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, 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.

This classic text outlines the development of the Papacy as an institution in the Middle Ages. With profound knowledge, insight and sophistication, Walter Ullmann traces the course of papal history from the late Roman Empire to its eventual decline in the Renaissance. The focus of this survey is on the institution and the idea of papacy rather than individual figures, recognizing the shaping power of the popes' roles that made them outstanding personalities. The transpersonal idea, Ullmann argues, sprang from Christianity itself and led to the Papacy as an institution sui generis.

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.

Get in the race. Put on your protective gear and take your place in the pit stall. Start your engines prayer warriors because this will be the read of your life. Whether you are a new believer or not, you will enjoy reading about the issues pastors face in this fast-paced format. Numerous pastors share their heart wrenching stories in Pit Crew: Praying Our Pastors Will Finish the Race. Like the apostle Paul, these ministers want to be able to say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). NASCAR nut Sally U. Smith will keep it fun with some great stories from racing and metaphors on how to compare praying for your pastor to a pit crew. Writing from the pew on this issue, Smith will fill your tank with prayer tips on how to intercede for your pastor, how to be an instrument of renewal, and how to lead and start a prayer group. Pit Crew comes loaded with prayer lists for you and your prayer huddle.

Before its first publication in 1971, the three essays that comprise Jonathan Edwards' Treatise on Grace had never appeared in a collection. This book presents these three rare pieces and his Essay on the Trinity along with brief introductory sketches to their context and their relevance to his more widely known work. The concept of divine grace was a pivotal notion in the theology of Jonathan Edwards. He had inherited a 'covenant' theology from his Puritan forebears, which supposed that the Holy Spirit was the 'agency of application' through which the Father granted grace to the elect after the Son's sacrifice. In these essays, Edwards attempts to modify this inherited doctrine. Instead of being the 'agency of application' utilised by the Father, Edwards suggests that the Holy Spirit is the gift given itself. The Treatise on Grace is a classic work of American theology from one of the country's most important theologians.

This book brings the best of leadership theory and research together with biblical reflection and examples of leadership in action to offer a practical guide to Christian leaders. Combining expertise in leadership studies and biblical studies, Justin Irving and Mark Strauss explore how leadership models have moved from autocratic and paternalistic leader-centered models toward an increased focus on followers. The authors show how contemporary theories such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership take an important step toward prioritizing and empowering followers who work with leaders to accomplish organizational goals. Irving and Strauss organize their book around "nine empowering practices," making it accessible to students, church leaders, and business leaders. Integrating solid research in leadership studies with biblical and theological reflection on the leadership ideas that are most compatible with Christian faith, this book is an important resource for all Christian students of leadership.

Do others look to you for leadership? Do you face a major task or shoulder heavy responsibilities? Do you want to take your leadership skills to a higher level?

When Nehemiah confronted the task of rebuilding Jerusalem's wall, he was heartbroken by the damage he saw and nearly overwhelmed by the task that lay before him. Yet through the application of timeless leadership principles, Nehemiah completed this nearly impossible project, and laid a pattern for success which is just as valid for us today.

Charles Swindoll brings his sensible and straightforward style to offer a deeply spiritual approach to the role of leader. Whatever the context, secular or ministerial, he demonstrates how to size up a task, organize and motivate a team, and respond to inevitable obstacles such as these:

• Unforeseen setbacks
• Unrelenting deadlines
• Criticism and outside resistance
• Personality conflicts
• Financial pressures and temptations

The insights that Swindoll draws from Nehemiah's wise administration will change your approach to leadership forever.

Nearly 1 in 4 pastors will experience a forced exit from ministry within their vocational tenure. Pastors-At-Risk will alert you to what attitudes and actions have put thousands of pastors at-risk of losing their position in the church. It includes testimonials, success stories and practical solutions for dealing with these issues. It offers a solution for restoration to those who have gone from a place of risk in the church to a transition in ministry.

This book is a continuation of the LICC series begun by Neil Hudson's Imagine Church Whole-Life Worship will demonstrate that the contemporary Western Church has reached a point where our "gathered" worship is separated from our "scattered" lives outside of church. This is detrimental to the congregation's spiritual development and their effectiveness on their "frontlines". Church worship should be inspired and informed by our everyday experiences. It should empower and send the congregation out to continue worshipping. The book will provide patterns and resources to better connect gathered worship with the lives of the congregation beyond church meetings. The book will unpack a biblical grounding for both gathered and scattered worship. It will then identify patterns within our gathered services which help us re-make these connections. It will provide practical resources such as songs, prayers and activities which can help churches connect Sunday to the rest of the week. It will draw examples and stories from other church streams and traditions, to demonstrate how different kinds of Christian spirituality engage worshipfully with everyday life. In the second half of the book is a practical resource looking specifically at different aspects of a gathered service, and how each one can have an "outward" dimension.

In today's fluid culture, many churches are adrift--longing to reach spiritually thirsty people, but failing to make an impact. Have you noticed? Congregations are stuck or declining. Millennials and Gen Z are walking away. Volunteers and their generosity are drying up. Is your city, town, or neighborhood spiritually dry? Do you long to see more of the living water of Jesus flowing freely through your community, generating a fresh wave of ministry momentum? Buckle up: you're in for a whitewater ride! Liquid Church tells the fascinating story of a New Jersey church that began "on accident" and grew into one of America's 100 Fastest-Growing Churches, with over 5,000 in weekly attendance and more than 2,400 baptisms to date. Their secret? They harnessed the power of six powerful ministry currents sweeping across North America including: special needs, creative communication, ministry mergers, compassionate cause, radical generosity, and leadership development. With powerful stories and scriptural insights, backed by national research, Tim Lucas and Warren Bird describe dozens of fresh ideas, new ministry wineskins, and hard-won leadership learnings that resonate with rising generations in today's "show-then-tell" culture. Each chapter includes practical tools, real-life examples, and links to "Other Churches Making Waves" with cutting-edge ministry ideas designed to help saturate your city for Christ. Ready to dive deeper? Whether you serve a brand-new church plant, fast-growing congregation, or an aging ministry ready for reinvention, Liquid Church is an inspiring and practical guide for leaders ready to reach their spiritually thirsty neighbors--those who have given up on church, but haven't given up on God.

What distinguishes Christian ministry from other helping professions? While many books tell clergy how to run a capital campaign, handle conflict, and lead a vestry, this book helps pastors, chaplains, and lay professionals appreciate the spiritual depth of their calling and reminds them that Christian ministry is Christs ministry working through them.

This resource, written by late counselor David Powlison, seeks to gracefully and humbly encourage pastors to think of counseling as a relational and pastoral task focused on the care and cure of the souls of God's people.

Every church needs leadership. But leadership should not reside in a single pastor. The biblical model for church leadership is found in teams of elders who together guide the community into God's mission. Church leaders J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt provide a comprehensive picture of elders as agents of mission for their communities. Healthy eldership structures a church for mission, as elder teams model the kind of community the local church is intended to be and steward the gospel in a local context. Looking at eldership through a missiological lens, Briggs and Hyatt unpack the role, character and posture of a mission-oriented elder. Elders oversee, shepherd, teach, equip and model for God?s people what life with Jesus looks like in a particular context. Including a study guide that elder teams can work through together, the authors provide practical guidance for how elders are selected, work together, make decisions, protect the congregation and invest in the lives of others. Discover here a clear vision for what it means to be a faithful elder. May it help you and your church thrive in pursuing God's mission in the world.

The ancient people of Israel and contemporary Western society share a preoccupation with the idea of leadership. In this perceptive and engaging book, David Runcorn reveals just how deeply one world can speak to the other. The story of 1 and 2 Samuel opens with a woman weeping. But grief is often the precursor of change, and the answering of Hannah's prayer is revealed in her song as a prophetic sign of God's ways in all the world. As the author then helps us reflect on various revealing episodes, time and again, he enables us to trace the true presence of God in the words, actions or faithful endurance of people on the edge of the 'main' script. And, he suggests, it is in the kind of honest, disciplined attentiveness they display, that the greatest hope for leadership will be found today.

What makes some preaching gripping - unforgettable even? What can we learn from the best preachers? How can we appreciate great preaching, often at the click of a mouse, without devaluing the role of the local church minister? 'Without creating a guru mentality, I focus on one positive aspect from each preacher and offer hints on how other preachers might emulate them.' says author Simon Vibert. He also looks at the Bible's own take on good preaching, and focuses on the exemplary models of Jesus and Paul. This is not a how-to manual, nor a biblical theology of preaching, nor even a critique of the subjects. Rather, it is a focus on modern-day practitioners, from whom all preachers can form a composite picture of excellence, and from whom all preachers would do well to learn.

A study of William Robertson Nicoll, a non-conformist individual who had considerable influence in the late 19th Century. Originally a minister, he was considered a great leader and was also a theological conservative, and therefore committed to maintaining the orthodox stance of the Christian Churches, but at the same time, he encouraged many of the new ideas, which he felt would prove a useful and hopeful benefit for the Church. Due to health issues he was later forced to retire his position and focused on work as an editor and journalist, bringing with him the same sense of leadership for which he'd previously been known. The debate over his legacy continues and is addressed within this study using previously unstudied information on Nicoll's life.

First full study of the life and career of St William of York, revealing his importance to the medieval church. St William of York achieved the unique distinction of being elected archbishop of York twice and being canonised twice. Principally famous for his role in the York election dispute and the miracle of Ouse bridge, William emerges from this, the first full-length study devoted to him, as a significant figure in the life of the church in northern England and an interesting character in his own right. William's father, Herbert the Chamberlain, was a senior official in the royal treasury at Winchester who secured William's initial preferment at York; the importance of family connections, particularly after his cousin Stephen became king, forms a recurring theme. Dr Norton describes howhe was early on involved in the primacy dispute with Canterbury, and after his father attempted to assassinate Henry I, he spent some years abroad with Archbishop Thurstan. William knew some of the earliest Yorkshire Cistercians,who were subsequently among his fiercest opponents during his first episcopate, which is here reconsidered in the light of new evidence: he emerges from the affair with much greater credit, St Bernard with correspondingly less. Retiring to Winchester after his deposition, he was elected archbishop a second time in 1153, but died the next year amid suspicions of murder. Miracles at his tomb in 1177 led to his veneration as a saint. The book concludes with the bull of canonisation issued by Pope Honorius III in 1226. CHRISTOPHER NORTON is Professor of the History of Art, University of York.

An expert practitioner answers to questions about the burgeoning organic church movement

Neil Cole's best-selling book "Organic Church" described the fastest growing segment of contemporary Christianity-the so-called organic church. Now in this next-step book, he answers questions about how to deal with theological and organizational issues that come up. He talks about issues such has what to do with finances, children, heresy, leader training, and rituals and ordinances. Without the top-down structure of a denomination, even people who are proponents of this small, house-church model worry that they are not doing it right. Offers an important resource for anyone involved with or thinking of starting an organic or house churchAddresses practical issues of theology, rituals, doctrinal heresy, how to handle children, finances, and other important questionsWritten by an acknowledged expert who is now and has been for over twenty years an organic church planter and practitionerA new Leadership Network title and follow-up to "Organic Church "

"Church 3.0" offers solid information about organic churches based on Cole's extensive experience in starting, nurturing, and mentoring in the organic church movement.

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.

You can serve God and his people for a lifetime and do it with passion and joy. You do not have to become another casualty in the growing number of leaders who have compromised their integrity, character, and ministry because they failed to lead an examined and accountable life. The road forward is clearly marked. Leaders must make a decision to humbly and consistently examine their inner lives and identify areas of needed change and growth. Also, wise leaders commit to listen to the voices of those who will love them enough to speak the truth and point out problems and potential pitfalls. Kevin Harney writes, "The vision of this book is to assist leaders as they discover the health, wisdom, and joy of living an examined life. It is also to give practical tools for self-examination." Sharing stories and wisdom from his years in ministry, Harney shows you how to maintain the most powerful tool in your leadership toolbox: YOU. Your heart, so you can love well. Your mind, so you can continue to learn and grow. Your ears, your eyes, your mouth ... consider this your essential guide to conducting your own complete interior health exam, so you can spot and fix any problems, preserve the things that matter most, and grow as a source of vision, strength, and hope to others.

From the moment Pope Francis stepped on to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica for the first time, a global audience sensed that not only the Catholic Church but the world at large could be entering a new spiritual, political and social age. In the days following Pope Francis' election, there would be further early signs of the simplicity worthy of the first apostles and the leader that inspired them. Not since John XIII appeared on the scene half a century earlier had a new Pope opened the windows of the Church in such a way as to let in some much needed fresh air. Nevertheless, for the excitement generated by the first Latin American Pope and a man who claimed to want to put the poor back at the centre of the Church's social teaching, people could still only guess where it might be all be leading. Francis: Pope of Good Promise is neither an instant media job, nor a hagiography based on authorised interviews, but the product of diligent investigation across a wide range of official and independent sources - a measured, objective portrait of a man who, in circumstances that he neither sought nor foresaw, found himself handed the highest office at a time of crisis not just for the Church but for long established institutions worldwide from banks to political parties.