Download or read book I m Black I m Christian I m Methodist written by Lillian C. Smith and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten personal narratives reveal the shared and distinct struggles of being Black in the Church, facing historic and modern racism. It’s uncertain that Howard Thurman made the remark often attributed to him, “I have been writing this book all my life,” but there is little doubt that he was deeply immersed in reflection on the times that bear an uncanny resemblance to the present day, which give voice to the Black Lives Matter movement. Our “life’s book” is filled with sentence upon sentence of marginalization, pages of apartheid, chapters of separate and unequal. Now this season reveals volumes of violence against Blacks in America. Ten Black women and men explore life through the lens of compelling personal religious narratives. They are people and leaders whose lives are tangible demonstrations of the power of a divine purpose and evidence of what grace really means in face of hardship, disappointment, and determination. Each of the journeys intersect because of three central elements that are the focus of this book. We’re Black. We’re Christians. We’re Methodists. Each starts with the fact, “I'm Black,” but to resolve the conflict of being Christian and Methodist means confronting aspects of White theology, White supremacy, and White racism in order to ground an oppositional experience toward domination over four centuries in America. “The confluence of the everyday indignities of being Black in America; the outrageous, egregious, legalized lynching of George Floyd; and the unforgivable disparities exposed once again by COVID–19 have conspired together to create a seminal moment in America and in The United Methodist Church—in which we must find the courage to say unambiguously ‘Black Lives Matter.’ To stumble or choke on those words is beneath the gospel,” says Bishop Gregory Palmer, who wrote the foreword to the collection. Praise for I'm Black. I'm Christian. I'm Methodist. “This book made me shout, dance, rage and hope—all at once! As a "cradle Methodist," I have deep love for my church and bless it for nurturing my walk with Christ and my passion for social justice. At the same time, I lament that my church is also the place where I have witnessed and been most wounded by virulent racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ageism. Yet, I stay and struggle for the soul of the church because I am a Black Christian woman fired by the love of God-in-Christ-Jesus. I stay because this is MY church and the church of my ancestors. Although I regularly question my decision to remain United Methodist, it is stories like these—from other exuberant love warriors—that remind me that I am called by God to stay, pray, fight, and flourish!” —M. Garlinda Burton, deaconess and interim general secretary, General Commission of Religion and Race, Washington DC “Racism continues to be the unacceptable scandal of American society and the American churches. In spite of some gains such as the diversity of supporters for “Black Lives Matter,” even the best intentioned among us remain largely ignorant of the actual life experience of those who are other than ourselves. This collection of testimonies, edited by Rudy Rasmus, helps remedy that by simply recounting personal stories of being Black, Christian, and Methodist in the United States. White Methodist Christians in particular need to read these stories and take them to heart so that racism and its divisiveness is countered by shared experience and recognition of common humanity across difference. More White Methodists need not only reject racism in our society and church but become active anti-racists willing to do the hard work to create the beloved community, dreamed about by Martin Luther King in the 1960s civil rights movement. —Bruce C. Birch, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington DC “This book is a powerful collection interweaving personal stories, denominational and intercultural practices, and Black lives bearing hopeful witness. Readers will have their consciousness raised, and they will think more deeply about the meaning of beloved community and the embodiment of the justice of God.” —Harold J. Recinos, Professor of Church and Society, Perkins School of Theology/SMU, Dallas, Texas “For hundreds of years, we have not listened. This book is our chance to hear the words of the Black leaders in our church. They will change us, remake us, and reform us. Get ready to be transformed by painful truth and deep love. —Rev. Dr. Dottie Escobedo-Frank, Lead Pastor, Catalina United Methodist Church, Tucson, Arizona "I’m Black gives readers a clear picture of the diversity and value of Black culture in church and society. After reading the dynamic stories told by these faithful, transformative church leaders, Black lives will be cherished, and systemic change for the better will take place.” —Joseph W. Daniels, Jr. , Lead Pastor, Emory United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C. "Dr. Rudy Rasmus and others give an insightful look into what it means to be black, Christian and Methodist in America. Their perspectives on the status and plight of being black in America are both engaging and riveting. If you are looking for ways to better understand the nuances and many faces of African American Methodist evangelical life in America, this book is a must-read!" —The Reverend J. Elvin Sadler, D.Min., General Secretary-Auditor, The A.M.E. Zion Church Assistant Dean for Doctoral Studies, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio "I endorse this powerful book of Essays conceived and edited by my friend Pastor Rudy Rasmus. It is a book for our current and future realities facing the Black Church a must read." —Deborah Bass , Vice-Chairperson, National BMCR

Download or read book Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series written by Library of Congress. Copyright Office and published by Copyright Office, Library of Congress. This book was released on 1964 with total page 1116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes Part 1, Number 2: Books and Pamphlets, Including Serials and Contributions to Periodicals July - December)

Download or read book Cities of Zion written by Samuel Avery-Quinn and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2019-10-14 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities of Zion: The Holiness Movement and Methodist Camp Meeting Towns in America follows Methodists and holiness advocates from their urban worlds of mid-century New York City and Philadelphia out into the wilderness where they found green worlds of religious retreat in that most traditional of Methodist theaters: the camp meeting. Samuel Avery-Quinn examines the transformation of American Methodist camp meeting revivalism from the Gilded Age through the twenty-first Century. These transformations are a window into the religious worlds of middle-class Protestants as they struggled with economic and social change, industrialization, moral leisure, theological controversies, and radically changing city life and landscape. This study comprehensively analyzes camp meeting revivalism in America to offer a larger narrative to the historical movement. Avery-Quinn studies how Methodists and holiness advocates sought to sanctify leisure and recreation, struggled to balance a sense of community while mired in American gender role and race relation norms, wrestled with the governance and town planning of their communities, and confronted the shifting economic fortunes and continuing theological controversies of the Progressive Era.

Download or read book A New Day in the City written by Donna Claycomb Sokol and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many urban congregations remember days of fame and fortune—days when their prominence downtown or in city neighborhoods mattered. Population shifts, the decline of congregations and neighborhoods, and demographic changes depleted the dreams of many urban churches. But not all churches gave up hope. Many congregations are struggling to survive, but thousands of urban churches are thriving again. Churches with revived hope learn to let go of nostalgic dreams and tired habits and to walk with God into a new day of vibrant mission and ministry. Donna Claycomb Sokol and Roger Owens share lessons they’ve learned on the job and from other urban pastors. Along the way, they challenge clichés about church leadership and strategic planning by showing what congregational renewal can look like and how it can become a reality. Each chapter features a set of practical guidelines for leading a congregation to address the questions that matter most. “The urban church can be quite a challenge. I know because I’ve served a couple. Now, two thoughtful pastors with actual urban church experience take an affectionate, positive, honest, and hopeful look at the urban church and give practical wisdom for the revival of languishing urban congregations. There’s a remarkable revival of the urban church in North America. Donna and Roger can help you be part of it!” —William H. Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC; retired bishop, The United Methodist Church “Three things excite me most about this book: First, these two young pastors understand the strategic importance of urban ministry and are passionately committed to it. Second, they show that when you turn from tired ‘church growth’ and corporate paradigms, choosing rather to model your ministry on Jesus, new life happens. And third, they explain that transformation is about journeying faithfully with the questions rather than looking for quick-fix techniques. This book could change your ministry.” —Peter Storey, South African church leader; W. Ruth and A. Morris Williams Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC

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 Evangelical Gotham written by Kyle B. Roberts and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-11-07 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kyle Roberts explores the role of evangelical religion in the making of antebellum New York City and its spiritual marketplace. Between the American Revolution and the War of 1812a period of rebuilding after seven years of British occupationevangelicals emphasized individual conversion and rapidly expanded the number of their congregations. Then, up to the Panic of 1837, evangelicals shifted their focus from their own salvation to that of their neighbors, through the use of domestic missions, Seamen s Bethels, tract publishing, free churches, and abolitionism. Finally, in the decades before the Civil War, the city s dramatic expansion overwhelmed evangelicals, whose target audiences shifted, building priorities changed, and approaches to neighborhood and ethnicity evolved. By that time, though, evangelicals and the city had already shaped each other in profound ways, with New York becoming a national center of evangelicalism."

Download or read book Red State Religion written by Robert Wuthnow and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What Kansas really tells us about red state America No state has voted Republican more consistently or widely or for longer than Kansas. To understand red state politics, Kansas is the place. It is also the place to understand red state religion. The Kansas Board of Education has repeatedly challenged the teaching of evolution, Kansas voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, the state is a hotbed of antiabortion protest—and churches have been involved in all of these efforts. Yet in 1867 suffragist Lucy Stone could plausibly proclaim that, in the cause of universal suffrage, "Kansas leads the world!" How did Kansas go from being a progressive state to one of the most conservative? In Red State Religion, Robert Wuthnow tells the story of religiously motivated political activism in Kansas from territorial days to the present. He examines how faith mixed with politics as both ordinary Kansans and leaders such as John Brown, Carrie Nation, William Allen White, and Dwight Eisenhower struggled over the pivotal issues of their times, from slavery and Prohibition to populism and anti-communism. Beyond providing surprising new explanations of why Kansas became a conservative stronghold, the book sheds new light on the role of religion in red states across the Midwest and the United States. Contrary to recent influential accounts, Wuthnow argues that Kansas conservatism is largely pragmatic, not ideological, and that religion in the state has less to do with politics and contentious moral activism than with relationships between neighbors, friends, and fellow churchgoers. This is an important book for anyone who wants to understand the role of religion in American political conservatism.

Download or read book The Good News We Almost Forgot written by Kevin DeYoung and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the sixteenth century Heidelberg Catechism, which focuses on the Apostle's Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, and reinvents its teachings for a modern audience.

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 Methodist and Pietist written by Dr. Jason E. Vickers and published by Kingswood Books. This book was released on 2011-06-01 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1968, the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) churches merged to form The United Methodist Church. More than forty years later, many United Methodists know very little about the history, doctrine, and polity of the EUB. To be sure, there are vestiges of the EUB, most notably the Confession of Faith, in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, but there is much more to be profitably explored. For example, the EUB represents a strand of German Pietism that developed an emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church that, with the exception of Wesley, Fletcher and the early Methodists, was unparalleled in the history of Protestantism. This book makes accessible to clergy and laity alike the considerable riches of the EUB tradition with a view toward the renewal of United Methodism today.

Download or read book The Methodist Experience in America Volume I written by Kenneth E. Rowe and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2010-08-01 with total page 763 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning in 1760, this comprehensive history charts the growth and development of the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren church family up and through the year 2000. Extraordinarily well-documented study with elaborate notes that will guide the reader to recent and standard literature on the numerous topics, figures, developments, and events covered. The volume is a companion to and designed to be used with THE METHODIST EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA: A SOURCEBOOK, for which it provides background, context and interpretation. Contents include: Launching the Methodist Movements 1760-1768 Structuring the Immigrant Initiatives 1769-1778 Making Church 1777-1784 Constituting Methodism 1784-1792 Spreaking Scriptural Holiness 1792-1816 Snapshot I- Methodism in 1816: Baltimore 1816 Building for Ministry and Nuture 1816-1850s Dividing by Mission, Ethnicity, Gender, and Vision 1816-1850s Dividing over Slavery, Region, Authority, and Race 1830-1860s Embracing the War Cause(s) 1860-1865 Reconstructing Methodism(s) 1866-1884 Snapshot II- Methodism in 1884: Wilker-Barre, PA 1884 Reshaping the Church for Mission 1884-1939 Taking on the World 1884-1939 Warring for World Order and Against Worldliness Within 1930-1968 Snapshot III- Methodism in 1968: Denver 1968 Merging and Reappraising 1968-1984 Holding Fast/Pressing On 1984-2000 A wide-angled narrative that attends to religious life at the local level, to missions and missionary societies , to justice struggles, to camp and quarterly meetings, to the Sunday school and catechisms, to architecture and worship, to higher education, to hospitals and homes, to temperance, to deaconesses and to Methodist experiences in war and in peace-making A volume that attends critically to Methodism’s dilemmas over and initiatives with regard to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and relation to culture A documentation and display of the rich diversity of the Methodist experience A retelling of the contests over and evolution of Methodist/EUB organization, authority, ministerial orders and ethical/doctrinal emphases

Download or read book Organizing Urban America written by Heidi J. Swarts and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collective action through organized social movements has long expanded American citizens’ rights and liberties. Recently, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has helped win living wage initiatives in more than 130 cities across the country. Likewise, congregation-based groups have established countless health, education, and other social programs at city and state levels. Despite modest budgets, these organizations—different in their approach, but at the same time working for social change—have won billions of dollars in redistributive programs. Looking closely at this phenomenon, Heidi J. Swarts explores activist groups’ cultural, organizational, and political strategies. Focusing on ACORN chapters and church federations in St. Louis, Missouri, and San Jose, California, Swarts demonstrates that congregation-based organizing has developed an innovative cultural strategy, combining democratic deliberation and leadership development to produce a “culture of commitment” among its cross-class, multiracial membership. By contrast, ACORN’s more homogeneous low-income class base has a national structure that allows it to coordinate campaigns quickly, and its seasoned staff excels in tactical innovations. By making these often-invisible grassroots organizers evident, Swarts sheds light on factors that constrain or enable other social movements in the United States. Heidi J. Swarts is assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University.

Download or read book Being United Methodist written by J. Ellsworth Kalas and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What exactly is a Methodist?

Download or read book Taking Heaven by Storm written by John H. Wigger and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1770 there were fewer than 1,000 Methodists in America. Fifty years later, the church counted more than 250,000 adherents. Identifying Methodism as America's most significant large-scale popular religious movement of the antebellum period, John H. Wigger reveals what made Methodism so attractive to post-revolutionary America. Taking Heaven by Storm shows how Methodism fed into popular religious enthusiasm as well as the social and economic ambitions of the "middling people on the make"--skilled artisans, shopkeepers, small planters, petty merchants--who constituted its core. Wigger describes how the movement expanded its reach and fostered communal intimacy and "intemperate zeal" by means of an efficient system of itinerant and local preachers, class meetings, love feasts, quarterly meetings, and camp meetings. He also examines the important role of African Americans and women in early American Methodism and explains how the movement's willingness to accept impressions, dreams, and visions as evidence of the work and call of God circumvented conventional assumptions about education, social standing, gender, and race. A pivotal text on the role of religion in American life, Taking Heaven by Storm shows how the enthusiastic, egalitarian, entrepreneurial, lay-oriented spirit of early American Methodism continues to shape popular religion today.

Download or read book The Methodists and Revolutionary America 1760 1800 written by Dee Andrews and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2002-03-31 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Methodists and Revolutionary America is the first in-depth narrative of the origins of American Methodism, one of the most significant popular movements in American history. Placing Methodism's rise in the ideological context of the American Revolution and the complex social setting of the greater Middle Atlantic where it was first introduced, Dee Andrews argues that this new religion provided an alternative to the exclusionary politics of Revolutionary America. With its call to missionary preaching, its enthusiastic revivals, and its prolific religious societies, Methodism competed with republicanism for a place at the center of American culture. Based on rare archival sources and a wealth of Wesleyan literature, this book examines all aspects of the early movement. From Methodism's Wesleyan beginnings to the prominence of women in local societies, the construction of African Methodism, the diverse social profile of Methodist men, and contests over the movement's future, Andrews charts Methodism's metamorphosis from a British missionary organization to a fully Americanized church. Weaving together narrative and analysis, Andrews explains Methodism's extraordinary popular appeal in rich and compelling new detail.

Download or read book Revolution and Renewal written by Anthony Campolo and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having worked for three decades to develop urban ministries, Campolo suggests ways that churches can help resurrect beleaguered inner cities, illustrating proven methods used in Camden, New Jersey.

Download or read book The Black Churches of Brooklyn written by Clarence Taylor and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In addition, they endorsed the education of the clergy, thereby demonstrating to American society at large that African Americans possessed the sophistication and the means to pursue and to promote culture.