Organizations and Institutions Books

Richard Eyer is professor emeritus of Philosophy at Concordia University (Mequon, WI) who has spent most of his career as a chaplain at health care facilities. He has written widely on spiritual health and its role in holistic health. "They Will See His Face" is a book on the role of Divine Service in holistic health.

The Divine Service is the weekly liturgical Sunday worship service in which Holy Communion is celebrated; with the exception of the Scripture readings and a few prayers, the Divine Service is characterized by an unchanging, weekly ritual. Eyer argues that this ritualistic participation in the Divine Service is an effective health-giving agent for many of our modern maladies. This is so for three main reasons. One reason is that the frequent practice of an objective ritual becomes a window through which you view the rest of the world--that is to say ritual shapes your worldview--thus the ritualistic practice of grounding yourself in God's truth allows you to interact with the world in a more healthful way. Second, the nature of the Divine Service is such that the participant is forced to look outside himself for health and healing and look instead to God. This is very much unlike modern (postmodern?) America which advises one to look within himself for healing; the Divine Service directs you toward Jesus. Finally and most importantly, the Divine Service contributes to spiritual/holistic health because it is composed entirely of the Means of Grace--Word and Sacraments--the means by which God comes to his people to bless them, increase their faith, and heal them.

"They Will See His Face" is divided into six chapters. Each deals with an affliction/source of un-health, describes it, and then goes no to show how the Divine Service can contribute to the healing of that malady. The six maladies covered are: guilt, anxiety, loneliness, depression, grief, and physical sickness. In each chapter, Eyer draws upon his theological training, his decades of experience ministering to the sick and dying, and even his own personal, introspective thoughts to paint a graphic, yet supremely caring picture of the sickness. With the disease authoritatively and lovingly defined, Eyer explains how the Divine Service serves as God's instrument of healing. Each chapter ends with a summery paragraph and several questions for discussion--in case the book is part of a book club or Bible study series.

In all, "They Will See His Face" is a well-written and insightful book that gives practical and timely advice for our time. The author's pastoral care and decades of experience come through in a way that warms the heart. Highly recommended.

They Will See His Face is a thoughtful and thought-provoking Christian testimony about the power of healing through faith, prayer, and the embrace of God's love. Author Richard C. Eyer (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University, Wisconsin) deftly explains that the answers to guilt, anxiety, loneliness, depression, grief, and more come from turning to God and opening one's hearts. Very highly recommended as an emotional vehicle of faithful expression, They Will See His Face closely peruses the Scripture with discussion questions for the reader to ponder.

This is an excellant resource for those who need to write either worship services or rituals. It is easy to follow and is user friendly. There are whole worship services for the various church seasons. There are also individual prayers, confessions, communion liturgies, etc. that can be dropped into your regular worship service. All of the lituries and prayers have a wonderful spiritual aspect without being over done. One week after purchasing the book I used it to prepare a communion worship service for a women's retreat. I was able to prepare a service that was meaningful and appropriate for the theme without spending all of my energy and time just on this task.

Ruth Duck is a poet. Her liturgy speaks to the heart because thats where it comes from. I prefer to write my own stuff. When I can't she is where I turn and she never dissapoints. I just wish she would put out more books like this one.

You have to believe this writer. There's an honest, no-axe-to-grind, started-out-neutral-but-changed-his-mind, quality about his account that has the ring of truth. Lots of fascinating sidebars about Southern Baptist history, including the account of a young ministerial student from Mercer College named John Birch.

First pro-conservative book published about the SBC turnaround, & I doubt there'll be a better one.

This book, (along with the others in the series), is the most exhaustive, even-handed, and thoroughly researched account of the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention that I have found anywhere. If you think you know everything about the Conservative movement in the SBC, read this series and see what you missed! Every Southern Baptist and, I believe, every Christian, should read this and the complete series from cover-to-cover. A thoroughly excellent resource and a must have for your personal library.

By writing this book Richard Muller has done a wonderful service, both for serious students of Calvin as well as the casual reader who has the slightest interest in the Reformer's thought. Muller presents Calvin's thought in its own context, demonstrating in the process how often his writings have been misconstrued by modern scholars asking modern questions of texts that were written over four hundred years ago.

One of the keys to Muller's work is his use of original documents, whereby he unfolds the relationship between the various genres in Calvin's body of works. He shows that Calvin's magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, serves a limited purpose in his corpus, and must be carefully read in the context of both his sermons and his biblical commentaries. This insight alone clears away generations of false conclusions, and reveals details that other scholars have failed to note. Further, Muller provides important insights into the development and structure of The Institutes.

This book is a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand Calvin. It is also a model for how documents from earlier ages of church history ought to be read and studied. No serious student of church history should be without it.

I am not a seminarian. I hardly have a knowledge of the reformers' lives and works. I'm a US history student. However, I'm interested in the Reformation and Post-Reformation period. I chose Muller's book to help me understand Calvin and his work (the Institutes, I'm reading through them). More than this, I chose this book because Muller wrote it. And I'm glad I read it. Muller is a historical theologian who stands heads and shoulders above most historians in any field, including that which he specializes in. His ability to analyze pertinent material is incredible. You'd also think he's read everything written in the sixteenth century. He does such an amazing job presenting his theses, and then forcefully making his conclusions.
To say something about the text for readers: he shows how we must understand the historical context of Calvin and his Institutes in order to properly understand Calvin and his Institutes. He does this by comparing Calvin and his Institutes to reformers contemporary to him.
Sorry I can't say more. I'm not going to sit here and give a book report. I will put it simply: get the book if you dare. A warning: this is heavy reading. It is also reading that greatly rewards its readers, I mean deeply. Muller is a phenomenon. He truly presents an unaccommodated Calvin, i.e. Calvin on his own terms.

I had been searching for a book on rules, their relationships to the structure of organizations, and to the outcomes produced by such organizations. The focus of this search was on commons based resources. I found what I was looking for when I found this book - it was immensely rewarding to read. At its heart is an outline of a discipline devoted to identifying what works and what doesn't work in terms of structuring organizations and the rules under which they operate. The first part of the book focusses on the use of game theory in this context. The second part of the book focusses more on the discipline of how to go about diagnosing instutional rule bases and exploring their consequences. The last part of the book provides some insight into what has been learned as a result of applying these tools - something that is well worth reading on its own. This book is essential reading for those who are concerned about human - environmental systems and interactions. Overall - a superb book.

The book is divided into three parts: in part 1, the author describes analytical concepts useful in examining institutions; in part 2, she focuses on the hierarchy of rules that govern human behavior; and in part 3, she summarizes some key case studies of how institutions have been developed to mitigate the losses of the commons. There are extensive footnotes, and the bibliography includes some of the major work in institutional analysis and common-pool problems....

Ostrom summarizes the rules found in self-organized common-pool resource regimes and lists the range of institutional innovations that exist in local inshore fisheries, community forests, group livestock herds, and irrigation systems. These institutions have constrained free riding and limited individual access and use. Group members are given access, whereas nongroup members are denied, and this arrangement in itself tends to reduce competitive pressures, but more action is necessary. Within the group, some type of property or use right must exist. Ostrom summarizes the internal allocation rules that have been adopted for the assignment of those rights in several empirical cases she and others have studied. She concludes by observing that many key common-pool resource problems can be solved successfully and flexibly by local collective action that does not require intervention by outside third parties. She recognizes that these options, however, are less successful when the group is large and heterogeneous. Finally, she summarizes long-enduring institutions' design principles for governing sustainable resources. These principles include clearly defined boundaries, proportional equivalence between benefits and costs, effective monitoring, sanctions, and conflict resolution mechanisms. Each is illustrated with examples from case studies.

All in all, UNDERSTANDING INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY is a comprehensive book on the management of the common pool. It includes overviews of major theoretical issues and empirical studies. Anyone who is interested in how common-pool problems are or are not successfully resolved by locally devised arrangements should read it.

Fascinating account from George Washington University's president emeritus . . . comparing the uncanny similarities of academe and private enterprise. Dr. Elliott's insights and experiences (masked as Dr. Bill Comstock) give any new college president the textbook needed to do his or her job. Read it today!

Fascinating account from George Washington University's president emeritus . . . comparing the uncanny similarities of academe and private enterprise. Dr. Elliott's insights and experiences (masked as Dr. Bill Comstock) give any new college president the textbook needed to do his or her job. Read it!

Here's an exploration of the University's two centuries of struggle to achieve state university status; from its initial agricultural college status to its Civil War struggles, its evolution into a tuition-free people's college, and its movement into university status. But The University Of Maryland At College Park: A History isn't just about school politics: within its pages are profiles of student and faculty culture over the decades, social and political atmospheres affecting the college's focus and growth, and how the modern university status is changing the school. A pick for not just University grads and fans; but for any reader of higher education history and politics.

Although I have no particular knowledge or interest in the University of Maryland at College Park, this history is so well written that I still found it an interesting read that was hard to put down until I had finished it. The author goes through the history of the college from its founding as the Maryland Agricultural College through the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the riots of the 1970's to today. An intimate portrait of the college as well as a trip through the history of this part of Maryland it contains many period photographs that add to the charm of the book. "The University of Maryland at College Park, a History, is highly recommended to anyone interested either in the college or the history of Maryland in general.

Fr. Keith Pecklers, a Jesuit priest, is a professor at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy at the Unversity of Sant' Anselmo in Rome. He is a leading scholar on catholic liturgy. This is a must read for anyone interested in liturgy and the Liturgical Movement. The book is thoroughly researched and very readable. Catholics seeking to revitalize liturgy in their parishes should read the book. Try introducing some of the book's themes in your local parish and get the liturgical movement back on track. Tell your pastor to read it too.

This book is a must read for all Catholic liturgists, especially those more recently drawn to this area of study. By tracing the pre-conciliar history of the liturgical movement in the U.S. and examining the pioneers of that movement, the author uncovers its foundations which were encouraged by Pius XII's encyclical "Mystici Corporis Christi" (29 Jun 1943) and inseparably linked to issues of social justice. It stirs one to reflect on the current liturgical movement which, having lost its roots in that earlier vision, has drifted into battles fueled by competing ideologies. In his concluding chapter the author offers some valuable insights for the future of the Liturgical Movement.

As a single adult pastor, I have been looking for a book that would be a guide in casting a vision for our ministry for the next 1, 3, and 5 years. Values Driven ministry does an excellent job of taking the reader back to see what drives a God-given vision--it is our biblically based values. (I strongly suggest you also read Malphurs' book: Developing a Vision for Ministry in the 21st Century--it is an incredible companion to this one). Since each of has been uniquely made in God's image we will "see" things differently and, yet, our biblically based values shape and are our basis for ministry. This is where in our uniqueness we are actually drawn together for the glory of God. The book does an excellent job of discussing in chronological order the following leadership and vision matters. CH.1: The Importance of Core Values; Ch. 2: The Definition of Core Values; Ch. 3: The Discovery of Core Values; Ch. 4: The Development of Core Values; Ch. 5: The Communication of Core Values; Ch. 6: The Implementation of Core Values; Ch. 7: The Preservation of Core Values. What is especially helpful is that both personal and corporate core values are blended together in discussion format. Two levels are being addressed at the same time; one, is to help leaders define their own personal vision for ministry; two, leaders are being guided to define their ministry's core values as well. This book has been an oasis for this thirsty pastor! I would have liked to have been able to study it in a seminary leadership class.

I haven't read a book yet by Malphurs I haven't liked. Here, in the second edition of this title, he presents a road map for discovering individual and institutional core Christian values. He defines core values as those unique intangibles that drive people and ministry organizations, and highlights their critical nature in planning for future undertakings. This book elaborates upon the core values chapter found in his wider-focused title, "Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders."

Discovering individual and institutional core values is an invaluable part of ministry planning, and this book offers a wealth of insight on the topic. This work is definitely worth the affordable price.

Note: the first edition of this title is also available to purchase here on Amazon. Both editions are good, but I recommend this second one.

Frank Damazio's 'The Vanguard Leader' is one of the best-written books of its kind. The author takes his readers into the Word (richly into it) and explains what the "vanguard" leader of the Church is truly to be.

Superb teaching, done with love and authority perfectly blended, the book is invaluable to all who've been called to leadership in the Church.

It's not all high praises; it is carefully balanced and clearly voices a clarion warning of the pitfalls of leadership as well as what to watch for in those who purport to be called to ministry but are false teachers (he takes the reader into the book of Jude and gives a clear picture of what to look for).

This book veritably jumped off the shelf at me, and its one of my treasured tomes. I pull it out on occasion to be reminded afresh of the Lord's call for a vanguard of leadership to take His Church forward in victory. Buy a copy for yourself and get one for your church library and/or your pastor/priest. Excellent buy, you'll not regret getting it.

Pastor Frank Damazio succeeded Dick Iverson as Senior Pastor of Bible Temple in Portland, OR and has been given the ability to put into words the prophetic revelation necessary for God's leaders as the church faces the next millenium. Pastor Frank is liken unto the 'sons of Issachar who KNEW what Isreal ought to do'. If you are in ministry leadership, read and be encouraged to push on!