Category: Booklets & Journals
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The Best of Times and the Worst of Times for Religion, Especially Christian Faith
From the Publisher’s Note: […] John Leith has long been one of this church’s most significant theological voices. He is a learned thinker sho has also served as a pastor and who has devoted himself throughout his career to building up the church through the training of clergy and through his penetrating theological reflections. […]
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Thinking Theologically About The Church
In this paper, Burgess explains what thinking theologically about the church looks like and what its sustaining 6 sources will be.
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Who’s In? Who’s Out?
This insightful essay, Who’s In? Who’s Out? by church theologian Joseph Small, is particularly relevant given the debates currently being conducted in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Indeed, this trenchant theological reflection may well come at a kairotic moment (in the words of Paul Tillich), as the church seeks to understand what characteristics deï¬ne this ecclesial community and what constitutes
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The Shape Of Pastoral Ministry
Occasional Paper #13 reprints two significant essays that are no longer readily available. “The Maceration of the Minister” by the late Lutheran theologian Joseph Sittler is an incisive, sympathetic analysis of the plight of ministers. “The Teaching Authority of the Minister in the Reformed Tradition: A Contemporary Proposal” by Richard R. Osmer, the Thomas W.
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Confessional Standards for a Confessing Church
From the Publisher’s Note: […] The term “confessing church†has come to mean something altogether different in the current Presbyterian context, however, as right-wing organizations seek to use confessional statements as theological sledgehammers to bludgeon Presbyterians into a rigid orthodoxy that divisively excludes certain persons from ecclesiastical leadership. It is in this context that Union Theological Seminary— Presbyterian School of Christian
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Peace, Unity, and Purity?
From the Publisher’s Note: The Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church was created by the 213th General Assembly (2001) in a denominational context of polarization.… In the pages that follow, you are invited to engage this process of consideration via the ruminations of three leaders of the church. It is my hope that these
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Congregational Transformation
This booklet is about Congregational Redevelopment and is one in a series of how-to booklets produced by the Evangelism and Church Development Program Area of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). To redevelop a congregation is to redirect its ministry in response to significant changes that may have taken place either among its membership or in the
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New Church Development
This booklet is one in a series produced by the Evangelism and Church Development Program Area of the National Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It is designed to introduce the visions, values, convictions and concerns under girding the development of new worshiping congregations in the 21st century.
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Core Values: Creating the Culture of a New Congregation
From the Introduction: A new church begins with a dream. Whether it begins with a presbytery commission or a group of residents, somewhere the dream is born. As the dream matures and starts to take shape, a pastor is called and charged with the responsibility of developing a handful of people into that dream church.
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The Church And Its Unity
In “True Confession: A Presbyterian Dissenter Thinks about the Church,†Barbara Wheeler speaks honestly about issues that divide the church, yet calls for the maintenance of God-given unity. Mark Achtemeier acknowledges that frustration with continuous controversy sometimes leads to the desire for separation, yet he sets forth “Seven Theses on the Unity of the Church.â€