Sherman argues that Latin America's Protestant revival is likely to help the prospects for the region's economic growth and democratic development. Focusing on Guatemala's rural poor, she explains how conversion from animism to a Biblically orthodox world-view has improved the domestic welfare and economic status of many families.

Conservative Protestants are mentioned repeatedly in the ongoing conversation about social capital, individualism, and community in the United States. As John Wilson notes in his introduction, evangelicals are frequently discussed either as a threat to civil society or as apparent counterexamples to the prevailing view of American society's fragmentation. The essays in this volume take another look at the role of evangelicals in American civic life. The prominent contributors examine evangelicals' beliefs and activity on topics ranging from bioethics to race relations and welfare reform to international human rights. Taken together, the essays show that, contrary to what critics have proclaimed, the social commitment of evangelicals extends considerably beyond family-related issues, and that their activity in the public sphere makes an essential contribution to the public good. Clearly written and persuasively argued, A Public Faith: Evangelicals and Civic Engagement is a powerful correction to the misconceptions about evangelicals that abound in the current civil-society debate. Co-published with the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

2013 Christianity Today Book Award winner Imagine the scenarios: a CEO successfully negotiates a corporate merger, avoiding hundreds of layoffs in the process an artist completes a mosaic for public display at a bank, showcasing neighborhood heroes a contractor creates a work-release program in cooperation with a local prison, growing the business and seeing countless former inmates turn their lives around a high-school principal graduates 20 percent more students than the previous year, and the school's average scores go up by a similar percentage Now imagine a parade in the streets for each event. That's the vision of Proverbs 11:10, in which the tsaddiqim--the people who see everything they have as gifts from God to be stewarded for his purposes--pursue their vocation with an eye to the greater good. Amy Sherman, director of the Center on Faith in Communities and scholar of vocational stewardship, uses the tsaddiqim as a springboard to explore how, through our faith-formed calling, we announce the kingdom of God to our everyday world. But cultural trends toward privatism and materialism threaten to dis-integrate our faith and our work. And the church, in ways large and small, has itself capitulated to those trends, while simultaneously elevating the "special calling" of professional ministry and neglecting the vocational formation of laypeople. In the process, we have, in ways large and small, subverted our kingdom mandate. God is on the move, and he calls each of us, from our various halls of power and privilege, to follow him. Here is your chance, keeping this kingdom calling in view, to steward your faith and work toward righteousness. In so doing, you will bless the world, and as you flourish, the world will celebrate.

God calls Christians to participate in his redemptive mission in every sphere of life. Every corner, every square inch of society can flourish as God intends, and Christians of any vocation can become agents of that flourishing. Amy Sherman offers a multifaceted, biblically grounded framework for enacting God's call to seek the shalom of our communities in six arenas of civilizational life (The Good, The True, The Beautiful, The Just, The Prosperous, and The Sustainable). Because we believe in what is good and true, we strengthen social ethics and contribute to human knowledge and learning. Because we value beauty, we invest in creative arts. Because we are committed to a just society, we work toward restorative justice and a well-ordered civic life. And our desire to see society prosper sustainably means that our business practices seek the economic good of the community while protecting the physical health of our environment. This comprehensive volume showcases historical and contemporary models of faithful and transformational cultural engagement, with case studies of all kinds of churches advancing human flourishing. It provides a roadmap for leaders wanting to participate in Christ's mission of holistic renewal. Discover how being God's agents of flourishing can change our communities for the better and offer a winsome witness to a watching world.

Dramatic political, economic, and sociocultural changes are taking place in Latin America, opening up promising possibilities for improving the lives of the poor in that region. This book assesses current trends and argues that a market-friendly development model is the most legitimate, desirable, and feasible strategy for attaining a Biblically informed conception of "holistic" development.