Divergent Church

by Tim Shapiro
Divergent Church
Author: Tim Shapiro
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2017-10-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1501842609
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New faith communities are appearing across the U.S.. Many of them bear little resemblance—on the surface—to ‘church’ in its conventional form. But when we look a little deeper we see striking continuity with the most deeply rooted practices of the Christian faith in community. What are those practices? What do these unconventional, alternative faith communities look like? How are they, perhaps, indicators of a hopeful new future for the church? And what can we learn from them? Authors Kara Brinkerhoff and Tim Shapiro spent more than a year researching and exploring these questions, closely examining the life of a dozen alternative faith communities across the country. They include new monastic communities, food-oriented communities, affinity group communities, house churches, hybrid churches and others. They are creative, ingenious, innovative, clever, dynamic and transformative. But they represent human expressions of activities that have always been part of human religious congregations: hospitality, learning, storytelling, care, leadership, worship and honoring place. This fascinating book goes beyond simply analyzing current trends. It reveals how innovative Christians are engaging in time-honored practices, creating new types of communities, which will shape the church to come. Further, it shows us how we too might innovate while holding true to the essential practices of our gathered faith. This is an instructive picture of Christian community, past, present and future.

Separation of Church and State in the United States

by Alvin W. Johnson
Separation of Church and State in the United States
Author: Alvin W. Johnson
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 1948-11-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0816659656
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Separation of Church and State in the United States was first published in 1948. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. This book is more than a revised and enlarged edition of Dr. Johnson's Legal Status of Church-State Relationships in the United States. Besides rewriting and bringing up to date much of the original material, the authors have added a number of chapters dealing with subjects that have gained prominence in recent years: citizenship and the bearing of arms, saluting the flag, distribution of religious literature, and freedom of speech for Communists. Such recent cases as the Supreme Court decision in McCollum v. Board of Education—better known as the Champaign, Illinois, case—are discussed in some detail. School administrators will find the book of great practical value, for it deals predominantly with church-state relationships in the public schools, one of the chief areas of conflict. These conflicts include such questions as Bible readings and religious instruction in the public schools, dismissed and released time for religious education, the allowing of credit for religious instruction, public aid to sectarian schools, the wearing of religious garb, furnishing free textbooks and transportation for students in parochial schools.

Community as Church, Church as Community

by Michael Plekon
Community as Church, Church as Community
Author: Michael Plekon
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-07-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725287536
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Parishes of all denominations are in decline, shrinking, closing, dying. We know that there are increasing numbers, young and older, who are religious “nones” and “dones.” This book explores why the decline is taking place, why the distancing is going on. But it goes on to examine parishes from all over the country and from various church bodies that are resurrecting. The central theme of death and resurrection shapes the analysis of parishes covered. Parishes are resurrecting by reinventing their ministries, by repurposing their building to better serve their neighborhoods, thus replanting and reconnecting with them. All of this is the Spirit’s doing but through the community of sisters and brothers who make up each congregation of faith. Community as the core of church is the other reality shaping the book’s reflection. And community, a parish being with those around, living for more than its own survival are visions for going forward. Other aspects of congregational life are also examined, most importantly the pastors—how they serve when budgets shrink, how they are trained, how pastors act with the community not above it. No recipes are suggested for parish resurrection, but the stories of the parishes that have revived bear within numerous lessons for us in the future.

Bodies of Peace

by Myles Werntz
Bodies of Peace
Author: Myles Werntz
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2014
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1451489463
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Bodies of Peace argues that Christian nonviolence is both formed by and forms ecclesial life, creating an inextricable relationship between church commitment and resistance to war. In this volume, Myles Werntz examines the work of John Howard Yoder, Dorothy Day, William Stringfellow, and Robert McAfee Brown, demonstrating how each thinker's advocacy for nonviolent resistance depends deeply upon the ecclesiology out of which it comes. The volume argues that any account of an ecclesially-informed resistance to war must be open to a multitude of approaches, not as pragmatic concessions, but as a foretaste of ecumenical unity.

A New Kind of Church

by Aubrey Malphurs
A New Kind of Church
Author: Aubrey Malphurs
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2007-02-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441200525
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There is no shortage of books these days on new ways of "doing church." New church models have been both warmly embraced and roundly criticized. What are church leaders and others concerned about the state of the church to make of all this? Does the Bible prescribe a standard model for doing church? Or is there freedom within certain guidelines? In A New Kind of Church, respected church consultant Aubrey Malphurs addresses these important questions and suggests that there is room for new ways of doing ministry while being true to Scripture. In the process, he offers a theological and interpretive framework for evaluating any church model, new or old. He also offers suggestions for implementing change in the local church.

To Be or Not to Be?

by Curtis Schulze
To Be or Not to Be?
Author: Curtis Schulze
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2021-03-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1098058836
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Now when it comes to women in the kingdom and their new standing in Christ Jesus. What was once true under the curse is now no longer true in Christ. A change has been made when we move from under the Law to now being under Grace. The curse is lifted! The status of women under the Law has changed. In Christ, believing women have moved out from under the Law into the kingdom. Paul states in Col.1:12-14 that a translation has occurred. The word translation suggests a change in position, status, and location. The New Covenant reveals that under grace the status or standing (position or rank) of believing women has now changed. Now, no longer under the curse of sin: and now finding a new status and a new identity in Christ Jesus! The old has given way to the new! The new has given new meaning to the old! Being translated out from under the curse into a new positon held in Christ Jesus. What God did only for a few, in times past, he will now do for all in the present time. What God did only for the Jews, under the Old Covenant, he will now do as well for the Gentiles in the New Covenant. What was once enjoyed only by the free, under the dispensation of the giving of the Law, is now enjoyed by all (slave and free) in the dispensation of Grace. What was once held only by men in the past (under the curse) is now held by all (both men and women) in the present and in the church through the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Sideline Church

by Thomas G. Bandy
Sideline Church
Author: Thomas G. Bandy
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2018-07-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 150187148X
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I Got Empathy? Tom Bandy reveals the cultural wedges and apathies that separate denominations, congregations, and neighbors from each other and from collective social agency. Bandy describes the church in America as “sidelined”—observing cultural change but not participating in the game. He suggests proven provocative ways the church can re-engage and empathize with the people within their reach. By mining the lifestyle data revealed by the nation’s economic engines and social trends, this frank and ground-breaking sociological analysis is a must read for every church leader who embraces hope for a fragmented, diverse, and polarized world. “For years Tom Bandy has been attempting to get the once-mainline-oldline-now-sideline church back in the game. In this fast-paced, energetic book, Tom shows us how churches can be in missions to the diverse cultures that seem to respond to our stolid mainline moderation with a yawn.” —William Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC "Sideline Church represents fresh perspectives in an often tired conversation. If the church hopes to speak compellingly to people today, it must learn first to listen again. Brandy’s insights will likely provoke the complacent, but it may also inspire church leaders to hear culture with new ears. This book is a worthy successor to Tex Samples’ work on US Lifestyles and Mainline Christians.” —Michael Jinkins, President of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and author of The Church Faces Death and The Church Transforming. "Bandy’s language of chasm aptly describes the current relationship of church and culture. Bridging that gap involves empathetic immersion with and love for the multiple cultures among us. For those willing to enter this challenging engagement, Bandy offers essential knowledge about how diverse cultural cohorts think about God and meaning in differing ways." --Lovett H. Weems, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC