This two-volume Journey of a Rabbi consists of essays describing ventures undertaken, events experienced, and ideas articulated that reflect the life work of a rabbi and Jewish educator. What threads its way throughout these writings is a persistent search for ways and means to revitalize Jewish life in our time. Written in lucid and compelling fashion, the story portrays early family influences and mentoring of a searching youth, experiences of a rabbinical student, army chaplain, and pulpit rabbi that brought into focus the tasks ahead. The story proceeds to detail the work as a denominational executive, which broadened concern for the larger community and return to pulpit work devoted to fashioning a "Synagogue-Center." It then segues into depiction of the comprehensive initiatives in education, the arts and community outreach as Dean at the University of Judaism. Interspersed throughout are "thought" essays about religious phenomena, faith, the personal life, the land of Israel, and "lessons learned" from a lifetime of experiences.

Recent crises have revealed the desperate need for wise, grounded leadership. Too often, leaders have little experience and even less training in how to address crises in a way that strengthens their communities and guides them into the future. Drawing on examples from government, business, health care, non-profits, and the church, this book helps leaders in those sectors in the present crises and beyond. When a pandemic closes down churches, schools, and offices; when protests rage over racist police brutality; when everything you've always done as a leader becomes irrelevant, where can you turn? This book examines leaders who creatively navigated crises, drawing out principles of crisis leadership from them. This series of Little Books of Leadership is designed to foster conversations within congregations around certain principles and practices that nurture community and growth in the ongoing life of the church.

- For established churches needing to adapt to changing times - Translates learnings from new communities for established congregations -- a both/and approach - On-the-ground observations from within Phyllis Tickle's "rummage sale" Using the image of the traditional practice of "beating the bounds" of the parish, this book contrasts the desire to mark boundaries with God's call to explore boundaries in order to open them. Building on visits to nine Episcopal and Church of England congregations, Spicer explores how they are opening the boundaries between inherited expressions of church and the unique contexts in which they find themselves. He argues that to beat the boundaries around their current expressions of church, congregations should (1) name a missional identity common to both their past expressions of congregational life and the church they hear God calling them to become; (2) identify whom they're seeking to reach in the community and how they intend to do so; (3) identify what sort of new church expression God is calling them to create; (4) empower a missional leader and plan for governance issues their work may raise; and (5) collaboratively identify how to define success and how to understand what might be seen as failure in terms of common church metrics.

Are You On Your Way Out?
Each month over fifteen hundred pastors are forced to resign their positions. Most never realized they were at-risk of losing their positions in the days before it happened. "Pastors At-Risk "addresses this phenomenon thereby alerting its readers to the attitudes and actions that take so many entirely out of ministry.
Through This Easy to Read Book, You Will Discover:
* What at-risk means, where it leads
* What it is that takes you from at-risk to at-ease
* Affirmations you make even when it's still tough
* Real life stories of pastors in their own words
"Pastors At-Risk" is a must-read for pastors, seminarians and for lay people who want to keep the pastor they love. Buy it for yourself, an officer of your church or as a gift to your pastor.
Dr. Charles A. Wickman served over forty years as a pastor. Twenty years ago he founded the Pastor-in-Residence program, a church-based ministry to exited and at-risk pastors, and for the last twelve years was its national president. He and his colleagues have worked with dozens of pastors without call and have taken scores of surveys to come to the conclusions he presets in "Pastors At-Risk."

Nearly 1 in 4 pastors will experience a forced exit from ministry within their vocational tenure. Pastors-At-Risk will alert you to what attitudes and actions have put thousands of pastors at-risk of losing their position in the church. It includes testimonials, success stories and practical solutions for dealing with these issues. It offers a solution for restoration to those who have gone from a place of risk in the church to a transition in ministry.

Ron Geaves demonstrates how the convergence of Prem Rawat, formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji, and Glastonbury Fayre in 1971 was a key event in understanding the jigsaw that came to be known as 'New Age' spirituality. The book charts the discovery of Prem Rawat in India in 1969 by a small number of British and North American 'hippies', and explores how his arrival in Britain in June 1971, as well as his speech from the pyramid stage at the Fayre at just 13 years old, escalated his activities to make him one of the key influencers of 1970s counterculture spirituality. Both Glastonbury and Prem Rawat have gone on to re-emerge in significantly different identities to the ones presented in 1971. The meeting between the two demonstrates how alternative spiritualities were being formed in the 1960s and how some strands went on to develop into the 'New Age' counterculture that eventually permeated mainstream cultures in Britain and the USA.

Papal Paralysis utilizes the historical case study method to describe the moral and ethical dilemma Catholic Church officials face when asked to help fight the worldwide spread of AIDS. If popes and bishops allowed the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, conservatives would say that the Church was abandoning its teaching against the use of contraceptives. On the other hand, if the Vatican rejected the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, many Catholics would be put at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. By the early 1980 s John Paul II made it clear that being a Catholic meant being opposed to artificial birth control. When confronted with the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, he applied his understanding of church moral theology to this new health care problem and fought HIV/AIDS through preaching abstinence and fidelity, but did not endorse the use of condoms. Despite opposition to this teaching by more than 30 high ranking bishops and cardinals, John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI, refused to change. Not until 2010 did the Vatican s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith state, with papal approval, that using a condom to prevent spreading AIDS was morally superior to its opposite. The book concludes that the church s failure to properly deal with the AIDS crisis was its greatest modern scandal, with the end result being thousands of lives lost."

Muhammad b. 'Umar al-Waqidi was a Muslim scholar, born in Medina in the 1st Century. Of his several writings the most significant is the Kitab al-Maghazi, one of the earliest standard histories of the life of the Prophet. Translated into English for the first time, Rizwi Faizer makes available this key text to a new, English-speaking audience. It includes an "Introduction" authored jointly by Rizwi Faizer and Andrew Rippin and a carefully prepared index. The book deals with the events of the Prophet's life from the time of his emigration from Mecca to his death, and is generally considered to be biographical. Bringing together events in the Prophet's life with appropriate passages of Qur'an in a considered sequence, the author presents an interpretation of Islam that existed in his times. It includes citations from the Qur'an, as well as poetry that appears to have been inspired by activities during his life. This English translation of a seminal text on the life of Muhammad is an invaluable addition to the existing literature, and will be of great significance to students and scholars in the field of Islamic studies, Islamic history, Medieval history and Arabic literature.

Both traditions recognize and draw theological and historical lessons from some of the same narrative sources, but this is the first comparative resource to provide interdisciplinary coverage of the history and textual sources associated with prophets and prophecy. This thorough treatment of a difficult and increasingly controversial subject area will encourage and cultivate knowledge and understanding. Entries are drawn from five main fields: 1. Ancient Near Eastern Studies 2. Bible and Biblical Studies 3. Judaism and Jewish Studies 4. The Quran and Quranic Studies 5. Islam and Islamic Studies Noegel and Wheeler treat each entry as a compilation of relevant data culled from these different traditions in order to take the reader beyond the expected parameters of research. Originally envisioned as an initial resource for students of comparative religion, the extensive chronology, bibliography, list of acronyms, and the overall accessibility of the passages make the Dictionary suitable for a much wider audience.

"New York Times" Bestseller The momentous third and final volume in the Pope's international bestselling Jesus of Nazareth series, detailing how the stories of Jesus' infancy and childhood are as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago.
In 2007, Joseph Ratzinger published his first book as Pope Benedict XVI in order "to make known the figure and message of Jesus." Now, the Pope focuses exclusively on the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life as a child. The root of these stories is the experience of hope found in the birth of Jesus and the affirmations of surrender and service embodied in his parents, Joseph and Mary. This is a story of longing and seeking, as demonstrated by the Magi searching for the redemption offered by the birth of a new king. It is a story of sacrifice and trusting completely in the wisdom of God as seen in the faith of Simeon, the just and devout man of Jerusalem, when he is in the presence of the Christ child. Ultimately, Jesus' life and message is a story for today, one that speaks to the restlessness of the human heart searching for the sole truth which alone leads to profound joy.

Religious Leaders and Faith-Based Politics: Ten Profiles offers a powerful and timely analysis of the dynamic relationship between religious leaders of all faiths and political activism in the United States. By examining the lives and works of such prominent leaders as Reverend Floyd Flake, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Reverend Al Sharpton, Elder Dallin H. Oakes, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Reverend Benjamin Chavis-Muhammed, and Sister Maureen Fiedler, this volume reveals an American tradition of religious influence on public policy that continues to be an important hallmark of our democracy. From the colonial era to the present, religious leaders have raised AmericansO moral and political awareness of countless issues, including revolution, slavery, temperance, civil rights, and, most recently, the culture wars. This book is the first to explore the renewed and intense commitment of evangelicals, Catholics, Muslims, and Jews to preach, teach, and participate in politics today. Among the questions answered in this book: are religious leaders today as active and vocal as the radicals of the turbulent 1960s? Are these activists still involved in civil rights or have other contentious topics such as abortion and traditional family values preempted such issues? In the wake of the 2000 election and at the start of a new administration committed to elevating the role of religion in politics, Jo Renee Formicola, Hubert Morken, and this prominent collection of contributors ask might we expect greater American religious involvement in the years ahead? This is essential reading for anyone interested in religious and political activism, or the evolving relationship between church and state in America.

This is Volume XII of sixteen of the Oriental series looking at Buddhism. It was written in 1926, and looks at the Life of Gotama the Buddha, a religious teacher and reformer. This work is complied from the Pali Canon of the three Pitakas.

Pastors say goodbye to congregations. Sometimes their goodbyes are timely and sweet; sometimes they are jarring and painful. But as they leave, they face a unique journey of grief, one shaped by their role. They face both the outward grief of leaving people behind and the inward grief of leaving an identity behind. In The Graceful Exit, Lutheran pastor Mary Lindberg shares insights from her experience of ending her service to a congregation, as well as wisdom from other pastors who have changed their life work. Lindberg invites readers to pull apart the strands of self and role, individual and community; confront regrets, confusion, and dislocation; and figure out where and who God is at this juncture in their lives. She offers the book she wishes someone had handed her about finding a new church home, about getting a life, about relating to the colleagues who stayed. She reflects on how to be a pastor in a non-pastoral role, how to find community, and how to be graceful in the midst of the awkward unknown. Lindberg acknowledges that as pastors leave congregations, they have to discern how to wrap up their ministry and get out the door without regrets. She recognizes that most pastors will struggle with the spiritual themes of fulfillment, surrender, community, legacy, and separation. But she also believes pastors can face these challenges together. The Graceful Exit invites them into a community of healing and shows them that God walks with them to a new place, even as God keeps on loving the place they have left.

Amid the widespread discussion about 'the future of the church, ' an important point is sometimes overlooked: tomorrow's church will depend to a great extent on the new pastors of today who will serve and guide our churches in the years ahead. George Mason's Preparing the Pastors We Need: Reclaiming the Congregation's Role in Training Clergy makes a timely intervention, asking us to redefine pastoral leadership by analyzing how, in fact, pastors are made in the first place. The book highlights an exciting development in the training of pastors: pastoral residency programs and mentoring. Mason demonstrates that these programs work best when the congregations themselves, not just leadership or staff, are an active participant in the training. In this way, churches begin to reclaim their rightful role in the formation of the ministers that will serve them. And, at the same time, they become healthier and more effective churches. Mason gives us the analogy of physician training. Medical school produces graduates with extensive knowledge of the body, but a practicing doctor will require several more years of internship and residency. Similarly, our seminaries and divinity schools produce men and women with good biblical knowledge, but they might not prepare a graduate for the task of helping a bereaved parishioner cope with the sudden loss of a loved one. Moreover, such areas as finances, budgets, personnel management, and vocational identity are also not well suited to seminary study. Mason shows that congregation-based mentoring and residency are excellent ways to bridge this gap.

The first comprehensive resource for teaching spiritual leadership development in the twenty-first century for all faith traditions.

America is changing. Technology, social networking, global economics, immigration, migration and multiculturalism urge communities of faith to expand their vision of spiritual leadership and reflect on how leaders can better serve congregations and communities in the twenty-first century.

In this multifaith, cross-cultural and comprehensive resource for both clergy and lay persons, contributors who are experts in the field explore how to engage spiritual leaders and teach them how to bring healing, faith, justice and support to communities and congregations. They offer tools, advice, practical methodologies and case studies on how stakeholders congregational leaders, ordained religious leaders, educators, students and community leaders learn how to do theology in context and grow into faith leadership roles."

The full text of the trustworthy New King James Version with robust study notes and dozens of study resources in a convenient size to help you grow deeper in your faith. Available for the first time in large Comfort Print, the beloved Foundation Study Bible is now more readable and helpful than ever! A rich resource for everyone longing to understand more of God's Word, whether you're a beginner or an experienced disciple, The Foundation Study Bible includes extensive study helps: verse-by-verse study and theological notes, full-color maps, a concordance, and cross-references. Featuring an easy-to-use layout that is concise and trustworthy, with straightforward and broad study notes that help you study God's truth, the NKJV Foundation Study Bible, Large Print Edition is a great choice for any Bible student or church leader. Intended for both beginning and experienced students of Scripture who want a Bible that contains the key features of a study Bible in a convenient and portable size, even in large print, the NKJV Foundation Study Bible, Large Print Edition is a solid foundation to build one's faith upon. Features include: The Presentation page is a special place to personalize this special gift by recording a memory or note Bible book introductions provide a concise overview of the background and historical context of the book about to be read Over 32,000 End-of-page cross references allow you to find related passages quickly and easily Concise study notes with over 293,000 words provide helpful comments on passages of Scripture Over 300 theological notes and index draw attention to important doctrinal themes Ribbon markers make it easy to navigate and keep track of where you were reading Extensive study aids: Prayers of the Bible of nearly 100 prayers in the Bible, who prayed them, and what they prayed about. Prophecies of The Messiah Fulfilled in Christ provides 43 Old Testament prophecies and where they have been fulfilled in the New Testament. Harmony of the Gospels details the life and ministry of Jesus in chronological order showing where each event and teaching occur in the Gospels. Miracles of Christ shows where you can find 37 miracles in the Gospels. Concordance with over 1,000 terms provides an alphabetical listing of important passages by key words Full color maps show the layout of Israel and other biblical locations for better context Durable and flexible Smyth-sewn binding allows the Bible to lay flat wherever you are reading Easy-to-read large 11-point NKJV Comfort Print

This study is a comprehensive history of the papacy, the oldest elective office in the world, and how it has managed over the centuries the most complex voluntary association of faith. The book argues that in fact through most of its existence, the papacy has adapted managerial models of the secular world and applied them to the Catholic Church. Since its emergence from the Jewish synagogues to a persecuted minority in the Roman Empire to becoming the established religion of the West, the Church and the papacy engaged the world on its own terms. It is only after the Council of Trent did the Church become somewhat more divorced and estranged from the environment around it. This book focused on those changes and on the great popes across the centuries who reformed and altered Catholicism. Special attention is directed to Gregory I, Innocent I, Innocent III, Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXVII, Paul VI, and John Paul II. The conclusion is that the persistence of the Catholic Church for so many centuries was due to its ability to preserve the faith, but re-establish its forms and managerial class.

Twenty years after Critical Moment of Ministry was first published, Loren Mead returns to his groundbreaking work on one of the most important times in a congregation's life--the time between one pastor's leaving and another's arrival. In this revised edition, A Change of Pastors, Mead shares the wisdom he gained from thirty-five years of studying congregations, wisdom that he hopes will allow congregations to take full advantage of this time during which incredible congregational change can happen.