Imagine making decisions about your church based on the question, “God, is this your will?” This idea is the premise behind Discerning God’s Will Together. This contemporary book offers a fresh alternative to the often-rancorous parliamentary procedures many church groups use when making important decisions. Structured around church traditions and biblical examples of decision-making, this book […]
From the Foreward: In the past two decades since the Preparation for Ministry process was formalized in the Book of Order, there have been significant changes in society and in the church. We now have more women in seminary than men. More than two thirds of our inquirers and candidates are second or third career […]
This comprehensive workbook combines a series of seven exercises and assessments to help people personally discover who they are in Christ. The range of discovery includes these categories: spiritual fitness, spiritual gifting (from three different angles), ministry burden or passion, team style, personal values, and leadership strengths (Principle Priorities). This broad scope looks at the […]
Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit that orients persons to be attentive to the presence of God in our midst. In discernment, persons sift through the many spirits that vie for our attention to hear the One True Spirit. discernment may be described as a means to: recognize and acknowledge what God is […]
How can one discern if a calling truly is from God? How can one be alert to the fact that one call is ending and another is beginning? In this insightful book Ben Campbell Johnson gives inspiring, experience-based advice on these and other questions concerning the call of God. Johnson begins by relating several stories […]
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 define this ecclesial community and what constitutes […]