Download or read book Small Town America written by Robert Wuthnow and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revealing examination of small-town life More than thirty million Americans live in small, out-of-the-way places. Many of them could have joined the vast majority of Americans who live in cities and suburbs. They could live closer to more lucrative careers and convenient shopping, a wider range of educational opportunities, and more robust health care. But they have opted to live differently. In Small-Town America, we meet factory workers, shop owners, retirees, teachers, clergy, and mayors—residents who show neighborliness in small ways, but who also worry about everything from school closings and their children's futures to the ups and downs of the local economy. Drawing on more than seven hundred in-depth interviews in hundreds of towns across America and three decades of census data, Robert Wuthnow shows the fragility of community in small towns. He covers a host of topics, including the symbols and rituals of small-town life, the roles of formal and informal leaders, the social role of religious congregations, the perception of moral and economic decline, and the myriad ways residents in small towns make sense of their own lives. Wuthnow also tackles difficult issues such as class and race, abortion, homosexuality, and substance abuse. Small-Town America paints a rich panorama of individuals who reside in small communities, finding that, for many people, living in a small town is an important part of self-identity.

Download or read book God Land written by Lyz Lenz and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-19 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Will resonate with any readers interested in understanding American landscapes where white, evangelical Christianity dominates both politics and culture.” —Publishers Weekly In the wake of the 2016 election, Lyz Lenz watched as her country and her marriage were torn apart by the competing forces of faith and politics. A mother of two, a Christian, and a lifelong resident of middle America, Lenz was bewildered by the pain and loss around her—the empty churches and the broken hearts. What was happening to faith in the heartland? From drugstores in Sydney, Iowa, to skeet shooting in rural Illinois, to the mega churches of Minneapolis, Lenz set out to discover the changing forces of faith and tradition in God’s country. Part journalism, part memoir, God Land is a journey into the heart of a deeply divided America. Lenz visits places of worship across the heartland and speaks to the everyday people who often struggle to keep their churches afloat and to cope in a land of instability. Through a thoughtful interrogation of the effects of faith and religion on our lives, our relationships, and our country, God Land investigates whether our divides can ever be bridged and if America can ever come together. “God Land, Lyz Lenz’s much-anticipated debut book, is a marvel. Not only is it a window into the middle America so many like to stereotype but fail to fully understand in all of its complexity, but it mixes reportage, memoir, and gorgeous prose so seamlessly I wanted to know how she did it.” —Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita

Download or read book Dream Like Jesus written by Rebekah Simon-Peter and published by . This book was released on 2019-08 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rebekah Simon-Peter explores her own spiritual journey and helps leaders learn to get past the "standard" Christianity and learn to dream like Jesus, thus inspiring individuals and congregations to dream and achieve dreams previously thought impossible.

Download or read book Welcoming the Stranger Among Us written by Catholic Church. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and published by USCCB Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed for both ordained and lay ministers at the diocesan and parish levels, this document challenges us to prepare to receive newcomers with a genuine spirit of welcome.

Download or read book Herald and Presbyter written by and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book From Hollywood to Calvary written by Russell Gary Heikkila and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2012-10-03 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Hope Street in Hollywood to Mission Street in Gardner was an unforgettable journey! Through it all, author Russell Gary Heikkila learned the most significant fact of his life. No matter how far a man may go from God, the Father is always waiting with open arms to welcome him back.

Download or read book The Christian Evangelist written by and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Playing with God written by William J Baker and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like no other nation on earth, Americans eagerly blend their religion and sports. This book traces this dynamic relationship from the Puritan condemnation of games as sinful in the seventeenth century to the near deification of athletic contests in our own day.

Download or read book The Christian Advocate written by and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 1170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Pastor Unique written by Lavern E. Brown and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2016-07-27 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ADVANCED PRAISE FOR PASTOR UNIQUE: Becoming a Turnaround Leader Each year thousands of books are written, published, and distributed. Few are really significant works. Pastor Unique is, in my view, a significant book. Gary L. McIntosh, D.Min., Ph.D. Talbot Seminary, Biola University Helping pastors understand themselves and their role is crucial and fundamental. So is training them in the tactics and strategies of change. Furthermore, they must learn how their personalities help or hinder leading change. I believe the process described in this book is targeted more specifically than any other I know to provide this training . Paul Borden. Ph.D. Director, Church Health Initiative I am grateful to the authors for including The Birkman Method in their work with pastors. My father, Roger Birkman, was passionate about helping people of faith gain a clearer, more accurate understanding of self and others. The authentic kind of leadership development recommended in this book will profoundly impact pastors and the people they lead. We are proud that Birkman can play a role in the important initiative represented in Pastor Unique. Sharon Birkman Fink, CEO Birkman International, Inc. Are you still searching for that killer church health conference, that rock star pastor to imitate, or the perfect formula that will tell you how lead your church to effective service in Jesus mission? Pastors who chase dreams of high powered ministry by looking for answers outside of themselves are inevitably discouraged when they learn that what works for others wont work for them. If thats your story, Pastor Unique is what youve been looking for. Inside you will learn how to use all the tools the Head of the Church has already given you your identity, your personality, and your life experience to become a turnaround leader in your church.

Download or read book Preacher and Homiletic Monthly written by and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Immigrants Son an American Story written by George Trebat and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2012 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A slice of my life from 1927 to the first decades of the 21st Century."--Cover page.

Download or read book Dynamics of Small Town Ministry written by Lawrence W. Farris and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000-05-01 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unique in character and cultural distinctions, small towns present special challenges for pastors, especially for those whose models of ministry may be grounded in urban or suburban contexts. Writing out of his personal experience in and commitment to small town ministry, Farris explores the impact and importance of such factors as local history, geography, the values and metaphors of small town life, boundary setting, and ministerial roles. For everyone involved in small town ministry, this book is a “must-read.” Foreword by Norma Cook Everist.

Download or read book The Homiletic Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Long Road to Obsolescence written by Frank L. Arnold and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2009-02-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the nineteenth century American Presbyterians were among the many Western denominations that sent missionaries to countries around the world. They established foreign Missions as bases in those lands with the intention of starting indigenous churches there. Although the Mission structures were designed to function like scaffolding during the construction of a building, to be removed when the building is complete, the Presbyterian Mission structure in Brazil remained in place for 126 years, long after the Brazilian Presbyterian Church it founded became independent and self-supporting. It was the last of the Presbyterian Missions in the world to be dissolved. The story told here documents the contributions made by North American Presbyterians in Brazil and tackles the missiological question of just why it remained in place so long, and whether it should have.

Download or read book Rural Manhood written by and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Homesickness written by Susan J. Matt and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-17 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Homesickness today is dismissed as a sign of immaturity, what children feel at summer camp, but in the nineteenth century it was recognized as a powerful emotion. When gold miners in California heard the tune "Home, Sweet Home," they sobbed. When Civil War soldiers became homesick, army doctors sent them home, lest they die. Such images don't fit with our national mythology, which celebrates the restless individualism of colonists, explorers, pioneers, soldiers, and immigrants who supposedly left home and never looked back. Using letters, diaries, memoirs, medical records, and psychological studies, this wide-ranging book uncovers the profound pain felt by Americans on the move from the country's founding until the present day. Susan Matt shows how colonists in Jamestown longed for and often returned to England, African Americans during the Great Migration yearned for their Southern homes, and immigrants nursed memories of Sicily and Guadalajara and, even after years in America, frequently traveled home. These iconic symbols of the undaunted, forward-looking American spirit were often homesick, hesitant, and reluctant voyagers. National ideology and modern psychology obscure this truth, portraying movement as easy, but in fact Americans had to learn how to leave home, learn to be individualists. Even today, in a global society that prizes movement and that condemns homesickness as a childish emotion, colleges counsel young adults and their families on how to manage the transition away from home, suburbanites pine for their old neighborhoods, and companies take seriously the emotional toll borne by relocated executives and road warriors. In the age of helicopter parents and boomerang kids, and the new social networks that sustain connections across the miles, Americans continue to assert the significance of home ties. By highlighting how Americans reacted to moving farther and farther from their roots, Homesickness: An American History revises long-held assumptions about home, mobility, and our national identity.