|
Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > General
Recovering Spiritual Practices of the Past titles reach beyond
commonly known spiritual formation practices in order to mine the
wisdom of the past, bringing to light ways of thinking, living, and
growing in Christ that the church today has largely overlooked. In
The Lost Discipline of Conversation, spiritual formation professor
and author Joanne Jung walks readers through the Puritan practice
of "conference," or focused, spiritual conversations intended to
promote ongoing transformation. An antidote to privatized faith,
conference calls believers to biblical literacy and soul care in a
context of transparency and accountability. Useful for believers in
any sphere or ministry or stage in life, conference is ultimately a
tool for nurturing mutual, godly authenticity within community.
The church has always been regarded as a safe haven - a spiritual
sanctuary where people can come to worship God free from worries
about violence or unethical behavior by those involved in church
ministry. But our culture is changing, and church leaders can no
longer assume that "it won't happen in my church." Like the rest of
society, churches need to ensure the safety and security of their
facility, staff, and worshipers. This book provides a wealth of
practical information on preparing for and responding to the
challenges of a dangerous world. Robert Cirtin draws on more than
two decades of law enforcement and investigative experience, and
with his team of professionals outlines a "how-to" approach full of
specific proactive steps churches can take to protect themselves
and reduce the risk of costly lawsuits. Church Safety And Security
is a must-have resource for anyone participating in or preparing
for church leadership. Topics covered include: * Utilizing
background screening to protect your congregation. * Safety and
security issues for church-run preschool and day care programs. *
Preparing for and responding to medical emergencies. * How to deal
with issues pertaining to child abuse. * Legally mandated
responsibilities of church staff members. * How to utilize
security/surveillance cameras in the church facility. * Organizing
a church security officer program. * Effectively coping with
intruders. * Responding to violent acts when they occur. * How to
conduct a thorough investigation. If you are a pastor, associate
pastor, preschool director, church school principal, deacon, elder,
vestryperson, or denominational leader - read this book, then read
it again! Make it required reading for every leader in your church.
Protect your congregation, your property, and your reputation in
the community by doing all you can do to hire the right employees,
to prevent physical and sexual misconduct for which your church may
be liable, and to reduce the legal and financial impacts of such
misconduct. This book will teach you what to look for, and how to
take action today to protect the people God has given you to
shepherd. Tim Duncan Associate Pastor, Anglican Church of the
Resurrection St. Louis, Missouri Church Safety and Security: A
Practical Guide is a valuable resource. Bob Cirtin has the unusual
but important background mixture of service in full-time church
ministry as well as being a certified officer of the law and an
expert investigator. He has personal experience with every source
of danger for the local church and has developed effective
safeguards and defenses. His strategies are clear, simple, easy to
implement, and will protect any congregation in the event of an
unfortunate occurrence. This book is a must for every church office
and library! Terry Raburn Superintendent, Peninsular Florida
District Council Assemblies of God This is a book written for our
changing times, when the security of our churches must become a
priority. Written by professionals who have a strong Christian
influence in their lives, this book is a great tool for the
security program of your church. Jack L. Merritt Sheriff, Greene
County, Missouri Retired Capt., Missouri State Highway Patrol
Robert M. Cirtin is an assistant professor and director of the
criminal justice program at Evangel University in Springfield,
Missouri. He is also the president of Robert Cirtin Investigations,
a company providing investigative and consulting services to
churches, businesses, and government agencies. A former police
officer and Missouri state investigator who has also served in
full-time ministry, Cirtin is a frequent guest lecturer on a
variety of safety and security topics. He is a graduate of Central
Bible College and Lincoln University.
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is best known for its
athletic and youth programs, a heritage that draws on its origins
in 1844 to provide wholesome recreation to urban youth away from
the moral decay of industrialized urban living. Before long, that
uplift mission found a place in the American Civil War, and soon
the Y had spread all over the world by the early twentieth century,
and in every major war thereafter as well. The YMCA at War:
Collaboration and Conflict during the World Wars is the first
collection of scholarship to examine the YMCA's efforts during the
World Wars of the twentieth century, which proved to be a bastion
of support to soldiers and civilians around the world. The YMCA
deployed hundreds of thousands of its much-vaunted secretaries to
support suffering civilians and ease soldiers' wartime hardships.
Joining forces with governments, other civic organizations, and
individuals, the Y could be either an indispensable auxiliary or an
arms-length nuisance. In all cases, its support had a significant
byproduct: for every person it befriended, the Y invariably made an
enemy with an opposing party, its patrons, its sponsor, or at
times, all three. The YMCA at War offers fresh, timely research in
an international and comparative perspective from scholars around
the world that evaluates this conflict and collaboration during the
World Wars.
While church discipline is never easy, it is sometimes a
necessary, albeit painful, part of the Christian life. This helpful
study guide tackles the difficult topic in six chapters designed to
focus discussion on the interpretation and application of biblical
texts. Participants will discover the role of church discipline and
learn how to practice it in a gracious and loving way.
A series of ten 6-7 week studies covering the nine distinctives
of a healthy church as originally laid out in Nine Marks of a
Healthy Church by Mark Dever. This series explores the biblical
foundations of key aspects of the church, helping Christians to
live out those realities as members of a local body. Conveniently
packaged and accessibly written, the format of this series is
guided, inductive discussion of Scripture passages and is ideal for
use in Sunday school, church-wide studies, or small group
contexts.
In the spring of 1738, Fr. Bernardino Bevilacqua was hustled out of
Shandong to quiet the uproar over his sexual seduction of young
Chinese converts. Fr. Alessio Randanini followed him to Macau in
1741. The story of this scandal has remained largely untold for
nearly three centuries. Among Christians in Shandong and southern
Zhili provinces during the years 1650-1785, the spirit and the
flesh lived in constant tension as the aspirations of the spirit
(faith, hope, love, devotion, mercy, and piety) contended with the
passions of the flesh (hatred, jealousy, lust, and pride). The
Spirit and the Flesh in Shandong tells the deeply human story of
the introduction of Christianity to a provincial region in China
where European missionaries shared the poverty and isolation of
their Chinese flocks. Their close personal relationships led to
intellectual and pastoral collaboration, suppression, an
underground church, imprisonment, apostasy and martyrdom as well as
peasant secret society affiliations, self-flagellation, and sexual
seduction. In the remote villages of this region, the missionaries
and their converts lived out their pious aspirations and eternal
damnations under a darkening sky of growing anti-Christian policies
from the capital.
Starting a new organization is risky business. And churches are no
exception. Many new Protestant churches are established without
denominational support and, therefore, have many of the same
vulnerabilities other startups must overcome. Millions of Americans
are leaving churches, half of all churches do not add any new
members, and thousands of churches shutter their doors each year.
These numbers suggest that American religion is not a growth
industry. On the other hand, more than 1000 new churches are
started in any given year. What moves people who might otherwise be
satisfied working for churches to take on the riskier role of
starting one? In Church Planters, sociologist Richard Pitt uses
more than 125 in-depth interviews with church planters to
understand their motivations. Pitt's work endeavors to uncover
themes in their sometimes miraculous, sometimes mundane answers to
the question: "why take on these risks?" He examines how they
approach common entrepreneurial challenges in ways that reduce
uncertainty and lead them to believe they will be successful. By
combining the evocative stories of church planters with insights
from research on commercial and social entrepreneurship, Pitt
explains how these religion entrepreneurs come to believe their
organizational goals must be accomplished, that they can be
accomplished, and that they will be accomplished.
Die Vorstellungen von den Osmanen schwanken in ihren Nachbarlandern
und uberhaupt im Abendland. Eingebettet in eine romanhafte
Rahmenhandlung werden Geschichte, Soziologie und Psychologie der
Osmanen des 18. Jahrhunderts vor ihrer zunehmenden Verwestlichung
im 19. Jahrhundert dargestellt und zeigen ein Selbstverstandnis,
das in abgewandelter Form vor allem auch heute noch nachschwingt.
Insgesamt vermitteln sie einen verstandnisvolleren Blick in die
Entwicklung des Islam.
Since its publication, Church for Every Context has made a
significant impact in our understanding of the theology and
methodology of Fresh Expressions. In this follow-up, Michael
Moynagh develops a model of emergent innovation that combines
insights from both complexity and entrepreneurship theories. Taking
account of the significant developments in practice and thinking
around the emerging church, Church in Life will quickly establish
itself as a key text for all interested in pioneer ministry, fresh
expressions, church planting, church growth and ecclesiology.
Drawing on the work of Bowen, Friedman, and his own many years'
counseling experience, Steinke shows how to recognize and deal with
the emotional roots of such issues as church conflict, leadership
roles, congregational change, irresponsible behavior, and the
effects of family of origin on current relationships. Discover why
working relationships may be "stuck" in certain behaviors. This
book is a classic work by one of the most respected names in
congregational consulting.
Opus Dei is perhaps one of the most controversial religious
organisations of our time. For many years there was little
information about its history and development. More recently
attempts have been made to make its structure and organisation are
now much more transparent. For some, however, the organisation is
seen as a powerful and shadowy institution with wealth, influence
and many dark secrets. This revealing book aims to find out the
truth behind the myths and the speculation, and examines the faces
and personalities behind its institution. This book presents a
global perspective of the Opus Dei that considers its influence on
a worldwide scale and reveals the truth behind this powerful
institution.
In der Geografie, als einer Leitwissenschaft in Sachen
"Landschaft", definiert man aktuell Stadtelandschaften als
massstablich und raumlich ganz unterschiedliche Ebenen. Diese
lassen sich auf einzelne Stadte, auf bestimmte Stadtregionen und
selbst auf Metropolregionen oder die seit 1918 eingefuhrte
Megalopolis projizieren. Historiker verstehen unter einer
"Stadtelandschaft" meist ein Gebiet mittlerer Groessenordnung mit
unterschiedlich starker Urbanisierung, wobei in der
"Stadtlandschaft" Stadte und Markte, Burger und Handler im
umschriebenen Raum zwangslaufig eine dominierende Rolle spielen.
Der interterritoriale Vergleich fuhrt uns einerseits hinaus in die
Welt der europaischen Urbanitat, andererseits liegt ein deutlicher
Fokus auf den grossen wie kleinen Stadten Suddeutschlands. In Farbe
und Ausfuhrlichkeit analysieren die Autoren dort die Stadtkultur
vom Mittelalter bis zur Moderne. Politische, soziale und
oekonomische Netzwerke werden ebenso behandelt wie spannende
interstadtische Bezuge durch Reisende, Gelehrsamkeit, Schulen,
Literatur oder Musik. Teildisziplinen wie die Historische
Ortsnamenforschung runden das Bild ab.
Am 15. September 1680 fand die feierliche Translation der Reliquien
der Katakombenheiligen Sergius, Bacchus, Hyacinthus und Erasmus im
Kloster St. Gallen statt. Als Director musicae bekam der
Stiftsorganist Pater Valentin Muller (Molitor) die Aufgabe, die
Musik fur die Feier zu verfassen. 1681 wurde ein Teil des dafur
komponierten Repertoires unter dem Titel Missa una cum tribus
Mottetis in Solemni Translatione SS. MM. Sergii, Bacchi, Hyacinthi
et Erasmi ab octo vocibus concertantibus, et 7. Instrumentis, sed
tantium quatuor necessariis in Monasterio S. Galli decantata
herausgegeben. Der im Kloster St. Gallen produzierte Musikdruck
enthalt ein vollstandiges Ordinarium missae (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo,
Sanctus und Agnus Dei) sowie drei Motetten. Grandios ist die
aufwendige Besetzung mit zwei vierstimmigen Choeren sowie einem
reichen, dem Festcharakter angemessenen Instrumentarium. Die Musik
stellt damit ein wertvolles Zeugnis des benediktinischen
Musikrepertoires dar, wie es im Kloster St. Gallen in der zweiten
Halfte des 17. Jahrhunderts gepflegt wurde. Der vorliegende Band
enthalt die vollstandige kritische Ausgabe der 1681 erschienenen
Werke von Pater Valentin Muller (Molitor) sowie eine historische
Einleitung.
Shu'ayb al-'Arna'ut war ein zeitgenoessischer Hadith-Gelehrter, der
einen grossen Teil des Hadith-Kanons und daruber hinaus
klassifiziert hat. In diesem Band wird zum ersten Mal seine
Methodologie vorgestellt. Anhand einer komparativen Analyse wird
ein exemplarischer Korpus von Hadithen untersucht, um die
Charakteristika der Methodologie von al-'Arna'ut feststellen zu
koennen. Zudem werden seine Beurteilungen von Hadithen mit denen
von al-Tahanawi und al-'Albani verglichen. Die Autorin zeigt in
diesem Buch auf, wie zeitgenoessische Hadith-Gelehrte mit den
Erkenntnissen fruherer Gelehrter umgehen, welche Herausforderungen
und neuen Entwicklungen dabei entstanden sind.
|
|