Every church has far more work than any one person can do. Even a team of professionals is not enough. The New Testament solution was for every member to be a minister. Though the priesthood of all believers was a key idea in the Reformation, it is little practised today. Following secular models, churches usually organize around the clergy, who are paid by the laity to do the ministry. Paul Stevens argues that, according to Scripture, the primary task of a Christian leader is not to do the work but to equip the saints to do it. Exploring new options for pastors, tentmakers and laypeople, this book provides structures and strategies to best equip all the saints for ministry.

A handbook on lay counseling including an overview and how-to information for leaders and lay counselors, Reverend Siang-Yang Tan's helpful book also includes a forward by Gary R. Collins.

Theological reflections explore the genuine role of the Catholic laity, leading to proposals for a "lay liberation theology" and structural reform of the Catholic church. "Throughout, Lakeland does an admirable job of balancing his style to make the work useful for both general and specialized readers. Lakeland surveys the contributions of an impressive number of historical and contemporary writers on the laity."QWilliam A. Clark, "Catholic Books Review."Continuum Books

The Reformation restored the Scriptures to the people, but the job was only halfway finished. Today the church is awakening to the truth that ministry is not just the domain of clergy, but belongs to the entire body of Christ. God is moving her to complete her unfinished business of placing the ministry back in the hands of the people.Unfinished Business has played a pivotal part in helping the church reclaim ministry at the grassroots level. First published in 1990 as The New Reformation, it has become a classic resource for church life. Expanding on and updating the original material with fresh examples and references to eight key important movements, this new edition lays foundations for the church to move from:· Passive to active· Maintenance to mission· Clergy to people of God· Teacher/caregiver to equipping enabler Pointing us back to the church as an organism, not an institution, author Greg Ogden shows how each of us is called to help finish the Reformation’s unfinished business: expressing the priesthood of every believer practically in the church, the world, and all avenues of life.

Dr. Leonard Doohan is Professor Emeritus at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington. He has written twenty-four books and many articles and has given hundreds of workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East. Dr. Doohan has written six books on various aspects of the New Testament, and six books on the spirituality and roles of laity in the contemporary church. Doohan's recent books include Spiritual Leadership: The Quest for Integrity (2007), Enjoying Retirement: Living Life to the Fullest (2010), Courageous Hope: The Call of Leadership (2011), The One Thing Necessary: The Transforming Power of Christian Love (2012), Spiritual Leadership: How to Become a Great Spiritual Leader--Ten Steps and a Hundred Suggestions (2014), Ten Strategies to Nurture Our Spiritual Lives (2014), and Rediscovering Jesus' Priorities (2014).

These days, people talk about their schedules filling up 24/7—twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We wear busyness like a merit badge, as if the more we do, the better we become. But R. Paul Stevens says this is not biblical. Nor is it helpful. For Christians life isn’t about checking off “to-do” lists. It’s about connecting with God and infiltrating thoughtful, biblical faith into our everyday lives. Sometimes that means activity, but sometimes not. Everyday spirituality—the subject of the book—embraces purposeful times of work, relationships, and rest, centered on God instead of personal or cultural expectations. But how can you do it? It’s not easy exiting the fast track to practice a slowed-down yet down-to-earth holiness. Stevens understands this, and offers practical insights to developing a “subversive spirituality”—a meaningful faith that seeps into your work, family, sexuality, friendships, outreach, aloneness, and leisure—and fills you with joy. But most importantly, it motivates you to lovingly abide with God seven days a week. Matthew the Poor, an Eastern monk in Egypt, once said that “life is but one single way that leads to the kingdom of God.”

In this provocative book, Stevens writes the clergy-laity division has no basis in the New Testament and challenges all Christians to rediscover what it means to live daily as God's people. Exploring the theological, structural and cultural reasons for treating laypeople as the objects of ministry, Stevens argues against the idea of clericalism and in favor of equipping people for ministry in their homes, workplaces and neighborhoods.

The authors draw on their combined experience to create an exciting model of congregational leadership that understands congregations as relational systems. Learn how relational processes can liberate members for ministry and mission in the world and release pastors for appropriate leadership.

My Brother's Keeper is a training manual for clergy, laity, parents, teachers, social workers, youth workers, guidance counselors and caring persons who want to develop a Mentoring Program, Rites of Passage, Conflict Resolution Classes, Liberation Lessons and use Rap music to free young African American males from their spiritual, social, and psychological bondage. Moreover, these ministries will raise their self-esteem, fulfill their paternal deprivation, help them manage their anger, instruct them to be peacemakers, develop their moral consciousness and save their souls.

Every workday millions of Christians enter the marketplace. Whether as sales associates or engineers, auto mechanics or executives, Christians are called to serve God in the workplace. But most need help integrating faith and work. How can you be salt and light on the job? Where can you turn for help in developing a biblical and satisfying view ...