This book argues compellingly for the centrality of mission in understanding the church and provides a model for congregational leadership that will help move congregations beyond a maintenance mentality to vital engagement with the world God loves. Nessan's model of congregational leadership is strongly centered on worship life of a congregation and the entirety of the church's ministry. The chapters provide solid theological and practical direction on the themes of worship, education, fellowship, stewardship, evangelism, global connections, ecumenism, and social ministry. It is a book that will find a home in both the academy and the parish a textbook for seminarians and a guide and resource for pastors and lay congregational leaders.

Almost every congregation is experiencing tension over worship. Many congregations have been participating in a renaissance of worship known as the "liturgical movement" and have reclaimed worship forms that have served the church for centuries. Yet because the church today is operating in a radically changed cultural environment, many people in our society do not understand liturgical worship and thus we must find language, music, themes, and images that speak to the unchurched, spiritually seeking person. In Beyond the Worship Wars, Thomas G. Long discusses the nine characteristics of vital and faithful worship practiced by a wide range of "third-way" congregations—all characteristics that make for vital and faithful worshi

Taking an intricate look at vitality and health in congregations based on information gathered from the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, the authors conclude that congregations have ten strengths, and that by building upon these strengths, congregations can transform their futures.

Beyond Katrina is poet Natasha Trethewey’s very personal profile of her natal Mississippi Gulf Coast and of the people there whose lives were forever changed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Trethewey’s attempt to understand and document the damage to Gulfport started as a series of lectures at the University of Virginia that were subsequently published as essays in the Virginia Quarterly Review. For Beyond Katrina, Trethewey expanded this work into a narrative that incorporates personal letters, poems, and photographs, offering a moving meditation on the love she holds for her childhood home. In this new edition, Trethewey looks back on the ten years that have passed since Katrina in a new epilogue, outlining progress that has been made and the challenges that still exist.

Many books have been written about leadership and change, but until now none has focused on the kind of change that tears at a community's very fabric. Alban senior consultant Gil Rendle provides a respectful context for understanding change, especially the experiences and resistances that people feel. Rendle pulls together theory, research, and his work with churches facing change to provide leaders with practical diagnostic models and tools. In a time when change is the norm, this book helps to "lead change" in a spiritual and healthy way.

Based on God's vision for churches in Matthew 28:18-20, this book presents sound methods for making disciples, winning the lost for Christ, and planting new churches.

“A breakthrough work coming from the heart of evangelical Christianity,” writes theologian David Gushee. “Wilson shows how God has led him on a journey toward a rethinking of what the fully authoritative and inspired Bible ought to be taken to mean in the life of the church today.” “This book … will shape what the church becomes,” writes anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. “One of the most exquisite, painful, candid, brilliant pieces … that I have ever seen,” writes Christian author Phyllis Tickle. The second edition contains expanded material.

This book, written by a Certified Christian Conciliator with more than 20 years of experience in church reconciliation, offers practical advice for improving the spiritual health of congregations and the ministers that lead them.

How clear are your windows? How biblical is your worldview? Discover Your Windows analyzes how you think about your involvement in the church. The way you see your world drives your behavior. In this dynamic book, Church Doctor Kent Hunter explores ten worldviews (windows) that greatly affect your life and your church. Based on research of over 18,000 church members, Hunter reveals that most tensions in churches are focused on symptoms rather than the issues that lie behind them--conflicting worldviews.