Facing Decline, Finding Hope PDF Download

Author: Jeffrey D. Jones
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 156699733X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
Church today isn’t the same as it was fifty years ago—or even ten years ago. In spite of the powerful stories of turn-around churches with skyrocketing memberships, the difficult reality is that most congregations are getting smaller. Jeffrey D. Jones asks brave questions for congregations facing this reality—what if membership growth isn’t the primary goal for a church? How can churches remain vital, even with declining attendance? Facing Decline, Finding Hope is an essential resource to help congregations confront their shrinking size while looking towards the hopeful reality that God is calling them to greater faithfulness. The book draws on biblical and theological resources, as well as contemporary leadership studies, to help leaders—both clergy and laity—set aside a survival mentality and ask new questions to shape ministry more attuned to today’s world. Facing Decline, Finding Hope is a powerful book for leaders who want to honestly assess the size of their church and plan for faithful, invigorating service regardless of whether membership numbers are up or down.

Author: Jeffrey D. Jones
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566995442
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Leadership, observes Jeffrey Jones, is never about you. What happens to you as a leader stems from a vast array of issues and dynamics over which you have little or no control. Leadership, Jones also insists, is always about you--Christ's disciple, part of the system, an individual with your own anxieties and a personal life that shapes both your personhood and your relationships. Heart, Mind, and Strength is about dealing with the tension between these two realities. What we know is important. So is who we are--maybe even more so. Of course, admits Jones, no book can tell u s everything we need to know about leadership--the "what" of it. And certainly no book can shape our personhood--the "who" of leadership. Jones, however, shares both theoretical and practical insights that will inform the "what' and influence the "who" of your leadership in transformative ways. Jones organizes the book around the daily practices of leadership, treating it as both a skill and an art. Heart, Mind, and Strength will enhance your practice of ministry by providing well-grounded theory related to the practical concerns you encounter in the daily work of balancing what you know with who you are.

Author: Joanna Macy
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1608687112
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, war, political polarization, economic upheaval, and the dying back of nature together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. This revised, tenth anniversary edition of Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face these crises so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.

Author: Richard P. Olson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538107996
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
A Guide to Ministry Self-Care offers a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of both the causes of stress and strategies for effective self-care. Written for both new and long-time ministers, the book addresses a wide range of life situations and explores many forms of self-care, from physical and financial to relational and spiritual.

Author: Dominic Dutra
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1666711683
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
For decades, many different denominations have experienced devastating declines in attendance, finances, and influence. Thousands of church leaders have watched their congregations grow older, smaller, and, in many cases, whiter than their surrounding communities. Rising costs and decreased giving make it virtually impossible to sustain the staff and fabric of these organizations—let alone their spiritual mission. But all hope is not lost. In a clarion call that demands death to bring new life, the local church is tasked with evaluating and ultimately sacrificing all its resources—including underutilized real estate—to bring healing and hope to the poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised. Decades of decline do not foretell the death of the church, and by reimagining their church spaces, congregations can experience revitalization as they grow to better embody their missional purpose.

Author: Richard Trist
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1666757462
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
Ministry in Context: A Guide to Theological Field Education and Ministry Internships in Australia and New Zealand has been written for students, field placement supervisors, and theological college coordinators to introduce the basic principles and practices of theological field education and ministry internships. The book covers all aspects of field-based learning, including biblical and historical foundations, the place of calling and vocation, the importance of supervision, the practice of theological reflection, and the setting and evaluation of goals. Chapters have been written by experts across Australia and New Zealand and reflect the diversity and cultural uniqueness of this region.

Author: Jeffrey D. Jones
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538174510
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
Congregations today exist in an in-between, or liminal, time. The customary answers about what it means to be and do church and strategies for renewal based on those answers no longer work. But there is no certainty about the new answers. It is a time of searching—of letting go of the old and experimenting with the new. This means facing the reality of death, which may come as institutions die or as established ways are abandoned. This book addresses this reality while maintaining a constant focus on the Christian promise of resurrection. It offers three images that recognize the differing contexts of congregations and help them shape their future as they seek to discern God’s work in their midst. Congregations shaped by each of the three images (remembering, letting go, and resurrecting) have the potential to faithfully engage in God’s work in their setting. For each of the three there are suggestions for helping a congregation move toward an even more faithful expression of the image. The book includes Bible studies and other resources that congregations will find helpful in this process. Some congregations may continue in traditional ways, while others seek a new way of being church. But all can join in God’s work in their time and place with a new and deeper understanding of the ministry that is theirs. This book helps them do that. Because a different kind of leadership is needed the book offers an approach to leadership that is grounded in a spiritual process of inward reflection and outward involvement.

Author: Michael Plekon
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498239579
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
The origin of the phrase "the church has left the building" lies with Elvis. In order to clear halls of his riotous fans after concerts, it was announced that "Elvis has left the building." Here, the expression highlights intense change within the church. Not only does the church change for its own existence, it also does so for the life of the world. The church cannot avoid the many past and future changes of our constantly transforming society, demographic changes long in process. What you have before you is a gathering of first-hand reflections--stories really--from a diverse group of Christians, lay as well as ordained. While each has a distinctive experience of the church in our time, all of them have something to say about the many changes in our society and how these are affecting our faith, the parish, and pastoral work. Contributors: Mary Breton Nicholas Denysenko Adam A. J. DeVille John C. Frazier David Frost Carol Fryer Kenneth J. Guest Brett Hoover Abbie Huff Wongee Joh Justin Mathews Maria Gwyn McDowell William C. Mills Robert Corin Morris Sarah Hinlicky Wilson Michael Plekon

Author: Naomi Levy
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0385531702
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
In this moving, personal work, Levy tells of the painful circumstances she endured with her young daughter's illness, how they grew together, and ultimately how much Levy learned from her daughter's example.

Author: Jeffrey D. Jones
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 9781566997324
Category : Church attendance
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Facing Decline, Finding Hope is an essential resource to help congregations faithfully negotiate the challenges of ministry even as their membership declines. Drawing on biblical and theological resources, as well as leadership studies, the author helps churches ask new questions to shape ministry more attuned to today's world.