Denominational Concerns
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Pastoral Luther : Essays On Martin Luthers Practical Theology
$49.00Add to cartSixteen church historians here examine Martin Luther in an uncommon way-not as Reformer or theologian but as pastor. Luther’s work as parish pastor commanded much of his time and energy in Wittenberg.
After first introducing the pastoral Luther, including his theology of the cross, these chapters discuss Luther’s preaching and use of language (including humor), investigate his teaching ministry in depth, especially in light of the catechism, and explore his views on such things as the role of women, the Virgin Mary, and music. The book finally probes Luther’s sentiments on monasticism and secular authority.
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Captivation Of The Will
$29.00Add to cartThe Captivation of the Will provocatively revisits a perennial topic of controversy: human free will. Highly esteemed Lutheran thinker Gerhard O. Forde cuts to the heart of the subject by reexamining the famous debate on the will between Luther and Erasmus. Following a substantial introduction by James A. Nestingen that brings to life the historical background of the debate, Forde thoroughly explores Luther’s “Bondage of the Will” and the dispute between Erasmus and Luther that it reflects. In the process of exposing this debate’s enduring significance for Christians, Forde highlights its central arguments about Scripture, God, the will, and salvation in Christ. Luther recognized that the only solution for humans bound by sin is the forgiveness that comes from Christ alone. Convinced that this insight represents the heart of the Christian gospel, Forde concludes with ten sermons that proclaim the message of salvation through Christ alone while elegantly relating theological inquiry to everyday life.
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Preaching From Home
$39.00Add to cartThis volume by Gracia Grindal introduces English-speaking readers to several significant yet unsung Lutheran women hymn writers from the sixteenth century to the present. After a brief introductory discussion of Elisabeth Cruciger, the first woman hymn writer of the Reformation, Grindal provides fascinating profiles of these talented Scandinavian women who “preached from home”: Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Birgitte Hertz Boye, Berthe Canutte Aarflot, Lina Sandell, Britt G. Hallqvist, and Lisbeth Smedegaard Andersen.
Grindal not only gives a biographical account of each woman-her life, her piety, her times-but also offers sparkling new English translations of each writer’s key hymns. In the last chapter Grindal recounts her own inspiring journey as a Lutheran woman hymn writer. Her Preaching from Home will open the door to a world previously unknown to most North Americans.
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Living By Faith
$29.00Add to cart“Living by faith” is much more than a general Christian precept; it is the fundamental posture of believers in a world rife with suffering and injustice. In this penetrating reflection on the meaning of “justification,” Oswald Bayer shows how this key religious term provides a comprehensive horizon for discussing every aspect of Christian theology, from creation to the end times.
Inspired by and interacting with Martin Luther, the great Christian thinker who grappled most intensely with the concept of justification, Bayer explores anew the full range of traditional dogmatics (sin, redemption, eschatology, and others), placing otherwise complex theological terms squarely within their proper milieu-everyday life. In the course of his discussion, Bayer touches on such deep questions as the hidden nature of God, the hope for universal justice, the problem of evil, and-one of the book’s most engaging motifs-Job’s daring lawsuit with God.
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Harvesting Martin Luthers Reflections
$39.00Add to cartAs profound as Martin Luther’s ideas are, this giant of church history was concerned above all with practical instruction for daily Christian living. Harvesting Martin Luther’s Reflections highlights this concern of Luther, mining his thought in key areas of doctrine, ethics, and church practice. Gathering noteworthy contributions by well-known Luther scholars from Europe and the Americas, this book ranges broadly over theological questions about baptism and righteousness, ethical issues like poverty and greed, and pastoral concerns like worship and spirituality. There are even rare discussions of Luther’s perspective on marriage and on Islam. As a result, Harvesting Martin Luther’s Reflections is both a state-of-the-art discussion of Lutheran themes and an excellent introduction for newcomers to Luther’s work.
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Bound Choice Election And Wittenberg Theological Method
$39.00Add to cartGalvanized by Erasmus’ teaching on free will, Martin Luther wrote De servo arbitrio, or The Bondage of the Will, insisting that the sinful human will could not turn itself to God. In this first study to investigate the sixteenth-century reception of De servo, Robert Kolb unpacks Luther’s theology and recounts his followers’ ensuing disputes until their resolution in the Lutheran churches’ 1577 Formula of Concord.
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Time For Confessing
$34.00Add to cartThis book is about faithful witnesses-from the Reformation to South African apartheid to Bonhoeffer-to the promise of Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of trials, these faithful followers have testified that the gospel is authority enough for the church’s life and unity. Significantly, this is the first book in print by the late Robert Bertram, described by Edward Schroeder as “perhaps the most unpublished major Lutheran theologian of the twentieth century.”
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More Radical Gospel
$39.00Add to cartGerhard O. Forde has stood at the forefront of Lutheran thought for most of his career. This new collection of essays and sermons-many previously unpublished- makes Forde’s powerful theological vision more widely available.
The book aptly captures Forde’s deep Lutheran commitment. Here he argues that the most important task of theology is to serve the proclamation of the gospel as discerned on the basis of the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. For Forde, the doctrine of justification is not one topic among other theological topics; rather, it is the criterion that guides “all theology and ministry. Throughout the book Forde applies this truth to issues of eschatology, authority, atonement, and ecumenism. Also included are seven insightful sermons that model the Lutheran approach to proclamation.
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Luthers Liturgical Music
$59.00Add to cartMartin Luther’s relationship to music has been largely downplayed, yet music played a vital role in Luther’s life-and he in turn had a deep and lasting effect on Christian hymnody. In Luther’s Liturgical Music Robin Leaver comprehensively explores these connections. Replete with tables, figures, and musical examples, this volume is the most extensive study on Luther and music ever published. Leaver’s work makes a formidable contribution to Reformation studies, but worship leaders, musicians, and others will also find it an invaluable, very readable resource.
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Theology Of The Lutheran Way
$39.00Add to cartRather than asking if theology is theoretical or practical-a question that reveals a fundamental lack of understanding about the nature of theology in general-it is better to ask “What exactly is theology?” It is this question that Oswald Bayer attempts to answer in Theology the Lutheran Way, clearing up misconceptions about the essence of theology. Along with Luther himself, Bayer claims that theology, rather than being something that we do, is really what God does.
Based primarily on the third section of Bayer’s original German work of the same title, this book evaluates certain approaches to theology that have been influential, from Schleiermacher’s understanding of theology to debates with Kant, Hegel, and Bultmann. It also includes a substantial section on Luther from the original in order to clarify the Lutheran tradition
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Early Luther : Stages In A Reformation Reorientation
$34.00Add to cartThe development of Martin Luther’s thought has commanded much scholarly attention because of the Reformation and its remarkable effects on the history of Christianity in the West. But much of that scholarship has been so enthralled by certain later debates that it has practically ignored and even distorted the context in and against which Luther’s thought developed. In The Early Luther Berndt Hamm, armed with expertise both in late-medieval intellectual life and in Luther, presents new perspectives that leave old debates behind.
A master Luther scholar, Hamm provides fresh insights into the development of Luther’s theology from his entry into the monastery through his early lectures on the Bible to his writing of the 95 Theses in 1517 and The Freedom of a Christian in 1520. Rather than looking for a single breakthrough, Hamm carefully outlines a series of significant shifts in Luther’s late-medieval theological worldview over the course of his early career. The result is a more accurate, nuanced portrait of Reformation giant Martin Luther.
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Brief Introduction To Martin Luther
$28.00Add to cartIn the sixteenth century, Martin Luther started a reformation movement that revolutionized Europe and the history of the Christian faith. His far-reaching reforms of theological understanding and church practices dramatically changed both church and society in Europe and beyond. In honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Steven Paulson provides an engaging, concise introduction to Martin Luther’s life and the major themes in his theology.
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Living Flame Of Love
$14.99Add to cartSt John of the Cross was a Carmelite friar and mystic who lived in Spain in the second half of the sixteenth century. He helped Teresa of Avila with her reform of the Carmelite Order and was imprisoned for political reasons.He wrote this beautiful poem on the love between the soul and God while in prison in Toledo. The work consists of the poem and a prose commentary on it. “Justly celebrated as a milestone in Spanish literature as well as a spiritual classic.’ (Baroness Cox, from the Introduction)
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Formula For Parish Practice
$39.00Add to cartThis book combines a rich description of the (Lutheran) Formula of Concord (1577) with experiences in today’s Lutheran parishes to demonstrate how confessional texts may still come to life in modern Christian congregations. Timothy Wengert takes the Formula of Concord, traditionally used as ammunition in doctrinal disagreements, back to its historical home, the local congregation, giving pastors, students, and theologians a glimpse into the original debates over each article.
The most up-to-date English commentary on the Formula of Concord, A Formula for Parish Practice provides helpful, concise descriptions of key theological debates and a unique weaving of historical and textual commentary with modern Lutheran experience. Covering the entire Formula of Concord the book includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter.
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Once And Future Wesleyan Movement
$20.99Add to cartJones argues that several unique factors remain available to The United Methodist Church today from the period of rapid growth between 1800 and 1840. Drawing on the image of Loren Mead’s Once and Future Church and Moises Naim’s analysis in The End of Power, Jones argues that a viable future for United Methodism is to recapture the dynamism of being a movement, with many of the characteristics of early 19th century Methodism coming to the fore. It will draw on three key works about Methodism in the first half of the 19th century: Nathan Hatch’s Democratization of American Christianity, John Wigger’s Taking Heaven by Storm, and Gregory Schneider’s The Way of the Cross Leads Home. The book talks about how the Wesleyan form of church contains important resources for the future of Christianity. It focuses on the United States and the first half is broadly applicable to all denominations in the Wesleyan tradition. The last half of the book discusses obstacles that are currently preventing the United Methodist Church from achieving its potential. It closes with a hopeful vision of what a renewed United Methodism might look like.
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Beating The Boundaries
$21.95Add to cartUsing the image of the traditional practice of “beating the bounds” of the parish, this book contrasts the desire to mark boundaries with God’s call to explore boundaries in order to open them. Building on visits to nine Episcopal and Church of England congregations, Spicer explores how they are opening the boundaries between inherited expressions of church and the unique contexts in which they find themselves. He argues that to beat the boundaries around their current expressions of church, congregations should (1) name a missional identity common to both their past expressions of congregational life and the church they hear God calling them to become; (2) identify whom they’re seeking to reach in the community and how they intend to do so; (3) identify what sort of new church expression God is calling them to create; (4) empower a missional leader and plan for governance issues their work may raise; and (5) collaboratively identify how to define success and how to understand what might be seen as failure in terms of common church metrics.
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Parish Handbook
$35.99Add to cartA parish church gathers people together from across the community and is a site of resistance against the increasingly atomized and segregated society in which we live. The social and political revolution at the heart of parish life is people learning to relate to each other in the name of Christ.
Making clear that it is ordinary living which is at the heart of parish life, Bob Mayo provides an important and accessible resource for all involved in church leadership. Drawing on a wealth of experience and research, the handbook brings together sociological observation and theological insight to shape sound practical theological reflection. It will appeal to ordinands as much as practicing incumbents. -
Road To Growth
$24.00Add to cartChurch House Publishing
Based on his consultancy experience with churches and dioceses over the last three years and further research on the causes of church growth, Bob Jacksons new book shows how the Church at parish, diocesan and national level can overturn its old cycle of decline and begin a new cycle of growth. At its heart this book is about how local churches can thrive and grow in the early twenty-first century. Part 1 outlines the current context, offering a sharp analysis behind the reasons for church growth and decline. Part 2 describes churches which are already experiencing growth both in numerical and ministry strength. It looks at lessons learnt and what is at the heart of a resurgent, thriving Church. Parts 3 and 4 set out workable strategies and unpacks ways in which human and financial resources can be deployed to support and sustain the growth of the local church. This is not about glib, short-term solutions promising quick results. The goal of this book is to help transform fragile signs of hope for the Church into a solid road to growth.
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Open Door : The Anglican Centre In Rome 2003-2016
$14.49Add to cartSeeking to promote Christian unity in a divided world, The Anglican Centre in Rome provides a permanent Anglican Communion presence in Rome. Written to coincide with the 50th anniversary year of the centre, and offering an update to Frank Bliss’s volume ‘Anglicans in Rome’, ‘An Open Door’ tells the story of the past 10 years of the centre and looks to its future. The book includes an appendix with the significant milestones of the last ten years and a brief historical record of the centre’s 50 years. Archbishop Justin Welby and Cardinal Koch provide their own reflections in the introduction.
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Complete Contemporary Worship Handbook
$19.95Add to cartBrian Russell has dedicated his life and career to developing and maintaining contemporary worship in denominational settings. He writes from real experience with Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and Catholic churches with real challenges and, thankfully, real success stories. Beyond Rory Noland’s terrific work called Heart of the Artist, there is a dramatic lack of books that inform the work of creating contemporary worship. The need for such a resource exists, and Brian was inspired to produce this book as a way of addressing that need.
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Unfinished Reformation : What Unites And Divides Catholics And Protestants
$16.99Add to cartFive hundred years ago, a Catholic monk nailed a list of grievances on the door of a church in Germany and launched a revolution in the history of Christianity. Today there continues to be a number of unresolved issues between the Protestant and Catholic churches, and many experience this ongoing division within their family and among friends and neighbors. Written in an accessible and informative style, Gregg Allison and Chris Castaldo provide a brief and clear guide to the key points of unity and divergence between Protestants and Catholics today. They write to encourage fruitful conversation about the key theological and sociological differences between the two largest branches of the Christian Church. From the revolutionary events 500 years ago that sparked the Reformation to today, Unfinished Reformation takes a nuanced and thoughtful look at doctrine, practice, and how Protestants and Catholics can have fruitful discussions about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Formed By Love
$14.95Add to cartIn volume five, Scott Bader-Saye, Academic Dean and Professor of Christian Ethics and Moral Theology at Seminary of the Southwest, examines the moral life through the lens of the Episcopal Church and its traditions. Beginning with an introduction to ethics in a changing world, Bader-Saye helps the reader move past the idea that we either accept cultural change as a whole or reject it whole, suggesting that we need to make discriminating judgments about where to affirm change and where to resist it. Part I looks at distinctive aspects of the Episcopal ethos, noting that “ethics” comes from “ethos,” and so has to do with habits and enculturation of a particular people. Topics include creation, incarnation, holiness, sacrament, scripture, and “via media.” Part II looks at big moral questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What are good and evil? What are right and wrong? Part III examines how an Episcopal approach might shape a typical day by examining Morning Prayer and Compline as moral formation, in between discussing work, eating, and playing. Each part begins by analyzing cultural assumptions, asking what should be affirmed and what resisted about contemporary context, setting the stage for discussion in subsequent chapters.
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Perfectly Simple Triune God
$49.00Add to cartIntroduction
1. The Simple, Perfect, Triune God
2. Authorities For Thomas’s Traditional Answer
3. Aquinas’s Legacy Among The Reformers
4. The Theodicy Question: Process Theism
5. The Question Of Divine And Human Freedom: Open Theism
6. The Logical Question: Analytic Theology
7. The Cultural And Political Questions
8. The Metaphysical Question
9. Conclusion: A Retrieval Of The Traditional Answer Attending To Its CriticsAdditional Info
A particularly nettlesome question is around the relationship of the confession of God as a simple yet threefold being-the treatises of the one God and the Trinity. Although God as simple and Triune was widely accepted for over a millennium, simplicity has been widely critiqued and rejected by modern theology. The purported error is in conceiving God’s unity prior to the Triune persons, an error begun by Augustine and crystallized in Aquinas.The Perfectly Simple Triune God challenges this critique and reading of Aquinas as a misunderstanding of his doctrine of God. By refusing to begin theology with God’s oneness, who God is collapses into who God is for us, a loss of the biblical and dramatic character of God for us. D. Stephen Long posits that the two treatises were never independent, but inextricably related and entailing one another. Long provides a constructive rereading of Thomas Aquinas, tracing antecedents to Aquinas in the patristic tradition, and readings of him through to the Reformers, taking into account challenges to the classical tradition posed by modern and contemporary theology and philosophy to offer a robust articulation of divine Trinitarian agency for a contemporary age that adheres to broadly considered orthodox and ecumenical parameters.
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Among The Early Evangelicals
$22.99Add to cart1. Introduction
2. Looking Back: The Rise Of Transatlantic Evangelicalism In The Eighteenth Century
3. Evangelicalism Rapid Growth In The 1790s
4. Thomas Campbell In Ireland
5. Alexander Campbell’s Early Formation In Scotland
6. The Campbells’ Evangelical Society In The U.S.: The Christian Association Of Washington (1809-1812)
7. The Baptist And Anti-Missionary Years (1812-1830)
8. The Campbells, Their Origins, And The Impact Of Transatlantic EvangelicalismAdditional Info
Though many of its early leaders were immigrants, most histories of the Stone-Campbell Movement have focused on the unique, American-only message of the Movement. Typically, the story tells the efforts of Christians seeking to restore New Testament Christianity or to promote unity and cooperation among believers.Among the Early Evangelicals charts a new path showing convincingly that the earliest leaders of this Movement cannot be understood apart from a robust evangelical and missionary culture that traces its roots back to the eighteenth century. Leaders, including such luminaries as Thomas and Alexander Campbell, borrowed freely from the outlook, strategies, and methodologies of this transatlantic culture. More than simple Christians with a unique message shaped by frontier democratization, the adherents in the Stone-Campbell Movement were active participants in a broadly networked, uniquely evangelical enterprise.
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Book Of Harmony
$30.00Add to cart1. Introduction To The Book Of Concord
2. Themes In The Early Lutheran Reformation
3. Luther’s Catechisms: A Lifetime Of Learning
4. The Augsburg Confession: Faith For A Grounded, Flexible Church
5. Personal Faith And Shared Mission In The Apology
6. Freedom And Service In The Smalcald Articles
7. A Model For Harmony: The Formula Of ConcordAdditional Info
The Reformation-era writings that make up the Lutheran Confessions remain lively resources for Christian ministry and mission today. Because each of the documents within the Book of Concord was written with a specific context and rhetorical purpose in mind, each has its own compelling story and objectives. Luther’s catechisms present the faith for daily life at the grass-roots level, with teaching elements that we might now view as typical of social media and multimedia. The Augsburg Confession and its Apology provide an adaptable foundation for preaching, teaching, church organization, and dialogue that is rooted in the promise of Christ, received through faith. Fifteen years after the Diet of Worms, the Smalcald Articles reveal yet another “Here I stand” moment for Luther. Finally, the Formula of Concord shows how the next generations of Lutherans used collaboration and consensus as they wrestled with important themes of faith and life. In summary, as these texts engage us with their stories, they invite us to consider what is most important about our journeys of faith and Christian witness in today’s twenty-first-century contexts. -
Everyday Disciples : Covenant Discipleship With Youth
$14.00Add to cartEveryday Disciples: Covenant Discipleship With Youth by Chris Wilterdink resources pastors, youth leaders, and youth groups with information and planning materials related to Covenant Discipleship and accountability practices. Covenant Discipleship encourages youth to connect with Christ and one another through mutual accountability. It also encourages a networked support structure for living in the world as Christ followers.
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Growing Everyday Disciples
$12.00Add to cartGrowing Everyday Disciples: Covenant Discipleship With Children is a formational resource by Melanie C. Gordon, Susan Groseclose, and Gayle Quay that equips adults who serve in ministry with children ages 8-11 to guide children towards a mature faith through everyday acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Covenant Discipleship helps connect children with Jesus Christ and one another through ongoing mutual accountability and support for living in the world as Christ followers. The resource offers leaders in ministry with children suggestions for forming covenants, exploring accountability, evaluations, and a choice of plans to organize, maintain, and evaluate Covenant Discipleship groups with children. This resource also provides a brief background on discipleship, covenants, and society meetings of the Methodist Movement, and can be used as preparation for confirmation.
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Disciples Making Discples
$17.00Add to cartDisciples Making Disciples: Guide for Covenant Discipleship Groups and Class Leaders, by Steven W. Manskar is for pastors, Covenant Discipleship group members, and class leaders. It provides information needed to organize the ministry, form groups, write a covenant, lead a meeting, support groups so they help the congregation live out its mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world. The book also describes the office of class leaders and how to introduce this powerful disciple-making office to the congregation.
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Pilgrim Church And Kingdom
$11.95Add to cartCourse 8: Church & Kingdom: What does it mean to live as a child of the kingdom of God and follow in the way of Christ each day as a member of his church? How does it affect our life at work as well as at home? How does it affect what we do with the gifts we have been given, especially those gifts of time and talents, passions, resources, and money? How is the Christian faith changing us and shaping us so that we become more like Jesus? The importance of prayer, living out our faith, celebrating Sabbath, and reflecting generosity is explored. We look at how faith in the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shapes and changes all our relationships
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Pilgrim The Eucharist
$11.95Add to cartCourse 6: The Eucharist: How do Christians know and worship God? The six sessions of Course 6 reveal reasons why the Eucharist is celebrated as a memorial of Christ’s saving passion and stands at the very heart of Christian worship. Session 1 looks at worship as communion with God. Session 2 explores the Eucharist as the pattern of all Christian worship. Session 3 looks at the intimacy we have with God in Holy Communion and how we are transformed by the encounter. Sessions 4 – 6 look at worship as a sign and foretaste of heaven, shaping our whole life, and how the whole of life is sacramental.
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Break Away Amish
$28.99Add to cart21 Chapters
Additional Info
“I am the grandson of Bishop Sam Mullet, who was arrested for the Amish beard-cutting attacks. This is my story.”Beard-cutting attacks on Amish people in the middle of the night. Five incidents. Nine victims. How could members of a Christian tradition known for peace and forgiveness enact such violence? What could make members of one Amish group turn against other Amish? In Breakaway Amish, Johnny Mast tells in riveting detail how his Amish community became increasingly isolated from other Amish people, and how the wishes and edicts of his grandfather, Bishop Sam Mullet, overtook daily life in the group. Over time, members became convinced that cutting their own hair was a sign of repentance and remorse. When that conviction led them to cut off the beards of those outside their community, however, it was more than a strange religious ritual. It was a crime.
Here is an eyewitness account of the disturbing events at Bergholz, an Amish community gone awry. Yet redemption dwells even here, in the bravery and conviction of one who chose to break free.
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Holy One In Our Midst
$49.00Add to cart1. The Flesh Of Christ And The Extra Calvinisticum
2. The Flesh Of Christ In Modern Theology
3. The Logos And The Flesh Of Christ
4. The Temple Of God And The Flesh Of Christ
5. (De)Limiting The Flesh Of Christ
6. Why One Ought To Embrace The Extra CalvinisticumAdditional Info
The Holy One in Our Midst: An Essay on the Flesh of Christ aims to defend the doctrine of the extra Calvinisticum-the doctrine that maintains the Son of God was not restricted to the flesh of Christ during the incarnation-by arguing that it is logically coherent, biblically warranted, catholically orthodox, and theologically useful. It shows that none of the standard objections are devastating to the extra, that the doctrine is rooted in the claims of Christian Scripture and not merely a remnant of perfect being philosophical theology, and that the doctrine plays an important role in contemporary theological discussion. In this way, James Gordon revives an important Catholic doctrine that has fallen out of favor in contemporary theology. Also, this project aims to integrate biblical, philosophical, and systematic theology by showing that the tools and methods of each distinct discipline can contribute to the goals and aims of the others. -
Drawing Of This Love
$19.99Add to cartEmbark on a journey of spiritual growth with Julian of Norwich as your guide. Popular retreat leader and former monk Robert Fruehwirth explores the stages of faith development using Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love, inviting readers into a deeper, more honest and grounded faith
Julian of Norwich is an ideal companion for personal spiritual growth because her mystical experiences led her to a kind of faith that makes sense to 21st century Christians — a God of unconditional love, of merciful compassion and honesty, and radical belief in the goodness of creation and humanity. Her example provides a map for a faith journey from initial trust, through critical questions and struggle, to resolution – a pattern many experience today.
Fans of Julian will find this a fresh and different exposition of her work, combining the commonly understood teachings of Julian with an exploration of what happens when we try to live them.
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Faithful Improvisation : Theological Reflections On Church Leadership
$31.99Add to cartChurch House Publishing
Faithful and effective church leadership requires preparation in prayer, theological reflection and a wide range of pastoral, prophetic and practical skills in order to ensure that what the Church discerns as necessary the Church does.
Faithful Improvisation? is both a contribution to a current and sometimes vigorous debate on how the Church trains its leaders and also a practical and theological resource for discerning what the Spirit is saying and then acting upon it in local church contexts.
Part One includes the full text of the Senior Church Leadership report from the Faith and Order Commission.
Part Two offers reflections by Cally Hammond, Thomas Seville, Charlotte Methuen, Jeremy Morris and David Hilborn, on practices, models and theologies of leadership in different periods of church history which informed the FAOC report.
Part Three opens up a broader discussion about present and future leadership within the Church of England. Mike Higton sketches out a dialogue between Senior Church Leadership and Lord Green’s report, Talent Management for Future Leaders; Tim Harle offers a personal reflection from the perspective of the community of leadership practitioners; and Rachel Treweek concludes with an exploration of the essentially relational character of leadership.
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Church Meets World
$14.95Add to cartThe New Church’s Teaching series has been one of the most recognizable and useful sets of books in the Episcopal Church. With the launch of the Church’s Teachings for a Changing World series, visionary Episcopal thinkers and leaders have teamed up to revitalize the series with fresh voices and style, making it grounded and thoughtful enough for seminarians and leaders, yet concise and clear enough for newcomers.A leading thinker and vibrant presence at the intersection of church and world, Winnie Varghese explores the “what”, “how”, and “why” of Episcopal engagement with contemporary social issues. Like the master of the household in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13:52) who “brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old,” Varghese leads readers to discover theological resources from generations past and how they help to guide our action around thorny issues like racial justice, gender and sexuality, economic disparity, definitions of “family,” the environment, and much more.
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Reconciliation Reconsidered : Advancing The Conversation On Race In Churche
$19.99Add to cartReconciliation Takes Time.
A broad racial divide mars Churches of Christ, and courageous leaders from across the United States have joined together to listen to one another. Rather than adopt a posture of resignation, they have met for honest, God-honoring conversation.
In Reconciliation Reconsidered, Tanya Brice pulls together the early fruit she has gleaned from this ongoing conversation about racial reconciliation. Learn about yourself in the context of community as you explore these key ideas:
Exercise truth-telling: it’s what is needed before any reconciliation can happen
Discover how race relations are not as simple as you think
Challenge your stereotypes
Understand the meaning of current events like the Ferguson shooting in fresh ways
Revisit Christ’s teachings with a careful eye toward discipleship and love of your neighborEach chapter concludes with discussion questions that can help you and others navigate this perplexing and difficult topic.
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Representing Christ : A Vision For The Priesthood Of All Believers
$28.99Add to cartThe priesthood of all believers is a core Protestant belief. But what does it actually mean? Uche Anizor and Hank Voss set the record straight in this concise treatment of a doctrine that lies at the center of church life and Christian spirituality. The authors look at the priesthood of all believers in terms of the biblical witness, the contribution of Martin Luther and the doctrine of the Trinity. They place this concept in the context of the canonical description of Israel and the church as a royal priesthood that responds to God in witness and service to the world. Representing Christ is much more than a piece of Reformation history. It shows that the priesthood of all believers is interwoven with the practical, spiritual and missional life of the church.
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Wesley And Anglicans
$30.99Add to cartWhy did the Wesleyan Methodists and the Anglican evangelicals divide during the middle third of the eighteenth century? Many would argue that the division between was based narrowly on theological matters, especially predestination and perfection. Danker suggests, however, that politics was a major factor throughout driving the Wesleyan Methodists and Anglican evangelicals apart. Methodism was perceived to be linked with the radical and seditious politics of the Cromwellian period. This was a charged claim in a post-Restoration England. Likewise he explores the political force of resurgent Tory influence under George III which exerted more pressure on evangelicals to prove their loyalty to the Establishment. These political realities made it hard for evangelicals in the Church of England to cooperate with Wesley and meant that all their theological debates were politically infected. Rich in detail, this book traces the personalities involved along with the relative importance of canon law (“regularity”), public criticism and episcopal censure, parochial boundaries, lay ordination and sacramental administration, and alternative theological visions related to the Church of England. Here is a book for all who seek deeper insight into a critical juncture in the development of evangelicalism and early Methodism.
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In Pursuit Of Faithfulness
$34.99Add to cartForeword
Introduction: Crossroads Of Faithfulness
1. Beginnings, Both Anabaptist And American
2. The John F. Funk Era
3. Coming Together, Coming Apart
4. Threats From Without And Within
5. Expanding The Boundaries
6. The End Of Isolationalism
7. The Priesthood Of All Believers
8. A New Look
9. Binding And Loosing
Epilogue: Relations At The Crossroads
Appendix A: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference Congregations
Appendix B: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference Moderators
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Studies In Anabaptist And Mennonite History Series
The AuthorAdditional Info
In 1841, four Amish Mennonite families left their homes in southwestern Pennsylvania and traveled in horse-drawn wagons to Elkhart County, Indiana. Their journey was distinctly American, as they joined a wave of white settlers searching for new and cheaper lands where they could live, work, and worship. It was also distinctly Anabaptist, as they sought to live out complicated commitments to Christ, nonviolence, and community. In this lively narrative, historian and journalist Rich Preheim investigates the heritage and innovations of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, an area conference of Mennonite Church USA, that have profoundly shaped Mennonite faith and practice since the nineteenth century. Standing at the crossroads of tradition and change, Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan wrestle to pursue faithfulness to Christ in the twenty-first century. -
Cinco Marcas De Un Metodista – (Spanish)
$7.99Add to cartCinco marcas de un metodista confirman nuestra identidad como seguidores genuinos y fructiferos de Cristo: 1. Un metodista ama a Dios 2. Un metodista se regocija en Dios 3. Un metodista da gracias 4. Un metodista ora sin cesar 5. Un metodista ama a su projimo Este breve libro, disenado para ser compartido con otras personas, ofrece una meditacion sobre cada una de estas caracteristicas. Con oracion, apliquelos en su peregrinaje con Jesus. Si usted es parte de la familia metodista o wesleyana de todo el mundo, estas cinco marcas le otorgaran un mayor conocimiento y aprecio de por que y como seguir a Jesus. Si usted se encuentra en otra parte del cuerpo de Cristo, puede emerger con una base solida y fuerte para mantener su fundamento espiritual. Las personas cristianas que sigan estas cinco marcas, tienen caracter. Cada capitulo termina con preguntas para reflexion o discusion. Now available in Spanish! Five marks confirm our identity as genuine and fruitful followers of Christ: 1. A Methodist Loves God 2. A Methodist Rejoices in God 3. A Methodist Gives Thanks 4. A Methodist Prays Constantly 5. A Methodist Loves Others This brief book, suitable for sharing with others, provides a meditation on each of these characteristics. Prayerfully apply them to your journey with Jesus. If you are part of the worldwide Methodist or Wesleyan family, these five marks will grant a greater knowledge and appreciation for why and how you follow Jesus. If you are located in another part of the body of Christ, you can emerge with a solid foundation to keep your spiritual house standing strong. Christians marked by these five habits, when taken together have character. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection or discussion.
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Massacre At Sand Creek
$22.99Add to cartSand Creek. An American tragedy occurred there that remains a symbol of the difference between what Americans believe themselves to be and the reality of what happened to Native peoples in the creation of the nation. Nearly 200 Cheyennes and Arapahos, camped under the protection of the United States government, were slain. The Sand Creek massacre seized national attention in the winter of 1864-1865 and generated a controversy that still excites heated debate more than 150 years later. At Sand Creek demoniac forces seemed unloosed so completely that humanity itself was the casualty. That was the charge that drew public attention to the Colorado frontier in 1865. That was the claim that spawned heated debate in Congress, two congressional hearings, and a military commission. Westerners vociferously and passionately denied the accusations. Reformers seized the charges as evidence of the failure of American Indian policy. Sand Creek launched a war that was not truly over for fifteen years. In the first year alone, it cost the United States government $50,000,000. Methodists have a special stake in this story. The governor whose polices led the Cheyennes and Arapahos to Sand Creek was a prominent Methodist layman. The commanding officer who ordered the attack on the Sand Creek village was a Methodist minister. Perhaps those were merely coincidences, but the question also remains of how the Methodist Episcopal Church itself responded to the massacre. Was it also somehow culpable in what happened? The Sand Creek massacre was tragedy in the truest sense, raw, visceral, brutal, but with hints of heroism and even nobility in its blood-red story. Coming to grips with what happened at Sand Creek involves hard questions and unsatisfactory answers not only about what happened but also about why. It stirs ancient questions about the best and worst in every person, questions older than history, questions as relevant as today’s headlines, questions we all must answer from within.
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Transforming Community : The Wesleyan Way To Missional Congregations
$15.00Add to cartDrawing from the strength of their previous book, Transforming Evangelism, Henry Knight and Douglas Powe show us a Wesleyan way to form missional communities and congregations. Drawing from John Wesley’s own organizing abilities, this will better equip today’s congregations to be more transfomational. Each chapter also has study questions.
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Pilgrim The Beatitudes
$11.95Add to cartPilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that helps inquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Following the practice of the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer with quotes from the Christian tradition throughout the ages, Pilgrim assumes little or no knowledge of the Christian faith. Individuals or small groups on the journey of discipleship in the Episcopal tradition can use Pilgrim at any point. There are many different aspects to helping people learn about the Christian faith. We have taken as our starting point Jesus’ summary of the commandments. We are called to offer our lives to God through loving God with all our mind, soul, strength, and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Learning about Christian faith and growing in Christian faith is about more than what we believe. It’s also about the ways in which we pray and develop our relationship with God, about the way we live our lives and about living in God’s vision for the Church and for the world. Course 4. The Beatitudes: The Beatitudes is a short but profoundly beautiful and influential collection of sayings by Jesus. They sum up his teaching about what it means to live as a child of God’s kingdom. The authors of this course believe that following Jesus requires us to engage with this important text, so that it is restored to a central place in the life of the Church. We believe that the Beatitudes, and trying to live them out, is one of the best ways of loving God with all your heart and understanding the Christian vision for the world.
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In The Eye Of The Storm
$24.95Add to cartGene Robinson is bishop of the tiny, rural Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, but he’s at the center of a storm of controversy raging in the Episcopal Church and throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion involving homosexuality, the priesthood, and the future of the Communion. This book offers an honest, thoughtful portrait of Robinson, the faith that has informed his life, and the controversy that continues to rock his Church
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Copious Fountain : A History Of Union Presbyterian Seminary 1812-2012
$70.00Add to cartA Copious Fountain tells the two-hundred-year-old story of Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. From its first days at Hampden-Sydney College, Union Presbyterian Seminary has answered its call to equip educated ministers to serve the church. As the first institution of its kind in the South, Union Presbyterian Seminary created a standard for theological education across denominational affiliations.
This systematic history of Union Presbyterian Seminary gives cultural and historical context to the school through its bicentennial year. Combining research, photographs, and primary source documents, Sweetser’s book celebrates the enduring influence of Union Presbyterian Seminary in the church and beyond.
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Presbyterian Handbook (Revised)
$20.00Add to cartThe Presbyterian Handbook, Revised Edition provides historical and up to date theological information about Presbyterian beliefs alongside fun-filled facts and practical tips on being a churchgoing follower of Jesus Christ. Complete with illustrations, the book presents a wonderful combination of vast truths, complex details, and bits of humor about Presbyterian understanding of the Christian life. This unique and incredibly handy resource is perfect for Presbyterian youth, adults, students, families, and all those interested in learning about much of what encompasses life in the church.
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Faith Rules : An Episcopal Manual
$19.95Add to cart* Modeled on Michael Pollan’s best-selling Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual * Written by a prominent church figure Ian Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary, introduces both the Christian faith and The Episcopal Church to the seeker and Episcopal laity in this indispensable manual. Each page in Faith Rules is Episcopal wisdom set in concise, straightforward language for anyone in the 21st century.
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History Of The Amish 3rd Edition
$14.99Add to cartThe Amish, one of America s most intriguingly private, unique, and often misunderstood religious communities, have survived for three hundred years! How has that happened?
While much has been written on the Amish, little has been revealed about their history. This book brings together in one volume a thorough history of the Amish people. From their beginnings in Europe through their settlement in North America, the Amish have struggled to maintain their beliefs and traditions in often hostile settings.
Now updated, the book gives an in-depth look at how the modern Amish church continues to grow and change. It covers recent developments in new Amish settlements, the community s conflict and negotiation with government, the Nickel Mines school shooting, and the media s constant fascination with this religious people, from reality TV shows to romance novels.
Authoritative, thorough, and interestingly written, A History of the Amish presents the deep and rich heritage of the Amish people with dozens of illustrations and updated statistics.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history–books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
