friendships, practicing Sabbath, maintaining lives of prayer and study, and setting appropriate boundaries. Throughout, the authors weave together stories from urban pastors from a variety of denominations with insights from the history of Christian spirituality and theology to chart a theological course for the formation and renewal of pastors in diverse contemporary contexts.
Download or read book Church Planting at the End of the Twentieth Century written by Charles L. Chaney and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: -More than 80 million Americans claim no church affiliation. -Only six other nations have a total population of more than 80 million. -Another 90 million who claim membership or affiliation don't attend church. -It is obvious that this many people will no
Download or read book Urban Impact written by John L. Thompson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-10-26 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Half of the population of the world lives in cities of one million or more. If we don't reach and disciple from these masses, our future missionary and pastoral force will be diminished. The book Urban Impact is a trumpet call to muster our forces but also deals with the philosophy and practical principles that make any ministry in the city successful. Brandishing a practical writing style coupled with real life experiences, John Thompson helps the reader understand the problems, burdens, joys, and powerful impact cities have on the rest of society. Helping the city pastor or missionary develop an effective ministry, Thompson elaborates on seven critical principles necessary for an effective urban ministry. Following this discussion the book turns to two of the leading challenges of great cities. The first being how to reach the disenfranchised--those from minority groups, people who have substance abuse problems, and the homeless, to name but a few. The second challenge deals with one of the greatest foundational problems in our cities and in all of society: the plight of the Absent Father. Other chapters address urban discipleship as the most effective approach to promote life transformation, planting churches in the difficult urban environment, and a topic rarely discussed in urban books, raising a family in the city.
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 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 Renewal written by Mark Wild and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-03-21 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the decades following World War II, a movement of clergy and laity sought to restore liberal Protestantism to the center of American urban life. Chastened by their failure to avert war and the Holocaust, and troubled by missionaries’ complicity with colonial regimes, they redirected their energies back home. Renewal explores the rise and fall of this movement, which began as an effort to restore the church’s standing but wound up as nothing less than an openhearted crusade to remake our nation’s cities. These campaigns reached beyond church walls to build or lend a hand to scores of organizations fighting for welfare, social justice, and community empowerment among the increasingly nonwhite urban working class. Church leaders extended their efforts far beyond traditional evangelicalism, often dovetailing with many of the contemporaneous social currents coursing through the nation, including black freedom movements and the War on Poverty. Renewal illuminates the overlooked story of how religious institutions both shaped and were shaped by postwar urban America.
Download or read book God So Loves the City written by Charles E. Van Engen and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the explosive contexts of Nairobi, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Madras burst fresh insights on the mission of the church for the city. Jude Tiersma and Charles Van Engen worked closely with an international team of experienced urban practitioners to explore the most urgent issues facing those who minister in today's cities. From each particular urban setting, a team member contributed a story from ministry in the city. Each story uniquely illustrates a different challenge of urban ministry in the face of injustice, marginalization, and urban structures. This book brings you these stories, then retells them in light of Scripture, introducing new hope to each one. From these stories emerge new ideas about the nature of cities and how to practice ministry in them. The new methodology employed by Van Engen and Tiersma's team leads us in the first steps toward a theology of mission for the city. God So Loves the City is a must for pastors, seminary students, missiologists, congregation members, and all who are concerned about urban ministry.
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2009-09 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Disruptive Religion written by Christian Smith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-16 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religion has long played a central role in many social and political movements. Solidarity in Poland, anti-apartheid in South Africa, Operation Rescue in the United States--each of these movements is driven by the energy and sustained by the commitment of many individuals and organizations whose ideologies are shaped and powered by religious faith. In many cases, religious resources and motives serve as crucial variables explaining the emergence of entire social movements. Despite the crucial role of religion in most societies, this religious activism remains largely uninvestigated. Disruptive Religion intends to fill this void by analyzing contemporary social movements which are driven by people and organizations of faith. Upon a firm base of empirical evidence, these essays also address many theoretical issues arising in the study of social movements and disruptive politics.
Download or read book Bridges to People written by Sean S. O'Neal and published by Xulon Press. This book was released on 2007-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bridges to People is designed and written as a practical tool for Christian people and Christian ministry leaders desiring to accomplish effective ministry among the present global culturally diverse society existing in North America and throughout the world. Focusing on the possibilities of developing healthy growing multi-ethnic church congregations, Bridges to People will serve as a catalyst in helping people and churches become mission focused - missional. This tool will empower readers to develop a comprehensive ministry approach. Utilizing demographic historical and ethnographic research, contextualization, church growth strategies, evangelism thinking, visionary thinking, and leadership values, Bridges to People will guide readers to accomplish the task of communicating the gospel with meaning and effectively minister to the whole life needs of people living in culturally diverse communities. Sean O'Neal has traveled throughout the world working among many people groups including African American, Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Pakistani, East Indian, Latino, Korean, West Indian, American Born Caucasian, Filipino and Haitian. Sean has worked as local church youth pastor, urban missionary, consultant, conference speaker, local church pastor, and currently serves in regional church leadership. While serving as the Senior Pastor of the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago the church experienced exciting growth in attendance including ministry among 12 different ethnic groups, the planting of two new church congregations including a Latino ministry primarily reaching first and second generation Mexican people, and a Bulgarian Church. Sean earned the Bachelor of Arts degree from Lee University in Intercultural Studies, a Master of Arts degree in Urban Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and the Doctor of Ministry degree in Urban Missions from Westminster Theological Seminary.
Download or read book The African American Church Community in Rochester New York 1900 1940 written by Ingrid Overacker and published by University Rochester Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work examines the connections between the faith foundations of members of the African-American church community in Rochester, New York and the work the community engaged in to nurture and protect its members during the first four decades of the twentieth century. The book concentrates on four local churches (Memorial AME Zion, Mt. Olivet Baptist, Trinity Presbyterian, and St. Simon's Episcopal) and explains how each addressed the human service, educational, economic, and political needs of African Americans in Rochester. the book highlights the role of women in the church community and relies heavily on interviews with members of the respective churches. This analysis of Rochester's church community challenges the perception of the African-American church as accommodationist and other-worldly during this critical time in the formation of the African-American community both locally and nationally.
Download or read book Religious Organizations and Democratization written by Tun-jen Cheng and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the political roles of religious institutions and groups have captured inernational attention. This book examines how religious institutions and organizations in various Asian countries are influencing democratic development and the shaping of government policies. Religious Organizations and Democratization covers Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. The chapters specifically address the engagement of Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and other religious organizations in the advancement and/or hindrance of democratization in the region. The contributors consider such questions as: Why have some religious organizations played a decisive role in democratic transitions, while others remained politically dormant, and other still acted in conservative alliances to block democratic development? Why did some religious organizations that once were active and instrumental to democratic change lose their political vitality as soon as civil liberties were successfully introduced? And why did other religious organizations, irrespective of their roles in the process of democratic transition, emerge as key political forces in the civil society?
Download or read book Stilling the Storm written by Kathleen S. Smith and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2006-12-28 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When congregations go through difficult times, worship will both reflect and influence those difficulties. The practice of worship itself can be a key part of the congregation's healing process. Teacher and consultant Kathleen Smith successfully demonstrates this truth in Stilling the Storm, a book for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the ways that worship intertwines with the life and health of a congregations. There are three main types of difficulty congregations can face: times of crisis, transition, and conflict. Smith considers their differences, similarities, and implications for worship, and explains the congregational dynamics that accompany such times and the roles that leaders play. She reviews basic principles of worship and the ways that unique moments and regular habits of worship shape the congregation. For each type of difficulty she suggests important themes for congregations and their worship planners. Smith explores the wide range of liturgical resources available for congregations going through difficult times and how those resources can best be shaped to fit the specific situation they are experiencing. A perceptive guide to the worship we offer to God in all times and situation, Stilling the Storm is an important resource for all congregations of all worship traditions.
Download or read book Urban Apologetics written by Eric Mason and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Urban Apologetics examines the legitimate issues that Black communities have with Western Christianity and shows how the gospel of Jesus Christ—rather than popular, socioreligious alternatives—restores our identity. African Americans have long confronted the challenge of dignity destruction caused by white supremacy. While many have found meaning and restoration of dignity in the black church, others have found it in ethnocentric socioreligious groups and philosophies. These ideologies have grown and developed deep traction in the black community and beyond. Revisionist history, conspiracy theories, and misinformation about Jesus and Christianity are the order of the day. Many young African Americans are disinterested in Christianity and others are leaving the church in search of what these false religious ideas appear to offer, a spirituality more indigenous to their history and ethnicity. Edited by Dr. Eric Mason and featuring a top-notch lineup of contributors, Urban Apologetics is the first book focused entirely on cults, religious groups, and ethnocentric ideologies prevalent in the black community. The book is divided into three main parts: Discussions on the unique context for urban apologetics so that you can better understand the cultural arguments against Christianity among the Black community. Detailed information on cults, religious groups, and ethnic identity groups that many urban evangelists encounter—such as the Nation of Islam, Kemetic spirituality, African mysticism, Hebrew Israelites, Black nationalism, and atheism. Specific tools for urban apologetics and community outreach. Ultimately, Urban Apologetics applies the gospel to black identity to show that Jesus is the only one who can restore it. This is an essential resource to equip those doing the work of ministry and apology in urban communities with the best available information.
