Pastoral Helps
Showing 2101–2150 of 4114 results
-
Preaching In The Small Membership Church
$17.99Add to cartStep into the pulpit in a small membership church, and you’ll sometimes find your fair share of challenges, but you’ll almost always find more than your share of blessings as well. Those blessings, and the chance for authentic, life-transforming preaching, are what preaching in the small membership church are all about. Lewis Parks knows those blessings well. For nearly 40 years he has preached in small membership churches and taught others who serve in them. In this book he lays out the distinct roles that preaching in the small membership church calls on us to fill, and offers down-to-earth, substantive guidance on how to be the best preacher you can be in these most numerous, and most important, outposts of Christ’s church.
-
Shame And Grace
$14.99Add to cart1. The Heaviness Of Shame
2. The Varieties Of Shame
3. The Sources Of Shame
4. Grace And The Healing Of Our Shame
5. The Lightness Of GraceAdditional Info
Recognizing and remedying the undeserved shame that burdens our spirit and crushes our joy-from the author of Forgive and Forget.If you persistently feel you don’t measure up, you are feeling shame-that “vague, undefined heaviness that presses on our spirit, dampens our gratitude for the goodness of life,” and diminishes our joy. The good news is that shame can be healed.
With warmth and wit, Lewis B. Smedes examines why and how we feel shame, and presents a profound, spiritual plan for healing. Step by step, Smedes outlines the road to well-being and the peace that comes from knowing we are accepted by “the grace of One whose acceptance of us matters most.”
-
When Do I Cry Wolf
$13.49Add to cartMany churches have found themselves on the brink of a great breakthrough for God only to have everything torn apart and victory snatched away. Doubts and questions may plague church leaders’ minds concerning what happened to their church. The answer may be that the church has been ravaged by a wolf. Just what is a wolf in the church? How can a wolf in sheep’s clothing be identified? How is a leader to deal with a wolf? Tackling these questions in a straightforward manner, When Do I Cry Wolf? is a book designed to uncover the deception and work of the enemy within the church. It gives valuable tools and insights for dealing with this problem without creating an air of paranoia and confusion. Sound scriptural advice and encouragement give much needed answers that will aid those called to guard God’s “sheep.”
-
Footprints Of The Future
$10.99Add to cartYoung people today are experiencing overwhelming feelings of loneliness and rejection. They need to understand that the Savior, Jesus Christ, understands their emotions. He is our High Priest who “can” be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and that He, like us, was tempted, but He was without sin. This generation faces unique pressures and difficulties. Dr. Proctor helps address these issues with insightful and spiritual advice. In Footprints of the Future: A Youth Journal, Dr. Proctor provides both practical and spiritual answers to pertinent issues facing this generation. These issues include: Anger Attitude Bitterness Forgiving Others Obedience Prayer This book is a must-read for every young person because at some point in their lives, they will confront these emotions. Dr. Proctor has written a book that is very easy to read and he has included ready references and space for journaling.
-
Redesigning Worship : Creating Powerful God Experiences
$20.99Add to cartPlanning a worship service is far more than just choosing songs and seasonal images. Helping people to genuinely worship God requires creating an experience through which people can enter into the presence of the divine. Discover strategic insights for creating and integrating powerful God-experiences into your own setting. Discover how a real-life worship team interacts, champions creativity and creates powerful God-experiences, one week at a time. This descriptive book offers practical direction for building and leading teams, empowering creative ideas, and guidance for handling conflict and overcoming serious obstacles.
-
More Power In The Pulpit
$28.00Add to cartIn this companion and sequel to the best-selling Power in the Pulpit (Westminster John Knox, 2002), which has sold over 11,000 copies, more of Americas best-known and most influential African American preachers describe how they prepare their sermons. Each preacher also presents a sermon that highlights his or her particular method of sermon preparation.
Contributors to this volume include: Willette Alyce Burgie-Bryant, William S. Epps, C. E. McLain, Otis Moss Jr., Otis Moss III, Veronica R. Goines, Cynthia L. Hale, Melvin V. Wade Sr., Raquel A. St. Clair, and Walter S. Thomas Sr.
-
Feasting On The Word Year B 4
$55.00Add to cartSeason after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) With this popular new lectionary commentary series, Westminster John Knox Press offers one of the most extensive resources for preaching on the market today. When complete, the twelve volumes of the series will cover all the Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, along with movable occasions, such as Christmas Day, Epiphany, Holy Week, and All Saints Day.
For each lectionary text, preachers will find four brief essays one each on the theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical challenges of the text. They might focus on the Gospel text, for instance, by reading all four essays provided for that text, or they might explore connections between the Hebrew Bible, Psalm, Gospel, and Epistle texts by reading the theological essays for each one. Each lectionary year will consist of four volumes, one for the Advent and Christmas season, one for Lent and Easter, and one for each half of Ordinary Time.
In Ordinary Time, the Old Testament lections in Feasting on the Word are from the complementary stream for Year A, split between the complementary and semicontinuous streams for Year B, and from the semicontinuous stream for Year C. Essays on the alternate lections will be available on the Feasting on the Word web site beginning for Year C in May 2010.
For each lectionary text, preachers will find four brief essays one each on the theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical challenges of the text. They might focus on the Gospel text, for instance, by reading all four essays provided for that text, or they might explore connections between the Hebrew Bible, Psalm, Gospel, and Epistle texts by reading the theological essays for each one. Each lectionary year will consist of four volumes, one for the Advent and Christmas season, one for Lent and Easter, and one for each half of Ordinary Time.
In Ordinary Time, the Old Testament lections in Feasting on the Word are from the complementary stream for Year A, split between the complementary and semicontinuous streams for Year B, and from the semicontinuous stream for Year C.
-
Easter Experience Participants Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartPaint yourself into the story and transform Easter into a truly life-changing experience. Once you experience the story of Easter, absolutely everything in your life changes. The Easter Experience is a unique, DVD-driven study which brings the passion and resurrection of Jesus to life through dramatic storytelling and challenging teaching. This companion to The Easter Experience small group DVD follows the six 20-minute episodes, providing additional information, discovery questions, and tips for helping your small group grow spiritually and bond with each other as well as with the eternal message of Easter. Also available are the Easter Experience Church Program and the Easter Experience Ministry Devotional.
-
Alphabet Of Grace
$16.99Add to cartWith characteristic eloquence and insight, Buechner presents a three-part series of reflections that probe, through the course of one day, the innermost mysteries of life. Blending an artist’s eye for natureal beauty, the true meaning of human encounters, and the significance of occurances (momentous or seemly trival), with a wealth of personal, literacy, biblical, and spiritual insights, he offers a matchless opportunity for readers to discover the hidden wisdom that can be gleaned through a heightened experience of daily life.
-
7 Deadly Spirits
$25.00Add to cartT. Scott Daniels, pastor of a Los Angeles megachurch, contends that corporate bodies like churches form an individual spiritual personality of sorts. Cultural influences can impact the collective spirit or attitude of a congregation, either hindering it from becoming all God intends it to be or setting it free to glorify God.
In this practical work, Daniels examines the nature of the seven representative “angels” of the churches addressed in Revelation to show how congregations can escape the principalities and powers that hold them captive. The book encourages working pastors, church leaders, and ministry students to consider a systems approach to church leadership–one that takes seriously the powers at work within local congregations–and offers suggestions for transformation.
-
Leaders Who Last
$23.95Add to cartIs helping others overrated? Is ministry a recipe for burnout? How can pastors last the course? Author and pastor Margaret Marcuson introduces the notion of “sustainable ministry,” which trains and empowers pastors to focus on their inner resources for proactive leadership, instead of trying harder to help, fix or change others.
Leaders Who Last draws upon the author’s own pastoral experience and leadership, plus a significant analysis of leadership in both families and churches over generations. Interviews with current church leaders punctuate chapters on stress, spiritual practice, church triangles, relationships, selfawareness, money, and creating a climate where true change can take place.
-
Preaching From Memory To Hope
$27.00Add to cartIn this compelling and hard-hitting book, respected preacher and teacher Tom Long identifies and responds to the most substantive theological forces and challenges facing preaching today. The issues, he says, are fourfold: the decline in the quality of narrative preaching and the need for its reinvigoration; the tendency of preachers to ignore Gods action and presence in our midst; the return of the churchs old nemesis, Gnosticism, evidenced in todays new spirituality; and the absence of eschatology in the pulpit.
Long once again has his finger on the pulse of American preaching, demonstrated by his creative responses to these challenges. Whether he is calling for theologically smarter and more ethically discerning preaching, providing a method of interpretation that will allow pastors to recover the emphasis on God in our midst, or encouraging a kind of interfaith dialogue with gnosticism, he demonstrates why he has long been considered one of the most thoughtful and intelligent preachers in America today.
-
Intentional Ministry In A Not So Mega Church
$13.99Add to cartChange is rapidly occurring in almost every area of our society. However, the one notable exception to this is often found in the church, especially in smaller churches. Instead of responding to the changes around them, these churches have adopted a maintenance mentality, which is primarily interested in survival and risk-free ministries that are inwardly focused and fail to meet the needs of those outside their church community. If our churches are going to have an impact on today’s culture, we have to move from a maintenance mindset to a missional one.
Intentional Ministry in a Not-So-Mega Church is designed to help leaders of smaller churches guide their people in making their primary focus ministering to and meeting the needs of those outside their church. Drawing from more than twenty years of experience as a small-church pastor, Dennis Bickers explores the qualities of transformational leadership and explains what it takes for leaders to create a climate in their churches that promotes and facilitates necessary change. From willingness and vision to risk-taking and commitment, Bickers challenges leaders to become the agents of change their churches need as they seek to answer and act on the question: Who are we here for?
-
Deliberate Simplicity : How The Church Does More By Doing Less
$18.99Add to cartLearn how a “less is more” approach to church can equip believers for eternal influence. Church innovator Dave Browning unpacks the six elements of a new equation for church development. These concepts-minimality, intentionality, reality, multility, velocity, and scalability-provide a realistic plan for streamlining church while maximizing impact.
-
Youth Pastor : The Theology And Practice Of Youth Ministry
$18.99Add to cartYouth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry provides a biblical and theological grounding for the many jobs a youth minister does, explains what each of these jobs entails, and helps youth pastors identify where their gifts lie and where they still need to grow. Whether you are a first-time youth minister or a seasoned youth ministry veteran, Youth Pastor gives you valuable tools for evaluating your ministry and vocation. It also serves as an excellent text for undergraduate courses in youth ministry.
-
Cultural Intelligence : Improving Your CQ To Engage Our Multicultural World (Rep
$29.99Add to cartAs twenty-first-century society grows increasingly complex, pluralistic, and multicultural, it behooves Christians to communicate effectively between and among diverse populations. Research indicates that missions often fail because of cultural collision and lack of empathy and understanding between different peoples. David Livermore proposes a meta model–based on sound research principles and social science methodology–for helping Christians intelligently navigate the multicultural maze in Cultural Intelligence. The much-needed skill of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) both at home and abroad is the ability to work effectively across national, ethnic, and even organizational cultures. Livermore explains that CQ is not simply learning how to externally modify behavior but is based on inward transformation. His work is replete with assessment tools, simulations, case studies, and reflective exercises. Professors and students of missiology, practical theology, ministry leadership, intercultural studies, and sociology in Christian colleges, seminaries, and lay training programs will glean needed knowledge to become culturally sensitive, aware, and intelligent. This addition to the Youth, Family, and Culture series will help individuals and organizations share the Christian message with those of different backgrounds.
-
Missional Renaissance : Changing The Scorecard For The Church
$28.00Add to cartReggie McNeal’s bestseller The Present Future is the definitive work on the “missional movement,” i.e., the widespread movement among Protestant churches to be less inwardly focused and more oriented toward the culture and community around them. In that book he asked the tough questions that churches needed to entertain to begin to think about who they are and what they are doing; in Missional Renaissance, he shows them the three significant shifts in their thinking and behavior that they need to make that will allow leaders to chart a course toward being missional: (1) from an internal to an external focus, ending the church as exclusive social club model; (2) from running programs and ministries to developing people as its core activity; and (3) from professional leadership to leadership that is shared by everyone in the community. With in-depth discussions of the “what” and the “how” of transitioning to being a missional church, readers will be equipped to move into what McNeal sees as the most viable future for Christianity. For all those thousands of churches who are asking about what to do next after reading The Present Future, Missional Renaissance will provide the answer.
-
Truth Be Told
$16.49Add to cartIt is time for the church to be established in what the apostle Peter called “present truth”. Only then can the church bring forth the faithful and true witness that will turn the world toward Christ. Open the pages of this book and be ready for a spiritual explosion that will transform your heart and mind.
-
Best Advice : Wisdom On Ministry From 30 Leading Pastors And Preachers
$30.00Add to cartThis book gathers a diverse group of leading pastors and preachers and asks them: What is your best advice to colleagues in ministry about preaching and being a pastor? The responses are full of wisdom and practical advice, illuminating and helpful for all who are pastors and preachers.
-
Pastoral Care In Times Of Death And Dying
$13.99Add to cartCounseling someone who is dying or consoling a family who has suffered a death is one of the hardest parts of ministry. In times like these it’s important for pastors to know what to say and how best to offer their support.
Pastoral Care in Times of Death and Dying is a practical guide that offers step-by-step direction and solid advice for handling the difficult responsibility of ministering to others in situations surrounding death. From visiting and shepherding the terminally ill to overseeing funeral arrangements and comforting grieving families, Danny Goddard helps pastors, chaplains, and lay leaders understand their roles and bereavement responsibilities so they ll know the best way to offer compassion, love, and support to those who need it most.
-
Childrens Spirituality : What It Is And Why It Matters
$16.99Add to cartChurch House Publishing
This concise guide is an ideal introduction to the increasingly popular topic of children’s spirituality. Mixing theory with tips on ‘good practice’, leading expert Rebecca Nye shows how choices made in churches and homes can stimulate or stifle a child’s spiritual development. Mixing theoretical background and good practice tips, she focuses on: Childhood as a natural source of spirituality Ways to help children value and express their spirituality The role of Christian nurture and worship in early spiritual development
-
Baptism : A Bible Study Wordbook For Kids
$7.99Add to cartThis series of Children’s Wordbooks features important topics that will hellp kids grow in their faith. Perfect for use in Sunday School, Bible clubs, midweek programs, children’s church, even at home with a parent, these biblically based books are packed with Scripture, activities and ideas for personal application. Students will enjoy mazes, word searches, coloring pages, cryptograms, quizzes, certificates and much more!
?The Baptism wordbook is part of a series that is most beneficial when used in conjunction with the other wordbooks in the series: Salvation, Church, Giving and Communion. Baptism provides an excellent introduction to children who are curious about the idea of becoming baptized. This book explains why someone may be baptized: to show others that they have joined God’s family! Also illustrated are detailed descriptions of how someone is baptized and by whom. To a child curious about this unique and special opportunity to tell others about his or her faith, this booklet is a perfect guide. Perhaps most importantly, this wordbook presents the child with the question of whether or not they are in fact ready to be baptized. Activities include a crossword puzzle, word search, coloring page, quiz and “Certificate of Spiritual Birth.”
-
Ethical Leadership : The Quest For Character Civility And Community
$29.00Add to cartWe live in a leadership crisis. “In an age when incompatible worlds collide and when scandals rock formerly stable institutions,” says Walter Fluker, “what counts most is ethical leadership and the qualities of personal integrity, spiritual discipline, intellectual openness, and moral anchoring.” Fluker finds these characteristics exemplified in the work and thought of black-church giants Martin Luther King Jr. and Howard Thurman.
This volume, for leaders and emergent leaders in religious and other settings, sets forth the context and principles for ethical leadership, particularly for ministries and other professions whose mission directly advances the common good. Fluker’s volume grounds leadership in story, the appropriation of one’s roots, as a basis for personal and social transformation. He then explores the key values of character, civility, and community for ethical action on the personal, public, and spiritual realms. From these considerations he develops a model of the specific virtues that embody each realm of ethical leadership before applying them to the practical aspects of leadership and decisionmaking.
-
Middle School Talksheets
$22.99Add to cartThis book provides youth workers with 50 lessons, using the “talksheets” format, that focus students’ attention and interest on the life of Christ. Each lesson attempts to connect students to the story and its biblical and practical implications. The lessons are in approximate chronological order, but each talksheet is self-standing and can be used independently or linked with two or three others to create short series.
-
High School Talksheets
$22.99Add to cartThis book provides youth workers with 50 lessons, using the “talksheets” format, that focus students’ attention and interest on the life of Christ. Each lesson attempts to connect students to the story and its biblical and practical implications. The lessons are in approximate chronological order, but each talksheet is self-standing and can be used independently or linked with two or three others to create short series.
-
Strategic Leadership For A Change
$31.00Add to cartMany congregations are experiencing significant change both within and beyond their walls, and both members and leaders feel a sense of loss in the midst of these changes. In the midst of change, loss, and grief, congregations yearn for leadership-typically with differing expectations of what constitutes effective leadership in response to their needs, hopes, and priorities. At the same time, congregations resist leadership. After all, leadership assumes those who follow will be open to more change.
Strategic Leadership for a Change provides congregational leaders with new insights and tools for understanding the relationships among change, attachment, loss, and grief. It also helps to facilitate the process of grieving, comprehend the centrality of vision, and demonstrate theological reflection in the midst of change, loss, grief, and attaching anew. All this occurs as the congregation aligns its vision with God’s and understands processes of change as processes of fulfillment.
Drawing on attachment theory, leadership studies, and biblical and theological resources, McFayden’s work is invaluable for leaders whose congregations face change, experience loss, wonder about their future, and yearn for leadership.
-
Write Stuff : Crafting Sermons That Capture And Convince
$28.00Add to cartIn this book, gifted preacher Sondra Willobee shows how to enliven sermons by using the techniques of great writers. With clarity and wit, Willobee explores the joyful process of crafting effective sermons. The book includes three sections: (1) hook, how good sermons begin with something that grabs listeners attention; (2) book, how to shape a sermon with narrative pulse and ascending emotional intensity so that listeners experience the gospel; and (3) stone, how good sermons use specific, concrete language. By explaining these techniques, offering many examples, and reflecting on her own successes and failures, Willobee has provided a resource that will rekindle the creativity of experienced preachers and help new preachers develop their own compelling voices.
-
Strategic Disciple Making
$18.00Add to cartFor many people, church is there to meet their needs–with programs designed with them in mind. Strategic Disciple Making teaches these churchgoers to develop a servant’s heart. Readers will discover that they control the destiny of their church. If they seek personal contentment, they must grow as disciples, and church expert Aubrey Malphurs explains the true meaning of the word.
This refreshing resource offers a radical “how-to” for renewing faltering faith. It is perfect for burned-out ministers and downcast church leaders who want a more authentic discipleship experience.
-
3 Simple Rules For Following Jesus (Teacher’s Guide)
$16.99Add to cartIdeal for showing children how to be effective stewards of the world around them
This leader’s resource helps plan six sesions that will help children
* Learn what it means to care for the world and God’s people
* Consider the ways to do good things for their families, their church, their community, and the world
* Discover the value of spiritual disciplines and how to practice themThe three simple rules of “Do No Harm”, “Do Good”, and “Stay in Love with God” are easy enough for children to understand and profound enough to begin a lifelong journey of faith.
-
Good Sex 2.0 Leaders Guide
$18.99Add to cartWhether you’re a youth worker, associate pastor, CE director, or volunteer, this book is an upfront, truthful, process-centered resource that invites students to consider and understand their sexuality in light of the God who loves them and who made them sexual beings.
-
New Intrepreters Handbook Of Preaching
$73.99Add to cartThe New Interpreter’s Handbook of Preaching is a major reference tool for preaching, with articles on every facet of Christian sermon preparation and delivery. This resource is both scholarly and practical. It focuses on the most distinctive feature and greatest strength of homiletics as a discipline: It is rooted in interdisciplinary scholarship and it develops theory geared to practice. Its theory arises out of the study of both excellent preaching past and present and actual sermon preparation and composition. When theory and practice critique each other, it is possible to produce guidelines that assist greater excellence and economy in preaching the gospel. Excellence in standards is an area in which homiletics needs to grow, and this project will be both a means to encourage and develop it. A guiding question throughout will be, Will it preach? The answers will be offered in the sense that “here is something that works well,” rather than “here is something to try.”
-
Sustainable Youth Ministry
$22.99Add to cartOne of the big problems in youth ministry is the constant turnover of youth ministers. Mark DeVries addresses the problem with a systematic answer: churches need to take corporate responsibility for establishing a vision and structure for effective ministry, rather than leaving it all up to the youth minister.
-
Chasing Chariots
$10.95Add to cartBecause the New Testament speaks directly to us as Christians, it can be tempting to focus more of our attention there at the expense of the Old Testament. However, the Hebrew scriptures still have relevance even for 21st-century Christians. Chasing Chariots is an exploration of 11 scripture passages featuring the chariot, an ancient symbol of power and strength. In each account, K. D. Weaver draws out ancient wisdom that still speak to our contemporary lives concerning faith, judgment, healing, and destiny.
Some of the lessons included in this collection are:
Deal with Change
Execute Your Exodus
Seize What God Has for You
Mature in ChristThis collection is perfect for sermon inspiration, small group Bible study, or personal reflection. Each of the accounts explored in Chasing Chariots fosters spiritual maturity and draws us closer to the God of both the Old and New Testaments.
-
Performance In Preaching
$30.00Add to cartWhile there are no shortage of texts offering advice on the writing and delivery of sermons, most of them adopt a fairly traditional approach to the subject. This volume takes a unique approach by examining the role of performance in preaching.
The contributors, who teach in seminaries and divinity schools across the nation, bring a variety of theological and denominational perspectives to the subject. They are united, however, in their concern for the importance of the performance of the sermon-not in a shallow or theatrical sense but as an essential aspect of bringing God’s word to life for the congregation. To that end, they offer wide-ranging studies that examine theological, artistic, and musical aspects of a compelling performance.
This volume inaugurates the Engaging Worship series from Fuller Theological Seminary’s Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts. It offers an innovative approach and alternative perspectives to the subject of preaching that will engage and challenge clergy who are already in the pulpit as well as students in seminary classes. The volume comes with a 90-minute companion DVD that complements the text, covering practical subjects that range from warm-up exercises to the mechanics of oral presentation.
-
Creative Ideas For Quiet Days
$36.99Add to cartGoing a day retreat or quiet day is a regular activity for many local churches. During the preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent, they are especially popular. While many retreat houses and religious communities offer a program for such days, many groups prefer a do-it yourself approach. aaThis resource contains twelve complete day-long programs that are focused around different themes and are appropriate for use at varying times of the Christian year. It is suitable for all ages and assorted pastoral contexts. It also gives step-by-step instructions on creating your own program from scratch. aaEach session includes: opening worship, short talk 1, reflection exercise, short talk 2, second reflection exercise, prayers and blessings. Additionally there are leaders’ notes on all practical aspects of planning and conducting such a day, from booking the venue to handout templates. This new edition comes with download able worship and reflection materials to enrich your program.
-
Courage To Carry On
$8.95Add to cartUsing the Hebrew scriptures and the book of Acts as a guide, David Webb journeys through the First Readings from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Lent and Easter seasons. The Courage to Carry On not only draws people into a deeper appreciation and understanding of the meaning of Lent and Easter, it also offers insight into living the Christian life in today’s world. Ideal for sermon inspiration and preparation as well as small group Bible study and personal reflection and meditation, The Courage to Carry On is a valuable addition to any library.
Some of the sermons included in this collection are:
* Relentless Grace
* A Precious Gift
* Salvation Is Coming
* The Church’s DNA
* Confident Faith -
Christian Weddings : Resources To Make Your Ceremony Unique (Revised)
$18.99Add to cartThis exciting resource will help engaged couples design a unique and meaningful wedding service. With guidance from their pastor, the couple can select the different elements of their wedding liturgy from a menu of choices in ceremonies from over twenty denominational traditions from around the world.
-
Sticky Church
$18.99Add to cartThe greatest challenge facing most churches today isn’t getting people through the front door-it’s keeping them from leaving through the back door. In his new book, Larry Osborne reveals what it takes to cultivate a “sticky” church and reveals the strategy of sermon-based small groups to retain members while leading your church into even deeper levels of discipleship.
-
Fly In The Ointment
$25.95Add to cartAn ecumenical resource that helps churches and church leaders begin to think about how to transform themselves into vital, flourishing organizations-transformation that requires deep, systemic change on the part of the bodies that are meant to help congregations live into their mission in the world.
-
Together And Apart
$20.95Add to cartIn an easy, conversational style, the author, a nun for over 40 years, gives readers the facts and fictions of the monastic life: how the choice is made; what lies behind the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; the nuts and bolts of monastic calling; what monks and nuns do all day; how they support themselves; and why they live as they do. Brushing away the stereotypes of sainthood, she provides an enlightening glimpse into a vibrant female subculture that is richly diverse, faith-filled, and often supremely rewarding.
-
Downtime : Helping Teenagers To Pray
$24.99Add to cartA practical book for youth ministers, pastors, parents, and teachers who want to teach prayer to teenagers. The book will be written in short, meditative chapters that provide readers with the appropriate history, theology, pedagogy, and examples for introducing teens to the life of prayer.
-
Aqua Church 2.0 (Revised)
$14.99Add to cartWe live in a fast-paced, fluid world. A postmodern place where people are drifting, making mid-course corrections in every aspect of life, from careers, to relationships, to beliefs.
Church leaders must continually reshape their ministries to reach a society adrift. They must move from being adaptive to being proactive, remaining flexible while delivering an uncompromising message.
AquaChurch is a guide for developing responsive and relevant church leadership. Fusing biblical wisdom and modern-day insights, acclaimed author Leonard Sweet explores the essentials of leadership arts, including vision, creativity, and teamwork. Thus updated and revised edition will enable ministries to navigate today’s cultural currents, provide a beacon to their community, and connect with a postmodern world.
-
Planting Churches That Reproduce
$15.95Add to cartThe goal of Planting Churches that Reproduce Starting a Network of Simple Churches is to simplify the church planting process in order to start a network of simple, reproducing churches. This book will give invaluable information to those contemplating church planting or in the process of planting a church. Comiskey has been gathering material for this book for the past ten years. He has also planted three churches in a wide variety of settings. Planting Churches that Reproduce is the fruit of his research and personal experience. Comiskey uses the latest North American church planting statistics, but also extends the illustrations to include worldwide church planting. In the first section, Comiskey lays out the Biblical basis for church planting, including the all important question what is the church? In order to understand how to plant a network of reproducing churches, its essential to know how the New Testament defines Christs church (and the New Testament definition is a simple one). Paul the apostle was the first centurys model church planter and arguably the most effective church planter the world has ever known. The book goes into detail about how Paul planted churches and the important lessons that we can apply twenty centuries later. The book then moves from the Biblical basis to the contemporary scene. Comiskey answers the question of how in todays complicated society we can plant churches that reproduce and even start a network of simple churches. The book shows statistically why church planting is absolutely essential to keep up with the population growth. Many statistics are noted to demonstrate the grave need for continual church planting today. Then Comiskey tackles the question of the modern day church planter. What makes a modern day church planter successful? What are the key characteristics that todays church planters need to successfully plant a church in the 21st century? Comiskey provides indepth information from recent studies about the character qualities necessary to plant a church. Comiskey provides helpful information on church planting barriers. These barriers come from the fieldboth from those who have planted churches andor those who are currently doing so. The book reveals what church planters would do differently if they could do it over again. This information will help future church planters avoid similar mistakes. The second section goes into detail about the three main church planting strategies the celebrat
-
Trekking Toward Wholeness
$35.99Add to cartIVP Print On Demand Title
Stephen Greggo presents a resource for trained leaders of ministry care groups in a variety of church-related contexts. Its purpose is to assist group leaders in facilitating the development of healing, transforming relationships in the group setting.
-
Sabbath In The City
$24.00Add to cartDrawing on their research involving urban pastors from across the United States, Bryan Stone and Claire Wolfteich identify and examine spiritual practices that foster excellence in urban ministry. After discussing the specific challenges facing urban pastors and presenting the kinds of excellence required of them, Stone and Wolfteich explore several practices that help sustain ministers working in urban contexts, such as cultivating holy friendships, practicing Sabbath, maintaining lives of prayer and study, and setting appropriate boundaries. Throughout, the authors weave together stories from urban pastors from a variety of denominations with insights from the history of Christian spirituality and theology to chart a theological course for the formation and renewal of pastors in diverse contemporary contexts.
