Church Ministry

Most churches have a volunteer problem. That problem is holding back their ministry and their church. The trouble is, it's not one problem. It's a collection of issues that all have a negative impact on volunteerism in your church.

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.

Their stories begin with desperation, and the struggle and the perseverance these national translators show is guaranteed to inspire...these are the least of these. Humble people-largely unknown to anyone else in the world. People hungry for God's Word. People willing to risk everything, sacrifice their own ambitions, to be able to read Scripture in their heart language...stopping at nothing until they hold the precious Word of God—in their language—for the very first time.

Christian identity is in moral and political crisis. Lee Camp writes “that one major reason Christianity in America has been made into a bad public joke is our failure to rightly understand what Christianity is.” Scandalous Witness provides a way forward. Although refusing to reduce Christianity to any partisan agenda, he reminds us that the gospel is inherently political and that we are called to be political witnesses.

A Giving Crisis can only be remedied by a Giving Generation. I believe we have everything we need to become that generation—to learn the upside-down world of Christ and become the most generous generation in human history, in addition to being the most wealthy. If you long for financial freedom, boundless joy, and deep satisfaction, join the Giving Generation!

As Catholic theologian, historian, and papal biographer George Weigel notes, the next pope will probably have been a teenager or a very young man during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965); he may even have been a child during those years. Thus the next pope will not have been shaped by the experience of the Council and the immediate debates over its meaning and reception like Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis.

Jesus said his followers would be known for their love, not their loneliness. Yet over half of Americans―and American churchgoers―say that they lack companionship or that no one knows them well. We live increasingly disconnected lives, and our mental and spiritual health suffer as a result. In The Way Back to One Another, Jeff Galley and Phil Smith provide a remedy based on studying Scripture, learning from the global church, and observing best practices in thousands of small groups.

The United States stands as the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the face of the earth. But now, in the midst of skyrocketing federal debt, severe economic troubles, political uncertainty, declining morality, a weak church, growing spiritual apathy and apostasy, historic natural disasters, and a myriad of other daunting challenges, many wonder if America’s best days are behind her. Will history’s greatest democracy stage a miraculous comeback, returning to the forefront of the world’s economic and spiritual stage?

In all areas of life and leadership, we create very new ways of being with self and others. This book is full of leadership materials from my lifetime of various sources, including Healthy Congregations, Inc., an organization whose focus is around growing thoughtful leaders. A congregation, though commonly referred to as a spiritual group, is actually any group that is interacting and united in a common purpose, including relationships and families.

Este libro es una crónica sobre el Grupo Pequeño o Movimiento Celular, partiendo de la época de Jesús hasta llegar a la explosión celular en los tiempos modernos. Comiskey destaca las fortalezas y debilidades de estos movimientos históricos de grupos pequeños, y aplica estos principios a la iglesia actual. Crecerás en gratitud y en entendimiento de los valores clave de las células a causa de aquellos pioneros que allanaron el camino.

In 1979 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith withdrew Hans Kung's missio canonica. Pope Paul VI approved the censure saying, "We are obligated to declare that in his writings he fell short of integrity and the truth of the Catholic faith." Through a 1980 agreement with the Vatican, Kung is now permitted to teach, but only under secular auspices. In this acclaimed Modern Library Chronicle, Kung examines the Catholic Church through its many reformations, focusing on the people and events...

Pope Leo XIV has expressed concern about how artificial intelligence (AI) will affect the labor economy and the development of young people seeking productive expression of their God-given gifts. How do these concerns relate to those of the pontiff from whom the pope took his name, Leo XIII, in his groundbreaking 1891 encyclical written during the second phase of the Industrial Revolution?

Celebrity—defined as social power without proximity—has led to abuses of power, the cultivation of persona, and a fixation on profits. In light of the fall of famous Christian leaders in recent years, the time has come for the church to reexamine its relationship to celebrity. Award-winning journalist Katelyn Beaty explores the ways fame has reshaped the American church, explains how and why celebrity is woven into the fabric of the evangelical movement, and identifies many ways fame has gone awry in recent years.

Christian organizations have come to be known mostly for what we're against. And all too often, that includes being against each other. But amid growing distrust of religious institutions, Christ-centered nonprofits have a unique opportunity to link arms and collectively pursue a calling higher than any one organization's agenda. Rooting for Rivals reveals how your ministry can multiply its impact by cooperating rather than competing with others, modeling Christlike love and generosity in the process.

I Sold My Soul on eBay tells the story of how and why Hemant Mehta, the nonbeliever who auctioned off the opportunity to send him to church, became an atheist and went on to attend a wide variety of church services. It also features his insightful critiques and observations of the churches he visited, including accounts of his visits to some of the best-known churches in the country.

Evangelism and missions are parts of the Christian life often accompanied by fears, insecurities, and cultural pressures. In this addition to the Union series, Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves argue that an individual's relationship with God influences their evangelism and missions more than anything else. Scripture clearly shows that a believer's responsibility is to make God known in the world, but this cannot be done without first knowing and enjoying God.

Church planters generally are optimistic and enthusiastic about church planting for this generation. Many are launching or about to experiment with innovative approaches to plant churches that engage the marketplace. They are applying missional perspectives to reach this large mission field. This book documents and explores these innovative approaches to church planting.

The Zondervan Biblical and Theological Lectures series provides a unique audio learning experience. Unlike a traditional audiobook's direct narration of a book's text, Leading Life-Changing Small Groups: Audio Lectures includes high-quality live recordings of college-level lectures that cover...

Through a close exegetical reading of Paul's letters, this volume shows how Paul prioritized moral formation and community-building in his pastoral ministry and placed the practice of communal discernment in churches at the heart of life in the Spirit. Applying these fundamental insights for today's churches, Lewis reclaims Paul's primary pastoral emphasis on moral discernment and community-building, showing how this practice can be used in a variety of local church communities.

What if the secret to pastoral success is to do less ministry? Or, maybe, it’s more like a two-part secret: do less ministry, develop more people. The typical pastor takes on far too much. Who visits the hospital? Who counsels couples? Who teaches and preaches and disciples? Usually, the pastor. But according to Ephesians 4, a pastor’s true goal should be to equip the so-called ordinary members of their church to take on these pastoral tasks.