Spiritual Synergy is refreshingly down to earth and easy to read; although small, it packs a punch and has plenty of exercises for the soul. Coach Wendy Wharton, MA, LPCMH, Life Counseling Center, Middle School Physical Ed & Track & Field Spiritual Synergy offers a workout designed for women who are tired of being weighed down by the weight of their world and are ready to raise their spiritual temperature. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, author Tammy Carpenter seeks to help you allow God, through His Holy Scripture, to strengthen your spiritual being. This Bible study and guide uses the physical to help you understand the spiritual. Each chapter focuses on losing the weight that is damaging your spirit, and gaining the muscle to strengthen our spiritual being. For instance, a weight that we want to gain is Holiness; this chapter explains reflecting God to others. While working out or lifting weights in a gym the focus is on the mirror to insure each exercise is done completely and correctly. Tammy explains how Christ is our mirror for our spiritual workout. Adding the weight of holiness, causes us to reflect Him releasing Gods love in us and others. Spiritual Synergy also considers the weights of discipline, disobedience, carnality, pride, strength, courage, and wisdom among other important topics. As an added bonus, this guide also includes a detox sheet for crisis situations and an alphabetical vitamin verse sheet for daily consumption. In the likeness of a fitness instructor, Tammy Carpenter coaches readers with practical pointers for developing vibrant spiritual health. Spiritual Synergy quickly gets to the heart of trimming fleshly flab and toning heavy hearts. Women, young and old, will profit from this inspiring read. Verna Clemmer, Pastors wife, mentor to women

"Spiritual Synergy is refreshingly down to earth and easy to read; although small, it packs a punch and has plenty of exercises for the soul." Coach Wendy Wharton, MA, LPCMH, Life Counseling Center, Middle School Physical Ed & Track & Field Spiritual Synergy offers a workout designed for women who are tired of being weighed down by the weight of their world and are ready to raise their spiritual temperature. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, author Tammy Carpenter seeks to help you allow God, through His Holy Scripture, to strengthen your spiritual being. This Bible study and guide uses the physical to help you understand the spiritual. Each chapter focuses on losing the weight that is damaging your spirit, and gaining the muscle to strengthen our spiritual being. For instance, a weight that we want to gain is Holiness; this chapter explains reflecting God to others. While working out or lifting weights in a gym the focus is on the mirror to insure each exercise is done completely and correctly. Tammy explains how Christ is our mirror for our spiritual workout. Adding the weight of holiness, causes us to reflect Him releasing God's love in us and others. Spiritual Synergy also considers the weights of discipline, disobedience, carnality, pride, strength, courage, and wisdom among other important topics. As an added bonus, this guide also includes a detox sheet for crisis situations and an alphabetical vitamin verse sheet for daily consumption. "In the likeness of a fitness instructor, Tammy Carpenter coaches readers with practical pointers for developing vibrant spiritual health. Spiritual Synergy quickly gets to the heart of trimming fleshly flab and toning heavy hearts. Women, young and old, will profit from this inspiring read". Verna Clemmer, Pastor's wife, mentor to women

The people are the church—not just the pastor. Yet, in many congregations there is a heavy imbalance in the ownership of ministry. Clergy and paid staff are seen as God’s agents in the world, and congregants as occasional participants. Sometimes, clergy and other leaders perpetuate this imbalance. Ann Michel presents a more inclusive, collaborative understanding of ministry, which affirms the gifts and calling of both clergy and lay servants. She uses the concept of “synergy” as a theological framework undergirding this approach. Michel lays out an inclusive and collaborative paradigm of ministry affirming the work of both lay and clergy servants. Synergy also provides practical advice on the day-to-day skills of synergistic or collaborative ministry – how to engage others in ministry, how to build teams, how to manage meetings, how to develop others as leaders, etc. The book helps church workers, paid and unpaid, understand how their ministry relates to the mission of God and the ministry of the church, and provides practical guidance on the interpersonal ministry skills essential to any expression of collaborative ministry. "Synergy is both a practical and deeply spiritual resource that helps provide a more collaborative way of thinking about ministry shared between clergy and laity. Ann has captured the challenges that can present themselves as laity serve in ministry not only from her research but also from her personal experience as a lay person and respected Seminary theologian, and she offers practical ways to equip laity to fully live in this call of lay servants and lay staff members. As a lay person who has served on a church staff for more than 23 years, understanding this synergistic energy articulated so well in Ann’s writing has reignited my passion and affirmed my call." - Debi Williams Nixon, Managing Executive Director, The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection

Drawing from biblical principles, leadership theory, and more than twenty years of coaching leaders and teams, Bryan D. Sims reveals a Christ-centered vision for shared leadership.

When you engage in a spiritual quest it can weaken your power and make you vulnerable - that's called the space junkie syndrome - You lose touch with reality - The tactics I cover in this book are aimed at giving you back the control seat so that you don't lose yourself - These are power ideas and strategies to stay on track with your life and destiny line - A must read for anyone who engages in a spiritual quest

Guided by the concept of synergy, this groundbreaking collection explores alternatives in the areas of counseling, education, and community health and development. Synergy refers to the process of two or more things coming together to create a new, greater, and often-unexpected whole. When synergy exists, formerly scarce resources can expand and become renewable and accessible to all. Drawing upon the diverse cultural experiences of Aboriginal groups in North America and around the world, these compelling narratives provide practical insights into the emergence of synergy and obstacles to its existence. Synergy, Healing and Empowerment offers invaluable guidance in the pursuit of a just and equitable society.

An inclusive and collaborative paradigm of ministry affirming the work of both lay and clergy servants.

In Spiritual DNA of the Church On Mission, author Bob Burton compares the missional foundation of the early church to human DNA. He argues that understanding the Church's missional DNA is the most effective starting point in engaging your church members on God's mission for the sake of total gospel transformation.

Some think that liturgy is formal, public, and for ordinary people, while mysticism is uncontrollable, private, and for extraordinary saints. Is there a connection between the two? In this volume, David Fagerberg proposes that mysticism is the normal crowning of the Christian life, and the Christian life is liturgical. We intuitively sense that liturgy and theology and mysticism have an affinity. Liturgical theology should reveal liturgy’s mystical heart. Liturgical theology asks “What happens in liturgy?” and liturgical mysticism asks “What happens to us in liturgy?”, and perfects our interior liturgy. In Liturgical Mysticism, Fagerberg directs the reader to look fixedly at Christ, who is the Mystery present in liturgy, and who bestows his resurrection power upon his adopted children. “In a time where both too wild and too mild spiritualities abound, it is audacious to put forward a book on liturgical mysticism. [This book] continues to enrich liturgical theology by amplifying its horizon and solidifying the foundation on which it rests.” Joris Geldhof Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

"Character" has become a front-and-center topic in contemporary discourse, but this term does not have a fixed meaning. Character may be simply defined by what someone does not do, but a more active and thorough definition is necessary, one that addresses certain vital questions. Is character a singular characteristic of an individual, or is it composed of different aspects? Does character--however we define it--exist in degrees, or is it simply something one happens to have? How can character be developed? Can it be learned? Relatedly, can it be taught, and who might be the most effective teacher? What roles are played by family, schools, the media, religion, and the larger culture? This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on-each of which exists in degrees. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each strength is thoroughly examined in its own chapter, with special attention to its meaning, explanation, measurement, causes, correlates, consequences, and development across the life span, as well as to strategies for its deliberate cultivation. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.