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The history of women within the Catholic Church is a vibrant and exciting story. Women Shaping Church History explores the stories of women who made a difference in the history of the Church long ago and the stories of women whose faith is shaping the Church today. The names of these women of faith read like a beautiful litany of faithfulness and devotion to Jesus and to the Church that honors his name: Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha, Salome, Joanna, Susanna, Phoebe, Priscilla, Perpetua, Therese of Lisieux, Catherine of Sienna, Bernadette of Lourdes, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and more.
Shaping the Church seeks to dynamically alter the way that theologians, ecclesiologists, students of religion and ministers look at the church. Taking the ideas of composition, formation and vocation as basic ecclesial categories, Martyn Percy explores how apparently innocent and incidental material is in fact highly significant for the shaping of theological and ecclesiological horizons.The Introduction sets the tone, with a meditation on how the apparently ordinary scent of a country church can be redolent with meaning, setting the tone of expectation in relation to subsequent worship. This book is not, however, simply about reading meanings into events, ideas, conversations and contexts. Rather, it sets out to faithfully interpret much of the material that surrounds us, yet is often taken for granted, or more usually unnoticed. The book is an invitation to involve the scholar or minister, paying close and patient attention to beliefs, language, artefacts, rituals, practices and other material - all of which are constitutive for ecclesial life and theological identity.
Mark Shaw offers ideas from the most significant Christian leaders of the last five hundred years, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, William Carey, John Wesley, Richard Baxter and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Each generation of believers faces numerous challenges to the mission of the church. In Pressure Points J. D. helps us see how we can prevent these global issues from pushing the church off its biblical moorings, so we can absorb the pressures while responding in a way that remains faithful to the church's calling and mission.
Twelve time-honored Christian practices that will help us, and the world, to flourish Practicing Our Faith offers help to Christians who are asking how our faith can help us discern what we might do and who we might become. How can we live faithfully and with integrity in a world where the pace of existence is so fast and life's patterns are changing all around us? Can we conduct our daily lives in ways that help us not just get by but flourish--as individuals, as communities, and as a society in concert with creation and in communion with God? These questions are on the hearts and minds of many seekers who are exploring spirituality today. They are also at the heart of Practicing Our Faith. Practices are those shared activities that address fundamental needs of humankind and creation and that, woven together, form a way of life. The twelve practices explored in this book are practices that human beings simply cannot do without, particularly at this time in history. This book will stimulate your imagination. It will encourage you to reflect. It initiates a conversation that will spread into many contexts, each of which presents unique opportunities for noticing, discussing, and living the practices of faith.
Pastoral ministry is challenging work, especially when a pastor ignores the church's "congregational culture" when seeking to minister to church members or implement changes. Just as a pastor studies to interpret the Scriptures in order to understand and preach the Bible, he or she must interpret the local church culture to better understand and move it toward accomplishing its mission and vision. In Look Before You Lead, trusted church leadership expert Aubrey Malphurs shows pastors how to read their church's unique local culture, how to change or revitalize it, and even how to combine two cultures when one church adopts another. This unique resource approaches leadership and discernment from a solid, biblical perspective and includes a number of helpful appendixes, such as a behavior, belief, and a values audit, that are key to reading and understanding the culture.
In a time when the need for and the relevance of the Gospel has seldom been greater, the relevance of the church has seldom been less. The Shaping of Things to Come explores why the church needs to rebuild itself from the bottom up. Frost and Hirsch present a clear understanding of how the church can change to face the unique challenges of the twenty-first century. This missional classic has been thoroughly revised and updated.
What exactly is the Church Growth movement? This timely volume in the Counterpoints series addresses the history of the movement that has become such an enormous shaping force on the Western church today, and it explores--in a roundtable forum of leading voices--five main perspectives on the classic Church Growth movement: Effective Evangelism View - presented by Elmer Towns Gospel in Our Culture View - presented by Craig Van Gelder Centrist View - presented by Charles Van Engen Reformist View - presented by Gailyn Van Rheenan Renewal View - presented by Howard Snyder Each view is first presented by its proponent, then critiqued by the co-contributors. The interactive and fair-minded format allows the reader to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed, personal conclusions. Evaluating the Church Growth Movement concludes with reflections by three seasoned pastors who have grappled with the practical implications of Church Growth. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.
Rather than chronicling the well-reported sexual abuse scandal or advocating a particular reform agenda, David Gibson shows how the crisis in the church is unleashing forces that will change American Catholicism forever.