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A coming of age tale that tells the story of fourteen year old Sherman Thompson who along with his younger sister finds the body of his pastor on the front lawn of the parsonage. As Sherman unravels the mystery of the murder he learns secrets that members of his church have been harboring and he learns some secrets his pastor had. Along the way he finds a strength he didn't know he had and meets a new, strange friend.
Pastors serving for extended periods of time like leaders of Fortune 500 companies, should identify potential successors. Unfortunately, this does not happen. The leadership does not consider transition until it's too late, without an identified successor being groomed for the job. The congregation is then not prepared for the transition. Pastoral transition, especially in the African-American church, is approached with extreme reservation. Ministries that have the freedom to self-govern too often keep to themselves during times of transition, when resources beyond their walls could assist them in their seasons of change. The author identifies many of the causes of the present-day plague of empty pulpits across America and offers techniques to combat them.
A down-to-earth, practical introduction to the ins and outs of preaching for lay preachers, bivocational pastors, and others newly arrived in the pulpit. Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the amount of financial resources required to support a full-time pastor in the local congregation. In addition, large numbers of full-time, seminary trained clergy are retiring, without commensurate numbers of new clergy able to take their place. As a result of these trends, a large number of lay preachers and bivocational pastors have assumed the principal responsibility for filling the pulpit week by week in local churches. Most of these individuals, observes Clifton Guthrie, can draw on a wealth of life experiences, as well as strong intuitive skills in knowing what makes a good sermon, having listened to them much of their lives. What they often don't bring to the pulpit, however, is specific, detailed instruction in the how-tos of preaching. That is precisely what this brief, practical guide to preaching has to offer. Written with the needs of those for whom preaching is not their sole or primary occupation in mind, it begins by emphasizing what every preacher brings to the pulpit: an idea of what makes a sermon particularly moving or memorable to them. From there the book moves into short chapters on choosing an appropriate biblical text or sermon topic, learning how to listen to one's first impressions of what a text means, moving from text or topic to the sermon itself while keeping the listeners needs firmly in mind, making thorough and engaging use of stories in the sermon, and delivering with passion and conviction. The book concludes with helpful suggestions for resources, including Bibles, commentaries, other print resources and websites.
An epidemic of empty seats has broken out in churches all across America. It has infected storefront churches on side streets, mainstream churches on Main Street, and megaministries sprawling across suburban campuses on multiple streets. Every Sunday, virtually everywhere in the United States, preachers are forced to stand in the pulpit and preach to empty seats. What has caused this situation, and how can it be changed? In this study, author C. Dexter Wise III addresses the issue of declining church attendance first by identifying nine key contributors to it, examining what these factors are and how they generate empty seats. He then goes on to offer more than one hundred concrete, practical steps that local churches can take to fill those empty seats with people on fire for the Lord, revolutionizing their entire ministries. With this guidance, which focuses on the contribution of both preachers and congregations, countless loss souls may flow into churches, full of the Word, the spirit, and the power of God. This guide explores the reasons that churches in the United States are facing declines in attendance and offers more than one hundred practical ways to fill these empty seats again.