Reprint of the original. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.
Thompson, a prolific author of church leadership resources, believes the continuing decline in membership of mainline denominations and the increasing number of multicultural and multiracial churches call for a new way of thinking: ministers must begin to see their ministry differently in order to do their ministry differently. Treasures in Clay Jars is designed to provide persons in training for ministry with a paradigm-shifting framework to interpret and work effectively with the complex dynamics of local faith communities. Thompson takes an innovative approach by utilizing explicit and relevant conceptual and theoretical tools from the social sciences--sociology, economics, and cultural anthropology--to engage future pastors to minister effectively to twenty-first-century congregations. The book discusses congregations in five different ways: as social group, as bearer of meaning, as locus of exchange, as collective capacity, and as complex organization. A study guide is included for church leaders who would like to engage their congregations in this new paradigm of ministry.
Many systems of logic diagrams have been offered both historically and more recently. Each of them has clear limitations. An original alternative system is offered here. It is simpler, more natural, and more expressively and inferentially powerful. It can be used to analyze not only syllogisms but arguments involving relational terms and unanalyzed statement terms.
While the murder of his wife devastated Anthony Thompson, he and three other relatives of victims chose to privately and publicly forgive the shooter. Years later, the church and community still struggle to understand the family members' deliberate choice to forgive the racist murderer. But as Charlestonians have witnessed these incredible acts of forgiveness, something significant has happened to the community--black and white leaders and residents have united, coming together peaceably and even showing acts of selfless love. This book is the account of Anthony's wife's murder, the grief he experienced, and how and why he made the radical choice to forgive the killer. But beyond that, Anthony goes on to teach what forgiveness can and should look like in each of our lives--both personally, in our communities, and even in our nation. After much pain, reflection, and study, Thompson shares how true biblical love and mercy differ from the way these ideas are reflected in our culture. Be inspired by this remarkable story and discover how the difficult decision to forgive can become the key to radical change.
What makes the difference between those who aspire to lead and those who actually do it? What does anyone need to know about themselves and others, in order to be ready to lead? How might society benefit from persons who give time and energy to learn the skills of leadership readiness? This book offers a lifelong resource for persons committed to improving their own personal effectiveness as a key step toward leading--in whatever the context, at whatever level. The concepts and terms in this book become tools that strengthen self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Exercises at the end of each chapter stimulate real-life learning, as one practices specific skills that create confidence in being "ready to lead.
Every community of faith journeys through periods of transition. In Grace for the Journey: Practices and Possibilities for In-Between Times, authors Beverly and George Thompson invite congregations to open themselves to the grace-filled possibilities that accompany these in-between periods. Drawing on biblical examples and contemporary experience, the authors invite the community of faith to see transitional times as an opportunity to develop deeper spiritual awareness of God's call on its communal life—a call that open up fresh potential even as it calls us to consider what familiar things may need to change. As pastors and teachers with experience in congregations across the country, the Thompsons serve as your travel guides, accompanying you and your congregation as you walk through the wilderness of transitional times to the hope-filled possibilities on the horizon.
(From the Foreword) George Menzel has an investigative mind, as one might expect of a man whose main career was with the FBI...he would not rest until he had traced the reason for an artist's choice of subject in a print that fascinated. The subject was a B-17 Fortress bomber bearing the markings of the squadron with which, as a young man, George Menzel had served during the trouble with Adolf Hitler and his supporters. Soon the detective discovered that the individual Flying Fortress portrayed by the artist had been involved in a remarkable adventure. And, like all good detectives, George Menzel did not rest until he had gathered and sifted all the evidence.
By culture, George B. Thompson Jr. means not just racial, ethnic, economic, or regional culture, but also a congregation's way of doing things--its history, customs, conventions, and procedures. In order to launch and maintain a successful ministry, pastors and other church leaders must come to grasp that unique culture of their parish. They must develop a culture capital within their congregations, meaning that they invest themselves deeply in how their church does its work and goes about its ministries. The author presses clergy to answer such questions as How well do I know what I'm getting into? and Have I been adopted yet? and even Is it time to move on? The book is ideal for pastors in solo settings, but pastors in multiple staff settings will also find the author's insights helpful.
Most congregations today exist in what George Thompson calls the "middle of anywhere." They live comfortably with their surrounding culture, focusing their energies on serving the needs of their current members. These congregations have many strengths and gifts that they can exercise without changing a thing. But Thompson envisions a deeper, more prophetic call for congregations to explore the meaning of being in the world but not of it--a church on the "edge of somewhere." Thompson sees a church that is deeply engaged in ministering to the community while calling on others to commit to doing the same. By analyzing the interaction between a congregation's focus of identity and their stance with the world, Thompson has created a helpful grid for congregations to place themselves on today's cultural map. A congregation that sees itself as existing on the margins of society will look different than one that sees itself as embedded in society. A congregation that hears a call to serve the surrounding community will look different from one that focuses on its internal needs. Knowing where they stand now is the key for congregations to discover where they must go in the future to fully live out their call to be God's people in the world.
A vision is not a mission statement," declares George Thompson. In the throes of establishing their congregational identity, many church leaders resort to developing a mission statement which gets put in a file drawer and forgotten until the next budget review. The problem is that mission statements focus on concrete achievements; a vision, in contrast, establishes the larger picture of aim, broad purpose, and hopes. In Futuring Your Church, church leaders explore the congregation's heritage, its current context, and its theological bearings. From the insights gleaned, members can discern what God is currently calling their own church to do in this time and place. Once this vision is found, Thompson provides a simple organization model for applying the vision--for making it work. A practical, helpful tool for futuring authentic ministry.
This is a book that tries to help church members step back and see the bigger picture. An effective pastoral relationship is more like a couple who loves to dance together or a band that plays wonderful music. If we spend too much time on the details, without remembering that we want to dance and sing, our church will not have much to offer to Gospel ministry. This book, then, seeks to blaze a new trail for churches who want to thrive in authentic, faithful ministry with their pastor. In other words, it is a book for churches who want to get along with their pastor. It is a book for church deacons, elders, and other officers who recognize that a healthy, trusting, respectful relationship between pastor and congregation becomes the foundation for the church's vitality. It is a book designed to give you the tools you need to help your pastor become the best pastor that she or he can be with you. Statistics show that approximately thirteen hundred American pastors unwillingly leave their congregations each month. These sudden changes have negative long-term effects on both the pastor and the congregation. Thompson believes it is extremely important to find practical, easy-to-understand ways to train pastors and churches on how to approach disagreement much more constructively, and shows how to do so in this new book.
The Bible is not easy to figure out! Churches are filled with adults who are too embarrassed to admit their sketchy knowledge, and jumbled impressions, of biblical material. Even seminary-trained pastors struggle to get a handle on the flow of the Scriptures from beginning to end. No wonder so many people give up on the Bible--and even the church. This book claims that what gives the Bible its overarching integrity and lasting value is a narrative, a storyline. Readers who approach the Bible with narrative in mind will discover from Genesis to Revelation a story that begins at a certain point, establishes a theme; develops, continues, and adapts that theme; and reaches a resolution (of sorts!). Rather than a book-by-book treatment of the Bible, this book identifies and traces a Story that stretches across the corpus of the canon, a Story in which divine promise and human response constantly define each episode. Text boxes, reflection questions, chapter questions, and activities encourage the reader to engage with content at more than one level all along the way. Engaging with the Bible can become exhilarating and gratifying!
Contemporary discussions of problems of selfhood and knowledge have offered a wide range of solutions, from calls for a new Enlightenment (in the face of the resurgence of myth and the irrational), to attempts to 're-enchant the world' (in the face of the growth of an impersonal instrumental Reason). In Between Vision and Obedience - Rethinking Theological Epistemology, George Ille offers a theological response to these competing views, with the specific purpose of evaluating the present state of epistemological rationality in theology. Ille anchors his concerns historically and thematically through the work of the philosophers Paul Ricouer and G.F.W. Hegel. Invoking theological insights from Eastern and Western philosophies, and seeking recourse to a number of philosophers and theologians from both the continental and analytical traditions, he traces the contours of a theological rationality freed from both modern and post-modern hermeneutical anxieties. He proposes a rationality that follows the drama of God's engagement with the world through dying and resurrection, ascesis and abundance, suffering witness and eucharistic communion. This important text challenges and reframes existing theological and philosophical engagements with hermeneutics and epistemology. The new critical perspective it offers will be an invaluable resource for academics and scholars across the humanities.
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