George B. Thompson Jr.'s Books

Welcome to the One Great Story!

Tracing the Biblical Narrative from Genesis to Revelation

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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Welcome to the One Great Story!

Tracing the Biblical Narrative from Genesis to Revelation

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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!

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Page Count

233

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1725277328

ISBN 13

9781725277328

How to Get Along With Your Church

Creating Cultural Capital for Doing Ministry

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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How to Get Along With Your Church

Creating Cultural Capital for Doing Ministry

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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.

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Page Count

170

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1725232251

ISBN 13

9781725232259

Treasures in Clay Jars

New Ways to Understand Your Church

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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Treasures in Clay Jars

New Ways to Understand Your Church

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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.

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Page Count

220

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1725231115

ISBN 13

9781725231115

Ready to Lead

Harnessing the Energy in You and around You

By: Beverly A. Thompson,George B. Thompson Jr.

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Ready to Lead

Harnessing the Energy in You and around You

By: Beverly A. Thompson,George B. Thompson Jr.

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.

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Page Count

123

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1498271537

ISBN 13

9781498271530

Futuring Your Church

Finding Your Vision and Making it Work

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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Futuring Your Church

Finding Your Vision and Making it Work

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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.

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Page Count

150

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1725235870

ISBN 13

9781725235878

What Hardy Found

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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What Hardy Found

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

Twelve-year-old Hardy has moved to the mountains with his widowed mother. The boy loves exploring the land around the family cabin, looking for signs of generations gone by. Hardy makes an unlikely friend, Lily Mae, at his new school, and she joins him on his outdoor adventures. The two amateur explorers befriend Maddy, an old woman living in an even older, remote house. When something terrible happens to Maddy, Hardy and Lily Mae are warned to stop their hunting for suppressed clues about the local history. Hardy persists anyway, and his final discovery draws him even closer to his exploring companion. Through the characters and events in this story, readers are invited to reflect on the deep struggles of race and identity in America with new insight and fresh hope.

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Page Count

119

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1725270587

ISBN 13

9781725270589

How to Get Along with Your Pastor

Creating Partnership for Doing Ministry

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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How to Get Along with Your Pastor

Creating Partnership for Doing Ministry

By: George B. Thompson Jr.

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.

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Page Count

144

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1725235862

ISBN 13

9781725235861

Grace for the Journey

Practices and Possibilities for In-between Times

By: George B. Thompson,Beverly A. Thompson

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Grace for the Journey

Practices and Possibilities for In-between Times

By: George B. Thompson,Beverly A. Thompson

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.

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Page Count

135

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

156699537X

ISBN 13

9781566995375

Alligators in the Swamp:

Power, Ministry, and Leadership

By: George B. Thompson

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Alligators in the Swamp:

Power, Ministry, and Leadership

By: George B. Thompson

What tools hold the greatest promise to assist pastors in leading congregations to be faithful witnesses for Jesus? "Alligators in the Swamp: Power, Ministry, and Leadership" with a foreword by Andrew Young, attempts to answer this question. George Thompson will show you that the topic is power. Not a pie-in-the-sky, by-and-by version of power, but a day-to-day, dead-serious, in-your-face version of power. "Alligators in the Swamp" aims its sights and enables you to explore the practice of power in human life.

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Page Count

265

Publisher

The Pilgrim Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

082982085X

ISBN 13

9780829820850

Church on the Edge of Somewhere

Ministry, Marginality, and the Future

By: George B. Thompson

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Church on the Edge of Somewhere

Ministry, Marginality, and the Future

By: George B. Thompson

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.

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Page Count

149

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1566994853

ISBN 13

9781566994859

Book's by George B. Thompson Jr.

Welcome to the One Great Story!

Welcome to the One Great Story!

How to Get Along With Your Church

How to Get Along With Your Church

Treasures in Clay Jars

Treasures in Clay Jars

Ready to Lead

Ready to Lead

Futuring Your Church

Futuring Your Church

What Hardy Found

What Hardy Found

How to Get Along with Your Pastor

How to Get Along with Your Pastor

Grace for the Journey

Grace for the Journey

Alligators in the Swamp:

Alligators in the Swamp:

Church on the Edge of Somewhere

Church on the Edge of Somewhere

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