Imagining The Small Church

Author : Steve Willis
Publisher : Alban Books
ISBN 13 : 9781566994330
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Imagining the Small Church written by Steve Willis and published by Alban Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining the Small Church: Celebrating a Simpler Path bears witness to what God is doing in small churches. Steve Willis tells stories from the small churches he has pastored in rural, town, and urban settings and dares to imagine that their way of being has something to teach all churches in this time of change in the American Christian Church. Willis tells us in the introduction, 'This book boasts no ten or fifteen steps to a successful small church. Instead, I hope to encourage you to give up on steps altogether and even to give up on success, at least how success is usually measured. I also hope to help the reader imagine the small church differently; to see with new eyes the joys and pleasures of living small and sustainably.' The joys and sorrows Willis helps us see through the compelling stories of faith in the small church puts flesh and bones on the possibilities that lie ahead for congregations in the future as well as the here and now. From the foreword by Tony Pappas: 'In Imagining the Small Church, pastor, writer, and lover of small things Steve Willis takes us on a narrative and imaginative journey. Some readers will have a sense that what Willis is describing simply names what they have already known in their hearts about their small churches. For them the journey will cover some familiar ground, explore some territory from a fresh angle, but deposit them nearly home again, hopefully with just a bit more awareness and appreciation. For others, though, Willis will take them on a long journey to a far and foreign place. They probably won't bother to finish reading it, and they will miss his invitation to find pastoring a small church extremely rewarding and meaningful. They will find this a strange book weird, off-center, and impractical; unlivable in the twenty-first century and undesirable in any event. This is because Willis is taking on the ethos, the values of our age, and claiming that it needn't be so. We can live on a different basis. We can live on the basis of gospel values.' There will be a variety of paths as the Church seeks new ways of being in this time. Willis knows this. In Imagining the Small Church he presents us with one that embraces a life of faith on the periphery and challenges church leaders to do the same.

Author : Steve Willis
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1566995558
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.59/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Imagining the Small Church written by Steve Willis and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012-11-06 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining the Small Church: Celebrating a Simpler Path bears witness to what God is doing in small churches. Steve Willis tells stories from the small churches he has pastored in rural, town, and urban settings and dares to imagine that their way of being has something to teach all churches in this time of change in the American Christian Church. Willis tells us in the introduction, 'This book boasts no ten or fifteen steps to a successful small church. Instead, I hope to encourage you to give up on steps altogether and even to give up on success, at least how success is usually measured. I also hope to help the reader imagine the small church differently; to see with new eyes the joys and pleasures of living small and sustainably.' The joys and sorrows Willis helps us see through the compelling stories of faith in the small church puts flesh and bones on the possibilities that lie ahead for congregations in the future as well as the here and now. From the foreword by Tony Pappas: 'In Imagining the Small Church, pastor, writer, and lover of small things Steve Willis takes us on a narrative and imaginative journey. Some readers will have a sense that what Willis is describing simply names what they have already known in their hearts about their small churches. For them the journey will cover some familiar ground, explore some territory from a fresh angle, but deposit them nearly home again, hopefully with just a bit more awareness and appreciation. For others, though, Willis will take them on a long journey to a far and foreign place. They probably won't bother to finish reading it, and they will miss his invitation to find pastoring a small church extremely rewarding and meaningful. They will find this a strange book weird, off-center, and impractical; unlivable in the twenty-first century and undesirable in any event. This is because Willis is taking on the ethos, the values of our age, and claiming that it needn't be so. We can live on a different basis. We can live on the basis of gospel values.' There will be a variety of paths as the Church seeks new ways of being in this time. Willis knows this. In Imagining the Small Church he presents us with one that embraces a life of faith on the periphery and challenges church leaders to do the same.

Author : Anthony G. Pappas
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1566995620
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Inside the Small Church written by Anthony G. Pappas and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2001-11-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even as so-called megachurches capture the attention of many church watchers, small congregations continue to dominate America's religious landscape in both rural and urban settings. Although sometimes obscured by their larger siblings, these small churches play a prominent role and hold a unique place in both local and national cultures. How can leaders help to keep these often at-risk churches alive and to meet their potential for ministry? Small-church expert Tony Pappas has gathered a cornucopia of essays into an indispensable book for anyone interested in the rich life of these small but significant congregations. Drawing on classic and updated articles by a variety of writers from his own small-church newsletter The Five Stones; from Alban journals Action Information and Congregations; and adding new pieces developed especially for this volume, Pappas provides timeless ideas on learning to value, pastor, develop, and lead the small church. In addition to time-honored articles by the editor, other contributors to this volume include Sherry and Douglas Alan Walrath, Gary Farley, Lawrence W. Farris, Loren Mead, Caroline Westerhoff, Steven Burt, Carl Dudley, David Ray, James Lowery, and a host of others known for their work-and love-for the small church. Readers of Inside the Small Church will come away with a renewed love and appreciation for these vital congregations as well as with new skills for ministry.

Author : Reggie Joiner
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781635700657
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Think Orange written by Reggie Joiner and published by . This book was released on 2017-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if the primary mission of the church is not to help the family, and the number one priority of the family is not to go to church?What if they are both designed to work together to show a generation who God is?It's not either/or. It's both/and.In Think Orange, Reggie Joiner shows how two combined influences can make a greater impact than just two influences separately. Church leaders who "think orange" make radical changes so they can ?Engage parents in an integrated strategySynchronize the home and church around a clear messageProvoke parents and kids to fight for their relationship with each otherRecruit mentors to become partners with familiesMobilize the next generation to be the churchWhen you think orange, you rethink the way you do ministry for children and teenagers.

Author : Carl S. Dudley
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780687230440
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Making the Small Church Effective written by Carl S. Dudley and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What makes the small church so reliably steady, closely intimate, and beautifully simple -- a worthy model of the Christian church? Carl S. Dudley affirms the main cause as lying within the minds of the church members.

Author : Ben Campbell Johnson
Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780802846631
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Imagining a Church in the Spirit written by Ben Campbell Johnson and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The greatest problem facing mainline churches today is not declining numbers, shifting social allegiances, or confused leadership. It is loss of vision. This bold yet constructive book urges pastors to again see their congregations as real expressions of "the body of Christ" and suggests ways to revise - and energize - their ministries based on this vision.. "Complete with discussion questions that make it ideal for use in a wide variety of educational settings, Imagining a Church in the Spirit will help church leaders successfully meet the cultural challenges that await us in the twenty-first century.

Author : Robert S. Pelton
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 156 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Small Christian Communities written by Robert S. Pelton and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The editor of this collection is a member of the ETHS class of 1939.

Author : T.M. Luhrmann
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691211981
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book How God Becomes Real written by T.M. Luhrmann and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.

Author : Larry Osborne
Publisher : Zondervan
ISBN 13 : 031031299X
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.94/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sticky Church written by Larry Osborne and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2008-12-30 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why closing the back door of your church is even more important than opening the front door wider. In Sticky Church, author and pastor Larry Osborne offers a time-tested strategy for doing so: sermon-based small groups that dig deeper into the weekend message and tightly velcro members to the ministry. It's a strategy that enabled Osborne's congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation—without any marketing or special programming. Sticky Church tells the inspiring story of North Coast Church's phenomenal growth and offers practical tips for launching your own sermon-based small group ministry. Topics include: Why stickiness is so important Why most of our discipleship models don't work very well Why small groups always make a church more honest and transparent What makes groups grow deeper and sticker over time Sticky Church is an ideal book for church leaders who want to start or retool their small group ministry—and velcro their congregation to the Bible and each other.

Author : JR Woodward
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
ISBN 13 : 0830893628
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Church as Movement written by JR Woodward and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2016-07-14 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: IVP Readers' Choice Award Missio Alliance Essential Reading List Public gatherings are vital for movement, but too often in our approach to planting churches, we haven't paid enough attention to the difficult grassroots work of movement: discipleship, community formation, and mission. This book will help you start missional-incarnational communities in a way that reflects the viral movement of the early New Testament church. JR Woodward (author of Creating a Missional Culture) and Dan White Jr. (author of Subterranean) have trained church planters all over North America to create movemental churches that are rooted in the neighborhood, based on eight necessary competencies: Movement Intelligence Polycentric Leadership Being Disciples Making Disciples Missional Theology Ecclesial Architecture Community Formation Incarnational Practices The book features an interactive format with tools, exercises, and reflection questions and activities. It's ideal for church planting teams or discipleship groups to use together. It's not enough to understand why the church needs more missional and incarnational congregations.The Church as Movement will also show you how to make disciples that make disciples. This is the engine that drives the church as movement, so that everyday Christians can be present in the world to join God's mission in the way of Jesus.