Forming Generous Hearts

Forming Generous Hearts
Author: Leisa Anslinger
Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2007-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781585956425

Leisa Anslinger and Vikki Shepp believe that these three giants of parish life are essential components of a vibrant parish. They provide indispensable principles to guide pastoral leaders as they seek to transform their parishes into places where people embrace and live Christian discipleship. An excellent resource for all pastors, parish teams, Stewardship teams, and parish ministers.

Turning Hearts to Christ

Turning Hearts to Christ
Author: Leisa Anslinger
Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2010
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781585957934

Does parish life really matter? Do people really need community anymore? Are there really "sucessful parishes" out there? The authors says a resounding "yes" to all three in this engaging and challenging invitation to parish leaders. She offers essential principles that have evolved from discussions with pastoral leaders in a variety of ministerial settings, as well as careful study of sacred Scripture, theology, Church documents, and current research. She then pulls all the principles together by offering "seasonal renewal" focus points with examples of how the seasons can lead parishioners toward a living relationship with Christ--with Sunday Eucharist at the center. Turning Hearts to Christ is a dynamic and essential planning resource for pastors, parish leadership teams, pastoral staffs, pastoral council members, faith formation, evangelization, and stewardship committee members.

Sustaining Grace

Sustaining Grace
Author: Scott J. Hagley
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2020-06-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532687591

Sustaining Grace explores the dynamic between new faith communities and denominational systems through the lens of stewardship and sustainability. As a collection, these essays suggest that to facilitate ecologies for innovation in our current era, established congregations and new faith communities must model the sustaining grace of God to one another in creative ways. Thus, problems of sustainability are not for church planters to solve alone, but rather are related to the theologies of stewardship and the ecclesial system to which they belong. Issues of vision are not for denominational systems to theorize alone, but are given shape on their historic foundations in the creative and prophetic structures practiced in new faith communities. This book speaks to a central tension in the growing movement of church planting—the mutual need of and the mutual frustration between establishment leaders and innovators, conservators and risk takers. Standing at the contact point of that tension in one of the wealthiest mainline denominations, 1001 New Worshipping Communities and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary engage the question of faithful stewardship with voices reflecting and strategizing on each side of the tension, broadening the conversation to include those beyond the Presbyterian Church, and bringing both the academy and practitioners from church judicatories, church plants, and traditional church communities to offer a theologically grounded, practical, and generative conversation.

The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb

The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb
Author: Jamin Goggin
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2017-01-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 071802236X

Pastor Jamin Goggin and theology professor Kyle Strobel invite readers on a journey to uncover Jesus’ seemingly contradictory way to power: weakness. Why do so many rock-star pastors implode under the spotlight? Why do modern-day churches become so entangled in growing their brand that they lose sight of their true purpose? Because, according to Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel, Christians have succumbed to the temptations of power and forgotten Jesus’ seemingly contradictory path to power—first giving it up. In The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb, Goggin and Strobel paint a richly biblical vision of power through weakness. They invite readers to join them on an adventure around the world, seeking out great sages of the faith with uncommon wisdom to offer those traveling the path of Christian life. As readers eavesdrop on the authors’ conversations with people such as J. I. Packer, Dallas Willard, Marva Dawn, John Perkins, Jean Vanier, James Houston, and Eugene Peterson, they begin to piece together the new-old reality of following Jesus today. In the end, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb offers a compelling vision of the way of Jesus that will challenge both individual believers and the church as a whole.

Formation of the Heart

Formation of the Heart
Author: Raymond Friel
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2024-01-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

Formation in the faith for many Catholics seems to come to a halt in the teenage years after the Sacrament of Confirmation. With the Church facing a “change of era” in a post-Covid world, now is the time for Catholics of all ages to rediscover how to grow in faith, drawing on the rich resources and traditions of the Church. Formation of the Heart is an ideal resource for individuals who are seeking to grow in the faith using the practical resources of the Christian tradition and offers guidance for groups in schools or parishes who are engaged in formation programs.

The Living Word 2015-2016

The Living Word 2015-2016
Author: Leisa Anslinger
Publisher: LiturgyTrainingPublications
Total Pages: 258
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 1616712112

This resource provides youth ministers with 15-minute Gospel-oriented activities and reflections designed to help renew the liturgical lives of teens. Following the school calendar, each session offers prayers, Scripture readings, reflections, and catechesis, for every Sunday and Holyday of Obligation from August 3, 2014, to June 28, 2015.

The Formation of the Modern Self

The Formation of the Modern Self
Author: Felix O Murchadha
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2022-01-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350245488

Charting a genealogy of the modern idea of the self, Felix Ó Murchadha explores the accounts of self-identity expounded by key Early Modern philosophers, Montaigne, Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Hume and Kant. The question of the self as we would discuss it today only came to the forefront of philosophical concern with Modernity, beginning with an appeal to the inherited models of the self found in Stoicism, Scepticism, Augustinianism and Pelagianism, before continuing to develop as a subject of philosophical debate. Exploring this trajectory, The Formation of the Modern Self pursues a number of themes central to the Early Modern development of selfhood, including, amongst others, grace and passion. It examines on the one hand the deep-rooted dependence on the divine and the longing for happiness and salvation and, on the other hand, the distancing from the Stoic ideal of apatheia, as philosophers from Descartes to Spinoza recognised the passions as essential to human agency. Fundamental to the new question of the self was the relation of faith and reason. Uncovering commonalities and differences amongst Early Modern philosophers, Ó Murchadha traces how the voluntarism of Modernity led to the sceptical approach to the self in Montaigne and Hume and how this sceptical strand, in turn, culminated in Kant's rational faith. More than a history of the self in philosophy, The Formation of the Modern Self inspires a fresh look at self-identity, uncovering not only how our modern idea of selfhood developed but just how embedded the concept of self is in external considerations: from ethics, to reason, to religion.

Re-Forming the Liturgy

Re-Forming the Liturgy
Author: Paul Galbreath
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2019-04-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532650299

Christian worship is always undergoing change as it adapts to particular contexts and concerns. This collection of essays explores ways: 1) that liturgical change happened to address particular historical and theological concerns; 2) that worship and preaching are currently undergoing transition; and 3) that aspects of worship are in need of transformation in order to address primary issues of our time with a focus on environmental and ecological concerns. Spacial attention is paid to the role of the Sacraments and to preaching with an emphasis on the need to connect worship with daily life. These essays show readers ways that liturgical renewal worked in the past as well as offer a persuasive case for continual renewal that responds to key issues in our contemporary lives.

Spiritual Formation

Spiritual Formation
Author: Larry E. Houck
Publisher: WestBow Press
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2015-02-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1490864202

How do we form a strong spiritual life when even wholesome activities can drain spiritual energy? How and when should we extend Christ-honoring compassion to others? Using the cross as a visual, Spiritual Formation guides us through four sections of developing an ever-increasing vertical passion for God and never-failing horizontal compassion for others. The familiar disciplines and exercises of Spiritual Formation would seem to produce cloned Christians, but Dr. Houck explains how personalities, strengths, and weaknesses determine how we live out these disciplines. No matter how much passion for God and passion for others we develop, we never cease movement through Spiritual Formation sections. Joy found in the journey will lead us back to section one to embrace those who have not yet started the journey or have faltered on the way. Spiritual Formation: The Joy of the Journey calls each of us to follow Gods unique personal path to passion for God and compassion for others.