Everist Vos challenge congregations to take a new look at and mission -- to see themselves as God's people in the world. Explore exciting new understandings that come from starting with people in the world rather than with church structures. Professors Everist (clergy, Wartburg Theological Seminary) and Vos (laity, Muhlen-berg College) bring their insights to bear on how people's daily struggles, needs, and hopes can connect to God's mission through practical steps. These include spiritual growth and the challenge of mutual accountability. A reflections section helps readers discern God at work in their lives.

You love your work. You love the people--most of the time. They respect you, most of the time. You work together with colleagues, staff, and laity, with energy and enthusiasm, most of the time. But then something goes wrong: a word spoken in anger, a misunderstanding, and things turn sour. What do you do? How do you deal with conflict, whether it be long or short-term, low or high intensity?

Conflict is a part of the human predicament, yet it need not define or control your ministry. This book is designed to help the reader ask certain key questions about the nature and scope of the conflict they are experiencing and, based on the answers to those questions, move beyond conflict. The author lays out the variety of responses to conflict, running the gamut from avoidance to accommodation to compromise to collaboration.

Written with the real needs of congregations in mind, this book will serve as a reliable guide to all who wish to move through conflict into a more effective and authentic fulfillment of their calling.

"Christian Education as Evangelism" provides skills and tools for evangelical outreach. Each chapter includes stories, questions for reflection, and practical parish strategies. This is an ideal primary textbook for college and seminary classrooms. Contributors include: Diane J. Hymans, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio; Carol Jacobson, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, California; Margaret A. Krych, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mary E. Hughes, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio; Eddie Kwok, Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; Nelson Strobert, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Phyllis Kersten, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Susan McArver, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina; Mary Hess, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota; Kristine Lund, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Waterloo, Ontario; Norma Cook Everist, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa; and Donald Just, Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest, Austin, Texas.

In this volume of fresh thinking about life in a Christian community, 21 theologians attest to Christ-centered communities and offer new views of church as an essential healer.