Church Ministry

Ministry Makeover examines the decline within the church, especially the United Methodist Church (UMC), and some causes for this decline. It calls for a reforming of United Methodist structure and polity by drawing more attention to the value of the bi-vocational model of ministry and a re-visitation of the Wesleyan/United Brethren view and historical perspective.

Countless books are designed to help leaders to become better leaders. But most resources neglect the underlying emotional struggles of both emerging and established leaders, who are often isolated and suffering in silence. Leadership professor Nicholas Rowe and counselor Sheila Wise Rowe offer their expertise in helping leaders process painful and traumatic experiences. Trauma contributes to how we lead others in either empowering or dysfunctional ways. Understanding how these experiences formed us is the beginning of the path to healing.

Glory to God for the men of old who endured the persecutions of this world with joy and faith. Much can be learned from those who have looked death in the face and yet remained true to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

A autora e defensora dos vulneráveis, Mary DeMuth, exorta a igreja que tanto ama a se levantar e enfrentar o mal do abuso e do assédio sexual com franqueza e empatia. Com base em pesquisas e histórias de sobreviventes, juntamente com fidelidade exata às Escrituras, DeMuth desvenda qual deve ser a reação da igreja à violência sexual e oferece uma resposta saudável para que a igreja se torne um refúgio de cura em vez de uma instituição de críticas e julgamento.

God in the White House explores the paradox of Americans' expectation that presidents should simultaneously trumpet their religious views and relationship to God while supporting the separation of church and state. Balmer tells the story of the politicization of religion in the last half of the 20th century, as well as the "religionization" of our politics. He reflects on the implications of this shift, which have reverberated in both our religious and political worlds, and offers a new lens through which to see not only these extraordinary individuals, but also our current political situation.

As the Church has become increasingly entangled in the pursuit of politics, the Gospel has become tarnished and often abandoned as the primary focus of the Body of Christ. Jesus Untangled is a prophetic call for the Church to awaken from the "American Dream" and to return to her first love. Because, as the author powerfully demonstrates, you can't convert a culture that has already converted you.

She provides women with a fresh and unique perspective on many of the hot issues women face today. Twenty-something single recording artist Rebecca St. James teams up with 40-something radio talk show host and mother of three Lynda Hunter Bjorklund to present a multigenerational look at why women feel out of control and vulnerable. She helps women understand how they can be safe, healthy, and empowered as they find their identity and security in God.

In Pressure Points, J. D. Payne gets to the heart of 12 of the most important challenges we face today, raising awareness of realities that will influence the church for decades to come. J. D. helps us understand how we can prevent these global issues from pushing the church off her biblical moorings. Pressure Points gives us the tools to absorb the pressures of society while responding in a way that remains faithful to the church’s calling and mission.

In an audiobook eagerly awaited by her growing retinue of fans, she brings listeners inside the world's oldest Christian faith, illuminating Eastern Orthodoxy in a manner similar to Kathleen Norris's exploration of Benedictine spirituality. An ex-hippie and former social radical, the author often writes humorously about her unusual road from Woodstock to the altar of an Orthodox church, where she is the pastor's wife.

In the 15th century, the Augustinian monk, Thomas Kempis authored one of the most profound Christian works to date. The Imitation of Christ focuses on living the life that Jesus and his followers promoted through ministry, emphasizing the need for isolation and prayer, as well as renouncing worldly vanities and searching for eternal truths as a method of getting closer to Christ and God.

Your church's sermons often include a call to evangelize. You've held evangelism training events. You give out invites to your Christmas and Easter services. So… where are all the new Christians? Is your church actually reaching the lost with the gospel? For many of us, despite having the best intentions our churches struggle to reach out with the gospel effectively. J.A. Medders and Doug Logan, Jr. have decades of experience in leading churches and mentoring pastors, and here they outline six principles for cultivating a genuine evangelistic culture throughout your church.

The goal of the church should be simple—share the gospel to the ends of the earth. But in our highly politicized age, Christians can tend to place earthly political and social agendas over God's spiritual mission of the church. In Empowered Witness, author Alan D. Strange examines the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, making a clear distinction between the functions of the church and other institutions.

The American church faces a discipleship crisis. Instead of following the values of Jesus, many Christians are chasing after what our culture prizes: power, money, and political influence. In Your Jesus Is Too American, Baptist pastor Steve Bezner invites Christians to rediscover what Jesus treasured and incorporate those kingdom values into the church's witness. Bezner shows that Jesus's vision of discipleship points the way toward a different way of being in the world.

While many aspects of leadership development are similar for women and men, women face different cultural expectations and have different experiences than their male counterparts. Anna Morgan's own experiences in pastoral ministry leadership launched her search for a holistic way to grow the skills, influence, and authority of women who are gifted and called as leaders. This book provides a positive, comprehensive research-based model for developing women in church and ministry leadership. Morgan identifies seven aspects of leadership development that form a woman over her lifetime.

The prophets of old were not easy to listen to because they did not flatter. They did not cajole. They spoke hard words that often chafed and unsettled their listeners. Like the Old Testament prophets, and more recent prophetic voices like Frederick Douglass, Dr. Eric Mason calls the evangelical church to a much-needed reckoning.

Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. Church Questions is a series by 9Marks that seeks to provide Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions about church life. Each booklet offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment.

In Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics, Cho encourages listeners to remember that hope arrived—not in a politician, system, or great nation—but in the person of Jesus Christ.

Understand the paradigmatic shift that is happening in city ministry around the world - the shift from internal church concern to external community focus - and learn how to live out and lead others in this missional approach.

The Art of Overcoming explores how we deal with loss, grief, and hurt, and challenges listeners to keep what looks like endings from discouraging or derailing us. The pain we experience is real—but there’s a difference between acknowledging it and giving into it. Rather than seeking a fake hope that pretends loss doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter, author and pastor Tim Timberlake encourages us to pursue hope rooted in God and gives this reminder: don’t quit!

In Inventing a Christian America, Green, a leading historian of religion and politics, explores the historical record that is purported to support the popular belief in America's religious founding and status as a Christian nation.