"Church as I know it usually leaves deep parts of me dormant, unawakened, and untouched. I don't much like going. So, what now?"

What's happening to the Church? Why are so many people who for decades have been faithful, steady churchgoers (and others who want to start going to church but can't seem to find one that meets their needs) losing interest in even attending church, let alone getting involved? What is fundamentally wrong with the "types" of churches (Seeker, Bible, Emergent, Liberal, Evangelical) that dot the religious landscape? Larry Crabb believes it is time to rethink the entire foundation and focus of what we know today as church -- everything we're doing and are wanting to see happen. In his most honest and vulnerable book to date, the author reveals his own struggles in this area and then offers a compelling vision of why God designed us to live in community with Him and others, and what the church he wants to be a part of looks like.

Cowboy Christians examines the long history of cowboy Christians in the American West, focusing on the cowboy church movement of the present day and closely related ministries in racetrack and rodeo settings. Early chapters move from the postbellum period through the twentieth century, tracing religious life among cowboys on the range as well as its representation in popular imagery and the media. The central chapters focus on the modern cowboy church and examine its structure, theology, and method of perpetuation, and explore future challenges the institution may face, such as its relegation of women to subordinate participant roles. The final chapter considers present day incarnations of rodeo and racetrack ministries as examples of the cowboy Christian proclivity for blending the secular and the sacred in leisure environments. Woven throughout the text is a discussion of the religious significance of the cowboy church movement, particularly relative to twenty-first century evangelical Protestantism. Marie W. Dallam demonstrates that the cowboy church's antecedents and influences include muscular Christianity, the Jesus movement, and new paradigm church methodology. With interdisciplinary research that blends history and sociology, Cowboy Christians draws on interviews with leaders from cowboy churches, traveling rodeo ministries, and chaplains who serve horse racing and bull riding environments, as well as incorporating Dallam's own experiences as a participant observer.

In first-century Ephesus, life is not easy for women. A young wife meets her daily struggles with equanimity and courage. She holds poverty and hunger at bay, fights to keep her child healthy and strong, and navigates the unpredictability of her husband's temperament. But into the midst of her daily fears and worries, a new hope appears: a teaching that challenges her society's most basic assumption. What is this new teaching? And what will it demand of her? In this gripping novel, Holly Beers introduces us to the first-century setting where the apostle Paul first proclaimed the gospel. Illuminated by historical images and explanatory sidebars, this lively story not only shows us the rich tapestry of life in a thriving Greco-Roman city, it also foregrounds the interior life of one courageous woman-and the radical new freedom the gospel promised her.

Sophronius was one of the most influential figures spanning the ecclesiastical troubles in East and West during the sixth to the seventh centuries. Poet, hagiographer, dogmatician, homilist, and liturgist, he was a widely-travelled monastic who had close ties with the see of Rome and an unrivalled knowledge of the workings of the anti-Chalcedonian churches, revealed in his Synodical Letter. Sophronius despatched this epistle to other church leaders when at an advanced age he became patriarch of Jerusalem in AD 634. The letter was read out at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680-1, and provided the only sustained rebuttal of the monoenergist doctrine which was used by eastern emperors and church leaders alike as a political strategy to unite Christians in the early Byzantine empire.
Pauline Allen provides the first complete annotated translation of the Synodical Letter into a modern language. A comprehensive introduction situates the work in the context of the aftermath of the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451). It is accompanied by a dossier of translated documents by other writers of the time which illustrate the progress of the debate and its political and ecclesiastical repercussions in the first half of the seventh century.

It's a remarkable story. It spans 140 years and crosses cultures and continents. It has revolutionized hundreds of thousands of lives and it has had a radical impact on churches and communities. It has launched new mission movements and pushed forward the frontiers of the gospel. And it continues to grow, as Christians the world over see the urgent need for spiritual renewal. Why has this happened? What are the marks of this spiritual movement? In 'Knowing God Better', Jonathan Lamb introduces the big priorities that shape the Keswick movement, priorities that are essential for the well-being of Christians and local churches around the world today.

According to Scripture, the Word of God is "living and active" (Heb 4:12). That affirmation was embraced by the Protestant Reformers, whose understanding of the Christian faith and the church was transformed by their encounter with Scripture. It is also true of the essays found in this volume, which brings together the reflections of church historians and theologians originally delivered at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. As they consider historical, hermeneutical, theological, and practical issues regarding the Bible, these essays reveal that the irrepressible Word of God continues to transform hearts and minds.

The first account of the dissolution of the monasteries for fifty years-exploring its profound impact on the people of Tudor England "This is a book about people, though, not ideas, and as a detailed account of an extraordinary human drama with a cast of thousands, it is an exceptional piece of historical writing."-Lucy Wooding, Times Literary Supplement Shortly before Easter, 1540 saw the end of almost a millennium of monastic life in England. Until then religious houses had acted as a focus for education, literary, and artistic expression and even the creation of regional and national identity. Their closure, carried out in just four years between 1536 and 1540, caused a dislocation of people and a disruption of life not seen in England since the Norman Conquest. Drawing on the records of national and regional archives as well as archaeological remains, James Clark explores the little-known lives of the last men and women who lived in England's monasteries before the Reformation. Clark challenges received wisdom, showing that buildings were not immediately demolished and Henry VIII's subjects were so attached to the religious houses that they kept fixtures and fittings as souvenirs. This rich, vivid history brings back into focus the prominent place of abbeys, priories, and friaries in the lives of the English people.

Congregations want to support their pastors, but don t know how. Pastors love their congregations, but they don t know what to ask of their congregations to garner needed support. Everyone wants to thrive together, but so often we get stuck. This clear and engaging guide helps pastors and congregations bridge communication gaps and set mutual goals and expectations. Reverend Keck grounds his framework of expectations on both scholarly research and on interviews he s conducted with pastors and lay people. He finds many common difficulties in churches arise from failing to discuss priorities and expectations, and from not effectively working through the problems that arise when expectations aren t met. For pastors and congregants to arrive at common expectations, they need to understand each other their respective needs, hopes, and distinctive callings. This book provides concrete steps to aid congregants and pastors communicate their mutual expectations. Keck presents fifty expectation statements examples of what pastors and congregations can expect of one another; a vital resource to anyone who seeks to initiate a discussion of expectations in their own church. Elucidating goals and expectations allows congregations and pastors to support one another and flourish, and fosters church health and harmony."

A Top Ten Book for Parish Ministry in 2017, Academy of Parish Clergy A Jesus Creed 2017 Book of the Year (Honorable Mention) From facing wild beasts in the arena to governing the Roman Empire, Christian women--as preachers and philosophers, martyrs and empresses, virgins and mothers--influenced the shape of the church in its formative centuries. This book provides in a single volume a nearly complete compendium of extant evidence about Christian women in the second through fifth centuries. It highlights the social and theological contributions they made to shaping early Christian beliefs and practices, integrating their influence into the history of the patristic church and showing how their achievements can be edifying for contemporary Christians.

Beginning to study Reformed theology is like stepping into a family conversation that has been going on for five hundred years. How do you find your bearings and figure out how to take part in this conversation without embarrassing yourself? The Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition takes on this rich, boisterous and varied tradition in its broad contours, filling you in on its common affirmations as well as its family tensions. Here you will find succinct and reliable entries on Latin terms, such as ad fontes and sola fide Theologians, from Calvin to Torrance Confessions, such as the Belgic and Westminster Doctrines, such as atonement and sanctification Apologists, such as Francis Schaeffer and Cornelius Van Til And much more. The Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition is ready to assist you over the rough parts of readings, lectures, conversations and blogs. It will also be a companionable and concise introduction to one of the great Christian traditions. Designed for students and pastors alike, the short and accessible volumes in the IVP Pocket Reference Series will help you tackle the study of biblical languages, church history, apologetics, world religions, Christian spirituality, ethics, theology, and more.

Emmanuel's history encompasses Puritanism and links with Pilgrim Fathers, and continuing involvement in theological debate. Discussion of college finances on scale never previously attempted in Oxbridge college history. Emmanuel College was founded by the royal minister Sir Walter Mildmay in 1584; he chose a leading moderate puritan, Laurence Chaderton, as first Master, and aimed to educate godly ministers and good preachers. This history presents its development from these beginnings to the present day. They show how the college's original puritan character gave way to the liberal views of the Cambridge Platonists and the high churchmanship of William Sancroft, instrumental in bringing Christopher Wren to design the new college chapel; and how during the nineteenth century, as with other Cambridge colleges, it expanded in numbers and disciplines, becoming once again a notable centre of theology,and for the first time the home of serious teaching in the natural sciences. It has had a role in all the movements of the twentieth century which have made Cambridge what it is today: in learning, teaching, sport, and social life. A special feature of the book is the substantial account of the history of the college estates and finances, on a scale never before attempted for an Oxbridge college. Dr SARAH BENDALLis Fellow Librarian and Archivistof Merton College, Oxford; CHRISTOPHER BROOKE is Dixie Professor Emeritus of Ecclesiastical History, University of Cambridge; PATRICK COLLINSONis Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the University of Cambridge.

We know that the earliest Christians sang hymns. Paul encourages believers to sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." And at the dawn of the second century the Roman official Pliny names a feature of Christian worship as "singing alternately a hymn to Christ as to God." But are some of these early Christian hymns preserved for us in the New Testament? Are they right before our eyes? New Testament scholars have long debated whether early Christian hymns appear in the New Testament. And where some see preformed hymns and liturgical elements embossed on the page, others see patches of rhetorically elevated prose from the author's hand. Matthew Gordley now reopens this fascinating question. He begins with a new look at hymns in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world of the early church. Might the didactic hymns of those cultural currents set a new starting point for talking about hymnic texts in the New Testament? If so, how should we detect these hymns? How might they function in the New Testament? And what might they tell us about early Christian worship? An outstanding feature of texts such as Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:15-20, and John 1:1-17 is their christological character. And if these are indeed hymns, we encounter the reality that within the crucible of worship the deepest and most searching texts of the New Testament arose. New Testament Christological Hymns reopens an important line of investigation that will serve a new generation of students of the New Testament.

Washington National Cathedral stands in an unparalleled position at the intersection of religious faith and public life in America, and has been called the "spiritual home for the nation." Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III occupied its massive Canterbury pulpit as dean during an often- turbulent period in the nation and rapid changes in American religious life. In Sermons from the National Cathedral, Dean Lloyd provides a compelling vision of an intellectually alive, publicly engaged Christian faith, a vision of the Christian life rooted in ancient teaching. Readers will find the sermons engaging and appreciate that Dean Lloyd takes seriously the experiences of doubt and searching that are so much a part of the modern religious experience of our time. He successfully demonstrates the positive role faith can play in public life and addresses the questions and challenges faith must face in the twenty-first century. These soundings, as Lloyd calls them, illumine the full spectrum of Christian belief while also addressing such issues as the difficulty of faith, the relationship between science and faith, the mystery of suffering, the necessity of forgiveness, the meaning of the cross, the urgency of reconciliation, and the call to care for the earth. These reflections will appeal to traditional Christians seeking spiritual enrichment and are accessible to those seeking answers to how their faith fits into our modern world.

Why did the medieval West condemn clerical marriage as an abomination while the Byzantine Church affirmed its sanctifying nature? This book brings together ecclesiastical, legal, social, and cultural history in order to examine how Byzantine and Western medieval ecclesiastics made sense of their different rules of clerical continence. Western ecclesiastics condemned clerical marriage for three key reasons: married clerics could alienate ecclesiastical property for the sake of their families; they could secure careers in the Church for their sons, restricting ecclesiastical positions and lands to specific families; and they could pollute the sacred by officiating after having had sex with their wives. A comparative study shows that these offending risk factors were absent in twelfth-century Byzantium: clerics below the episcopate did not have enough access to ecclesiastical resources to put the Church at financial risk; clerical dynasties were understood within a wider frame of valued friendship networks; and sex within clerical marriage was never called impure in canon law, as there was little drive to use pollution discourses to separate clergy and laity. These facts are symptomatic of a much wider difference between West and East, impinging on ideas about social order, moral authority, and reform.

This study approaches John Henry Newman's writings on the church from a fresh perspective by examining the development of Newman's ecclesiological outlook over time. It demonstrates that it can be misleading to refer to Newman's "Catholic ecclesiology" (singular), because such an approach gives the impression that Newman maintained a stable ecclesiological perspective during his Roman Catholic period. In reality, Newman's outlook on the church underwent significant developments over the last four decades of his life. As a result of various events in his life, including the Rambler affair and his experience of the First Vatican Council, Newman slowly developed an ecclesiological outlook that counterbalanced the authority of the pope and bishops with a robust account of the role of theologians and the lay faithful in the reception and transmission of church doctrine. Whether consciously or not, Newman left his ecclesiological writings open for further development on the part of theologians who would follow after him.

Many churches today find themselves in frequent transition, whether due to the changing culture, the struggles of mainline churches, or the changing nature of mission. Interim Ministry in Action helps guide churches and their leadership through these times of change. The book will guide readers step-by-step through the process of how and why to decide to call an interim minister, the process for deciding what's next, and more. Each chapter concludes with exercises for readers, search committees, or boards to illustrate key themes and help them determine the best path forward.

Many churches today find themselves in frequent transition, whether due to the changing culture, the struggles of mainline churches, or the changing nature of mission. Interim Ministry in Action helps guide churches and their leadership through these times of change. The book will guide readers step-by-step through the process of how and why to decide to call an interim minister, the process for deciding what's next, and more. Each chapter concludes with exercises for readers, search committees, or boards to illustrate key themes and help them determine the best path forward.

Now a major motion picture *** The Jesus Movement transformed the church--and it can transform you God has always been passionate about turning unlikely people into His most fervent followers. Prostitutes and pagans, tax collectors and tricksters, the pompous and the pious--the more unlikely, the more it seemed to please God to demonstrate His power, might, and mercy through them. America in the 1960s and 1970s was full of many such characters--young men and women who had rejected the conformist religion of their parents' generation, didn't follow conventional rules, and didn't fit in. Their longing for something more set the stage for the greatest spiritual awakening of the twentieth century. Discover the remarkable true story of the Jesus Movement, an extraordinary time of mass revival, renewal, and reconciliation. Setting intriguing personal stories within the context of one of the most tumultuous times in modern history, Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn draw important parallels with our own time of spiritual apathy and overt hostility, offering a new vision for the next generation of unlikely believers--and hope for the next great American revival. Because God can always bring a new Jesus Revolution.

Academics and non-academics alike have been intrigued by conservative Protestant groups that thrive in secular social and institutional contexts. This book offers an ethnographic study of one such group, the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) at McMaster University. These conservative Protestants espouse fundamental interpretations of the Bible, women's roles, the age of the earth, alcohol consumption, sexual ethics, and the necessity of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How does this tiny minority function withing the overwhelmingly secular context of the university? The strategies of the ICVF seem both to strengthen and to mitigate evangelicals' sense of difference from their non-Christian teachers and peers. Bramadat suggests that this model can also be useful for understanding the construction of individual and group identity among other minority groups, both religious and non-religious models.