This comprehensive guide, from two experienced and thoughtful churchmen, treats each aspect of congregational governance as a sacred calling with an overriding religious mission.

Fortress Press' Foundations for Learning series prepares students for academic success through compelling resources that kick-start their educational journey into professional Christian ministry. In Exploring Practices of Ministry, Pamela Cooper-White and Michael Cooper-White share insights from their extensive experience as parish ministers, church agency executives, and seminary educators in diverse multicultural and international contexts. Pamela, an Episcopal priest who teaches pastoral theology, care, and counseling, is also a pastoral psychotherapist with an extensive clinical background. Michael, a Lutheran pastor and seminary president, is also a pilot and flight instructor and has served as a chaplain with the Civil Air Patrol. While not all readers are preparing to be ordained ministers, most will engage in many of the practices described in the book: preaching and public speaking, teaching, leading liturgies, conducting ceremonies, counseling and offering pastoral support for persons undergoing life transitions, and serving as organizational leaders in congregations, chaplaincies, social ministries, and in the public arena.

The thesis helps the reader understand that the Yahweh of Israel and the God who raised Jesus, often appearing throughout history to be down for the count, has an amazing come-back-ability. In the current postmodern context, where many despair of faith and seem to circle back to the 1960s conclusion that God is dead, the book will hold forth a reason to believe and a pathway to probe more deeply in contemporary images and language the age-old truth and traditions of faith