Dear Church

Dear Church PDF Author: Lenny Duncan
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506452574
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work--drawing a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part manifesto, part confession, and all love letter, Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of Duncan's denomination and the broader mainline Christian community of faith. Dear Church rejects the narrative of church decline and calls everyone--leaders and laity alike--to the front lines of the church's renewal through racial equality and justice. It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice. Duncan gives a blueprint for the way forward and urges us to follow in the revolutionary path of Jesus. Dear Church also features a discussion guide at the back--perfect for church groups, book clubs, and other group discussion.

Dear Church

Dear Church PDF Author: Lenny Duncan
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506452574
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Get Book Here

Book Description
Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work--drawing a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part manifesto, part confession, and all love letter, Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of Duncan's denomination and the broader mainline Christian community of faith. Dear Church rejects the narrative of church decline and calls everyone--leaders and laity alike--to the front lines of the church's renewal through racial equality and justice. It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice. Duncan gives a blueprint for the way forward and urges us to follow in the revolutionary path of Jesus. Dear Church also features a discussion guide at the back--perfect for church groups, book clubs, and other group discussion.

The Episcopal Way

The Episcopal Way PDF Author:
Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
ISBN: 0819229601
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
Explores seismic shifts in American life and the opportunities and challenges each presents to the church today. And calls for a return to Episcopal basics and insist that faithfully engaging a changing world might be the most truly Anglican practice of all.

Decolonizing Christianity

Decolonizing Christianity PDF Author: Miguel A. De La Torre
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467461210
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
“How curiously different is this white God from the one preached by Jesus who understood faithfulness by how we treat the hungry and thirsty, the naked and alien, the incarcerated and infirm. This white God of empire may be appropriate for global conquerors who benefit from all that has been stolen and through the labor of all those defined as inferior; but such a deity can never be the God of the conquered.” Echoing James Cone’s 1970 assertion that white Christianity is a satanic heresy, Miguel De La Torre argues that whiteness has desecrated the message of Jesus. In a scathing indictment, he describes how white American Christians have aligned themselves with the oppressors who subjugate the “least of these”—those who have been systemically marginalized because of their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status—and, in overwhelming numbers, elected and supported an antichrist as president who has brought the bigotry ingrained in American society out into the open. With this follow-up to his earlier Burying White Privilege, De La Torre prophetically outlines how we need to decolonize Christianity and reclaim its revolutionary, badass message. Timid white liberalism is not the answer for De La Torre—only another form of complicity. Working from the parable of the sheep and the goats in the Gospel of Matthew, he calls for unapologetic solidarity with the sheep and an unequivocal rejection of the false, idolatrous Christianity of whiteness.

People of the Way

People of the Way PDF Author: Dwight J. Zscheile
Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 0819220914
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
By exploring the Episcopal Church’s mission and precepts in the context of 21st century and its challenges, this thoughtful book deepens the Church’s relationship with its people and makes the faith more relevant. Society and culture are constantly evolving so must religion and its mission to remain meaningful. The legacies of establishment, benefactor approaches to mission, and the ‘national church’ ideal are no longer adequate for the challenges and opportunities facing the 21st century church. But if the Episcopal Church is no longer the Church of the Establishment and the benefactor model of church is dead, what is the heart of Episcopal mission and identity? Scholar and Episcopal priest Dwight Zscheile draws on multiple streams of Anglican thought and practice, plus contemporary experience to craft a vision for mission that addresses the church’s post-establishment, post-colonial context. With stories, practices and concrete illustrations, Zscheile engages readers in re-envisioning what it means to be Anglican in America today and sends readers out to build new relationships within their local contexts.

Recovering the Lost Art of Reading

Recovering the Lost Art of Reading PDF Author: Leland Ryken
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433564300
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
A Christian Perspective on the Joys of Reading Reading has become a lost art. With smartphones offering us endless information with the tap of a finger, it's hard to view reading as anything less than a tedious and outdated endeavor. This is particularly problematic for Christians, as many find it difficult to read even the Bible consistently and attentively. Reading is in desperate need of recovery. Recovering the Lost Art of Reading addresses these issues by exploring the importance of reading in general as well as studying the Bible as literature, offering practical suggestions along the way. Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes inspire a new generation to overcome the notion that reading is a duty and instead discover it as a delight.

Being Interrupted

Being Interrupted PDF Author: Al Barrett
Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN: 0334058627
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Beginning with a ‘Street Nativity Play’ that didn’t end as planned, and finishing with an open-ended conversation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Being Interrupted" locates an institutionally-anxious Church of England within the wider contexts of divisions of race and class in ‘the ruins of empire’, alongside ongoing gender inequalities, the marginalization of children, and catastrophic ecological breakdown. In the midst of this bleak picture, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley open a door to a creative disruption of the status quo, ‘from the outside, in’: the in-breaking of the wild reality of the ‘Kin-dom’ of God. Through careful and unsettling readings in Mark’s gospel, alongside stories from a multicultural outer estate in east Birmingham, they paint a vivid picture of an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods and our imaginations, and offers new possibilities for repentance and resurrection.

The Church Cracked Open

The Church Cracked Open PDF Author: Stephanie Spellers
Publisher: Church Publishing
ISBN: 1640654240
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
"This book will make a profound difference for the church in this moment in history." — The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry Sometimes it takes disruption and loss to break us open and call us home to God. It’s not surprising that a global pandemic and once-in-a-generation reckoning with white supremacy—on top of decades of systemic decline—have spurred Christians everywhere to ask who we are, why God placed us here and what difference that makes to the world. In this critical yet loving book, the author explores the American story and the Episcopal story in order to find out how communities steeped in racism, establishment, and privilege can at last fall in love with Jesus, walk humbly with the most vulnerable and embody beloved community in our own broken but beautiful way. The Church Cracked Open invites us to surrender privilege and redefine church, not just for the sake of others, but for our own salvation and liberation.

A People Called Episcopalians

A People Called Episcopalians PDF Author: John H. Westerhoff III
Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 0819231886
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
A straightforward, easy-to-understand introduction to the Episcopal Church. What are we as Episcopalians? This concise booklet explores five main areas of Episcopal life: identity, authority, spirituality, temperament, and polity. A great introduction to the Episcopal way of thinking in readable prose for any newcomer or seeker in the Episcopal Church who may wonder what makes Episcopalians different than Roman Catholics or other protestants.

One Body One Spirit

One Body One Spirit PDF Author: George A. Yancey
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458749045
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
AS SOCIETY DIVERSIFIES, LOCAL CHURCHES FIND THEM SELVES INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE FROM EVERY TRIBE AND TONGUE. But not every church is equipped to handle the realities of ethnic and racial diversity in its congregational life. Sociologist George Yancey's pioneering research on multiracial churches offers key principles for church leaders wanting t...

Cracked Up to Be

Cracked Up to Be PDF Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1429948108
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Classic Courtney Summers with a brand new look and exclusive bonus material! This ebook edition of Cracked Up to Be includes updated text, an afterword from the author and a discussion guide. The high price of perfection is one 'Perfect' Parker Fadley always believed she was willing to pay until the events of a party during junior year fractures the lives of her family and friends. Something terrible has happened and only Parker knows it's her fault. If being a perfect daughter, student, friend and girlfriend couldn't keep her from making an unforgivable mistake, Parker hopes becoming a perfect mess will at least keep her loved ones from discovering the truth. But when the arrival of a curious new student and the unexpected return of an old enemy threaten her tenuous grip on control, Parker must decide just how far she'll go to keep her secret from surfacing. Also available from Courtney Summers: I'M THE GIRL, the new "brutally captivating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) queer thriller based loosely on The Epstein case.