“We thank you for the inspiration and strength

That you have given to Madiba,

Enabling him, over so many years, to draw out the best in others,

rousing us always, by word and example,

to seek the highest good for every child of this nation.”

So prayed Archbishop Thabo Makgoba with Nelson Mandela in his home in 2009 at the request of Graca Machel. This marked the start of an unusual relationship between southern Africa’s Anglican leader and Mandela in his quietening years. Join Makgoba in his journey towards faith, from his boyhood in Alex as the son of a ZCC pastor to Bishopscourt and praying with Mandela. He shares his feelings about his pastoral approach to the world icon, and how they influenced his thinking on ministering to church and nation in the current era. What did praying with those nearest and dearest to Mandela mean? What was his spirituality? In trying to answer these questions, Makgoba opens a window on South Africa’s spiritual make-up and life.

The Diaconal Church presents a highly topical debate about an innovative model of church described in David Clark's book Breaking the Mould of Christendom. Thirteen scholars from different denominations discuss the themes which underpin the model of the diaconal church. In the final chapter, Clark argues that the diaconal church has a contribution of paramount importance to make to sacred and secular institutions alike.

In a world in which resources are unjustly distributed, identities are under threat and solidarity is fragile, the toughest task facing humanity is the quest for community. Yet the contribution of the church to that task is undermined because its message and organization remain stuck in the past. Christians fail to grasp that in the gifts of the kingdom community - life, liberation, love and learning - they hold the key to what the search for community is all about. This book describes those gifts and how a servant church, through the creation of its diaconate as an order of mission, might offer a fragmented world new hope.The Methodist Church in Britain is taken as a model of what could be achieved.

Women and men are designed to work together in fulfilling God's mission on earth. Yet God's original intent for equal partnership has been so distorted that churches and organizations continually struggle to foster healthy mixed-gender ministry collaboration. Is it even possible to return to the Genesis ideal of co-laborers in today's contexts? Longtime ministry leader Rob Dixon knows it's possible-though it takes intentionality, courage, and wisdom. Based on qualitative field research among ministry practitioners, Together in Ministry offers a prophetic roadmap for individuals and communities as they seek to develop flourishing ministry partnerships for women and men. Organized around the key domains of inner life, community culture, and intentional practices, this model identifies ten key attributes of partnerships that are both personally satisfying and missionally effective. For each attribute Dixon presents research findings and biblical examples, along with benefits, barriers, and practical next steps. With plenty of real-life stories from ministry leaders and reflection questions in each chapter, Together in Ministry casts a compelling-and encouraging-vision for flourishing partnerships and equips teams and individuals with next steps for making that vision a reality.

This book is founded on the premise that being a servant of 'the kingdom community' must become the heart of the church's mission. Unless this happens Christians will have little to offer to a world now facing an ultimate choice between community and chaos. To fulfil this mission the mould of Christendom needs to be broken so that a new form of church - the diaconal church - can come into being. This will mean a church open to dialogue, a laity liberated from clericalism and the creation of a servant leadership. The book includes an informative evaluation of five original case-studies of the diaconal church in action and the diaconal potential of five worldwide Christian 'renewal movements'.

Archbishop Doye Agama influences the church and community ministry of some 15,000 active clergy on four continents. Around 10,000 people may read his online postings and musings in a single week. This series of handbooks will give you insights into the journey of wisdom that has made the Apostolic Pastoral Congress and its remarkable leader, one of the most significant emerging church movements of our generation; and perhaps this century.

Archbishop Doye Agama influences the church and community ministry of some 15,000 active clergy on four continents. Around 10,000 people may read his online postings and musings in a single week. This series of handbooks will give you insights into the journey of wisdom that has made the Apostolic Pastoral Congress and it's remarkable leader, one of the most significant emerging church movements of our generation; and perhaps this century.

This book series examines issues of Faith and Order, and to some extent issues of life and work, from the perspective of leadership in a modern Pentecostal church movement. The series addresses the harnessing of ethnicity nationality and personal history in the search for church unity. It tries to answer questions such as what is means to be Apostolic in 21st Century Pentecostalism. It looks at how these charismatic churches can renew their historic roots and seek greater local unity with other Christians while remaining authentic as Pentecostals. The author also encourages greater contributions of convergence Pentecostals to the community cohesion, and to peace and justice.

Disturbing the Peace tells the amazing story of Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois, who achieved national attention for leading the campaign to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas. From his Cajun roots in Louisiana and his stint as a Navy officer in Vietnam, we follow the route that led Bourgeois to Maryknoll and to the work in Latin America that awakened his conscience. Appalled by the U.S. role in supporting oppression, he followed the trail of atrocities back to the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, attended by many of the hemisphere's most notorious violators of human rights.

Since 1983 Father Bourgeois has campaigned against the School, serving years in federal prisons as a result of his civil disobedience. His witness has turned the spotlight on a record of shame and helped arouse the conscience of the nation.

A leading spiritual teacher reveals how Celtic spirituality -listening to the sacred around us and inside us - can help us heal the earth, overcome our conflicts, and reconnect with ourselves. John Philip Newell shares the long hidden tradition of Celtic Christianity, explaining how this earth - based spirituality can help us rediscover the natural rhythms of life and deepen our spiritual connection with God, with each other, and with the earth. Newell introduces some of Celtic Christianity's leading practitioners, both saints and pioneers of faith, whose timeless wisdom is more necessary than ever, including: Pelagius, who shows us how to look beyond sin to affirm our sacredness as part of all God's creation, and courageously stands up for our principles in the face of oppression. Brigid of Kildare, who illuminates the interrelationship of all things and reminds us of the power of the sacred feminine to overcome those seeking to control us. John Muir, who encourages us to see the holiness and beauty of wilderness and what we must do to protect these gifts. Teilhard de Chardin, who inspires us to see how science, faith, and our future tell one universal story that beings with sacredness. By embracing the wisdom of Celtic Christianity, we can learn how to listen to the sacred in nature and within one another, but our culture - at the times even our faiths - have made us forget what each of us already know deep in our souls but have learned to surpress. Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul offers a new spiritual foundation for our lives, once centered on encouragement, guidance, and hope for creating a better world.