Brand New Church? aims to make sense of what 'postmodern' actually looks and feels like in real life, and to ask what this means for the church. Over the past few years, Graeme Fancourt has travelled around the UK and USA consulting with a wide range of church leaders. He writes: The church that I have encountered is thoughtful, active and confident in the gospel . . . Though holding many different views, these leaders all appear to take seriously the need for the church genuinely to engage (positively or negatively) with what it perceives to be the postmodern condition. The author reveals and explores the diversity of thinking found in local churches, in colleges and universities, and expressed in works of contemporary theology. The result is a vibrant read, which offers a broad understanding of how the church might participate fruitfully in dialogue and mission for the sake of all God's people.

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.

This detailed study by Jutta Sperber shows how the magisterium of the Roman-Catholic Church, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and various parts of the Muslim world from Saudi Arabia to Iran have been engaged in Christian-Muslim dialogues. The mainly anthropological topics range from tolerance and human dignity, the position of women and children, media and education, to mission, resources and nationalism. They paint an interesting picture of the position of Man before God and the world in both Christianity and Islam.

Fundraising can be one of the most stressful parts of ministry. Budget needs are daunting, prospects seem limited, and the cycle is unending. How do we get off of the treadmill of crisis-driven fundraising to more sustainable ministry funding? Professional fundraiser Brad Layland revolutionizes fundraising and transforms it into a relational process where donors truly become partners in ministry. With decades of expertise in leading multimillion-dollar capital campaigns and working with major donors, he offers a more strategic and personalized yet less labor-intensive approach. Practical insights include ten essential elements of a case and four key steps that lead up to making an ask. Ultimately, fundraising is best done in community, and this book will help you develop a community of people who enjoy giving and want your organization to succeed. Fundraising can become a life-giving, energizing experience of developing partners who fuel your ministry's vision. Discover how you can become fully funded and accomplish the work that God has given you to do.

In the waning years of Latin America's longest and bloodiest civil war, the rise of an unlikely duo is transforming Colombia: Christianity and access to credit. In her exciting new book, Rebecca C. Bartel details how surging evangelical conversions and widespread access to credit cards, microfinance programs, and mortgages are changing how millions of Colombians envision a more prosperous future. Yet programs of financialization propel new modes of violence. As prosperity becomes conflated with peace, and debt with devotion, survival only becomes possible through credit and its accompanying forms of indebtedness. A new future is on the horizon, but it will come at a price.

In Anglicanism Reimagined Andrew Shanks challenges all who are tempted to erect boundaries around their faith. Far more important than dogma and metaphysics, he argues, is the need to be open to all, and to engage with people who hold views at odds with our own. He shows how a commitment to this ideal can create fresh energy and new ways forward for the Church.

As the pope's alter ego, the medieval papal legate was the crucial connecting link between Rome and the Christian provinces. Commissioned with varying degrees of papal authority and jurisdiction, these hand-picked representatives of the Roman Church were nothing less than the administrative, legal, and institutional embodiment of papal justice, diplomacy, government, and law during the Middle Ages. By examining the origins and development of this ecclesiastical office in the early Middle Ages, this book defines the papacy's early contribution to medieval European law and society. Presenting a pioneering inquiry into the field, The Foundations of Medieval Papal Legation demonstrates the growth of papal government and its increasing reliance on representation beyond Rome, explaining how this centralized position was achieved over time, going further to legitimize the papacy's burgeoning need for increased supervision, mediation, and communication throughout western Christendom. In so doing, it contributes to a wider administrative, legal, and institutional understanding of papal government in early medieval Europe as a whole.

Martin Luther considered the reading of God's word to be his primary task as a theologian, a pastor, and a Christian. Though he is often portrayed as reading the Bible with a bare approach of sola Scriptura-without any concern for previous generations' interpretation-the truth is more complicated. In this New Explorations in Theology (NET) volume, Reformation scholar Todd R. Hains shows that Luther read the Bible according to the rule of faith, which is contained in the church's ancient catechism of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed. Hains carefully examines Luther's sermons to show how Luther taught the rule of faith as the guard and guide of Bible reading. This study will helpfully complicate your view of Luther and bring clarity to your own reading of God's Word. Featuring new monographs with cutting-edge research, New Explorations in Theology provides a platform for constructive, creative work in the areas of systematic, historical, philosophical, biblical, and practical theology.

Penitential practice in the Holy Roman Empire 900-1050, examined through records in church law, the liturgy, monastic and other sources. This study examines all forms of penitential practice in the Holy Roman Empire under the Ottonian and Salian Reich, c.900 - c.1050. This crucial period in the history of penance, falling between the Carolingians' codification of public and private penance, and the promotion of the practice of confession in the thirteenth century, has largely been ignored by historians. Tracing the varieties of penitential practice recorded in church law, the liturgy, monastic practice, narrative and documentary sources, Dr Hamilton's book argues that many of the changes previously attributed to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries can be found earlier in the tenth and early eleventh centuries. Whilst acknowledging that there was a degree of continuity from the Carolingian period, she asserts that the period should be seen as having its own dynamic. Investigating the sources for penitential practice by genre, sheacknowledges the prescriptive bias of many of them and points ways around the problem in order to establish the reality of practice in this area at this time. This book thus studies the Church in action in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the reality of relations between churchmen, and between churchmen and the laity, as well as the nature of clerical aspirations. It examines the legacy left by the Carolingian reformers and contributes to our understanding of pre-Gregorian mentalities in the period before the late eleventh-century reforms. SARAH HAMILTON teaches in the Department of History, University of Exeter.

This study utilizes the rich archives which survive at Durham Cathedral to examine the way in which accounting methods and systems were adopted and adapted to manage income and expenses, assets and liabilities in changing economic environments.

Gravissimus Educationis: Golden Opportunities in American Catholic Education 50 Years after Vatican II reviews the development of American Catholic schools since the promulgation of Gravissimus Educationis, the only document on education produced by the Ecumenical Council known as Vatican II. This document literally translated as "The Importance of Education," addresses how extremely vital Catholic education, in particular, is in modern life. Cattaro and Russo also reflect on changes that have transpired since the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore of 1884. This council forever changed the shape of nonpublic education in the United States in its decree that all parishes in the United States were to construct Catholic schools for the education of children. This volume is also designed to benefit Catholic Educators in all at levels form primary to higher education. The chapters in this book, prepared by leading experts on various aspects of Catholic education or other forms of non-public education in the United States, provide a history as to the recent development on Catholic schools. Gravissimus Educationis: Golden Opportunities in American Catholic Education 50 Years after Vatican II provides the context of change and the current state of Catholic Schools in the United States and, in some sense, the global perspective. The scope of this book goes beyond the professional educator in Catholic Schools as it also address the stakeholders of Catholic education such as parents who are consumers, pastors, religious educators, and donors.