Download or read book www congregationalresources org written by Richard Bass and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-12-30 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ever-increasing number of resources compete for the attention of congregational leaders. With a seemingly endless number of choices, finding the best resource on a particular topic for a specific congregation is an often daunting challenge. www.congregationalresources.org, is an invaluable companion to the groundbreaking online version of Alban Institute’s and Indianapolis Center for Congregation’s jointly researched and produced Congregational Resource Guide, launched in 2001 and accessed by thousands of seekers each week. The book conveniently and cogently puts the rich array of important resources into context by examining in depth, the key books, organizations, Web sites, and people that will help leaders gain an understanding of important issues facing their congregations. The book features ten overviews of important topics by widely recognized experts in their fields, including Amy Sherman on Community Ministry, Tom Fischer on Congregational Health, Lee Ramsey on Preaching, Paul Chaffee on Leadership, John Janka on Evaluation, and Jean Trumbauer on Lay Ministry. Each essay is accompanied by an annotated list of selected resources for researching further information. Helpful guides for using these valuable resources to promote and encourage congregational understanding and transformation are also included.
Download or read book Building Strong Congregations written by Bruce Wrenn and published by Autumn House Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You probably have a fairly good idea of what it took to construct the building in which your congregation meets. First, there was a recognized need for a building, followed by a budget, blueprints, fund-raising, construction workers, and building materials, and voil! The structure proudly stands as a monument to the effective implementation of a well-thought-out plan.
Download or read book Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation written by George W Bullard and published by Chalice Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Full Kingdom potential," says George Bullard, "is a journey, not a destination. To reach your full Kingdom potential, its pursuit must be your enduring passion and desire." Drawing on his more than four decades of experience in congregational leadership, Bullard offers not just another process for congregational redevelopment. He learns from the past to take congregations on a spiritual journey that is open-ended, custom-made, and locally owned. His focus is on capacity building in each congregation, calling for a narrative approach to futuring in the life of congregations that responds to new things God is seeking to do in and through members of the congregation. From the TCP Leadership Series.
Download or read book Faith Community Faith based partnerships 23 35 min written by and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each video in this 11 volume series describes an aspect of the modern religious landscape by using Indianapolis, IN as a microcosm of American society.
Download or read book Transforming Congregations written by James Lemler and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2008-04 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At once “travel guide” and vision for the future, the Transformation series is good news for the Episcopal Church at a time of fast and furious demographic and social change. Series contributors - recognized experts in their fields - analyze our present plight, point to the seeds of change already at work transforming the church, and outline a positive new way forward. What kinds of churches are most ready for transformation? What are the essential tools? What will give us strength, direction, and purpose to the journey? Each volume of the series will: Explain why a changed vision is essential Give robust theological and biblical foundations Offer a guide to best practices and positive trends in churches large and small. Describe the necessary tools for change Imagine how transformation will look How can our patterns of congregational life and mission renew themselves and adjust to changing culture without selling out what Episcopalians stand for? How can local faith communities stay resilient and hopeful? What styles and practices of spirituality do most to enrich our mission? These are some of the questions James Lemler poses in this book on mission for clergy and congregational discussion. As with evangelism, there is both good and bad news about Episcopalians and mission. Lemler also provides a variety of models for moving forward in mission and hope, to a more abundant future.
Download or read book Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives written by Mohamed Taher and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives, as is implied by its name, explores worship (i.e., Prayer, Praise, Scripture, Sacrament, Rituals, Confessions, Eucharist, Rites, Pilgrimages, Reflection, Contemplation, etc.) on the Internet. It is not an 'everything you need to know' guide about the subjects of faith and belief, religions-online, religions on the Net, or religions in cyberspace. Rather, it is a book about religious and spiritual experience under the rubric, cyber worship, which is the variety of ways religious devotion is performed and carried out on the Internet. The term 'Cyber Worship' is a catchall phrase, which includes variants such as online worship, virtual worship, electronic prayer, cyber puja, cyber synagogue, and so on. Dr. Mohamed Taher has thus assembled a quick reference for two groups: those communities that are involved in Cyber Worship and business Webs that collaborate in sustaining wired environments. As such, this book provides an interesting and current perspective on a practice that will continue to grow in the future.
Download or read book Singing the Congregation written by Monique M. Ingalls and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-29 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary worship music shapes the way evangelical Christians understand worship itself. Author Monique M. Ingalls argues that participatory worship music performances have brought into being new religious social constellations, or "modes of congregating". Through exploration of five of these modes--concert, conference, church, public, and networked congregations--Singing the Congregation reinvigorates the analytic categories of "congregation" and "congregational music." Drawing from theoretical models in ethnomusicology and congregational studies, Singing the Congregation reconceives the congregation as a fluid, contingent social constellation that is actively performed into being through communal practice--in this case, the musically-structured participatory activity known as "worship." "Congregational music-making" is thereby recast as a practice capable of weaving together a religious community both inside and outside local institutional churches. Congregational music-making is not only a means of expressing local concerns and constituting the local religious community; it is also a powerful way to identify with far-flung individuals, institutions, and networks that comprise this global religious community. The interactions among the congregations reveal widespread conflicts over religious authority, carrying far-ranging implications for how evangelicals position themselves relative to other groups in North America and beyond.
Download or read book When a Congregation Is Betrayed written by Candace R. Benyei and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-12-30 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Other books have been written about clergy misconduct and its effects on congregations. Some are by victims. Others are written by professionals for a professional audience. Until now, however, there hasn't been a book for the congregational leaders who must deal with the fallout of clergy misconduct. Both the afterpastors--the interim or settled pastors who follow misconducting pastors--and lay leaders need guidance about how to assess and effectively respond to the misconduct, how to care for the victim/survivor, and how to carry out the mission and ministry to which the congregation has been called.
Download or read book A Change of Pastors and How it Affects Change in the Congregation written by Loren B. Mead and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012-01-09 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty years after Critical Moment of Ministry was first published, Loren Mead returns to his groundbreaking work on one of the most important times in a congregation’s life—the time between one pastor’s leaving and another’s arrival. In this revised edition, A Change of Pastors, Mead shares the wisdom he gained from 35 years of studying congregations, wisdom that he hopes will allow congregations to take full advantage of this “extraordinarily pregnant moment” during which incredible congregational change can happen.
Download or read book Amazing Gifts written by Mark I. Pinsky and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-12-30 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amazing Gifts: Stories of Faith, Disability, and Inclusion is a new publication by noted religion writer Mark I. Pinsky. Pinsky has gathered stories from churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples across the country, "stories of people with disabilities and the congregations where they have found welcome." He has taken special care to include the widest range of disabilities, including non-apparent disabilities like lupus, chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, depression, and mental illness. There were 54 million American with disabilities as of 2000, and that number is now being swelled by wounded warriors from the Afghan and Iraq wars and an aging population. he author emphasizes that his purpose is to not to write a resource manual on accessibility and inclusion. Rather, Pinsky seeks to share stories of how people with disabilities have experienced their faith in the context of their disability, and how congregations have gained when they value the gifts that people with disabilities bring along. "This book," notes the author, "is for congregational leaders and others who may have no expertise or personal experience with disability, but who make the congregational decisions about accessibility and inclusion."
Download or read book Field Guide to United States Congregations written by Cynthia Woolever and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the results of the major Congregational Life Survey, this book is the first comprehensive portrait of congregational life in the United States at the start of the 21st century. Charts and graphs.
Download or read book Community Ministry written by Carl S. Dudley and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2002-12-31 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this era of "faith-based initiatives," congregations increasingly find themselves in the business of establishing and supporting community ministries-daycare for infants and toddlers, respite care for elders, and programs for housing rehab and home repair, tutoring, and social justice advocacy. In this volume, Carl S. Dudley revises and updates his earlier book, Basic Steps toward Community Ministry, which Loren Mead called "the most valuable book on parish ministry I've seen in a decade."
Download or read book Family Systems and Congregational Life written by R. Robert Creech and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experienced pastor and seminary teacher R. Robert Creech helps pastoral leaders increase their effectiveness by applying family systems theory to congregational life and ministry. Creech introduces readers to the basic concepts of Bowen Family Systems Theory, applies family theory to the work of ministry in church settings, and connects systems thinking to the everyday aspects of congregational ministry, such as preaching, pastoral care, leadership, spiritual formation, and interpreting biblical texts. Each chapter contains discussion questions, and there are five helpful appendixes with supplemental information about Bowen theory.
Download or read book Memories Hopes and Conversations written by Mark Lau Branson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-06-01 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A second edition of Memories, Hopes, and Conversations is now available! With helpful updates throughout, the new edition features five new chapters on Appreciative Inquiry applied in real congregations. When First Presbyterian Church in Altadena, California, was asked to provide a mission study report for its pastor nominating committee, the congregation was afraid they would find themselves engaging in busy work and producing a report that would wind up in a file gathering dust. They then asked professor Mark Lau Branson to consult with them on writing this report. He invited them to join in a process of Appreciative Inquiry--a transformational organization change process--which resulted in a major shift in congregational conversations and a new sense of hope. Memories, Hopes, and Conversations recounts the experience of First Presbyterian and outlines a process that any congregation can utilize to harness the energies of the congregation at all levels of its common life. Branson first leads readers through the foundations of Appreciative Inquiry and bracingly explores biblical texts for understanding the practice in a faith context. He then outlines and illustrates a four-step process--Initiate, Inquire, Imagine, Innovate--that creatively employs constructive conversations and questions to evoke storytelling and spur imaginations. Branson persuasively demonstrates how concentrating on needs and problems can mire a congregation in discouragement and distract it from noticing innate strengths. By focusing on memories of the congregation at its best, members are able to construct "provocative proposals" to help shape the church’s future. Grounded in solid theory and real-life practice, Memories, Hopes, and Conversations is a groundbreaking work of narrative leadership and the first book to apply the principles of Appreciative Inquiry to the lives of congregations.
Download or read book Church Administration Handbook written by Bruce P. Powers and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2008 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Together with the newly revised "Christian Education Handbook," this volume provides complete basic church information and administrative guidelines.
Download or read book Places of Promise Finding Strength in Your Congregation s Location written by Cynthia Woolever, Deborah Bruce and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Church Leader s Counseling Resource Book written by Cynthia Franklin Ph.D. and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This all-in-one guide is designed to better equip clergy and the church leaders to meet their congregations' needs in a spiritually grounded and scientifically sound manner. Succinct, easy-to-read chapters summarize all a pastor needs to know about a given problem area, including its signs or symptoms, questions to ask, effective helping skills, and, most importantly, when to refer to a mental health professional. Synthesizing what research says about treatment approaches for mental health issues, this user-friendly reference is filled with guidelines, case scenarios, key points to remember, resources for further help, advice on integrating scripture and theology with the best available research, and tips on partnering with others to provide the best possible care for each church member. Each chapter is designed for quick lookup by problem area, empowering church leaders to understand and help meet the challenges facing the children, adults, families, and communities that they serve.
