Publication Date: 2004
-
The Hidden Lives Of Congregations
Faced with crisis, lack of direction, or just plain “stuckness,” many congregations and their leaders are content to deal only with surface issues and symptoms – only to discover that the same problems keep recurring, often in different, and more serious, ways. In The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Christian educator and consultant Israel Galindo takes leaders…
-
Memories, Hopes, And Conversations
This book recounts the experience of a church that used appreciative inquiry to harness their energies, shift their congregational conversations, and renew their sense of hope. Branson first leads readers through the foundations of appreciative inquiry and bracingly explores biblical texts for understanding the practice in a faith context. He then outlines and illustrates a…
-
When Better Isn’t Enough
Many sociologists and a growing number of church scholars have noted that we live in a time of transition – from the modern era to the postmodern. Whenever a shift of this magnitude occurs, it leaves all of life, including the church, in flux. We instinctively strive to stabilize the situation by re-establishing what has…
-
Reflecting With God
Untangling the day-to-day issues in our multifaceted lives can seem daunting. Time to sit quietly and reflect is rare. If we are fortunate, we have good friends or close family members with whom to talk things through and find clarity, but many times we feel isolated and lonely. As people of faith, we add another…
-
Preventing Sexual Abuse In Congregations
Are you ready to abuse-proof your congregation? If one child or adult is spared the confusing ordeal of unwanted touch, it will be worth your time to read this book. In this comprehensive resource, Methodist pastor and pastoral psychologist Karen McClintock demonstrates that sexual abuse in congregations is preventable and gives clergy and lay leaders…
-
www.CongregationalResources.org
As a companion to the groundbreaking Congregational Resource Guide, an online resource produced by the Alban Institute and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations, this book is an invaluable resource for congregational leaders. It puts the rich array of important congregational resources into context by examining the key books, organizations, Web sites, and people that will help…
-
The Disciple Making Church
In a recent study, pollster George Barna stated that the number one topic of interest for church leaders today is discipleship. Not growth, not pastoral care, not evangelism. Discipleship. According to E. Stanley Ott, President of The Vital Churches Institute, There is no person more qualified to address the greatest need in the church today…
-
The Presbyterian Trustee
The Presbyterian Trustee is a brief, highly useful handbook for trustees in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the first to examine the office. Modeled after The Presbyterian Elder and the author’s own The Presbyterian Deacon, this book explores the biblical models of trustees, the historic background of the office, and the responsibilities of trustees today.…
-
Definitive Guidance
Using the statements from the 1977, 1978, and 1979 General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., this ten-session study guide seeks to help Presbyterians understand the denomination’s position on homosexuality and the role that ‘definitive guidance’ plays in policy decisions about this issue. Included is…
-
Sealed In Christ
“Sealed in Christ is an excellent teaching tool for congregations. In a remarkably simple and interesting way, the author has interwoven central theological affirmations of our church by explaining the different symbols that make up the seal: the dove, the fish, the open bible, the cup, and the fire, forming the cross. The book will help…
-
Gathered Before God
What is the central purpose of the church today? How can churches experience renewal through worship? In Gathered before God, Jane Rogers Vann answers these important questions by studying ten vibrant small, medium, and large churches. Her findings, she argues, show that worship is the most important thing churches do and is vital to the renewal…
-
Choosing Church
Widely known theological educator and sociologist Carol Lytch presents this well-researched study of what attracts teenagers to the church and what keeps them there. The cogent research includes interviews of a number of teenagers and their parents from mainline Protestant, evangelical, and Roman Catholic congregations. Groundbreaking and fascinating, Choosing Church ulitmately serves as a highly…