This study examines one aspect of American women's professionalization and the implications of the cross-cultural dialogue between American woman missionaries and Japanese students and supporters at Kobe College between 1873 and 1909.

Modern church leaders need to cultivate innovative and creative leadership skills, as they navigate today s post-Christian world, and as their congregations look to them for insight and guidance. Gil Stafford takes a fresh look at this vital need, drawing upon his experience as a college coach, university president, and parish priest, and interweaving them with ancient spiritual practices found within the discipline of spiritual direction. Personal anecdotes help the reader envision their own life-transforming pilgrimage, as they develop into the type of adaptive leader that churches need in today s rapidly changing world. This book challenges church leaders to foster sacred safe space, holy listening, silence, and wisdom storytelling, in order to create a discerning church community. These techniques of spiritual direction can be applied to every aspect of the church, from small group studies to conducting parish business. Gradually the leader will be able to delegate some of his responsibilities to the congregation, liberating them to be leaders, and rescuing him from trying to be all things to all people."

In this book, Joann Wolski Conn demonstrates how psychology and spirituality are integrally related to human maturity. Her book maintains that Christian spirituality, which encourages self-denial, can be entirely compatible with contemporary psychology which promotes self-fulfillment. Conn uses case studies in the practice of the ministries of pastoral counseling and spiritual direction, especially when these ministries deal woth her inner struggles of spiritual darkness and psychological depression. The author demonstrates the possibility of genuine experimental integration of Christian spirituality and contemporary psychology by paying equal attention to women's and men's experiences. Bringing her own perspective from ministry and feminist theology to a variety of case studies, she illustrates how pastoral counselors and spiritual dictators can enable those in their care to discern God's action in the ordinary events of life. Originally published in 1989 by Paulist Press.

This book examines the links between civil society, religion and politics in the Middle East and North Africa region. The chapters in the volume explore the role of religion in shaping and changing the public sphere in regions that are developing and/or in conflict. They also discuss how these relations are reflected on civil society organizations and the role they are expected to play in transitional periods. This volume: investigates the conceptual dilemmas regarding what is 'civil society' in the Arab world today examines the dynamic roles of civil society organizations and religion in the Middle East and North Africa explores the future of the Arab civil society post-'Arab Spring' events, and how the latter continues to reshape the demand for democracy in the region. A comprehensive study of how the Arab civil society has come into being and its changing roles, this eclectic work will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics, especially political Islam, international relations, Middle East Studies, African Studies, sociology and social anthropology.

* Of interest to a wide audience-parish office staff, youth group leaders, small groups, etc. * Pages are reproducible for bulletin creation This is the first of three books that will cover all of the Sundays in the lectionary year, as well as special days such as Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, and Ascension Day. There is a cartoon illustration of the gospel, the gospel text, a short paragraph of introduction, and a limited number of engaging questions for each Sunday. The cartoons are scaled in such a way that they could be reproduced for bulletins, inserts, or even posters.

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. American Women at Home: The Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior and American Women Missionaries to Japan
3. Missionary Work Launched: Kobe Home, 1873-1877, the Founding Years
4. A Transition to Education as a Profession: Kobe Home to Kobe Girls' School, 1877-1882
5. Missionary Aspirations for Higher Education: Kobe Girls' School to Kobe College, 1883-1909
Epilogue: The Dissolution of Women's Authority: Kobe College, 1910-1927
Appendix
Tables
Bibliography

The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation-moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favour of disorganized disbelief. Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues. But it also accepts the dismantling of what has come before and try to help readers reinvent the path forward. This book looks at the future of organized religion in America and outline the options facing churches and other faith groups. Will they retreat? Will they become irrelevant? Or will they find a new path forward? Written by veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana, Reorganized Religion is a journalistic look at the state of the American church and its future. It draws on polling data, interviews with experts, and reporting on how faith communities old and new are coping with the changing religious landscape, along with personal stories about how faith is lived in everyday life. It also profiles faith communities and leaders who are finding interesting ways to reimagine what church might look like in the future and discuss various ways we can reinvent this organization so it survives and thrives. The book also reflects the hope that perhaps people of faith can learn to become, if not friends with the larger culture, then at least better neighbours. "A superb examination of the future of Christian institutions.... A must-read for anyone invested in the fate of the American church." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Congregations that seek growth are often frustrated at hitting a plateau-caught in a transition zone between sizes. The Alban Institute has long been recognized as a leader in size transition research and learning, and this anthology offers an in-depth collection of resources, through new articles developed for the book as well as previously published and highly regarded pieces that inform and provoke.

What is a religion? That is the question that Richard Kent Evans attempts to answer in this book. He does so through the story of MOVE, a little-known group with a fascinating story. MOVE emerged in Philadelphia in the early 1970s. It was a small, mostly African American group devoted to the teachings of John Africa. In 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department - working in concert with federal and state law enforcement - attacked a home that "MOVE people" as they preferred to be known, shared in West Philadelphia. Hundreds of police officers and firefighters laid siege to the building using tear gas, ten thousand rounds of ammunition, and improvised explosives. Most infamously, a police officer riding in a helicopter dropped a bomb containing C-4 explosives, which he had acquired from the FBI, onto the roof of the MOVE house. The bomb started a fire, which officials allowed to spread in hopes of chasing the MOVE people out of the house. Police officers fired upon those who tried to escape the flames. Eleven MOVE people died in the attack, including John Africa. Five of those who died were children. In this book, Richard Kent Evans tells the story of MOVE - a story that has been virtually lost outside of Philadelphia. What was MOVE? Many MOVE members thought of themselves as belonging to a religion, and they sought legal recognition. But to others, including other religious groups like the Quakers and, more importantly, the courts, MOVE was anything but a religion. Evans dives deep into how we decide what constitutes a genuine religious tradition, and the enormous consequences of that decision.

The history of Judaising movements has been largely ignored by historians of religion. This volume analyses the interplay between colonialism, a Judaism not traditionally viewed as proselytising' but which at certain points was struggling to heed the Prophets and become a light unto the Gentiles' and the attraction for many different peoples of the rooted historicity of Judaism and by the symbolic appropriation of Jewish suffering.
This book will look at the role of colonialism in the development of Judaising movements throughout the world, including New Zealand, Japan, India, Burma and Africa. Particular attention will be paid to the Lemba tribe of Southern Africa. A remarkable parallel movement in 1930s Southern Italy will also be dealt with. The history of the converts of San Nicandro is seen in the context of currents of Jewish universalism, messianism and Zionism. Gender issues are also discussed here as the converted women assumed powers they had not hitherto enjoyed.

In this ground-breaking book, Gerald Grace addresses the dilemmas facing Catholic education in an increasingly secular and consumer-driven culture. The book combines an original theoretical framework with research drawn from interviews with sixty Catholic secondary head teachers from deprived urban areas. Issues discussed include:
*Catholic meanings of academic success
*tensions between market values and Catholic values
*threats to the mission integrity of Catholic schools
*the spiritual, moral and social justice commitments of contemporary Catholic schools
This book will be equally useful to leaders of Catholic and other schools and to all those interested in values and leadership in schooling.

Since its inception, the Alban Institute has earned a reputation as a leader in addressing congregational conflict management issues through its research, consulting services, educational events, and particularly its publications. Drawing on this rich heritage, the first title in our new "Harvesting the Learnings" anthology series gathers 20 classic Alban works on congregational conflict into a single, indispensable volume. Conflict Management in Congregations harvests the collected wisdom of many of the key thinkers on this topic, including such past and present Alban consultants as Speed Leas, George Parsons, Margaret Bruehl, Gil Rendle, Alice Mann, and Roy Pneumann. Much of the material found here has long been unavailable but is still much in demand. Divided into three sections that explore the dynamics of conflict, conflict management techniques, and dealing with conflict in specific contexts, this book serves as a comprehensive primer that no pastor or congregational leader will want to be without.

Among young people, symptoms of social change emerge in a multiple manner. This observation by Karl Mannheim inspired the concept of the survey of social and religious attitudes conducted by the integrated research team of employees of the Department of Sociology of Religion in the Institute of Sociology at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw and Institute for Catholic Church Statistics SAC. The title of the book is an intentional reference to the concept of social constructionism. This idea manifests itself in the subjective function of participants of an interaction who reconstruct social contexts in the course of the interaction on the basis of symbolic meanings. The conducted survey is a diachronic measurement with statistical time series of the years 1988 - 1998 - 2005 - 2017. The survey uses the research tool in which dimensions were primarily established by Charles Glock and Rodney Stark and a community component by Ohio Fukuyama. The term 'global profession of faith' was introduced by French sociologists Louis Dingemans and Jean Remy to describe motivation and dynamics of changes of one's individual religiousness and identification of individuals with religious group of reference. In this survey of social and religious attitudes of young university students, religiousness dimensions adopted by forms of activity on the Internet were added to the research tool.

Memories of the German presence in the central Volta Region of Ghana are deep and vivid. This ethnically diverse area was part of the German Togoland colony from roughly 1884 to 1914 but German-speaking missionaries established stations earlier in the mid-nineteenth century. Ghanaian oral historians describe the violence, burdens, and inconveniences they associate with German rule, yet place greater emphasis on the introductions by German missionaries of Christianity and western education and the prevalence of what they say was the "honesty," "order," and "discipline" of the German colonial period. Remembering the Germans in Ghana examines this oral history, scrutinizes its sources and presentation, contextualizes it historically, and uses it to make larger arguments about memory and identity in Ghana. It also presents the case for more deliberate and extensive use of oral history in reconstructing the African colonial past and provides a methodology for its collection and analysis.

What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians? For Bruce Olson, it meant capture, disease, terror, loneliness, and torture. But what he discovered by trial and error has revolutionized then world of missions.

Bruchko, which has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide, has been called "more fantastic and harrowing than anything Hollywood could concoct." Living with the Motilone Indians since 1961, Olson has won the friendship of four presidents of Colombia and has made appearances before the United Nations because of his efforts. Bruchko includes the story of his 1988 kidnapping by communist guerrillas and the nine months of captivity that followed. This revised version of Olson's story will amaze you and remind you that simple faith in Christ can make anything possible. " Bruchko is] an all-time missionary classic. Bruce Olson is a modern missionary hero who has modeled for us in our time the reaching of the unreached tribes." --Loren Cunningham Co-founder, Youth With A Mission

This book examines the links between civil society, religion and politics in the Middle East and North Africa region. The chapters in the volume explore the role of religion in shaping and changing the public sphere in regions that are developing and/or in conflict. They also discuss how these relations are reflected on civil society organizations and the role they are expected to play in transitional periods. This volume: investigates the conceptual dilemmas regarding what is 'civil society' in the Arab world today examines the dynamic roles of civil society organizations and religion in the Middle East and North Africa explores the future of the Arab civil society post-'Arab Spring' events, and how the latter continues to reshape the demand for democracy in the region. A comprehensive study of how the Arab civil society has come into being and its changing roles, this eclectic work will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics, especially political Islam, international relations, Middle East Studies, African Studies, sociology and social anthropology.

Die katholische Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung im 19. Jahrhundert gehen von einem monolithischen, eindeutig gegen die Moderne positionierten ultramontanen Katholizismus aus. Tatsachlich sind dessen konkrete Erscheinungsformen in theologischer, sozialer und kunstlerischer Hinsicht vielgestaltig und im Verhaltnis zur Moderne widerspruchlich. Der ultramontane Katholizismus war moderner als es ihm selbst und seinen kulturkampferischen Gegnern bewusst war. Um dies zu verstehen, ist die synchrone durch eine diachrone Analyse der Transformationen des Katholischen zwischen Vormoderne und Moderne zu erganzen. Die Aufsatze dieses Bandes verfolgen diesen Ansatz am bayerischen Beispiel in kirchen-, theologie-, sozial- und kunstgeschichtlicher Hinsicht.

The Anastenaria are Orthodox Christians in Northern Greece who observe a unique annual ritual cycle focused on two festivals, dedicated to Saint Constantine and Saint Helen. The festivals involve processions, music, dancing, animal sacrifices, and culminate in an electrifying fire-walking ritual. Carrying the sacred icons of the saints, participants dance over hot coals as the saint moves them. 'The Burning Saints' presents an analysis of these rituals and the psychology behind them. Based on long-term fieldwork, 'The Burning Saints' traces the historical development and sociocultural context of the Greek fire-walking rituals. As a cognitive ethnography, the book aims to identify the social, psychological and neurobiological factors which may be involved and to explore the role of emotional and physiological arousal in the performance of such ritual. A study of participation, experience and meaning, 'The Burning Saints' presents a highly original analysis of how mental processes can shape social and religious behaviour.

Civil war and conflict within countries is the most prevalent threat to peace and security in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. A pivotal factor in the escalation of tensions to open conflict is the role of elites in exacerbating tensions along identity lines by giving the ideological justification, moral reasoning, and call to violence. "Between Terror and Tolerance "examines the varied roles of religious leaders in societies deeply divided by ethnic, racial, or religious conflict. The chapters in this book explore cases when religious leaders have justified or catalyzed violence along identity lines, and other instances when religious elites have played a critical role in easing tensions or even laying the foundation for peace and reconciliation.

This volume features thematic chapters on the linkages between religion, nationalism, and intolerance, transnational intra-faith conflict in the Shi'a-Sunni divide, and country case studies of societal divisions or conflicts in Egypt, Israel and Palestine, Kashmir, Lebanon, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Tajikistan. The concluding chapter explores the findings and their implications for policies and programs of international non-governmental organizations that seek to encourage and enhance the capacity of religious leaders to play a constructive role in conflict resolution.

To conspiracy theorists, Opus Dei is a highly secretive and powerful international organization. To its members, however, Opus Dei is a spiritual path, a way of incorporating the teachings of Jesus into everyday life. In "Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace," Scott Hahn, a member of Opus Dei, describes the organization's founding, its mission, and its profound influence on his life.
Hahn recounts the invaluable part Opus Dei played in his conversion from Evangelical Christianity to Catholicism and explains why its teachings remain at the center of his life. Through stories about his job, his marriage, his role as a parent, and his community activities, Hahn shows how Opus Dei's spirituality enriches the meaning of daily tasks and transforms ordinary relationships. He offers inspiring insights for reconciling spiritual and material goals, discussing topics ranging from ambition, workaholism, friendship, and sex, to the place of prayer and sacrifice in Christianity today.
Engaging and enlightening, "Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace" is at once a moving personal story and an inspiring work of contemporary spirituality.

In these essays, Donald Wiebe unveils a significant problem in the academic study of religion in colleges and universities in North America and Europe - that studies almost always exhibit a religious bias. To explore this issue, Wiebe looks at the religious and moral agendas behind the study of religion, showing that the boundaries between the objective study of religion and religious education as a tool for bettering society have become blurred. As a result, he argues, religious studies departments have fostered an environment where religion has become a learned or scholarly practice, rather than the object of academic scrutiny. This book provides a critical history of the failure of 20th- and 21st-century scholars to follow through on the 19th-century ideal of an objective scientific study of religious thought and behaviour. Although emancipated from direct ecclesiastical control and, to some extent, from sectarian theologizing, Wiebe argues that research and scholarship in the academic department of religious studies has failed to break free from religious constraints. He shows that an objective scientific study of religious thought and practice is not only possible, but the only appropriate approach to the study of religious phenomena.

This demonstrates amazingly, with unflinching honesty and a wonderfully redeeming sense of humor, a resource especially helpful in motivating change and growth by mobilizing the natural strengths of small churches. For you who have been looking for a reliable guide to interpret the world of the small church, look no further since this provides all the insights you need. Includes images and models and strategies that reflect the profound uniqueness of the small church. It clearly shows leaders how to lead within the dynamics and culture of the small congregation. This is theologically sound and eminently practical. A must reading for anyone who is or plans to be a leader in a small church. Excellent for small roup study.

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the most beloved and well-known saints in the Catholic church. In this biography, G. K. Chesterton relays the unique and inspirational life of the humble saint. Starting life as a wealthy young man full of life and spirit, Francis soon joined the war between Assisi and Perugia and returned, ill and downtrodden. He ended up joining the papal forces and after witnessing a poor man begging for alms his spirit was renewed and he was inspired to start a new life of humble poverty. Though not yet officially part of the Catholic papacy, Francis soon amassed a following in Assisi and traveled to Rome to get approval from Pope Innocent III to form what is known today as the Franciscan Order. The Order devotes themselves to living in poverty yet giving generously to the needy. Today, Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals and ecology, having showed his love for all of God's creation early in his life. This new edition of the biography of Saint Francis will be an inspiration for all readers, secular and religious alike.

Das Buch rekonstruiert die Konzeption der Orthodoxen Kirche Siebenburgens uber die soziale Ordnung Rumaniens in der Zwischenkriegszeit. Der Autor fasst dieses regional gepragte Ordnungsdenken durch das Konzept der politischen Ethnotheologie zusammen. Dieser zufolge ware die nationale Gemeinschaft mit der orthodoxen Gemeinschaft identisch, daher sollte der nationale Staat zugleich auch orthodox sein. Die soziale Ordnung, die er schafft, sollte eine legale Kodifizierung der moralischen Ordnung sein, die die Orthodoxie der Nation eingepragt hat. Dieser Syllogismus erklart die Haltung der Kirche gegenuber der ethnisch-religioesen Alteritat und beleuchtet, warum sie die rechtsextremen politischen Bewegungen, die versprachen, den rumanischen Staat in einen christlichen Staat umzuwandeln, mit Sympathie betrachtete.