Invite Welcome Connect

Invite Welcome Connect
Author: Mary Foster Parmer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2018-08-15
Genre: Evangelistic work
ISBN: 9780880284615

Guided by the gospel imperative to "Go and make disciples of all nations," the ministry of Invite Welcome Connect equips and empowers individuals and congregations to practice evangelism, hospitality, and connectedness. Invite Welcome Connect's founder, Mary Parmer, shares the deep truths of this ministry as well as practical steps to assess your faith community and begin implementation. This resource also features stories of transformation from more than two dozen lay and clergy leaders. Foreword by Michael B. Curry.

The Inviting Church

The Inviting Church
Author: Roy M. Oswald
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 121
Release: 1987-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1566996597

Ever wonder why some people never return after their first visit? Why some join but you rarely see them? Or why others become active participants in your church family's life and worship? Discover how your congregation can meet growth challenges. Based on Alban Institute research, The Inviting Church includes a self-study design for assessing assimilation processes and analyzing visitors' perceptions.

Your Spacious Self

Your Spacious Self
Author: Stephanie Bennett Vogt
Publisher: Hierophant Publishing
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2023-09-12
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1950253422

Clutter: it’s not just the piles of junk in your closet. It’s also the nagging thoughts, endless to-do lists, and calendar full of obligations. It’s the fears and worries that cycle through your mind on repeat, and the sticky emotional energy that you pick up from the people around you. It’s the sense of panicky suffocation you feel when you contemplate all that you “have” to accomplish in a day, a week, or a lifetime. For almost thirty years, Stephanie Bennett Vogt has been teaching the art of clearing clutter at every level: physical, energetic, mental, and emotional. Her unique “slow-drip” approach to clearing is a welcome antidote to popular binge-cleaning methods that leave you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. With her practical tips and step-by-step guidance, you’ll learn how to identify the root causes of clutter, create a personalized clutter-clearing plan, and break the endless cycle of clutter accumulation. Completely revised and updated with even more inspiring stories, helpful exercises, and insightful advice, Your Spacious Self: Clear the Clutter and Discover Who You Are, 10th Anniversary Edition is the ultimate guide to transforming your home and life.

Learning from London

Learning from London
Author: Jason A. Fout
Publisher:
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2019-11
Genre: Church growth
ISBN: 9780880284783

Winner of a Gold Medal - 2020 Illumination Book Awards Crucial reading for everyone committed to evangelism and church growth. -Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church As most mainline Christian denominations struggle with declining numbers, the Church of England in the Diocese of London is bucking the trend. In one of the most diverse, multi-faith, urban, and pluralistic cities in the world, London churches are growing and thriving against the odds, proclaiming the gospel afresh, and meeting the needs of their communities in creative, innovative, and life-changing ways. Based on more than six years of study, Jason A. Fout offers lessons from London, a road map to growth and revitalization for American churches-big and small, historic and newly started, evangelical and Anglo-Catholic. This remarkable guide offers practical tools as well as insight and inspiration for all who care about the future of the church.

Welcome Homeless

Welcome Homeless
Author: Alan Graham
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017-03-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 071808313X

Homeless. No other word better describes our modern-day suffering. It reveals one of our deepest and most painful conditions—not having a sense of belonging. However, Alan Graham, founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes and Community First! Village, is improving the quality of life for a large quantity of people through sharing his personal story of becoming more human through humanizing others. Graham believes the more we can give people dignity, the power of choice, and genuine community, the better we’ll be able to offer solutions that will have impact on the world at large. And while his missionary work is focused on giving a home to the physically homeless, he also wants to transform the lives of every living person by shifting the paradigm in understanding what it means to be “home.” In Welcome Homeless, Graham delves deep into what it means to be connected to God, the earth, and each other. In doing so, he shows us the home we’ve all longed for but never had. Welcome Homeless is about becoming fully human by being fully present. It is about finally connecting with the disconnected and finding our identity through knowing the true identity of others. Graham wants to engrain the human story in you so deeply that you start being who you were made to be—that you start finally being like the image from which you were made and start empathizing instead of sympathizing with the people around you. Similar to how we can become 100 percent fully human by mimicking the ultimate image, we can shape a better world by mimicking the picture of the new heaven and the new earth—a picture that has reality at the heart of it but is beyond our imagination. Alan Graham also shares his personal story, the stories of the homeless, and the stories of those whose worldviews have been shifted by the homeless. Because of his raw, humorous, and honest voice, he achieves a rare and profound universality. Houses become homes once they embody the stories of the people who have made these spaces into places of significance, meaning, and memory. Home is fundamentally a place of connection and of relationships that are life-giving and foundational. Graham invites you to make everyone feel truly at home by finally inviting those living on the fringes of society into your heart. This is why Welcome Homeless is about doing, not saying. It is about taking the ultimate and forward-thinking vision of a new heaven and new earth and literally breaking the soil so that new earth can exist here today. It is about realizing that homelessness is not fundamentally a consequence of moral and spiritual inadequacies; but rather it is often the logical and economical outcome for a large part of our population. So, what does your vision of humanity and love look like? Whatever the vision, it should look like community. People should feel more alive after they meet you. When your consciousness changes from one of self-absorption to a consciousness aware of its human desire for connection, compassion, kindness, and beauty, you will start seeing things differently—and others will start seeing you made anew as well because the absolute greatest self-help occurs when you help others e.

Faith with a Twist

Faith with a Twist
Author: Amy Nobles Dolan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-08
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 9780880284561

Faith with a Twist connects the traditional eight limbs of yoga with the church's understanding and emphasis on living a holy life. This approach creates a unique blend of spiritual practices and religious wisdom that are perfect for the yoga novice and the experienced practitioner alike.

Reclaiming Christianity

Reclaiming Christianity
Author: Claude Payne
Publisher:
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2018-08-15
Genre: Church renewal
ISBN: 9780880284622

In a world hungry for the hope of Jesus, Episcopal Bishop Claude E. Payne offers a roadmap for individuals and churches to seek and establish rich spiritual lives and to connect deeply with God and our neighbors. Too often, spirituality is privatized and kept under wraps, not to be talked about in public circles. But Payne encourages us to reclaim our faith in the public square, in our communities, and with our family and friends. After nearly five decades in ordained ministry, Payne writes that he has never been more optimistic about the future of Christianity. Across the country, Payne has witnessed people and congregations full of energy and compassion, committed to a life-giving, dynamic faith. In Reclaiming Christianity, Payne presents a practical and comprehensive model for sharing this faith with our neighbors and communities and encouraging all to seek a deeper connection with each other and with the Divine.

Tending the Holy

Tending the Holy
Author: Norvene Vest
Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2003-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0819219185

Essays that explore spiritual direction from a variety of faith and cultural perspectives

Strictly No Elephants

Strictly No Elephants
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2015-10-27
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1481416472

"A sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale." --The New York Times Book Review "Sweet and affirming." --Kirkus Reviews When the local Pet Club won't admit a boy's tiny pet elephant, he finds a solution--one that involves all kinds of unusual animals in this sweet and adorable picture book. Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn't understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend. Imaginative and lyrical, this sweet story captures the magic of friendship and the joy of having a pet.

Reaching Out

Reaching Out
Author: Henri J. M. Nouwen
Publisher: Image
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2013-11-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0804152101

With clarity and depth characteristic of the classics, this spiritual bestseller from the author of The Return of the Prodigal Son lays out a perceptive and insightful plan for the spiritual life and achieving the ultimate goal of that life—union with God. “One of the world’s greatest spiritual writers.”—Christianity Today Henri Nouwen views our spiritual “ascent” as evolving in three movements: The first, from loneliness to solitude, focuses on the spiritual life as it relates to the experience of our own selves. The second, from hostility to hospitality, explores our spiritual life as a life for others. The final movement, from illusion to prayer, offers penetrating thoughts on the most mysterious relationship of all: our relationship with God. Throughout, Nouwen emphasizes that the more we understand (and not simply deny) our inner struggles, the more we will be able to embrace a prayerful and genuine life that is also open to others’ needs. Reaching Out is a rich book to be read, reread, pondered, and shared. It “does not offer answers or solutions,” Nouwen cautions, “but is written in the conviction that the quest for an authentic Christian spirituality is worth the effort and the pain, since in the midst of this quest we can find signs offering hope, courage, and confidence.”