Clergy, Retirement, and Wholeness

Clergy, Retirement, and Wholeness
Author: Gwen Wagstrom Halaas
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2005-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1566994896

What would you wish for in retirement? Good health? Financial Stability? A supportive social community? Retiring well is everyone’s goal, but accomplishing this end requires planning and effort. Family physician Gwen Halaas recognizes the challenges professional caregivers such as clergy experience as they try to practice good self-care, particularly as they approach the significant changes inherent in retirement.

Clergy Renewal

Clergy Renewal
Author: Richard Bullock
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 105
Release: 2000-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 156699487X

Planned time away from the parish for study, rest, and spiritual renewal can be beneficial-and often necessary-for any pastor, as well as for the congregation. In this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Alban’s popular Sabbatical Planning for Clergy and Congregations, Bullock and Bruesehoff provide the definitive guide to putting together refreshing pastoral sabbaticals that can help keep ministry vital and growing for the long term

Clergy Retirement

Clergy Retirement
Author: Daniel A. Roberts
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2017-11-22
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1532601190

In Clergy Retirement: Every Ending a New Beginning for Clergy, Their Families, and Congregants, retirement is likened to a death experience, but much more. Besides saying goodbye to congregants, colleagues, and a career, it is equally important, as in any other loss, to take time to grieve aernd then to discover new meaning in life through which to reinvent oneself and grow to new heights. This book is a manual for transition into a new world as one approaches retirement. It not only encourages the retiree to think through the process of making new meaning, but offers practical suggestions of how to do so.

The Jubilee Years

The Jubilee Years
Author: Bruce Epperly
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2020-11-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1538145502

Taking inspiration from the Spanish word for retirement—jubilacion—veteran minister Bruce Epperly challenges and empowers clergy to see retirement as a celebration of new possibilities. Similar in spirit to the Jubilee year described in scripture, retirement can be a time of transformation and exploration, of freedom to try on new versions of yourself and new paths of service. In that spirit, clergy can embrace creative transformation in their relationships, neighborhoods, religious communities, and politics. No longer tethered to the politics and administrative duties of congregational leadership, they can now freely commit themselves to relational, intellectual, and spiritual growth. They can also focus on personal, community, and planetary healing and transformation. Retired clergy can become sages and wisdom givers sharing their insights and energy with seminarians and novice pastors, congregations, and communities. Bringing together the fruits of conversations with more than 100 retired clergy, theological reflection, and spiritual practices, this text provides a way forward for clergy considering retirement and retired clergy. Based on interviews from persons from diverse denominations, theological perspectives, and ethnic and racial backgrounds, this book garners wisdom from pastors on their retirement journeys, from personal preparation and public announcement to first steps following retirement and long-term adventures.

The Pastor-Congregation Duet

The Pastor-Congregation Duet
Author: Gary Harder
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2018-09-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1525530208

In a time of shifting worldviews and changing expectations of the church, how does a pastor navigate the challenges, joys, and pains of ministry? How does a church support, love, and hold accountable its pastoral leaders? The key lies in the relationship between pastor and congregation – in the duet they are singing, in the rhythms of their life together. In this book, Gary Harder reflects on the difficulties and rewards, the missteps and humour that are part of learning that ministry duet. Here he celebrates the mysterious ways God works through, and sometimes in spite of, the people singing God’s songs together. We reach for harmony. We hear dissonant notes. We catch only a glimpse of God’s beautiful music. And that is enough.

Postcolonial Preaching

Postcolonial Preaching
Author: HyeRan Kim-Cragg
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2021-02-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1793617104

In Postcolonial Preaching, HyeRan Kim-Cragg argues that preaching is the act of dropping the stone of the Gospel into a lake, making waves to move hearts and transform the world wounded by colonial violence. The ripple effect serves as a metaphor and acronym to guide to preaching that takes postcolonial concerns seriously: Rehearsal, Imagination, Place, Pattern, Language and Exegesis (RIPPLE). Kim-Cragg explains each “ripple” in this approach and exercise of creating and delivering sermons. The author delivers fresh insights while drawing on some traditional homiletical perspectives in the service of a homiletic that takes the reality of racism, migration, and environmental degradation seriously. Moreover, Kim-Cragg demonstrates the postcolonial sermon in action by including annotated homilies. This book contributes to the very first wave of the application of postcolonial scholarship in preaching. Given the continuing extent and influence of colonial worldviews and legacies, this approach should become a staple in preaching over the next generation.

The Companion to the Book of Common Worship

The Companion to the Book of Common Worship
Author: Peter C. Bower
Publisher: Geneva Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780664502324

Published during the tenth anniversary of the Book of Common Worship (1993), The Companion to the Book of Common Worship is a practical guide, answering questions such as how do I use the Book of Common Worship to its fullest advantage? and how can the Book of Common Worship form a congregation into a community that glorifies and enjoys God?

Church Administration Handbook

Church Administration Handbook
Author: Bruce P. Powers
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2008
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0805444904

Together with the newly revised "Christian Education Handbook," this volume provides complete basic church information and administrative guidelines.

Running Through the Thistles

Running Through the Thistles
Author: Roy M. Oswald
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 25
Release: 1998-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1566996228

Can how you leave a church affect your feelings about leaving or create baggage you take to your new congregation? Gain insight into termination styles and how they affect both you and your parishioners.

Creating Congregations of Generous People

Creating Congregations of Generous People
Author: Michael Durall
Publisher: Alban Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1999
Genre: Christian giving
ISBN: 9781566992206

Asking parishioners for money is very different from creating congregations of generous people. In this provocative book, stewardship consultant Michael Durall argues convincingly that annual pledge drives inadvertently perpetuate low-level and same-level giving in congregations. Written with the voice of experience, this book will help clergy and lay leaders initiate and sustain effective stewardship programs. Durall believes that asking for money eventually becomes routine, even tedious-but creating a congregation of generous people becomes ever more meaningful with passing time.