Download or read book Exploring the Future of Christian Monasticisms written by Greg Peters and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-01-15 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The institution of monasticism in the Christian Church is in general decline, at least in so-called “first world” nations. Though there are many reasons for this, monastic leaders are confronted by the reality of fewer communities, monks, and nuns nonetheless. At the same time, many younger Christians are rediscovering the rich heritage of the monastic tradition. Though they themselves might not be called to join a traditional monastery, they are eager to appropriate monastic practices in their own lives. This had led to a movement known as the “new monasticism” or “secular monasticism.” Despite lacking a unified vision and any central organization, these new/secular monastics are attempting, in their own ways, to carry on the tradition and practices of Christian monasticism. As well, there is a movement within historical Christian monasteries to pour new wine into old wineskins. Traditional forms of monasticism are also generally flourishing in developing nations, breathing new life into monasticism. This volume looks at the current monastic landscape to assess where monasticism stands and to imagine ways in which it will grow in the future, leading not only to a renewed Christian monasticism but to new monasticisms.

Download or read book Strong Towns written by Charles L. Marohn, Jr. and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

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 The Cult of Smart written by Fredrik deBoer and published by All Points Books. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named one of Vulture’s Top 10 Best Books of 2020! Leftist firebrand Fredrik deBoer exposes the lie at the heart of our educational system and demands top-to-bottom reform. Everyone agrees that education is the key to creating a more just and equal world, and that our schools are broken and failing. Proposed reforms variously target incompetent teachers, corrupt union practices, or outdated curricula, but no one acknowledges a scientifically-proven fact that we all understand intuitively: Academic potential varies between individuals, and cannot be dramatically improved. In The Cult of Smart, educator and outspoken leftist Fredrik deBoer exposes this omission as the central flaw of our entire society, which has created and perpetuated an unjust class structure based on intellectual ability. Since cognitive talent varies from person to person, our education system can never create equal opportunity for all. Instead, it teaches our children that hierarchy and competition are natural, and that human value should be based on intelligence. These ideas are counter to everything that the left believes, but until they acknowledge the existence of individual cognitive differences, progressives remain complicit in keeping the status quo in place. This passionate, voice-driven manifesto demands that we embrace a new goal for education: equality of outcomes. We must create a world that has a place for everyone, not just the academically talented. But we’ll never achieve this dream until the Cult of Smart is destroyed.

Download or read book The New Global Mission written by Samuel Escobar and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2003-11-11 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Veteran missiologist Samuel Escobar explores the new realities of our globalized world, assesses the context of a changing mission field, sets forth a thoroughly biblical theology of missions, and considers implications for how Christians are to go about the task of global mission.

Download or read book Latina Evang licas written by Loida Martell-Otero and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-01-15 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Latina Evangelicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins is a constructive and postcolonial examination of the theology of Protestant Latinas who reside in the United States. Written by three Latinas who have pastored and who teach in Latina/o communities, the book seeks to expand beyond Latina feminist and mujerista voices to include those whose perspectives have not yet been heard. It thus introduces an important theological perspective to a wider audience, and provides an important resource that has been lacking for evangelicas/os and other marginalized groups who study in various theological programs. Key terminology, such as evangelica, is defined throughout, and a glossary is included for non-Spanish-speaking readers. Each chapter considers theological themes important to the Latina Protestant worshiping community, beginning with a constructive discussion of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and followed by the doctrines of salvation and Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the church, Scripture, and "the last things" (eschatology). Given that one of the characteristics of Latina/o theologies is their dialogical and collaborative nature, the book concludes with a conversation among the three authors about the theological thinking that took place in its composition. Study questions are included at the end of each chapter.

Download or read book Routes and Roots written by Elizabeth DeLoughrey and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2009-12-31 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elizabeth DeLoughrey invokes the cyclical model of the continual movement and rhythm of the ocean (‘tidalectics’) to destabilize the national, ethnic, and even regional frameworks that have been the mainstays of literary study. The result is a privileging of alter/native epistemologies whereby island cultures are positioned where they should have been all along—at the forefront of the world historical process of transoceanic migration and landfall. The research, determination, and intellectual dexterity that infuse this nuanced and meticulous reading of Pacific and Caribbean literature invigorate and deepen our interest in and appreciation of island literature. —Vilsoni Hereniko, University of Hawai‘i "Elizabeth DeLoughrey brings contemporary hybridity, diaspora, and globalization theory to bear on ideas of indigeneity to show the complexities of ‘native’ identities and rights and their grounded opposition as ‘indigenous regionalism’ to free-floating globalized cosmopolitanism. Her models are instructive for all postcolonial readers in an age of transnational migrations." —Paul Sharrad, University of Wollongong, Australia Routes and Roots is the first comparative study of Caribbean and Pacific Island literatures and the first work to bring indigenous and diaspora literary studies together in a sustained dialogue. Taking the "tidalectic" between land and sea as a dynamic starting point, Elizabeth DeLoughrey foregrounds geography and history in her exploration of how island writers inscribe the complex relation between routes and roots. The first section looks at the sea as history in literatures of the Atlantic middle passage and Pacific Island voyaging, theorizing the transoceanic imaginary. The second section turns to the land to examine indigenous epistemologies in nation-building literatures. Both sections are particularly attentive to the ways in which the metaphors of routes and roots are gendered, exploring how masculine travelers are naturalized through their voyages across feminized lands and seas. This methodology of charting transoceanic migration and landfall helps elucidate how theories and people travel, positioning island cultures in the world historical process. In fact, DeLoughrey demonstrates how these tropical island cultures helped constitute the very metropoles that deemed them peripheral to modernity. Fresh in its ideas, original in its approach, Routes and Roots engages broadly with history, anthropology, and feminist, postcolonial, Caribbean, and Pacific literary and cultural studies. It productively traverses diaspora and indigenous studies in a way that will facilitate broader discussion between these often segregated disciplines.

Download or read book A History of African Americans of Delaware and Maryland s Eastern Shore written by Carole C. Marks and published by Delaware Heritage Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Making Sense of the Bible Leader Guide written by Adam Hamilton and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this six week video study, Adam Hamilton explores the key points in his new book, Making Sense of the Bible. With the help of this Leader Guide, groups learn from Hamilton as his video presentations lead groups through the book, focusing on the most important questions we ask about the Bible, its origins and meaning.

Download or read book Handbook of Megachurches written by Stephen J. Hunt and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The megachurch is an exceptional recent religious trend, certainly within Christian spheres. Spreading from the USA, megachurches now reached reach different global contexts. The edited volume Handbook of Megachurches offers a comprehensive account of the subject from various academic perspectives.

Download or read book The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 1968 written by United Methodist Church (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Can Our Church Live written by Alice Mann and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000-03-01 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing on earth lives forever—not even congregations. Alban Institute senior consultant Alice Mann explains how the natural life cycle of a congregation, as well as other internal and external factors, can produce a congregation that is in real trouble. She then offers hope for congregations that want to change. Practical options for congregations, leadership challenges for laity and clergy, and ways to work with denominations are detailed and engaging discussion questions provide a basis for congregational planning

Download or read book Worship as Pastoral Care written by Bishop William H. Willimon and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 1982-06-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrates how worship and pastoral care can be blended to sustain and enrich each other. Using insights gained from pastoral care and pastoral psychology, William H. Willimon explores what happens to people when they become involved in Christian worship. True pastoral care, he shows, cannot take place apart from an active worshiping community of faith. Worship as Pastoral Care sensitizes pastors to the many ways Christian worship and pastoral care methods can be blended to enrich and support one another. It encourages pastors to broaden their understanding of corporate worship and to become aware of the importance of their role as priests. To illustrate his concepts, Dr. Willimon examines four familiar acts of worship: the funeral, the wedding, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The psychological dimensions are discussed and suggestions are given on ways pastors can nurture and sustain their congregations through these services.

Download or read book An Introduction to Community Development written by Rhonda Phillips and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-11-26 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with the foundations of community development, An Introduction to Community Development offers a comprehensive and practical approach to planning for communities. Road-tested in the authors’ own teaching, and through the training they provide for practicing planners, it enables students to begin making connections between academic study and practical know-how from both private and public sector contexts. An Introduction to Community Development shows how planners can utilize local economic interests and integrate finance and marketing considerations into their strategy. Most importantly, the book is strongly focused on outcomes, encouraging students to ask: what is best practice when it comes to planning for communities, and how do we accurately measure the results of planning practice? This newly revised and updated edition includes: increased coverage of sustainability issues, discussion of localism and its relation to community development, quality of life, community well-being and public health considerations, and content on local food systems. Each chapter provides a range of reading materials for the student, supplemented with text boxes, a chapter outline, keywords, and reference lists, and new skills based exercises at the end of each chapter to help students turn their learning into action, making this the most user-friendly text for community development now available.

Download or read book Church Growth written by C. Peter Wagner and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trends among the world's 20 largest churches; The local church as a church planting base; Church growth and the Holy Spirit; Using computers to support church growth; Who's who in church growth.

Download or read book Indianapolis Monthly written by and published by . This book was released on 2001-12 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indianapolis Monthly is the Circle City’s essential chronicle and guide, an indispensable authority on what’s new and what’s news. Through coverage of politics, crime, dining, style, business, sports, and arts and entertainment, each issue offers compelling narrative stories and lively, urbane coverage of Indy’s cultural landscape.

Download or read book The Death of Sunday School and the Future of Faith Formation written by Kimberly Sweeney and published by . This book was released on 2017-10-10 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sunday school model of religious education has been much beloved in our Unitarian Universalist tradition. Half a century ago, and at the time of its inception, Sunday school was a significant draw for children and families and was popular in dominant culture. Over the past two decades, religious professionals and lay leaders have been questioning the effectiveness of this model. Working harder, moving things around, and investing more money in Sunday school has not increased its effectiveness. These strategies have not worked in part because we have failed to convey that the way we have always done things is no longer serving our Unitarian Universalist congregations. While we have been applying a multitude of technical fixes to this adaptive challenge, we have failed a generation of young Unitarian Universalists. Today's reformation calls for the centering of faith formation in the mission of communities of faith.