This book is about getting the most out of seminary. Seminary can be rich and rewarding, but also disorienting. In addition to the typical challenges of doing graduate studies, your experiences in seminary have the potential to affect how you see God, other people, and yourself. The stakes are high, but the good news is that you are not alone! In Surviving and Thriving in Seminary, two experienced professors (and former seminary students) tell you what to expect and how to navigate your years in seminary. They give you advice on how to prepare your own heart and relationships, how to manage your time and energy, and how to acquire the study skills you need. This essential book encourages and equips current and prospective seminary students to get the most out of their time in seminary. - Publisher.

Seminary can be rich and rewarding, but also disorienting. In addition to the typical challenges of doing graduate studies, your experiences in seminary have the potential to affect how you see God, other people, and yourself. The stakes are high, but the good news is that you are not alone! In Surviving and Thriving in Seminary, two experienced professors (and former seminary students) tell you what to expect and how to navigate your years in seminary. They give you advice on how to prepare your own heart and relationships, how to manage your time and energy, and how to acquire the study skills you need. This essential book encourages and equips current and prospective seminary students to get the most out of their time in seminary.

Seminary is dangerous. Really dangerous. The hard truth is that many seminarians enter pastoral ministry feeling drained, disillusioned, and dissatisfied. But the problem isn't with the faculty or the material. Rather, the most perilous danger to the soul of the pastor-in-training is the sin residing deep within his own heart. Drawing on their years of pastoral ministry and seminary experience, David Mathis and Jonathan Parnell take a refreshingly honest look at this oft-neglected—yet all too common—experience, offering real-world advice for students eager to survive seminary with their faith intact. In seven short but challenging chapters, the authors remind readers of the foundational role of the gospel in the life of ministry, equipping them with the keys to grow in their faith while making the most of their education.

Why does one well-equipped, well-meaning person in ministry succeed while another fails? Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman and Donald Guthrie undertook a five-year intensive research project on the frontlines of pastoral ministry to answer that question. What they found was nothing less than the DNA of thriving ministry today.

"Margarita Mooney's path-breaking book, Faith Makes us Live, is the first-ever comparative study of how religious faith and practice affect immigrant adaptation and assimilation. Her imaginative analysis of Haitian immigrants in Miami, Montreal, and Paris shows how religious faith serves to mediate culturally between immigrants and their host societies, but also reveals that by itself faith is not enough to achieve successful integration. Host societies must also be receptive to the religious institutions that serve immigrants if integration is to be achieved. Her book is essential reading for students of both religion and immigration."—Douglas S. Massey, Princeton University "Margarita Mooney's research on Haitian Catholic immigrants in three settings is elegant in design, assiduous in execution, and compelling in presentation. Mooney's immigrants bring a deep piety with them across the ocean, but the different contexts of reception they encounter in Miami, Montreal, and Paris significantly influence their differential adaptation to their new homes in the U.S., Canada, and France. Faith Makes Us Live is an essential contribution to the growing body of literature on religion and immigration."—R. Stephen Warner, University of Illinois at Chicago "Faith Makes Us Live is one of those rare books that succeeds in making a valuable contribution on at least three fronts: it extends the literature on religion and immigration by showing how religious organizations serve as mediating structures between immigrants and their host communities, it demonstrates to scholars interested in faith-based service organizations that the larger relationships between church and state must be considered carefully through a comparative framework, and it provides students of religion with a compelling, up-close-and-personal account of how faith matters in the daily lives of Haitian immigrants."—Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University "What excites me most about Faith Makes Us Live is that it analyzes the role played by the Catholic Church in immigrant incorporation while taking into consideration the distinctive challenges met by Haitians in three societies that treat the poor, immigrants and people of color quite differently. The comparison between Miami, Paris, and Montreal is particularly felicitous given differences in the position and influence of the Church, the characteristics of the Haitian populations, and the public resources available to immigrants across these three contexts. By showing how religion sustains resilience and empowerment for a particularly vulnerable group of individuals, Mooney demonstrates the crucial role of meaning-making matters for immigrant incorporation."—Michele Lamont, Harvard University. "This book teaches us an important lesson: When immigrants are religious—and so many are—pragmatic cooperation between church and state can hasten their acculturation and improve their well-being. Faith Makes Us Live is essential reading for those who want to better understand the role of religion and religious institutions in immigrants' lives."—Mark Chaves, Duke University "An examplar of theory-driven ethnographic research. Professor Mooney provides an ambitious, comparative study at once rich in detail and grand in scope. By systematically comparing three countries on two continents, this book uncovers crucial patterns of relationships among church, state, and civil society and how they affect immigrants on the ground. This is what ethnography should be: rooted in the lived experience of everyday life and yet motivated by the need to understand human social processes in general."—Andy Perrin, University of North Carolina "Thoroughly sociological in design and analysis, this study opens new vistas for the field of religion and immigration. Leaving behind celebratory or critical accounts of the role of religious beliefs in the adaptation of immigrant minorities, Mooney makes clear that processes and outcomes depend on the interaction between religious institutions and the broader socio-political context. An original contribution, made even more valuable by its focus on one of the most downtrodden groups in the migrant world."—Alejandro Portes, Princeton University

In the three years since Donald Trump first announced his plans to run for president, the United States seems to become more dramatically polarized and divided with each passing month. There are seemingly irresolvable differences in the beliefs, values, and identities of citizens across the country that too often play out in our legal system in clashes on a range of topics such as the tensions between law enforcement and minority communities. How can we possibly argue for civic aspirations like tolerance, humility, and patience in our current moment? In Confident Pluralism, John D. Inazu analyzes the current state of the country, orients the contemporary United States within its broader history, and explores the ways that Americans can—and must—strive to live together peaceably despite our deeply engrained differences. Pluralism is one of the founding creeds of the United States—yet America’s society and legal system continues to face deep, unsolved structural problems in dealing with differing cultural anxieties and differing viewpoints. Inazu not only argues that it is possible to cohabitate peacefully in this country, but also lays out realistic guidelines for our society and legal system to achieve the new American dream through civic practices that value toleration over protest, humility over defensiveness, and persuasion over coercion. With a new preface that addresses the election of Donald Trump, the decline in civic discourse after the election, the Nazi march in Charlottesville, and more, this new edition of Confident Pluralism is an essential clarion call during one of the most troubled times in US history. Inazu argues for institutions that can work to bring people together as well as political institutions that will defend the unprotected. Confident Pluralism offers a refreshing argument for how the legal system can protect peoples’ personal beliefs and differences and provides a path forward to a healthier future of tolerance, humility, and patience.

In churches today, there are ever fewer older pastors speaking into the lives of younger leaders, and fewer younger leaders feeling there is much to be learned from the experience of their elders. Street-smart wisdom is gone from training as there are many men and women preparing pastors who have never themselves pastored a church. Intriguingly, even older, more seasoned pastors yearn for insight into their task, as they remain "undiscipled" in the school of leadership. In What They Didn't Teach You in Seminary, veteran pastor James Emery White provides the kind of mentoring young pastors desperately need but cannot get from academia or leadership books. These "from the trenches" insights will help them transform their relationships with staff and parishoners, develop healthy boundaries, deliver hard truths, avoid spiritual pitfalls, use their time effectively, and much more.

Storms in life are inevitable. Eventually everyone faces one. Sometimes difficult circumstances continue with no end in sight while prayers for miracles seem to go unanswered. For the past three decades, pastor Ben Young has worked with families and individuals struggling to cope with the harsh realities of major life crisis. He also knows personally what it’s like to endure an ongoing storm. Through his own trials, he has learned not only to survive each dark day, but to live every day in ways that make a person stronger, wiser, and more at peace.

An Introduction to Ministry is a comprehensive and ecumenical introduction to the craft of ministry for ministers, pastors, and priests that make up the mainline denominations in the United States. Ecumenically-focused, It offers a grounded account of ministry, covering areas such as vocation, congregational leadership, and cultivation of skills for an effective ministry. Covers the key components of the M.Div. curriculum, offering a map and guide to the central skills and issues in training Explores the areas of vocation, skills for ministry, and issues around congregational leadership Each topic ends with an annotated bibliography providing an indispensable gateway to further study Helps students understand both the distinctive approach of their denomination and the relationship of that approach to other mainline denominations Advocates and defends a generous understanding of the Christian tradition in its openness and commitment to broad conversation

Ten Who Changed the World is seminary president Daniel Akin’s powerful tribute to the transformational work done by some truly inspiring Christian missionaries. With each profile, he journeys into the heart of that gospel servant’s mission-minded story and makes a compelling connection to a similar account from the Bible. David Brainerd (1718-1747; missionary to Native Americans) reminds Akin of Paul’s missionary life in 2 Timothy. The faithful ministry of George Leile (1750-1820; missionary to Jamaica) is aligned with Galatians 6. William Carey (1761-1834; missionary to India) lives out the Great Commission of Matthew 28. There are parallels between Adoniram Judson (1788-1850; missionary to Burma) and Romans 8. Lottie Moon (1840-1912; missionary to China) displays the power of a consecrated life described in Romans 12. The work of James Fraser (1886-1938; missionary to China) illustrates Revelation 5. Eric Liddell (1902-1945; missionary to China), his life documented in the film Chariots of Fire, illuminates Hebrews 12. Together, John (1907-1934) and Betty Stam (1906-1934; missionaries to China) embodied Psalm 67. William Wallace (1908-1951; missionary to China) was a shining example of Philippians 1. Jim Elliot (1927-1956; missionary to Ecuador) is a bold reminder of Psalm 96.