Organizations and Institutions Books

I do not rate with 5 stars easily. However, Conrad's book is essential reading for everyone not familiar with boards of directors, their responsibilities, their liabilities, and how they work. If you are thinking about joining a board, then read this book and keep it next to your dictionary and your Bible, because these will be your most important books. I cannot say it better than that.

This handbook is a good guide for Protestant ministers who have either not been introduced to, or have not understood, the Church calendar year. If you are looking for something different in worship, worship with a point, then this book will help you. It deals with all of the Church seasons in a way that is easily understandable. For some of us, we have not discovered the riches that can be found in following the Church year during worship.

I am in the process of considering new church models and this book was very helpful. Dr. Malphurs does an excellent job of providing working theologies of important factors such as change, culture and church. The book is loaded with scripture to back up his insights. He also provides the evidence necessary to understand why churches need to change. After reading the book, I bought a copy for all of our staff and church leadership. Before you dive into change, read this book and check out other resources by Dr. Malphurs.

This book is a wonderful collection of stories about those who have recently been canonized.

The tales range from Joseph de Anchieta, born in 1534, who became an apostle to the natives of Brazil. He walked "'Barefoot, with his mission cross and rosary around his neck...lost in the depths of the widerness, encountered ferocious beasts...he carried on for one reason only: to win souls'" (p 29).

Although most of the biographies are of people you are not likely to have read about before, there are also some names you are likely to be familiar with, such as Kateri Tekakwitha, who who became an example of true spirituality to the Mohawk nation, and St Maximilian Kolbe, who gave up his life in place of another man at Auschwitz.

A good book to meditate with.

From preface: New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship by Paul Bradshaw (Westminster John Knox Press) Although this dictionary is very obviously closely related to the Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship edited by J. G. Davies (SCM Press, London 1972, 2nd ed. 1986), it is not merely a further edition of that work, but rather its successor. While the vast majority of the headings used in that earlier volume have been adopted here, some have been deleted, new ones added, and other subjects rearranged. For example, `experimental forms of worship' has been eliminated because it now seems an outdated category, and for a similar reason `feminist liturgical movement' subsumed within the wider category of `women and worship'; while entries referring to more recent developments, like `praise and worship movement', have been inserted. The broad entry on `liturgies' has been replaced by two separate entries, on `eucharist' and on `word, services of the'. In some cases entries have been placed under new headings that would be more commonly used today. Thus, for instance, `year, liturgical' has been substituted for `calendar'; `daily prayer' for `canonical hours'; `eucharistic prayer' for `anaphora'; `inculturation' for `indigenization'; and so on.
All entries have been entirely rewritten, and in nearly every case by a new contributor. Contributors have been chosen on the basis of their expertise in the particular subject, in some instances from within the particular worship tradition under discussion, in others from outside, since both views shed valuable and complementary light. All the entries, except the shortest, have been broken up into numbered sections with sub-headings for ease of use and provided with bibliographical resources for further study. Where appropriate, the literature listed has been divided into selected texts and studies, with works containing a more extensive bibliography indicated by the symbol (bib.). It is the editor's earnest hope that with these changes and improvements the volume will serve as a comprehensive guide to the subject for future years as well as Davies' work has done for the last thirty years.

Finally, someone who is not afraid to stand up against the charismatic movement. Oakland presents an excellent case as to the dangers of the Charismatic movement and how their roots lead to Catholicism. He even shows how this movement can be traced back over 2000 yrs ago, from a pagan goddess. I recommend this book to anyone.

I just recently became a lector and I was desperate for guidance. This book provides some incredible step-by-step tools, with exercise suggestions at the end of each step. The FAQs are handy -- the book is portable (small enough to stick in your bible cover!) -- and I feel MUCH more prepared now when I step up to the lecturn on "my" Sundays!

Having spent most of my life in inner city academic medical institutions, I thought I knew much about the healthcare of the underprivileged. Having never worked in a truly public hospital, however, it wasn't until I read Opdyke's very readable book comparing a traditional academic, private hospital (New York Hospital) with a public one (Bellvue) that I could understand the real difference between the two. The book is well-written and easily read. There are sufficient facts to support her premises. It is a mark the book's worth, that I only lament that the author condensed some time periods that could have been even more detailed. Still, this is a must read for anyone commited to healthcare, but who has never had the experience of working in a public hospital. It raises many important issues that must be solved if universal healthcare is ever to become a reality in this country. Five stars!

I found this book to be very interesting and informative. The level of detail in the book is tremendous, yet it is very readable. I recommend to anyone intersted in history.

Professor Goldgeier has completed an exhaustively researched documentary of how US policy evolved from the indifference of the Bush Administration to the eventual activism of the Clinton Administration in bringing in former Warsaw Pact satellite nations of the USSR into the bedrock of Western security, NATO. It is a fascinating and eminently readable account of both Washington policmaking and Alliance politics. Together with former Congressman Gerald B. Solomon's The NATO Enlargement Debate 1990-1997 (Praeger 1998), Professor Goldgeier's volume will certainly satisfy the key curriculum reading list for scholars of European security. A must read. John Borawski Director of the Political Committee NATO Parliamentary Assembly 1987-1999