Download or read book How the Government Measures Unemployment written by United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Religious Beliefs Evolutionary Psychiatry and Mental Health in America written by Kevin J. Flannelly and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-04-08 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a new perspective on the association between religious beliefs and mental health. The book is divided into five parts, the first of which traces the development of theories of organic evolution in the cultural and religious context before Charles Darwin. Part II describes the major evolutionary theories that Darwin proposed in his three books on evolution, and the religious, sociological, and scientific reactions to his theories. Part III introduces the reader to the concept of evolutionary psychiatry. It discusses how different regions of the brain evolved over time, and explains that certain brain regions evolved to protect us from danger by assessing threats of harm in the environment, including other humans. Specifically, this part describes: how psychiatric symptoms that are commonly experienced by normal individuals during their everyday lives are the product of brain mechanisms that evolved to protect us from harm; the prevalence rate of psychiatric symptoms in the U.S. general population; how religious and other beliefs influence the brain mechanisms that underlie psychiatric symptoms; and the brain regions that are involved in different psychiatric disorders. Part IV presents the findings of U.S. studies demonstrating that positive beliefs about God and life-after-death, and belief in meaning-in-life and divine forgiveness have salutary associations with mental health, whereas negative beliefs about God and life-after-death, belief in the Devil and human evil, and doubts about one’s religious beliefs have pernicious associations with mental health. The last part of the book summarizes each section and recommends research on the brain mechanism underlying psychiatric symptoms, and the relationships among these brain mechanisms, religious beliefs, and mental health in the context of ETAS Theory.

Download or read book The Black Church in the African American Experience written by C. Eric Lincoln and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 1990-11-07 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black churches in America have long been recognized as the most independent, stable, and dominant institutions in black communities. In The Black Church in the African American Experience, based on a ten-year study, is the largest nongovernmental study of urban and rural churches ever undertaken and the first major field study on the subject since the 1930s. Drawing on interviews with more than 1,800 black clergy in both urban and rural settings, combined with a comprehensive historical overview of seven mainline black denominations, C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya present an analysis of the Black Church as it relates to the history of African Americans and to contemporary black culture. In examining both the internal structure of the Church and the reactions of the Church to external, societal changes, the authors provide important insights into the Church’s relationship to politics, economics, women, youth, and music. Among other topics, Lincoln and Mamiya discuss the attitude of the clergy toward women pastors, the reaction of the Church to the civil rights movement, the attempts of the Church to involve young people, the impact of the black consciousness movement and Black Liberation Theology and clergy, and trends that will define the Black Church well into the next century. This study is complete with a comprehensive bibliography of literature on the black experience in religion. Funding for the ten-year survey was made possible by the Lilly Endowment and the Ford Foundation.

Download or read book Spirituality and Art Therapy written by Mimi Farrelly-Hansen and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2001-03-15 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reflecting the increasing recognition of the importance of the spiritual in healing, Spirituality and Art Therapy is an exciting exploration of the different ways in which the spiritual forms an essential, life-enhancing component of a well-rounded therapeutic approach. The contributors are leading art therapists who write from diverse perspectives, including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and shamanic. They explain how their own spiritual and creative influences interact, finding expression in the use of art as a healing agent with specific populations, such as bereaved children, emotionally disturbed adolescents, and the homeless. The relationships between spirituality and visual art, art therapy and transpersonal psychology are examined. Story and image are interwoven in the spiritual journeys of therapists and clients, and suggested creative exercises make this an accessible, practical resource for those who desire to understand and execute an holistic method of therapy. Arguing that art therapists can mediate between the sacred and the mundane, this pioneering book is an affirmation of the transformative power of art therapy.

Download or read book Managing Church Conflict written by Hugh F. Halverstadt and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this instructive book, Hugh Halverstadt advocates a Christian vision of shalom for an ethical process of conflict management. He shows how respectfulness, assertiveness, accountability, and a focus on the larger common good should all serve as Christian behavioral standards. The book is ideal for addressing ministries, church systems, and other nonprofit organizations in conflict.

Download or read book Brands of Faith written by Mara Einstein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-09-14 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a series of fascinating case studies of faith brands, marketing insider Mara Einstein has produced a lively account of the book in the commercialization of religion.

Download or read book Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed written by Hugh B. Price and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2010-06-21 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed, Hugh B. Price shares the lessons learned while helping to do just that during his tenure as president of the National Urban League. Here, find out how educators can apply some of the same tactics to inspire and award academic achievement in even the most challenged school districts. Using real-life examples and shared wisdom from successful educators and community organizers coast to coast, Price describes ways to * Create initiatives such as community-based honor societies, parades, and rallies to motivate students and reward achievement; * Include parents in motivational efforts to rekindle students' natural curiosity and enthusiasm for learning; * Enlist the support of businesses and other community partners for both financial support and volunteer help; * Maximize use of the media to publicize student accomplishments; and * Set up programs that honor student achievement year-round. According to Price, a highly informed and engaged community is essential to closing the achievement gap. This book underscores that community-based efforts to motivate student success can be effective because they have been effective. The message for educators, parents, business and civic leaders, and members of the general public is that their consistent and creative involvement will result in invigorated youngsters, inspired to achieve in school and in life.

Download or read book Soul Searching written by Christian Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-13 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole.

Download or read book Afro Pentecostalism written by Amos Yong and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2011-05-16 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2006, the contemporary American Pentecostal movement celebrated its 100th birthday. Over that time, its African American sector has been markedly influential, not only vis-à-vis other branches of Pentecostalism but also throughout the Christian church. Black Christians have been integrally involved in every aspect of the Pentecostal movement since its inception and have made significant contributions to its founding as well as the evolution of Pentecostal/charismatic styles of worship, preaching, music, engagement of social issues, and theology. Yet despite its being one of the fastest growing segments of the Black Church, Afro-Pentecostalism has not received the kind of critical attention it deserves. Afro-Pentecostalism brings together fourteen interdisciplinary scholars to examine different facets of the movement, including its early history, issues of gender, relations with other black denominations, intersections with popular culture, and missionary activities, as well as the movement’s distinctive theology. Bolstered by editorial introductions to each section, the chapters reflect on the state of the movement, chart its trajectories, discuss pertinent issues, and anticipate future developments. Contributors: Estrelda Y. Alexander, Valerie C. Cooper, David D. Daniels III, Louis B. Gallien, Jr., Clarence E. Hardy III, Dale T. Irvin, Ogbu U. Kalu, Leonard Lovett, Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., Cheryl J. Sanders, Craig Scandrett-Leatherman, William C. Turner, Jr., Frederick L. Ware, and Amos Yong

Download or read book Religion and Intimate Partner Violence written by Nancy Nason-Clark and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intimate partner violence is a complex, ugly, fear-inducing reality for large numbers of women around the world. When violence exists in a relationship, safety is compromised, shame abounds, and peace evaporates. Violence is learned behavior and it flourishes most when it is ignored, minimized, or misunderstood. When it strikes the homes of deeply religious women, they are: more vulnerable; more likely to believe that their abusive partners can, and will, change; less likely to leave a violent home, temporarily or forever; often reluctant to seek outside sources of assistance; and frequently disappointed by the response of the religious leader to their call for help. These women often believe they are called by God to endure the suffering, to forgive (and to keep on forgiving) their abuser, and to fulfill their marital vows until death do us part. Concurrently, many batterers employ explicitly religious language to justify the violence towards their partners, and sometime they manipulate spiritual leaders who try to offer them help. Religion and Intimate Partner Violence seeks to navigate the relatively unchartered waters of intimate partner violence in families of deep faith. The program of research on which it is based spans over twenty-five years, and includes a wide variety of specific studies involving religious leaders, congregations, battered women, men in batterer intervention programs, and the army of workers who assist families impacted by abuse, including criminal justice workers, therapeutic staff, advocacy workers, and religious leaders. The authors provide a rich and colorful portrayal of the intersection of intimate partner violence and religious beliefs and practices that inform and interweave throughout daily life. Such a focus on lived religion enables readers to isolate, examine, and evaluate ways in which religion both augments and thwarts the journey towards justice, accountability, healing and wholeness for women and men caught in the web of intimate partner violence.

Download or read book Daughters of Thunder written by Bettye Collier-Thomas and published by Jossey-Bass. This book was released on 1998 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encompassing themes ranging from racial and gender discrimination in the church and society to the tenets of their shared theology, their sermons reveal women of great faith, courage, and wisdom. Dr. Collier-Thomas provides the reader with vital background information about these women's lives, their theology, and the issues that moved them to preach. In addition to a broad historical overview, she discusses the specific circumstances of each preacher and gives insightful analysis of her sermons.

Download or read book Passing on the Faith written by James Heft and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the beginning, the Abrahamic faiths-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-have stressed the importance of transmitting religious identity from one generation to the next. Today, that sustaining mission has never been more challenged. Will young people have a faith to guide them? How can faith traditions anchor religious attachments in this secular, skeptical culture?Filled with real-world wisdom, Passing the Faith will be an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand what religions must, and can, do to inspire a vigorous faith in the next generation.

Download or read book Father Hunger written by Douglas Wilson and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fatherlessness is a “rot that is eating away at the modern soul,” writes Douglas Wilson, and the problem goes far beyond physical absence. “Most of our families are starving for fathers, even if Dad is around, and there’s a huge cost to our children and our society because of it.” Father Hunger takes a thoughtful, timely, richly engaging excursion into our cultural chasm of absentee fatherhood. Blending leading-edge research with incisive analysis and real-life examples, Wilson: Traces a range of societal ills?from poverty and crime to joyless feminism and paternalistic government expansion?to a vacuum of mature masculinity Explains the key differences between asserting paternal authority and reestablishing true spiritual fathering Uncovers the corporate-fulfillment fallacy and other mistaken assumptions that undermine fatherhood Extols the benefits of restoring fruitful fathering, from stronger marriages to greater economic liberty Filled with practical ideas and self-evaluation tools, Father Hunger both encourages and challenges men to “embrace the high calling of fatherhood,” becoming the dads that their families and our culture so desperately need them to be. "Wilson sounds a clarion call among Christian men that is pointedly biblical, urgently relevant, humorously accessible, and practically wise." ?Richard D. Phillips, author of The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men "Father Hunger illulstrates one of the greatest influences or lack thereof on the identity of a man: a father. Read a book that will strike an invisible chord in the lives of men both lost and found." ?Dr. Eric Mason, pastor of Epiphany Fellowship, Philadelphia

Download or read book The Great Hope written by Ellen G. White and published by Alexandre Oliveira Nunes. This book was released on 2011 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Leadership in Congregations written by Richard Bass and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2006-12-31 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new book in Alban's Harvesting the Learnings Series gathers the collected wisdom of over 10 years of Alban research and reflection on what it means to be a leader in a congregation, how our perceptions of leadership are changing, and exciting new directions for leadership in the future. With pieces by such diverse church leaders as Graham Standish, Diana Butler Bass, Jeffrey Jones, Donna Schaper, Gil Rendle, Ann Svennungsen, Mark Lau Branson, and many others, this volume gathers in one place a variety of essays that approach the leadership task and challenge with insight, depth, humor, and imagination. The book also includes the full text of Alban's 2001 special report, "The Leadership Situation Facing American Congregations" by James P. Wind and Gil Rendle. That report examined the evidence for turmoil on the one hand and ferment on the other. The Alban Institute, it declared, stood on the side of ferment. To live into the ferment, we need to see leadership in new ways and learn a new set of adaptive skills that allow them to shape new patterns of congregational life and new leadership roles. Based in research and experience, this volume makes available the best of Alban's learning on how the leaders of congregations can go about this important work.

Download or read book The Complete Book of Church Growth written by Elmer L. Towns and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Black Spirituality and Black Consciousness written by Carlyle Fielding Stewart and published by Africa Research and Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African American spirituality plays a central role in the formation and practice of Black freedom in America. This freedom is primarily spiritual and cultural and has a significant role in shaping Black consciousness, behavior and belief.It has created a cultural archive or black culture soul, which shapes the colors, content, timber and texture of the African American communities.Unlike other paradigms which posit the social, political and economic imperatives of freedom, the African American model stipulates the vital role of Black spirituality. This spirituality embodies the creation and sustenance of Black culture, establishes psychological and spiritual relocation in response to oppression, and equips African Americans with the spiritual tools for their physical, vocational and institutional survival.A central thesis of the book is that African American spirituality, by the way it shapes and informs black life, creates a unique praxis of freedom. Most importantly is the way Black spirituality is expressed in Black culture, the Black church and Black life values.Creativity is, therefore, essential to freedom. That freedom is manifested in everything from the development of jazz as a sui generis and indigenous art form, to the ways Black people walk, talk, interpret and oppositionally express themselves in the world.Such creativity is indispensable to the formation and preservation of Black life. It has been used by African Americans as a powerful weapon in maintaining identity and creating a spirituality of culture and a culture of spirituality, which have largely thwarted their complete psychological and physical annihilatio