The intersection of religion and development has for some decades been considered contentious, with scholars of both disciplines inhibited by the constraints of either the religious or the secular paradigm they primarily inhabit. Development Beyond the Secular aims to provide a new resource for those interested in the study of religions and development (primarily postgraduate and academic), and for those development practitioners wishing to contextualize their discipline within a religious frame. Using the work of Christian Aid as its primary lens, this book examines and critiques the theological underpinnings of development work and questions how Christian values are manifest through day-to-day work in the world of poverty eradication. Table of Contents 1. Practical Theology and Faith-based Development 2. Secular and Faith-based Development *Defining development *The shared origins of faith and secular development *Economic growth models of development *Secularization and its impact on development *Faith discourses of development *The capabilities approach, faith and development 3. Three Theological Voices: Discerning faith at work *The three theological voices - explicit, implicit and null *Christian Aid's identity expressed through the voices *Christian Aid's values expressed through the voices *Christian Aid's theologies of international development *Working with Christian Aid's theologies of development 4. New Life in Christ: A renewed theology of development *A Christology of development for a prophetic future *Christ as equality: A theology of mutual partnership

The 2014 Christianity Today Book Award Winner (Christianity and Culture) 2014 Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year (Compassion) We want to save the world--and we have a dizzying array of worthy causes to pursue. But passionate enthusiasm can quickly give way to disillusionment, compassion fatigue or empty slacktivism. As we move from awareness to mobilization, we bump up against the complexities of global problems--and liking Facebook pages only goes so far. Veteran activist Tyler Wigg-Stevenson identifies the practical and spiritual pitfalls that threaten much of today's cause-driven Christianity. He casts an alternate vision for doing good based on the liberating truth that only God can save the world. Wigg-Stevenson's own pilgrimage from causes to calling shows how to ground an enduring, kingdom-oriented activism in the stillness of vocation rather than in the anxiety of the world's brokenness. The world is not ours to save. And that's okay. Discover why.

This book explores the history and agendas of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) through its activities in South Asia. Focusing on interactions between American 'Y' workers and the local population, representatives of the British colonial state, and a host of international actors, it assesses their impact on the making of modern India. In turn, it shows how the knowledge and experience acquired by the Y in South Asia had a significant impact on US foreign policy, diplomacy and development programs in the region from the mid-1940s. Exploring the 'secular' projects launched by the YMCA such as new forms of sport, philanthropic efforts and educational endeavours, The YMCA in Late Colonial India addresses broader issues about the persistent role of religion in global modernization processes, the accumulation of American soft power in Asia, and the entanglement of American imperialism with other colonial empires. It provides an unusually rich case study to explore how 'global civil society' emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, how it related to the prevailing imperial world order, and how cultural specificities affected the ways in which it unfolded. Offering fresh perspectives on the historical trajectories of America's 'moral empire', Christian internationalism and the history of international organizations more broadly, this book also gives an insight into the history of South Asia during an age of colonial reformism and decolonization. It shows how international actors contributed to the shaping of South Asia's modernity at this crucial point, and left a lasting legacy in the region.