This is an invigorating story. The author tells about growing up peacefully in a small Southern community during the Civil Rights Movement. Her childhood was protected from much of the Jim Crow, racism, and unrest experienced in the segregated South during that time. Founded by former slaves and colored Civil War veterans, these landowners created a safe haven, a thriving village for its African American residents. This environment hardly prepared her for what life was like outside this protective shield that she had become accustomed to. She tells a moving, thrilling, and often touching story of how she dealt with life beyond this place. She exhibited great determination to rise above the many issues she faced while dealing with marriage, raising her children, and a struggle to grow up herself. Her children, being her most important spectators, watched as she tried to teach them by setting good examples.

One of the most substantial divides in American politics is the “God gap.” Religious voters tend to identify with and support the Republican Party, while secular voters generally support the Democratic Party. Conventional wisdom suggests that religious differences between Republicans and Democrats have produced this gap, with voters sorting themselves into the party that best represents their religious views. Michele F. Margolis offers a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom, arguing that the relationship between religion and politics is far from a one-way street that starts in the church and ends at the ballot box. Margolis contends that political identity has a profound effect on social identity, including religion. Whether a person chooses to identify as religious and the extent of their involvement in a religious community are, in part, a response to political surroundings. In today’s climate of political polarization, partisan actors also help reinforce the relationship between religion and politics, as Democratic and Republican elites stake out divergent positions on moral issues and use religious faith to varying degrees when reaching out to voters.

In this upbeat book Robbie Castleman shows parents how to guide their toddlers and teenagers to participate more fully in the worship of the church. This significantly revised and updated edition includes a new preface and new appendices with ideas for children's sermons and intergenerational community.

Pastor and author Donna Schaper takes the long view of religious institution in an age of rapid change. The question of who the church is today—and how it uses its buildings—is connected to the church’s past identities and its future hopes. Schaper is both concrete and provocative in her examination of how the church might be renewed for the modern age.

What if the church became more than a home for the hypocrites? What if the church became a hospital to heal the hurting? When the carnage of war broke out on D-Day, the wounded were brought to an empty, nearby church and laid on the pews so medics could treat them. When the war was over, and the blood-stained pews discovered, the townspeople decided to preserve the stains to remind all who would come afterward: This is the place where the wounded are welcome. Blood Stained Pews is a chance to examine Jesus’ original intent for the church, a hospital for the broken. Pastor and author Carl Kuhl is clear: Christians have been getting this wrong, but in this book, he gives clear steps to change our hearts, our practices, and ultimately our churches through the power of open brokenness. Through personal stories and powerful insights, Carl implores us to more deeply consider God’s grace and turn our churches into the places people run to when they’re wounded.

In 2012, Steve Austin, then a pastor, nearly died by suicide. His experience launched him on a journey that opened his eyes to the widespread problem of mental illness and how those who live with it are often treated in congregations. He began to wonder: if church folks had talked openly about mental health, therapy, suicide prevention, recovery from abuse, and other difficult issues, would that have changed his story? In Hiding in the Pews, people with mental illness--some of whom might be pastors themselves--will find comfort as they learn they are not alone. Those who know someone with mental illness will gain wisdom about how to be a safe presence. Those who hold the most power in church communities--pastors, board members, and lay leaders--will be challenged and equipped to transform their congregations into places of healing, where it is safe for people to be vulnerable about their suffering. Austin draws on his own experience, as well as on interviews with eighty current and former church leaders and members. Each chapter covers a topic or theme about mental illness and the church and includes practical applications to guide leaders on a journey toward transforming church culture. When a church champions vulnerability and establishes safety within its walls, especially for those who are suffering, the loving power of God heals. Austin offers hope that faith communities will be the first places people think of when they need a sense of safety and belonging.

Scandal {skan-dl} an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong causing general public outcry or outrageWe live in a society where there are scandals in Government, Corporate America, family and even amongst friends. But what happens when scandal takes place in your church, and leaders that you hold in high esteem are morally corrupEnter the world of Bishop Gregory Fortune, a prominent Pentecostal preacher, father, and husband of almost thirty years. He has two children by the love of his life, Sheila. Though not a complicated man, he has big dreams to grow his ministry to a level of greatness. Then, unexpectedly, his simple life is instantly upgraded when a rare beauty walks into the doors of his small sanctuary. From the onset, an educated Nadira Horton is a quiet spirit, yet she has the aura of a Boss that Gregory recognizes almost immediately.Hungry for success, Nadira takes the bull by the horns and sets her business plan into motion . At her direction, Gregory's lofty dream of having a massive ministry materializes, and Sheila basks in the glory of their success without having put in any actual work of her own. Suddenly, Nadira finds herself in love with Gregory, who has also fallen hard for her.All the while, Nadira's best friend Myka is caught up in her own scandal. Dreadful secrets force her picture perfect marriage to fade in the most horrendous way imaginable.The old saying, 'If the head isn't right the body isn't either, ' reigns true in this congregation. Exceeding Faith Ministries and its members are all experiencing scandal while occupying the pews. Who will be the one to remove their white gloves, slide on their gladiator suit, and clean up the mess that their choices have left behind?

St. Augustine Catholic Church has stood in the Trem? section of New Orleans for over 170 years. Its international fame and role as a musical and cultural center as well as a spiritual focus has made it a national treasure. In the spring of 2006 the archdiocese of New Orleans declared St. Augustine Church closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The beloved pastor since 1990, Fr. Jerome LeDoux, was reassigned to a congregation in Texas. But the parishioners, inspired by their pastor-in-exile, faced off with the archbishop, forcing an unprecedented mediation to keep the church?s doors open and its future secure. This fascinating story in all its details is told with candor and humor by Fr. LeDoux. He also goes back into the church?s history from its founding in 1841 through the Civil War, segregation, Civil Rights and ultimately Hurricane Katrina to show how its predominantly African-American population weathered each of four Battles in the War of the Pews. “LeDoux?s gripping description of events offers a unique window into the rich cultural complexity of the city with rare historical depth” -- Dr. Ina Johan Fandrich, author and historical researcher." -- from publisher's website.

Using Christianity in Africa, this book demonstrates that cultural influences, specifically religious sermons, can impact political participation.