Drawing upon the methodology developed in his Dynamics of Theology (1990) and exemplified in Jesus Symbol of God (1999), Roger Haight, in this magisterial work, achieves what he calls an historical ecclesiology, or ecclesiology from below. In contrast to traditional ecclesiology from above, which is abstract, idealist, and ahistorical, ecclesiology from below is concrete, realist, and historically conscious. In the first of two volumes, Haight charts the history of the church's self-understandings from the origins of the church in the Jesus movement to the late middle ages. In volume 2, which will appear in the spring of 2005, Haight develops a Comparative Ecclesiology based on the history and diverse theologies of the worldwide Christian movement from the Reformation to the present. While the ultimate focus of the work falls on the structure of the church and its theological self-understanding, it tries to be faithful to the historical, social, and political reality of the church in each period.

The moment Jesus kneels with a towel and bowl to wash his disciples' feet. The point where he looks Peter in the eye and predicts betrayal. That intimate, urgent prayer to the Father for the disciples. That resolute strength before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, before the crowd. The cross. The talk with Mary in the Garden. The walk with Peter at Galilee. The later chapters of the Gospel of John form what is for many the deepest and most moving accounts of all Scripture. They also form a detailed description of Jesus' final days and hours on earth, Jesus final instructions to his team as he prepares to hand on his ministry. Karl Martin mines this incredibly rich vein of Scripture to draw lessons for leadership, leadership in Jesus' way. Leadership in the way of Jesus is about humility, about investing your life in your team, about facing betrayal, about dying to self, about handing on, about succession. Ultimately, true leadership is not about seeing others serve your dream - it is about seeing others released into the dreams, the gifting and calling that the Lord has placed on their lives. It is about something beyond you. This deceptively profound, honest and practical book gives great insight for leaders - challenge for younger leaders, encouragement for mid-life leaders, and refreshment for the mature leaders - and what may be some of the most significant lessons of their leadership life.

When Jesus calls someone to be his disciple, he's calling them to turn from their sin and love him. In this addition to the Church Questions series, Garrett Kell helps Christians seek out one-on-one discipleship opportunities.

Cyril was bishop in Jerusalem from c.350-351 AD until 386 AD. His writings are an important source for the history of early Christian doctrine. This book provides full English translations, with explanatory commentary, of his most important works. The introduction covers Cyril's life; his historical and archaeological context; his theology; and contemporary doctrine and practice. This will be essential reading for students and scholars of patristics, and those studying the history of the early Church and late antiquity.

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to enter into a business partnership with God? In The 25 Biblical Laws of Partnership with God, William Douglas and Rubens Teixeira reveal that God wants to be a part of not just your spiritual life but your entire life. God wants to participate in your career, your workplace, and the way you do business. The 25 biblical laws offer a spiritual agenda with practical results, providing answers to such questions as - How should a Christian act at work? - If the owner of a company is a follower of the Bible, how should they treat their employees and clients? - Should the products sold or the services rendered by a partner of God be special in any way? In this book, you'll learn how to build a business partnership with God, changes you can make in your work habits, and the laws you should follow to reap the benefits of your partnership with God and others.

"This book is such a valuable resource--not just for leaders but for anyone longing to make a difference in the world." - DAVE RAMSEY

"Clay helps you move beyond the distractions to a moment-by-moment awareness that will help you regulate the way you think, act, and feel." - IAN MORGAN CRON

"In this book Clay provides leaders with practical ways to turn down the noise personally and organizationally." - ANDY STANLEY

Maximize your influence by turning down the noise.

While many leaders have learned to tune out distractions that keep them from being productive, they remain deaf to their inner desires and emotions. In How to Lead in a World of Distraction, Clay Scroggins teaches leaders four simple habits that create space for emotional evaluation and exploration. These helpful practices will empower leaders to replace the chaos of their busy days with emotional competence and awareness that leads to a calmer, more fulfilling life.

You'll learn how to incorporate four noise-cancelling habits into your daily life--finding simplicity, speaking to yourself, getting quiet, and pressing pause--that will make you mindful and aware of the vital inner desires that need your attention. Transforming the toxic cocktail of emotional distraction starts with emotional awareness--being able to identify and understand your emotions--which ultimately leads to emotional healing and transformed leadership. And it all starts here.

How to Lead in a World of Distraction

• Teaches leaders four simple habits that create space for emotional evaluation and exploration
• Empowers leaders to replace the emotional chaos in their increasingly busy days with an emotional awareness that will lead to a calmer, more fulfilling life
• Encourages leaders to fully embrace tangible steps each day until emotional distractions--the numbing nature of entertainment and social media and the urgency of the daily grind--are permanently replaced by calm, effective, and gratifying leadership

Planting and leading churches is a difficult calling. It can put strain on your mental and physical health, on your relationships with others, and even your relationship with God. Sifted offers practical guidance and hope for anyone going through a tough time in ministry or pastoral work. Founding pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, Hawaii Wayne Cordeiro speaks the truth in love, offering wisdom and insight to walk alongside leaders as they face the challenges and hardships of planting and leading churches, while providing encouragement and inspiration for the journey. A seasoned church leader, Wayne shares the things he wishes he'd known when he was starting a new church. With additional stories from Francis Chan and Larry Osborne, each chapter includes a thought-provoking challenge question to develop a heart that is surrendered to God, focused on "being and becoming" versus "doing and accomplishing." Wayne will walk you through how to develop a healthy balance of personal care and spiritual leadership. But instead of a "how to" book on models and methods from men who have it all figured out, Sifted will help you process your journey in a way that: Challenges leaders' common scorecards of success. Encourages leaders to realize that they are not alone in what they are experiencing. Provides wisdom for the long haul to position younger leaders for a life of ministry. You many find yourself in a season of sifting. If you respond correctly, this season can be every bit as important as the time of harvest. Sifting builds the muscle of faith, giving us what we need for what lies just around the corner.

The book is designed to provide practical help to those involved in filling a vacancy, showing how to make it a good process and end with a good appointment. At the same time, it is useful to clergy seeking appointments, and senior clergy actually making the appointments.

This is the sixth of eight volumes containing the record of the institutions performed in the archdeaconry of Lincoln by Oliver Sutton, bishop of Lincoln from 1280 to 1299. As a scholar he appears to have been competent rather than distinguished; but he was a thoroughly good man, a trained canonist who was determined to uphold the law, and an administrator at once efficient and humane. For nearly twenty years he devoted himself almost completely to his diocese, ruling it with unending patience and a determined sense of justice. Among other fascinating details, his register describes incidents in the course of which clerks were maltreated and sometimes killed, rights of sanctuary violated and churches desecrated by bloodshed.

The raising of the dead is a miracle which, astonishing as it is, has been performed hundreds of times since the days of Christ. Our Lord told His Apostles to raise the dead (Matt. 10:8), and over the Christian centuries many Saints have done so-particularly great missionaries like St. Francis Xavier, St. Patrick, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Hyacinth, and St. Louis Bertrand, but also a multitude of other Saints, including St. John Bosco, St. Philip Neri, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis of Paola, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Malachy, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Joan of Arc, St. Rose of Lima, and Blessed Margaret of Castello. The stories of these resurrection miracles are amazing; they include the raising of persons who had drowned, of persons with mutilated bodies, of persons who had been hanged, and of those whose bodies had already suffered decay, been reduced to skeletons, or been buried for several years. They include young children, unbaptized infants, persons executed for crimes, person raised to testify in criminal cases or to testify to some religious truth, and of persons who would have been condemned to Hell had they not been called back to earth for another chance. Also included herein are the descriptions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory given by temporarily dead persons (Continued on inside back cover) who had been privileged to see those regions. Moreover, this book gives an analysis of the authenticity of resurrection miracles (Did they really happen? Were the dead persons really dead?) and of the purpose and meaning of miracles, according to the teaching of the Church-plus it describes other bodily wonders of the Catholic Saints, such as levitation, bilocation, total abstinence from natural food and drink, crossing of rivers on a cloak, and miraculous survival in intense heat. Also included are proofs for the Resurrection of Our Lord, the Catholic doctrine on the resurrection of the body and the Last Judgment (with its final separation of the damned from the elect), and a critique of contemporary "post clinical-death" experiences in the light of Catholic teaching. This is a book unique in the English-speaking world, for even in Catholic circles these accounts of resurrection miracles have for the most part remained buried in old books, rare and hard to find today. Father Hebert has indeed performed a great service to the Church in unearthing these facts and bringing them to light. Packed with fascinating true stories and solid Catholic doctrine, Saints Who Raised the Dead is a goldmine of information and of inspiration-showing forth the glory of God and His holy Church, and providing a preview of those momentous events which everyone who has ever lived will take part in at the End of the World. "Why should it be thought a thing incredible, that God should raise the dead?"-Acts 26:8

Billy Graham stands among the most influential Christian leaders of the twentieth century. Perhaps no single doctrine, practice, political position, or preacher has united the sprawling and diverse world of evangelicalism like Billy Graham. Throughout his six-decade career, Graham mainstreamed evangelicalism and through that tradition brought about major changes to American Christianity, global Christianity, church and state, the Cold War, race relations, American manhood, intellectual life, and religious media and music. His life and career provide a many-paned window through which to view the history and character of our present and recent past. Billy Graham: American Pilgrim offers groundbreaking accounts of Graham's role in shaping these phenomena. Graham stayed true to evangelical precepts yet journeyed to positions in religion, politics, and culture that stretched his tradition to its limits. This books distinguished contributors capture Grahams evolution and complexity. Like most people, he grew in fits and starts. But Graham's growth occurred on an international stage, influencing the world around him in ways large and small. This book delves into this influence, going beyond conventional subjects and taking a fresh and nuanced look at the complex life and legacy of one of the most important figures of the last century.

A Battle Is Raging for This Generation The role of a father is one of the most influential roles in a person's life. Yet an unprecedented number of men are abandoning this noble calling. As a result, we see violence and poverty on the rise, families broken and a lost generation immersed in immorality and corruption. In this dynamic, powerful book, bestselling author Kris Vallotton reveals that the war for culture starts with the battle for men's hearts. With passion and insight, he gives men the tools they need to unlock the full potential of their souls, eradicate the orphan spirit and fully step into their God-given destinies. It's time for an epic awakening that unites generations, inspires change and empowers the hearts of men. It's time for men to become mighty again, restoring fractured families and unleashing life in a culture of death. It's time for an uprising. "Men of this generation desperately need a wake-up call. Kris Vallotton issues the call with compassion and conviction."--Samuel Rodriguez, president and CEO, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference "With very practical strategies and examples, Uprising provides a roadmap where all trails lead home and dads fulfill their God-given purpose."--Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor, Free Chapel; New York Times bestselling author

The Copts, adherents of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, today represent the largest Christian community in the Middle East, and their presiding bishops have been accorded the title of pope since the third century AD. This study analyzes the development of the Egyptian papacy from its origins to the rise of Islam. How did the papal office in Egypt evolve as a social and religious institution during the first six and a half centuries AD? How do the developments in the Alexandrian patriarchate reflect larger developments in the Egyptian church as a whole-in its structures of authority and lines of communication, as well as in its social and religious practices? In addressing such questions, Stephen J. Davis examines a wide range of evidence-letters, sermons, theological treatises, and church histories, as well as art, artifacts, and archaeological remains-to discover what the patriarchs did as leaders, how their leadership was represented in public discourses, and how those representations definitively shaped Egyptian Christian identity in late antiquity.The Early Coptic Papacy is Volume 1 of The Popes of Egypt: A History of the Coptic Church and Its Patriarchs. Also available: Volume 2, The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt, 641-1517 (Mark N. Swanson) and Volume 3, The Emergence of the Modern Coptic Papacy (Magdi Girgis, Nelly van Doorn-Harder).

Impressive...a significant contribution to the ecclesiastical history of Exeter and the English thirteenth century. CATHOLIC HISTORICAL REVIEW Third and final volume of early Exeter episcopal register; Introduction in Vol. I. The earliest of the Exeter episcopal registers to survive, Bronescombe's is a general register with a single chronological sequence of letters and memoranda on many aspects of diocesan administration. It also contains copies of charters by, among others, king Henry III and his brother Richard, King of the Romans, in his capacity as Earl of Cornwall. Volume one of this edition (which supersedes the unsatisfactory one of 1889) contains a substantial introduction and a full transcription of the Latin text of folios 2-26, with a modern translation on the facing pages; it will therefore be of value to students of medieval Latin as well as ecclesiastical and legal historians. O.F. ROBINSON is Douglas Professor of Roman Law at the University of Glasgow.

W. M. Jacob examines the concept of 'profession' during the later Stuart and Georgian period, with special reference to the clergy of the Church of England. He describes their social backgrounds, how they were recruited, selected, and educated, and obtained jobs; how they were paid, and their lifestyles and family life, as well as examining the evidence for what they did as leaders of worship, pastors and teachers, how their parishioners responded to them, and how they were supervised. Jacob concludes that, contrary to popular views, the clerical profession was much better organized, educated, and supervised than the medical and legal professions during this period. During the 'age of reform' from the 1780s to the 1830s, all the professions were criticized: Jacob suggests that the modest regulation and professional training introduced in the other learned professions in the 1830s only slowly brought them to the standard already achieved by the clerical profession.

Once upon a time there existed a version of our faith worth living and dying for, something the world found irresistible. Men and women pursued it at the risk of persecution, job loss, and eviction from their homes, temples, and society. What if we actually followed their lead? Perhaps it would change how we read the Bible? Perhaps it would help us understand our own faith and what we believe? Perhaps we would change the world again? In Irresistible, pastor and author Andy Stanley shows how distortions of the gospel have left us with an anemic version of Christianity that undermines our credibility and our evangelistic effectiveness. He takes readers on a fascinating journey back in time to recover a faith so rich, so dynamic, so disruptive, that it could not be ignored, marginalized, or eradicated. Rather than working harder to make Christianity more interesting, we need to recover what once made faith in Jesus irresistible to the world.

Everybody wants to be a hero, but few understand the power of being a hero maker. In Hero Maker you will learn how to bring real change to your church and community by developing the practical skills to help others reach their leadership potential. Drawing on five powerful practices found in the ministry of Jesus, Hero Maker presents the key steps of apprenticeship that will build up other leaders and provides strategies for how you can activate gifts, help others take ownership, and develop a simple scorecard for measuring your kingdom-building progress. Besides rich insights from the Gospels, Hero Maker is packed with real-life ministry stories ranging from paid staff to volunteer leaders and from established churches to new church plants. A practical tool accompanies each of the five practices, with several illustrations for how to use it. Whether you lead ten people or ten thousand, Hero Maker will not only help you maximize your leadership, but in doing so you will also help shift today's church culture to a model of reproduction and multiplication. Authors Dave Ferguson (a Chicago pastor and church planter) and Warren Bird (an award-winning writer) make a compelling case that God's power and purpose are best revealed when we train and release others, who in turn do likewise. Become that rare breed of leader who brings change into our world by sacrificially investing in others who become the heroes. By becoming a hero maker, you will join a movement of influencers that are impacting hundreds, thousands and perhaps millions of people around the world.

These essays examine papal teaching authority from Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century to the Dominican School of Salamanca in sixteenth century Spain. Fr. Ulrich Horst, O.P., an internationally renowned authority in historical theology, describes the various debates between the Dominicans and other orders over papal teaching authority, especially whether there should be limits placed on papal authority and, if so, what they might be. Horst reviews in a brief and masterful fashion the teaching of medieval and Catholic Reformation Dominican theologians about the teaching authority of the pope. He succinctly shows the differences within the order on the topic and makes clear how Dominicans tended to differ on the matter from theologians of other orders such as the Franciscans and, later, the Jesuits, whose views would eventually lead to the proclamation at Vatican I. In the first chapter, Horst discusses the canonization of St. Thomas, the lecture on the gospel of St. Matthew, and Summa Theologiae II-II 1, 10. Horst then examines the road to conflict under Pope John XXII and the position of a number of the Dominican theologians such Hervaeus Natalis, John of Naples, and Guido Terreni. In the last chapter, Horst brings to light the contributions of Francisco de Vitoria, Dominicus Sots, Melchior Cano, and Juan de la Pena, among others. Despite his distinguished career as a medievalist, little of Horst's imposing scholarly corpus has been translated into English. These lectures, then, mark an introduction of this formidable scholar to a wider audience.

In February 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign. In doing so, Joseph Ratzinger, the man who became Benedict, also relinquished a controversial religious career in which he was largely responsible for the Catholic Church's prodigious troubles: his scorched-earth assault on modernity and the world of ideas destroyed any hope of progress in the Church while leaving a trail of shattered lives in its wake. Daniel Gawthrop argues that Ratzinger must not be allowed diplomatic immunity from the abuse scandals.

In spite of the centrality of the threefold orders of bishop, priest and deacon to Anglicanism, deacons have been virtually invisible in the contemporary Church of England. 'Inferior Office?' is the first complete history of this neglected portion of the clergy, tracing the church's changing theology of the diaconate from the Ordinal of 1550 to the present day. Francis Young skilfully overturns the widely held belief that before the twentieth century, the diaconate was merely a brief and nominal period of probation for priests, revealing how it became an integral part of the Elizabethan defence of conformity and exploring the diverse range of ministries assumed by lifelong deacons in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Lifelong deacons often belonged to a marginalised 'lower class' of the clergy that has since been forgotten, an oversight of considerable importance to the wider social history of the clergy that is corrected in this volume. 'Inferior Office?' tells the story of persistent calls for the revival of a distinctive diaconate within the Victorian Church of England and situates the institution of deaconesses and later revival of the distinctive diaconate for women, as well as subsequent developments, within their wider historical context. Set against this backdrop, Young presents a balanced case both for and against the further development of a distinctive diaconate today, offering much to further discussion and debate amongst clergy of the Church of England and all those with an interest in the rich tapestry of its history.

Altars are powerful symbols, fraught with meaning, but during the early modern period they became a religious battleground. Attacked by reformers in the mid-sixteenth century because of their allegedly idolatrous associations with the Catholic sacrifice of the mass, a hundred years later they served to divide Protestants due to their re-introduction by Archbishop Laud and his associates as part of a counter-reforming program. Moreover, having subsequently been removed by the victorious puritans, they gradually came back after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. This book explores these developments, over a 150 year period, and recaptures the experience of the ordinary parishioner in this crucial period of religious change. Far from being the passive recipients of changes imposed from above, the laity are revealed as actively engaged from the early days of the Reformation, as zealous iconoclasts or their Catholic opponents -- a division later translated into competing protestant views.
Altars Restored integrates the worlds of theological debate, church politics and government, and parish practice and belief, which are often studied in isolation from one another. It draws from hitherto largely untapped sources, notably the surviving artefactual evidence comprising communion tables and rails, fonts, images in stained glass, paintings and plates, and examines the riches of local parish records -- especially churchwardens' accounts. The result is a richly textured study of religious change at both local and national level.

Paint[s] a dramatic picture of the impact of the Black Death. Appendices cover diocesan administrators and the religious houses and hospitals of Norfolk and Suffolk, This volume completes the Bateman register, the first of the Norwich registers to be published. Containing the later half of the calendar of institutions, it is unusual for the organisation, clarity and state of completeness of its records, which paint a dramatic picture of the impact of the Black Death on East Anglia. Scholars and students will also welcome the appendices dealing with diocesan administrators and the religious houses and hospitals of Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as indices for both volumes. PHYLLIS E. POBST is Assistant Professor of History at Arkansas State University.

This edition of the Bede roll of this London fraternity has been published in two volumes: the first volume contains the text of the roll and the second volume provides an index to the nearly 7000 names of those who were members of the fraternity between 1449 and 1521. These included not only the clerks themselves and their wives, but also members of the nobility and high-ranking clergy. The bulk of the membership consisted of middle-ranking Londoners whodecided the extra prayers and funeral ceremony which the parish clerks could provide. The editors have also supplied an account of the immensely popular Parish Clerks fraternity and of the ways in which it was governed and administered.