Worship and Culture

Worship and Culture
Author: Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 469
Release: 2014-12-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467442275

How are we to proclaim Christ in different cultures? This question was central to a landmark study on worship and culture conducted by the Lutheran World Federation between 1992 and 1999. Much has changed in the years since then: the world today more than ever is a multicultural global village. Worship and Culture revisits that LWF study and publication, shedding new light on the question from recent theological and sociological scholarship to expand and enrich the texts in the original three-volume work. This book includes texts from the main statements that came out of the original project as well as updated essays from some of the original contributors. It also adds new essays, prayers, and hymns to the conversation, inviting readers to consider what the life of the church should look like in today’s hybrid, multicultural world. Contributors Julio Cezar Adam Scott Anderson Mark P. Bangert Thomas F. Best Stephen Burns Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB Joseph A. Donnella II Norman A. Hjelm Margaret Mary Kelleher, OSU Dirk G. Lange Gordon W. Lathrop Anita Monro Martha Moore-Keish Melinda A. Quivik Gail Ramshaw S. Anita Stauffer Benjamin M. Stewart Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey Joyce Ann Zimmerman, CPPS

Desiring the Kingdom (Cultural Liturgies)

Desiring the Kingdom (Cultural Liturgies)
Author: James K. A. Smith
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2009-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441211268

Malls, stadiums, and universities are actually liturgical structures that influence and shape our thoughts and affections. Humans--as Augustine noted--are "desiring agents," full of longings and passions; in brief, we are what we love. James K. A. Smith focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire in Desiring the Kingdom, the first book in what will be a three-volume set on the theology of culture. He redirects our yearnings to focus on the greatest good: God. Ultimately, Smith seeks to re-vision education through the process and practice of worship. Students of philosophy, theology, worldview, and culture will welcome Desiring the Kingdom, as will those involved in ministry and other interested readers.

Christ and Culture

Christ and Culture
Author: H. Richard Niebuhr
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 324
Release: 1956-09-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0061300039

This 50th-anniversary edition, with a new foreword by the distinguished historian Martin E. Marty, who regards this book as one of the most vital books of our time, as well as an introduction by the author never before included in the book, and a new preface by James Gustafson, the premier Christian ethicist who is considered Niebuhr’s contemporary successor, poses the challenge of being true to Christ in a materialistic age to an entirely new generation of Christian readers.

Sheltering Mercy

Sheltering Mercy
Author: Ryan Whitaker Smith
Publisher: Brazos Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2022-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493435310

Christianity Today 2023 Book Award Finalist (Bible & Devotional) Sheltering Mercy helps us rediscover the rich treasures of the Psalms--through free-verse prayer renderings of their poems and hymns--as a guide to personal devotion and meditation. The church has always used the Psalms as part of its prayer life, and they have inspired countless other prayers. This book contains 75 prayers drawn from Psalms 1-75, providing lyrical sketches of what authors Ryan Whitaker Smith and Dan Wilt have seen, heard, and felt while sojourning in the Psalms. While each prayer corresponds to a particular psalm and touches on its themes and ideas, it is not a new translation of the Psalms or an attempt to modernize or contextualize their content or language. Rather, the prayers are responses to the Psalms written in harmony with Scripture. These prayers help us quiet our hearts before God and welcome us into a safe place amid the storms of life. This artful, poetic, and classic devotional book features compelling custom illustrations and beautiful hardcover binding, offering a fresh way to reflect on and pray the Psalms.

What Every Pastor Should Know

What Every Pastor Should Know
Author: Gary L. McIntosh
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441241035

Pastors and church leaders are constantly faced with strategic questions. How much staff does the church need? How many workers are needed in the nursery this month? When is the right time to start a second worship service? How many people should we train for evangelism this year? How does seating and parking impact worship attendance? When church leaders have questions about planning, running, or growing their churches, they need answers fast! What Every Pastor Should Know offers pastors and leaders 101 valuable rules and "sacred" laws to help answer real-life ministry questions. From advertising to facilities to visitation, this valuable book offers the practical help that leaders need, just when they need it most. This comprehensive guide will become one of the most valuable books in a leader's library. Never again will they wonder if they based critical decisions on the right information. They'll get the answers they're looking for all in one place.

Preaching with Cultural Intelligence

Preaching with Cultural Intelligence
Author: Matthew D. Kim
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2017-10-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149341142X

To preach effectively in today's world, preachers need cultural intelligence. They must build bridges between listeners who come from various denominations, ethnicities, genders, locations, religious backgrounds, and more. Experienced preacher and teacher Matthew Kim provides a step-by-step template for cross-cultural hermeneutics and homiletics, equipping preachers to reach their varied listeners in the church and beyond. Each chapter includes questions for individual thought or group discussion. The book also includes helpful diagrams and images, a sample sermon, and appendixes for exegeting listeners and for exploring cultural differences.

A Peculiar People

A Peculiar People
Author: Rodney R. Clapp
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1996-11-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780830819904

Rodney Clapp asks and answers the question, How can the church provide a significant alternative to the culture in which it is embedded?

Religion and Culture

Religion and Culture
Author: Michel Foucault
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1136685855

First Published in 1999. Postmodern theorist Michel Foucault is best known for his work on power/ knowledge, and on the regulation of sexuality in modern society. Yet throughout his life, Foucault was continually concerned with Christianity, other spiritual movements and religious traditions, and the death of God, and these themes and materials scattered are throughout his many writings. Religion and Culture collects for the first time this important thinker's work on religion, religious experience, and society. Here are classic essays such as The Battle for Chastity , alongside those that have been less widely read in English or in French. Selections are arranged in three groupings: Madness, Religion and the Avant-Garde; Religions, Politics and the East; and Christianity, Sexuality and the Self: Fragments of an Unpublished Volume. Ranging from Foucault's earliest studies of madness to Confessions of the Flesh , the unpublished fourth volume of his History of Sexuality , his final thoughts on early Christianity, Religion and Culture makes Foucault's work an indispensable part of contemporary religious thought, while also making an important link between religious studies and cultural studies.

Becoming a Multicultural Church

Becoming a Multicultural Church
Author: Laurene Beth Bowers
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2010-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608992292

In [ital] Becoming a Multicultural Church[ital], Bowers reflects upon and shows how churches can benefit from the experience of First Congregational Church of Randolph, Massachusetts [em dash] the church she pastors [em dash] once a historically "traditional" one social grouping church, but now a "multicultural" church and one of the numerically largest churches in Randolph. She offers practical strategies and explores the processes involved, in a conversational style that will make it an easy read for pastors.

The Worship Pastor

The Worship Pastor
Author: Zac M. Hicks
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2016-10-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310525241

Modern worship leaders are restless. They have inherited a model of leadership that equates leading worship with being a rock star. But leading worship is more than a performance, it's about shaping souls and making disciples. Every worship leader is really a pastor. The Worship Pastor is a practical and biblical introduction to this essential pastoral role. Filled with engaging, illustrative stories it is organized to address questions of theory and practice, striving to balance conversational accessibility with informed instruction. Part One presents a series of evocative "vignettes"--intriguing and descriptive titles and metaphors of who a Worship Pastor is and what he or she does. It shows the Worship Pastor as Church-Lover, Disciple Maker, Corporate Mystic, and Doxological Philosopher. Part Two covers specific roles related to ministry within the worship service itself--the Worship Pastor as Theological Dietician, Caregiver, Mortician, Emotional Shepherd, War General, Prophetic Guardian, Missional Historian, and Liturgical Architect. Part Three looks at ministry beyond the worship service--the Worship Pastor as Visionary Teacher, Evangelist, Artist Chaplain, and Team Leader. While some worship leaders are eager to embrace their pastoral role, many are lost and confused or lack the resources of time or money to figure out what this role looks like. Pastor Zac Hicks gives us a clear guide to leading worship, one that takes the pastoral call seriously.