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Futuring Your Church
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Book Synopsis Futuring Your Church by : George B. Thompson
Download or read book Futuring Your Church written by George B. Thompson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2015-06-09 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A vision is not a mission statement," declares George Thompson. In the throes of establishing their congregational identity, many church leaders resort to developing a mission statement which gets put in a file drawer and forgotten until the next budget review. The problem is that mission statements focus on concrete achievements; a vision, in contrast, establishes the larger picture of aim, broad purpose, and hopes. In Futuring Your Church, church leaders explore the congregation's heritage, its current context, and its theological bearings. From the insights gleaned, members can discern what God is currently calling their own church to do in this time and place. Once this vision is found, Thompson provides a simple organization model for applying the vision--for making it work. A practical, helpful tool for futuring authentic ministry.
Book Synopsis How to Get Along With Your Church by : George B. Thompson
Download or read book How to Get Along With Your Church written by George B. Thompson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By culture, George B. Thompson Jr. means not just racial, ethnic, economic, or regional culture, but also a congregation's way of doing things--its history, customs, conventions, and procedures. In order to launch and maintain a successful ministry, pastors and other church leaders must come to grasp that unique culture of their parish. They must develop a culture capital within their congregations, meaning that they invest themselves deeply in how their church does its work and goes about its ministries. The author presses clergy to answer such questions as How well do I know what I'm getting into? and Have I been adopted yet? and even Is it time to move on? The book is ideal for pastors in solo settings, but pastors in multiple staff settings will also find the author's insights helpful.
Book Synopsis The Ministry for the Future by : Kim Stanley Robinson
Download or read book The Ministry for the Future written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published by Orbit. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 579 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR “The best science-fiction nonfiction novel I’ve ever read.” —Jonathan Lethem "If I could get policymakers, and citizens, everywhere to read just one book this year, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future." —Ezra Klein (Vox) The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this extraordinary novel from visionary science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson will change the way you think about the climate crisis. "One hopes that this book is read widely—that Robinson’s audience, already large, grows by an order of magnitude. Because the point of his books is to fire the imagination."―New York Review of Books "If there’s any book that hit me hard this year, it was Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future, a sweeping epic about climate change and humanity’s efforts to try and turn the tide before it’s too late." ―Polygon (Best of the Year) "Masterly." —New Yorker "[The Ministry for the Future] struck like a mallet hitting a gong, reverberating through the year ... it’s terrifying, unrelenting, but ultimately hopeful. Robinson is the SF writer of my lifetime, and this stands as some of his best work. It’s my book of the year." —Locus "Science-fiction visionary Kim Stanley Robinson makes the case for quantitative easing our way out of planetary doom." ―Bloomberg Green
Book Synopsis Challenging the Church Monster by : Douglas J. Bixby
Download or read book Challenging the Church Monster written by Douglas J. Bixby and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The church monster--according to Bixby--is the personification of a wide variety of problems which have arisen in local churches as a result of the heightened levels of conflict and anxiety with which they are dealing. His goal is to help pastors--as well as laity--to challenge the church monster by dealing with conflict and working through issues that are causing stagnation, early dismissal of pastors, and other discord that detracts from the mission and vision of the church. Bixby invites churches as well as shows them how to be open to the genuine and exciting possibilities that emerge from two core principles: downsizing and centralizing church government and developing a radical commitment to congregational decision making. This means fewer meetings, more ministry and less conflict, more community. He also offers fresh new ways for churches to function so that mission and ministry can once again become priorities, and people can begin to feel their time and energy are being used for something other than adding fuel to the fire of conflict within the congregation.
Book Synopsis A Spiritual Companion to How to Get Along with Your Church by : Beverly A. Thompson
Download or read book A Spiritual Companion to How to Get Along with Your Church written by Beverly A. Thompson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you are like most pastors, you earnestly thought you knew what the congregation you are serving was like when you answered God's call to serve them. Something has opened your eyes and now you know that you really don't know. The good news is, you are ready to find out!--from Day One: "I thought I knew . . ."When churches are in crisis, pastoral leadership is under attack, and pastors and church officials struggle to find a way to better understand why things happen or don't happen. Thompson's own pastoral experience led her to look beyond the popular "family systems" model to seek something that helps churches grow strong and pastors to become leaders. She found solutions in George B. Thompson, Jr.'s book, How to Get Along with Your Church: Creating Cultural Capital for Doing Ministry, and was inspired to develop a spiritual guide that strengthens the usefulness and effectiveness of his book.Specifically keyed to How to Get Along with Your Church, this spiritual companion provides 100 days of daily meditation and journaling for pastors who are learning--with a culture model--to lead their churches into a new understanding and rediscovery of their corporate calling.
Book Synopsis Church on the Edge of Somewhere by : George B. Thompson
Download or read book Church on the Edge of Somewhere written by George B. Thompson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007-11-19 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most congregations today exist in what George Thompson calls the "middle of anywhere." They live comfortably with their surrounding culture, focusing their energies on serving the needs of their current members. These congregations have many strengths and gifts that they can exercise without changing a thing. But Thompson envisions a deeper, more prophetic call for congregations to explore the meaning of being in the world but not of it--a church on the "edge of somewhere." Thompson sees a church that is deeply engaged in ministering to the community while calling on others to commit to doing the same. By analyzing the interaction between a congregation's focus of identity and their stance with the world, Thompson has created a helpful grid for congregations to place themselves on today's cultural map. A congregation that sees itself as existing on the margins of society will look different than one that sees itself as embedded in society. A congregation that hears a call to serve the surrounding community will look different from one that focuses on its internal needs. Knowing where they stand now is the key for congregations to discover where they must go in the future to fully live out their call to be God's people in the world.
Book Synopsis Becoming a Future-Ready Church by : Daniel Yang
Download or read book Becoming a Future-Ready Church written by Daniel Yang and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2024-10-22 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are Church Leaders Missing the Generational Handoff? There's Still Hope. Are we building institutions that will meaningfully serve the next generation of believers and their leaders? How does a church thrive in a culture where we have to earn credibility? How do we create a sense of belonging to the body of Christ and a strong sense of identity for the next generation? Becoming a Future-Ready Church is a blueprint to guide you through eight critical shifts to help lead your church into the future with wisdom and hope. It describes several major converging trends that will greatly impact the church in America over the next few decades: the Great Resignation of Boomer leaders from churches, the shrinking percentage of Christians in America, and the change in felt needs among rising generations shaped heavily by anxiety, skepticism, and fragmentation. Missiologist and pastor Daniel Yang, religion journalist Adelle Banks, and church researcher Warren Bird have come together in Becoming a Future-Ready Church to help church leaders evaluate whether their ministries are entrenched in strategies that worked well in the past but need to be adapted for the future. By helping us ask better questions about the issues and needs facing the church, they reveal practical ways in which the next generation of church leaders can gain a sturdier foothold as they navigate into the future.
Download or read book The Living Church written by and published by . This book was released on 2003-07 with total page 774 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Public Offerings by : Linda-Marie Delloff
Download or read book Public Offerings written by Linda-Marie Delloff and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2002-07-01 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling and extensive resource with ways for all congregations to reach beyond themselves to better serve. Spiritually vibrant congregations of all faiths thrive on the call to be leaven in today's world. Addresses the ups and downs on the way to success. Lively illuminates and offers practical wisdom for faith communities to engage in public ministries that express and enhance their core mission and identity.
Book Synopsis Finance in Your Church by : Douglas W. Johnson
Download or read book Finance in Your Church written by Douglas W. Johnson and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis How to Get Along with Your Pastor by : George B. Thompson
Download or read book How to Get Along with Your Pastor written by George B. Thompson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2015-06-10 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book that tries to help church members step back and see the bigger picture. An effective pastoral relationship is more like a couple who loves to dance together or a band that plays wonderful music. If we spend too much time on the details, without remembering that we want to dance and sing, our church will not have much to offer to Gospel ministry. This book, then, seeks to blaze a new trail for churches who want to thrive in authentic, faithful ministry with their pastor. In other words, it is a book for churches who want to get along with their pastor. It is a book for church deacons, elders, and other officers who recognize that a healthy, trusting, respectful relationship between pastor and congregation becomes the foundation for the church's vitality. It is a book designed to give you the tools you need to help your pastor become the best pastor that she or he can be with you. Statistics show that approximately thirteen hundred American pastors unwillingly leave their congregations each month. These sudden changes have negative long-term effects on both the pastor and the congregation. Thompson believes it is extremely important to find practical, easy-to-understand ways to train pastors and churches on how to approach disagreement much more constructively, and shows how to do so in this new book.
Book Synopsis Treasures in Clay Jars by : George B. Thompson Jr.
Download or read book Treasures in Clay Jars written by George B. Thompson Jr. and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-02-21 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thompson, a prolific author of church leadership resources, believes the continuing decline in membership of mainline denominations and the increasing number of multicultural and multiracial churches call for a new way of thinking: ministers must begin to see their ministry differently in order to do their ministry differently. Treasures in Clay Jars is designed to provide persons in training for ministry with a paradigm-shifting framework to interpret and work effectively with the complex dynamics of local faith communities. Thompson takes an innovative approach by utilizing explicit and relevant conceptual and theoretical tools from the social sciences--sociology, economics, and cultural anthropology--to engage future pastors to minister effectively to twenty-first-century congregations. The book discusses congregations in five different ways: as social group, as bearer of meaning, as locus of exchange, as collective capacity, and as complex organization. A study guide is included for church leaders who would like to engage their congregations in this new paradigm of ministry.
Download or read book Futuring written by Samuel R. Chand and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bursting with energy and fresh insight, this manual helps ministry professionals recognize and respond to trends that affect their ministry in today's world.
Book Synopsis Selected to Serve, Updated Second Edition by : Earl S. Johnson
Download or read book Selected to Serve, Updated Second Edition written by Earl S. Johnson and published by Presbyterian Publishing Corp. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Updated 2022 EditionThis useful guide for church leaders covers all aspects of officer training: call, duties, ethics, the Presbyterian Constitution, and much more. Congregations will find this resource indispensable for the recruitment and training of effective church leaders. Earl S. Johnson, Jr. has revised this best-selling book to include the new standards from the new Form of Government in the Book of Order
Book Synopsis Grace for the Journey by : George B. Thompson
Download or read book Grace for the Journey written by George B. Thompson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-09-21 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every community of faith journeys through periods of transition. In Grace for the Journey: Practices and Possibilities for In-Between Times, authors Beverly and George Thompson invite congregations to open themselves to the grace-filled possibilities that accompany these in-between periods. Drawing on biblical examples and contemporary experience, the authors invite the community of faith to see transitional times as an opportunity to develop deeper spiritual awareness of God's call on its communal life—a call that open up fresh potential even as it calls us to consider what familiar things may need to change. As pastors and teachers with experience in congregations across the country, the Thompsons serve as your travel guides, accompanying you and your congregation as you walk through the wilderness of transitional times to the hope-filled possibilities on the horizon.
Book Synopsis Men and Women in the Church by : Sarah Sumner
Download or read book Men and Women in the Church written by Sarah Sumner and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-09-20 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evangelicals stand divided in their view of women in the church. On one side stand complementarians, arguing the full worth of women but assigning them to differing roles. On the other side stand egalitarians, arguing that the full worth of women demands their equal treatment and access to leadership roles. Is there a way to mend the breach and build consensus? Sarah Sumner thinks there is. Avoiding the pitfalls of both radical feminism and reactionary conservatism, she traces a new path through the issues--biblical, theological, psychological and practical--to establish and affirm common ground. Arguing that men and women are both equal and distinct, Sumner encourages us to find ways to honor and benefit from the leadership gifts of both. Men and Women in the Church is a book for all who want a fresh and hope-filled look at a persistent problem.
Download or read book Small Church Checkup written by Kay Kotan and published by Upper Room Books. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many small membership churches today are faced with the sobering reality of attendance loss and overall decline. This resource provides a guide to help you find hope, alternatives, and the possibility of a new beginning. Included are tools to help you measure your church's vitality, evaluate the results, and diagnose your church's condition, along with several options for treatment plans as you seek to faithfully serve your community. Remember that we can choose our story. If we believe in our hearts there is another possibility, we can be faithful in choosing intentional pathways forward that honor God, the church founders, and generations to come. Follow the steps outlined in these pages to evaluate where you are and what the next steps on your journey need to be as you seek to be a "not yet big church," "a stable, small church," or a church that chooses to close and be repurposed for unexpected new life.
