Author: Clifford Putney
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674042409
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Dissatisfied with a Victorian culture focused on domesticity and threatened by physical decline in sedentary office jobs, American men in the late nineteenth century sought masculine company in fraternal lodges and engaged in exercise to invigorate their bodies. One form of this new manly culture, developed out of the Protestant churches, was known as muscular Christianity. In this fascinating study, Clifford Putney details how Protestant leaders promoted competitive sports and physical education to create an ideal of Christian manliness.
Muscular Christianity
Author: Clifford Putney
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674042409
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Dissatisfied with a Victorian culture focused on domesticity and threatened by physical decline in sedentary office jobs, American men in the late nineteenth century sought masculine company in fraternal lodges and engaged in exercise to invigorate their bodies. One form of this new manly culture, developed out of the Protestant churches, was known as muscular Christianity. In this fascinating study, Clifford Putney details how Protestant leaders promoted competitive sports and physical education to create an ideal of Christian manliness.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674042409
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Dissatisfied with a Victorian culture focused on domesticity and threatened by physical decline in sedentary office jobs, American men in the late nineteenth century sought masculine company in fraternal lodges and engaged in exercise to invigorate their bodies. One form of this new manly culture, developed out of the Protestant churches, was known as muscular Christianity. In this fascinating study, Clifford Putney details how Protestant leaders promoted competitive sports and physical education to create an ideal of Christian manliness.
Anatomy of a Revived Church
Author: Thom S. Rainer
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
ISBN: 1496474627
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 137
Book Description
There is hope. God can save your church. In this book, Thom Rainer reveals seven findings of revived churches. Through new research, he figuratively dissects hundreds of churches that were on the path toward death. But they turned around. They revitalized. They did so in the face of facts and naysayers who told them it could not be done. Today, three out of four churches are declining in our nation, and twenty percent of churches are close to death. What are the secrets of the churches who avoided this fate and experienced revival? In Anatomy of a Revived Church, Thom will show you how these churches experienced renewal. He will cover everything from “expanding the scorecard” to “dealing with toxins” to “choosing meaningful membership.” When you finish reading this book, you will have the tools to strengthen, restore, and energize your church. You can choose life for your church.
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
ISBN: 1496474627
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 137
Book Description
There is hope. God can save your church. In this book, Thom Rainer reveals seven findings of revived churches. Through new research, he figuratively dissects hundreds of churches that were on the path toward death. But they turned around. They revitalized. They did so in the face of facts and naysayers who told them it could not be done. Today, three out of four churches are declining in our nation, and twenty percent of churches are close to death. What are the secrets of the churches who avoided this fate and experienced revival? In Anatomy of a Revived Church, Thom will show you how these churches experienced renewal. He will cover everything from “expanding the scorecard” to “dealing with toxins” to “choosing meaningful membership.” When you finish reading this book, you will have the tools to strengthen, restore, and energize your church. You can choose life for your church.
Building the Body
Author: Gary L. McIntosh
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493412752
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
Just as a physically healthy person--at an ideal weight and with good blood pressure and cholesterol numbers--might not actually be fit enough to run a 5k, so churches can appear healthy--with no obvious issues, maintaining a healthy size--and yet not exhibit fitness. A fit church is one that is not satisfied with merely coasting along with no problems. A fit church is actively making disciples, maturing in faith, developing strong leaders, reaching out to the community, and more. Building the Body offers pastors and church leaders twelve characteristics of fit churches and shows them how they can move their church through five levels of fitness, from beginner all the way to elite--just as an athlete, through training and practice, can become the top in his or her class. Includes comparison charts at the end of each chapter so readers can clearly see where their church currently falls and concluding "Complete the Progress Chart" so that they can see what their goals should be for the future.
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493412752
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
Just as a physically healthy person--at an ideal weight and with good blood pressure and cholesterol numbers--might not actually be fit enough to run a 5k, so churches can appear healthy--with no obvious issues, maintaining a healthy size--and yet not exhibit fitness. A fit church is one that is not satisfied with merely coasting along with no problems. A fit church is actively making disciples, maturing in faith, developing strong leaders, reaching out to the community, and more. Building the Body offers pastors and church leaders twelve characteristics of fit churches and shows them how they can move their church through five levels of fitness, from beginner all the way to elite--just as an athlete, through training and practice, can become the top in his or her class. Includes comparison charts at the end of each chapter so readers can clearly see where their church currently falls and concluding "Complete the Progress Chart" so that they can see what their goals should be for the future.
Popular Witchcraft
Author: Jack Fritscher
Publisher: Popular Press
ISBN: 9780299203047
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
Popular Witchcraft: Straight from the Witch's Mouth, inspired by the British Gerald Gardner's Witchcraft Today, was the first book to be published on popular American witchcraft and remains the classic survey of white and black magic. Newly revised and updated for twenty-first-century readers, the author--an ordained but marvelously fallen exorcist--tells all about the evil eye, the queer eye, women and witch trials, the Old Religion, magic Christianity, Satanism, and New Age self-help. Jack Fritscher sifts through legends of sorcery and the twisted history of witchcraft, including the casting of spells and incantations, with a focus on the growing role of witchcraft in popular culture and its mainstream commercialization through popular music, Broadway, Hollywood, and politics. As seriously historical as it is fun to read, there is no other book like it.
Publisher: Popular Press
ISBN: 9780299203047
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
Popular Witchcraft: Straight from the Witch's Mouth, inspired by the British Gerald Gardner's Witchcraft Today, was the first book to be published on popular American witchcraft and remains the classic survey of white and black magic. Newly revised and updated for twenty-first-century readers, the author--an ordained but marvelously fallen exorcist--tells all about the evil eye, the queer eye, women and witch trials, the Old Religion, magic Christianity, Satanism, and New Age self-help. Jack Fritscher sifts through legends of sorcery and the twisted history of witchcraft, including the casting of spells and incantations, with a focus on the growing role of witchcraft in popular culture and its mainstream commercialization through popular music, Broadway, Hollywood, and politics. As seriously historical as it is fun to read, there is no other book like it.
Secularization and Religious Innovation in the North Atlantic World
Author: David Hempton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192519026
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Book Description
In the early twenty-first century it had become a cliché that there was a 'God Gap' between a more religious United States and a more secular Europe. The apparent religious differences between the United States and western Europe continue to be a focus of intense and sometimes bitter debate between three of the main schools in the sociology of religion. According to the influential 'Secularization Thesis', secularization has been an integral part of the processes of modernisation in the Western world since around 1800. For proponents of this thesis, the United States appears as an anomaly and they accordingly give considerable attention to explaining why it is different. For other sociologists, however, the apparently high level of religiosity in the USA provides a major argument in their attempts to refute the Thesis. Secularization and Religious Innovation in the Atlantic World provides a systematic comparison between the religious histories of the United States and western European countries from the eighteenth to the late twentieth century, noting parallels as well as divergences, examining their causes and especially highlighting change over time. This is achieved by a series of themes which seem especially relevant to this agenda, and in each case the theme is considered by two scholars. The volume examines whether American Christians have been more innovative, and if so how far this explains the apparent 'God Gap'. It goes beyond the simple American/European binary to ask what is 'American' or 'European' in the Christianity of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and in what ways national or regional differences outweigh these commonalities.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192519026
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Book Description
In the early twenty-first century it had become a cliché that there was a 'God Gap' between a more religious United States and a more secular Europe. The apparent religious differences between the United States and western Europe continue to be a focus of intense and sometimes bitter debate between three of the main schools in the sociology of religion. According to the influential 'Secularization Thesis', secularization has been an integral part of the processes of modernisation in the Western world since around 1800. For proponents of this thesis, the United States appears as an anomaly and they accordingly give considerable attention to explaining why it is different. For other sociologists, however, the apparently high level of religiosity in the USA provides a major argument in their attempts to refute the Thesis. Secularization and Religious Innovation in the Atlantic World provides a systematic comparison between the religious histories of the United States and western European countries from the eighteenth to the late twentieth century, noting parallels as well as divergences, examining their causes and especially highlighting change over time. This is achieved by a series of themes which seem especially relevant to this agenda, and in each case the theme is considered by two scholars. The volume examines whether American Christians have been more innovative, and if so how far this explains the apparent 'God Gap'. It goes beyond the simple American/European binary to ask what is 'American' or 'European' in the Christianity of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and in what ways national or regional differences outweigh these commonalities.
Cowboy Christians
Author: Marie W. Dallam
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190856572
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
Cowboy Christians examines the long history of cowboy Christianity in the American West, with a focus on the present-day cowboy church movement. Based on five years of historical and sociological fieldwork in cowboy Christian communities, this book draws on interviews with leaders of cowboy churches, traveling rodeo ministries, and chaplains who serve horse racing and bull riding communities, along with the author's first-hand experiences as a participant observer. Marie W. Dallam traces cowboy Christianity from the postbellum period into the twenty-first century, looking at religious life among cowboys on the range as well as its representation in popular imagery and the media. She examines the structure, theology, and perpetuation of the modern cowboy church, and speculates on future challenges the institution may face, such as the relegation of women to subordinate participant roles at a time of increasing gender equality in the larger society. She also explores the cowboy Christian proclivity for blending the secular and the sacred in leisure environments like arenas, racetracks, and rodeos. Dallam locates the modern cowboy church as a descendant of the muscular Christianity movement, the Jesus movement, and new paradigm church methodology. Cowboy Christians establishes the religious significance of the cowboy church movement, particularly relative to twenty-first-century evangelical Protestantism, and contributes to a deeper understanding of the unique Christianity of the American West.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190856572
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
Cowboy Christians examines the long history of cowboy Christianity in the American West, with a focus on the present-day cowboy church movement. Based on five years of historical and sociological fieldwork in cowboy Christian communities, this book draws on interviews with leaders of cowboy churches, traveling rodeo ministries, and chaplains who serve horse racing and bull riding communities, along with the author's first-hand experiences as a participant observer. Marie W. Dallam traces cowboy Christianity from the postbellum period into the twenty-first century, looking at religious life among cowboys on the range as well as its representation in popular imagery and the media. She examines the structure, theology, and perpetuation of the modern cowboy church, and speculates on future challenges the institution may face, such as the relegation of women to subordinate participant roles at a time of increasing gender equality in the larger society. She also explores the cowboy Christian proclivity for blending the secular and the sacred in leisure environments like arenas, racetracks, and rodeos. Dallam locates the modern cowboy church as a descendant of the muscular Christianity movement, the Jesus movement, and new paradigm church methodology. Cowboy Christians establishes the religious significance of the cowboy church movement, particularly relative to twenty-first-century evangelical Protestantism, and contributes to a deeper understanding of the unique Christianity of the American West.
Awesome Families
Author: Kathleen E. Jenkins
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813536644
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
Denounced by some as a dangerous cult and lauded by others as a miraculous faith community, the International Churches of Christ was a conservative evangelical Christian movement that grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s. Among its followers, promises to heal family relationships were central to the group's appeal. Members credit the church for helping them develop so-called "awesome families"-successful marriages and satisfying relationships with children, family of origin, and new church "brothers and sisters." The church engaged an elaborate array of services, including round-the-clock counseling, childcare, and Christian dating networks-all of which were said to lead to fulfilling relationships and exciting sex lives. Before the unified movement's demise in 2003-2004, the lure of blissful family-life led more than 100,000 individuals worldwide to be baptized into the church. In Awesome Families, Kathleen Jenkins draws on four years of ethnographic research to explain how and why so many individuals-primarily from middle- to upper-middle-class backgrounds-were attracted to this religious group that was founded on principles of enforced community, explicit authoritative relationships, and therapeutic ideals. Weaving classical and contemporary social theory, she argues that members were commonly attracted to the structure and practice of family relationships advocated by the church, especially in the context of contemporary society where gender roles and family responsibilities are often ambiguous. Tracing the rise and fall of this fast-growing religious movement, this timely study adds to our understanding of modern society and offers insight to the difficulties that revivalist movements have in sustaining growth.
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813536644
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
Denounced by some as a dangerous cult and lauded by others as a miraculous faith community, the International Churches of Christ was a conservative evangelical Christian movement that grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s. Among its followers, promises to heal family relationships were central to the group's appeal. Members credit the church for helping them develop so-called "awesome families"-successful marriages and satisfying relationships with children, family of origin, and new church "brothers and sisters." The church engaged an elaborate array of services, including round-the-clock counseling, childcare, and Christian dating networks-all of which were said to lead to fulfilling relationships and exciting sex lives. Before the unified movement's demise in 2003-2004, the lure of blissful family-life led more than 100,000 individuals worldwide to be baptized into the church. In Awesome Families, Kathleen Jenkins draws on four years of ethnographic research to explain how and why so many individuals-primarily from middle- to upper-middle-class backgrounds-were attracted to this religious group that was founded on principles of enforced community, explicit authoritative relationships, and therapeutic ideals. Weaving classical and contemporary social theory, she argues that members were commonly attracted to the structure and practice of family relationships advocated by the church, especially in the context of contemporary society where gender roles and family responsibilities are often ambiguous. Tracing the rise and fall of this fast-growing religious movement, this timely study adds to our understanding of modern society and offers insight to the difficulties that revivalist movements have in sustaining growth.
What Is the Mission of the Church?
Author: Kevin DeYoung
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 143352693X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Social justice and mission are hot topics today: there's a wonderful resurgence of motivated Christians passionate about spreading the gospel and caring for the needs of others. But in our zeal to get sharing and serving, many are unclear on gospel and mission. Yes, we are called to spend ourselves for the sake of others, but what is the church's unique priority as it engages the world? DeYoung and Gilbert write to help Christians "articulate and live out their views on the mission of the church in ways that are theologically faithful, exegetically careful, and personally sustainable." Looking at the Bible's teaching on evangelism, social justice, and shalom, they explore the what, why, and how of the church's mission. From defining "mission", to examining key passages on social justice and their application, to setting our efforts in the context of God's rule, DeYoung and Gilbert bring a wise, studied perspective to the missional conversation. Readers in all spheres of ministry will grow in their understanding of the mission of the church and gain a renewed sense of urgency for Jesus' call to preach the Word and make disciples.
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 143352693X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Social justice and mission are hot topics today: there's a wonderful resurgence of motivated Christians passionate about spreading the gospel and caring for the needs of others. But in our zeal to get sharing and serving, many are unclear on gospel and mission. Yes, we are called to spend ourselves for the sake of others, but what is the church's unique priority as it engages the world? DeYoung and Gilbert write to help Christians "articulate and live out their views on the mission of the church in ways that are theologically faithful, exegetically careful, and personally sustainable." Looking at the Bible's teaching on evangelism, social justice, and shalom, they explore the what, why, and how of the church's mission. From defining "mission", to examining key passages on social justice and their application, to setting our efforts in the context of God's rule, DeYoung and Gilbert bring a wise, studied perspective to the missional conversation. Readers in all spheres of ministry will grow in their understanding of the mission of the church and gain a renewed sense of urgency for Jesus' call to preach the Word and make disciples.
Flaming?
Author: Alisha Lola Jones
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190065443
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345
Book Description
Male-centered theology, a dearth of men in the pews, and an overrepresentation of queer males in music ministry: these elements coexist within the spaces of historically black Protestant churches, creating an atmosphere where simultaneous heteropatriarchy and "real" masculinity anxieties, archetypes of the "alpha-male preacher", the "effeminate choir director" and homo-antagonism, are all in play. The "flamboyant" male vocalists formed in the black Pentecostal music ministry tradition, through their vocal styles, gestures, and attire in church services, display a spectrum of gender performances - from "hyper-masculine" to feminine masculine - to their fellow worshippers, subtly protesting and critiquing the otherwise heteronormative theology in which the service is entrenched. And while the performativity of these men is characterized by cynics as "flaming," a similar musicalized "fire" - that of the Holy Spirit - moves through the bodies of Pentecostal worshippers, endowing them religio-culturally, physically, and spiritually like "fire shut up in their bones". Using the lenses of ethnomusicology, musicology, anthropology, men's studies, queer studies, and theology, Flaming?: The Peculiar Theo-Politics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance observes how male vocalists traverse their tightly-knit social networks and negotiate their identities through and beyond the worship experience. Author Alisha Jones ultimately addresses the ways in which gospel music and performance can afford African American men not only greater visibility, but also an affirmation of their fitness to minister through speech and song.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190065443
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345
Book Description
Male-centered theology, a dearth of men in the pews, and an overrepresentation of queer males in music ministry: these elements coexist within the spaces of historically black Protestant churches, creating an atmosphere where simultaneous heteropatriarchy and "real" masculinity anxieties, archetypes of the "alpha-male preacher", the "effeminate choir director" and homo-antagonism, are all in play. The "flamboyant" male vocalists formed in the black Pentecostal music ministry tradition, through their vocal styles, gestures, and attire in church services, display a spectrum of gender performances - from "hyper-masculine" to feminine masculine - to their fellow worshippers, subtly protesting and critiquing the otherwise heteronormative theology in which the service is entrenched. And while the performativity of these men is characterized by cynics as "flaming," a similar musicalized "fire" - that of the Holy Spirit - moves through the bodies of Pentecostal worshippers, endowing them religio-culturally, physically, and spiritually like "fire shut up in their bones". Using the lenses of ethnomusicology, musicology, anthropology, men's studies, queer studies, and theology, Flaming?: The Peculiar Theo-Politics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance observes how male vocalists traverse their tightly-knit social networks and negotiate their identities through and beyond the worship experience. Author Alisha Jones ultimately addresses the ways in which gospel music and performance can afford African American men not only greater visibility, but also an affirmation of their fitness to minister through speech and song.
On Guard
Author: Deepak Reju
Publisher: New Growth Press
ISBN: 1939946999
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
On Guard offers churches eight strategies for preventing child abuse and three for responding to it, helping to move church staff and leaders beyond fearful awareness to prayerful preparedness.
Publisher: New Growth Press
ISBN: 1939946999
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
On Guard offers churches eight strategies for preventing child abuse and three for responding to it, helping to move church staff and leaders beyond fearful awareness to prayerful preparedness.