Organizations and Institutions Books

This book and Joseph Alleine's "An alarm to the unconverted" are must read books for all those who seek to be faithful witnesses for Christ in this day and age.
The puritan's preached a pure gospel-not the modern gospel. This book is top shelf!

Paul Greenwood
(...)

This book covers the period between when Calvinism first made it's move as a distinctive form of religious discontent and follows it, in a series of excellent essays, through to the period of it's solidification and uncontested leadership of the Protestant international movement. Readable and informative. One of the best books on the subject in print.

Nothing on earth lives forever-not even congregations. Can Our Church Live?-the latest book from Alban Institute best-selling author, Alice Mann-explains how the natural life cycle plus other factors can produce a congregation that is in real trouble. Drawing on her years as a pastor and consultant, Mann offers real-life survival stories and details practical options for congregations, leadership challenges for laity and clergy, ways to work with denominations and discussion questions for use in congregational planning.

In the foreword of Can Our Church Live?, Anthony G. Pappas, author of Entering the World of the Small Church: A Guide for Leaders, discusses Mann's approach to congregational spirituality and how its affects the health of the church. "She asserts the radical idea that each congregation has a divine vocation," explains Pappas. "Without this sense of God's purpose, all efforts at redeveloping congregations will amount to little more than managerial tinkering. But with a sense of this unrefusable divine invitation, congregations can astound themselves and be transformed."

According to Claire Schenot Burkat, Director, Mission and Resource Development, Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Can Our Church Live? is useful and essential for the one in every three Protestant churches today struggling to survive. "Alice Mann has written a wonderful handbook for lay leaders, pastors, and denominational staff who love the congregations they serve and are willing to plan honestly for the coming decades," notes Burkat.

"One of Alice Mann's gifts is to take many theories about society and church from the public domain and then to organize, condense, simplify, and present them in such a way that they can be used by pastors, lay leaders, and denominational staff," asserts H. Alan Elmore, General Presbyter, Presbytery of Charlotte (NC), Presbyterian Church (USA). "Mann's emphasis here is on radical redevelopment. Pastors and their church boards can study this book together, using it as a workbook and stimulus for creative ideas that will help them turn decline into a new phase of formation in their congregations."

"One of the strengths of this book is that it begins with the fundamental question, `How do we connect our deepest faith-identity with the realities of our context today?'" says Sheryl A. Kujawa, Director, Congregational Studies, Episcopal Divinity School. "The systemic and coordinated response of any congregation to this question has a great deal to do with its future as a faith community with integrity."

"Leaders of struggling congregations will find in this book a complete resource for discernment and planning," says Arlin J. Rothauge, Executive Director, Seabury Institute, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. "Alice Mann's latest contribution should be required reading in all seminaries and on the desk of every informed church leader."

An Episcopal priest, Alice Mann has pastored six congregations, and currently is senior consultant for the Alban Institute with an emphasis on growth strategies, leadership skills, strategic planning, and spirituality. For two decades she served in the dual roles of local pastor and nationally recognized consultant-trainer in the field of parish development. She is the author of current Alban bestseller The In-Between Church, which examines congregation size change and strategies for transitioning.

This is an excellent study except I need the Video to go along with it. I have tried every way possible to buy one and cannot seem to find anyone with the Video. I have the Leader's guide and student books but I would like to get the Video. One cannot effectively do the Study without the Video.

If there is anyone with the video please contact me.

Nine scripts for creative worship services with room for your own creativity. Photographs and extensive resource section to locate music, readings, make banners. Written by the women who experienced the spirit of enlivened worship, both associated with LA Presbyterian churches.

I have been using "A Catechumen's Lectionary in my parish RCIA process for several years now.
It has proved to be an excellent tool for catechists and sponsors as well as the catechumens and the candidates.
All three cycles (A,B,and C) are included as well as reflection questions for each week's readings written by several authors.

I highly recommend its use .

I am on an RCIA team and am learning about the RCIA as I go along. This answered so many questions that no one else has been able to answer for me. I didn't get answers like this from my pastor or from my DRE or from the Beginnings and Beyond (religious formation by osmosis) weekend.

Great book.

"Catholic Women's Colleges in America" finally addresses a notable gap in women's history, American educational history, and Catholic educational history. From the last third of the 1800's, congregations of Catholic religious women - nuns - created more than 225 institutions of higher learning for women. Numerous generations of women (and later men) were educated in these institutions. Because of the students' modest economic circumstances, many would not have received an education but for these institutions and these religious women. Recent histories of American higher education and Catholic higher education either ignore or pay only passing attention to the fact that more than half of all present-day Catholic colleges in the United States were formed by these women. The multiple authors of this edited book examine the colleges' history, importance, failings, and present challenges stemming from the steady disappearance of nuns from the American landscape. Along the way, and perhaps more importantly, they tell many of the individual stories of these religious women and their colleges. The chapters are well-written, and easily accessible to the lay reader. While my own judgment is that the religious character of these institutions is currently at more risk of disappearing than the editors allow, one cannot but be moved by the story, faith and determination of these religious women to educate women in the United States. Thanks to Schier and Russett for bringing this story to print.

Many books have been written by and about Catholic Workers, including the seminal writings of Dorothy Day herself, and the most recent collection of her diaries entries, Robert Ellsberg's The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day. But this book fills a much needed gap: the exploration of the ongoing, living practice of the Catholic Worker today.

Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin did not produce a blueprint for others to match. Instead, they simply sought to live faithful lives centered in the most solidly radical (in the true sense of "rooted") Catholic tradition they knew. They have inspired countless people to various forms of imitation.

This book, through interviews and reflection, explores some of those subsequent experiments. What is revealed is how many different ways there have been to call oneselves "Catholic Workers" within the traditions of personalism and gospel anarchy. Most helpful to me was to listen to CWs grapple with issues of faith and church. Where is the line (is there a line?) between "Catholic Worker" and simply "Worker"? What about social justice issues that Dorothy and Peter didn't consider explicitly, such as women's ordination or homosexuality?

This book is a wonderful resource for conversation and inspiration. It would be a great companion for the recent DVD, "Don't Call Me a Saint," available directly from the producer, Claudia Larson, at http://dorothydaydoc.com/.

Linda McKiernan-Allen's book, 'Celebrating Incarnation: A Resource for Worship', is the first volume of a planned four-volume series published by the Chalice Press. This is a book of worship resources, useful for worship leaders, pastors, and others interested in liturgy.

This volume particularly looks at Incarnation. 'Throughout the whole of scripture, one of the most important and far-reaching concepts is incarnation. God with us in the flesh, in the form of Jesus Christ, centers the Christian understanding of God-made-known.' This is illustrated in twelve particular biblical passages, listed below:

Genesis 1:1-2:4a * Exodus 3:1-12 * 1 Samuel 16:1-13 * Psalm 23 * Psalm 150 * Isaiah 11:6-9 * Matthew 1:18-25 * Mark 1:1-15 * Luke 10:38-11:4 * John 20:1-18 * Acts 10:1-48 * Revelation 21:1-7.

Many of these stories (the creation, the choosing of David, the birth of Jesus, the beginning of Jesus' ministry) are quite familiar to congregations already. Each selection includes basic elements of worship such as a call worship, prayers, sermon ideas for adult and children's sermons, communion meditations, and benedictions. These are tailored both to the particular passage as well as the issue at hand, Incarnation. Taken together, they can be integrated into a lectionary cycle as the relevant passages arise, or they can be adapted for other uses.

The sermon starters carry important messages that relate the biblical passages to issues of the day as well as general theological principles. For example, in the section on Genesis, the children's sermon deals with Beginnings, whereas the sermon ideas for adults deal with issues of creativity as well as stewardship and environmental awareness.

The editor, Linda McKiernan-Allen, is an ordained minister in the Disciples tradition. Being true to her tradition, she has drawn contributors together from many denominations, including the Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Church of Christ and the United Church of Canada. One striking similarity (and perhaps this was deliberate) is that all the contributors of twelve sections on biblical passages are women.
All of the children's sermons in this volume were written by Patricia Hatfield, a Disciple with long experience in the field of Christian education.

After the twelve passages, there is a section of Music Suggestions for hymns and anthems, laid out in a chart identifying the pieces in Disciples, Methodist, Presbyterian, and UCC hymnals. These books can also be used in connection with the Bible Quest curriculum

Overall, these pieces have the potential for adding interesting elements to worship, integrating the message of the biblical passages and sermon with every aspect of the service, from beginning to end. All are meant to be inclusive, welcoming and inviting to people of all Christian traditions.

Check out the other volumes, dealing with Covenant and Justice & Liberation, too.