A personal retreat. We've never needed it more. We run from one place to the next--from meetings and appointments to our kid's soccer practice, from class to work to choir rehearsal, from the grocery store to small group--and then drop into bed later than we hoped, exhausted and dreading the morning. We want to slow down but don't know how and don't really believe that we can. And often, the idea of a personal retreat--time for solitude and silence--makes us feel as anxious as all our frenzied rushing. What in the world would we do with an hour, an afternoon or (gulp ) a whole day of solitude with God? But what is the cost of our frantic pace? What are we missing by not slowing down for reflection and meditation on Scripture? What kind of toll does our anxious running take on those around us--and, even more deeply, on our own soul? In Resting Place, retreat speaker Jane Rubietta addresses soul matters with retreat topics such as dealing with our fear of abandonment, wrestling with discontent, overcoming our attempts to control others and fulfilling our deep desire to be loved. These retreats help us enter Psalm 23 rest, a place of true rest and trust in our loving, gentle Shepherd. Full of quotes to contemplate, Scripture to meditate on, questions, prayer and journaling ideas, and ideas for creativity, Jane Rubietta leads us to and through times of silence and solitude that will follow us into our everyday world as we learn to allow Jesus to guide, comfort and restore us. Come to the Shepherd, and find the true rest your soul is longing for.

In this provocative study, David W. Hall argues that the American founders were more greatly influenced by Calvinism than contemporary scholars, and perhaps even the founders themselves, have understood. Calvinism's insistence on human rulers' tendency to err played a significant role in the founders' prescription of limited government and fed the distinctly American philosophy in which political freedom for citizens is held as the highest value. Hall's timely work countervails many scholars' doubt in the intellectual efficacy of religion by showing that religious teachings have led to such progressive ideals as American democracy and freedom.

In 2006, the contemporary American Pentecostal movement celebrated its 100th birthday. Over that time, its African American sector has been markedly influential, not only vis-a-vis other branches of Pentecostalism but also throughout the Christian church. Black Christians have been integrally involved in every aspect of the Pentecostal movement since its inception and have made significant contributions to its founding as well as the evolution of Pentecostal/charismatic styles of worship, preaching, music, engagement of social issues, and theology. Yet despite its being one of the fastest growing segments of the Black Church, Afro-Pentecostalism has not received the kind of critical attention it deserves.

Afro-Pentecostalism brings together fourteen interdisciplinary scholars to examine different facets of the movement, including its early history, issues of gender, relations with other black denominations, intersections with popular culture, and missionary activities, as well as the movement's distinctive theology. Bolstered by editorial introductions to each section, the chapters reflect on the state of the movement, chart its trajectories, discuss pertinent issues, and anticipate future developments.

Contributors: Estrelda Y. Alexander, Valerie C. Cooper, David D. Daniels III, Louis B. Gallien, Jr., Clarence E. Hardy III, Dale T. Irvin, Ogbu U. Kalu, Leonard Lovett, Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., Cheryl J. Sanders, Craig Scandrett-Leatherman, William C. Turner, Jr., Frederick L. Ware, and Amos Yong

A Daily Office Book for all members of the congregation - including adult confirmation candidates. Arranged a page-a-day for a year, it provides an opening prayer, Psalm verses, Old and New Testament readings, and new prayers based on the readings, together with a 31-day cycle of intercessions.

Many Christians who receive a prophetic message, or "word," from the Lord don't understand that its fulfillment is not necessarily automatic. Others don't know how to determine if a prophetic word really is from the Lord. And still others don't understand what prophetic ministry is and how it works.
A veteran prophetic warrior, Barbara Wentroble is aware of the need for training in Bible-based prophetic ministry. With insight and wisdom, she explains not only how prophetic ministry works, but also how believers today--like biblical characters of old--may need to engage in spiritual warfare in order to receive promises that really are from God. Wentroble shows that prophetic words are not confined to church walls, and are not for a select few Christians but for all. She gives readers the guidelines and prophetic etiquette they need to help prevent abuse and misunderstanding, while helping them find the incredible blessing of the biblical gift of prophecy.

How do Filipino Baptists who sing in English, quote from James Dobson, and download sermon illustrations from Alabama understand themselves, and their faith, as "local?" Comparing four congregations of Southern Baptists in the Philippines, Howell argues that Christianity "becomes" a local context as aspects of daily life are brought together with the obviously borrowed elements of the faith. This book moves away from the split of "global" and "local" to find out how Southern Baptists are able to create a "transcendent locality." Told in rich ethnographic detail, "Christianity in the Local Context" argues that Filipino Baptists are actively constructing themselves in terms of a global faith that they have made their own.

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

"This is a timely book about the tortuous journey of biblical feminism in our time. The book will sober its own constituencies while also contributing to the ongoing analysis of contemporary American religion and gender."
--Marie Griffith, author of "God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission"

"Pamela Cochran interweaves two engaging stories in this carefully researched study, both of which are vitally important to our understanding of American evangelicalism. One story is about the small cadre of feminist leaders within evangelicalism who struggled heroically against the tide of rising political conservatism and male dominance. The other is about evangelicalism's often unwitting embrace of biblical hermeneutics, therapeutic individualism, and consumerism, and its difficulties in adapting to an increasingly pluralistic culture. Scholars in religious studies, history, and the social sciences will benefit greatly from reading this book."
--Robert Wuthnow, author of "Saving America?: Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society"

"A valuable book that tells a story that is obscured amid the thunderous and simplifying voices that dominate public discussion of religion and gender politics."
--"Altar Magazine"

"Finally! Cochran's Evangelical Feminism provides a detailed analysis of the articulation of egalitarianism and feminist ideas--and their opponents--in evangelical organizations, theological debates and leadership in the 1970s and 1980s. A welcome addition to the field."
--Sally K. Gallagher, author of "Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family Life"

"Cochran intends herconcrete analysis of the split among evangelical feminists to exemplify larger themes in the story of American religious life, including inclusivity, anti-institutionalism, individualism, voluntarism, and populism. This text would make a worthy addition to women's studies collections and to theological libraries." --"Choice"

For most people, the terms "evangelical" and "feminism" are contradictory. "Evangelical" invokes images of conservative Christians known for their strict interpretation of the Bible, as well as their support of social conservatism and traditional gender roles. So how could an evangelical support feminism, a movement that seeks, at its most basic level, to redress the inequalities, injustice, and discrimination that women face because of their sex?

Evangelical Feminism offers the first history of the evangelical feminist movement. It traces the emergence and theological development of biblical feminism within evangelical Christianity in the 1970s, how an internal split among members of the movement came about over the question of lesbianism, and what these developments reveal about conservative Protestantism and religion generally in contemporary America.

Cochran shows that biblical feminists have been at the center of changes both within evangelicalism and in American culture more broadly by renegotiating the religious symbols which shape its deepest values.

The religion of Orange politics offers an in-depth anthropological account of the Orange Order in Scotland. Based on ethnographic research collected before, during, and after the Scottish independence referendum, Joseph Webster details how Scotland's largest Protestant-only fraternity shapes the lives of its members and the communities in which they live. Within this Masonic-inspired 'society with secrets', Scottish Orangemen learn how transform themselves and their fellow brethren into what they regard to be ideal British citizens. It is from this ethnographic context - framed by ritual initiations, loyalist marches, fraternal drinking, and constitutional campaigning - that the key questions of the book emerge: What is the relationship between fraternal love and sectarian hate? Can religiously motivated bigotry and exclusion be part of human experiences of 'The Good?' What does it mean to claim that one's religious community is utterly exceptional - a literal 'race apart'? -- .

This book is about African Pentecostalism and its relationship to religious beliefs about a pervading spirit world. It argues that Pentecostalism keeps both a continuous and a discontinuous relationship in tension. Based on field research in a South African township, including qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the study explores the context of African Pentecostalism as a whole and how it interacts with the concepts of ancestors, divination, and various types of spirit. Themes discussed include the reasons for the popularity of healing, exorcism, the "prosperity gospel," the experience of the Holy Spirit, Spirit manifestations and practices resembling both traditional and biblical precedents, as well as scholarly discussions on African Pentecostalism from theological and social scientific disciplines. The book suggests that the focus on a spirit-filled world affects all kinds of events and explains the rapid growth of Pentecostalism outside the western world.

This book is a lively and accessible study of English religious life during the century of the Reformation. It draws together a wide range of recent research and makes extensive use of colourful contemporary evidence. The author explores the involvement of ordinary people within, alongside and beyond the church, covering topics such as liturgical practice, church office, relations with the clergy, festivity, religious fellowships, cheap print, 'magical' religion and dissent. The result is a distinctive interpretation of the Reformation as it was experienced by English people, and the strength, resourcefulness and flexibility of their religion emerges as an important theme.

Will the British retain the monarchy and the English church establishment into the 21st century? The preservation of the monarchy and of the establishment of the church of England is a matter that cuts deep in fact and theory. The monarchy and the church are symbols of civil liberty, and as such they carry the freight of British national identity. Yet it is difficult to take those institutions seriously now because Britons give too little consideration to serious reforms of any kind for the monarchy or the church. This book suggests possible reforms.

English Christendom has never been a static entity. Evangelism, politics, conflict and cultural changes have constantly and consistently developed it into myriad forms across the world. However, in recent times that development has seemingly become a general decline. This book utilises the motif of Christendom to illuminate the pedigree of Anglican Christianity, allowing a vital and persistent dynamic in Christianity, namely the relationship between the sacred and the mundane, to be more fundamentally explored. Each chapter seeks to unpack a particular historical moment in which the relations of sacred and mundane are on display. Beginning with the work of Bede, before focusing on the Anglo Norman settlement of England, the Tudor period, and the establishment of the church in the American and Australian colonies, Anglicanism is shown to consistently be a religio-political tradition. This approach opens up a different set of categories for the study of contemporary Anglicanism and its debates about the notion of the church. It also opens up fresh ways of looking at religious conflict in the modern world and within Christianity. This is a fresh exploration of a major facet of Western religious culture. As such, it will be of significant interest to scholars working in Religious History and Anglican Studies, as well as theologians with an interest in Western Ecclesiology.