Religious institutions and organizations

Many congregations today are dealing with changes that have led to decline and significant loss.

Journalist and pastor Mark Wingfield describes how the congregation he serves undertook a detailed study of how the church should respond to the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members.

What relevance has comedy for the global crises of late-modernity and the theological critique thereof?

In Finding Our Way to the Truth, Sarah Ciavarri explores lies of a particularly insidious sort--lies masquerading as truths.

Lisa Cressman, founder of Backstory Preaching, offers preachers tools to craft difficult sermon messages that can be heard.

"e;Illuminating … these profound profiles will be eye opening for any reader.

Asians make up the largest and most dispersed peoples of the world, and Christians constitute a sizable proportion of this population.

Richard H.

In his previous book, The Pastor: A Spirituality, Gordon W.

For decades, Sallie McFague lent her voice and her theological imagination to addressing and advocating for the most important issues of our time.

Asians make up the largest and most dispersed peoples of the world, and Christians make up a sizable proportion of this demographic.

Care companions in congregations support others at multiple levels.

In Clergy Burnout: Surviving in Turbulent Times, Revised and Expanded, Fred Lehr explores the nature and practice of clergy codependence.

Recovering Abundance: Twelve Practices for Small-Town Leaders invites readers to live a new story--to join a movement of renewal for small towns and rural communities.

Vocation is often loosely defined, reserved for use in churchy sermons and ivory towers.

Loneliness, or the feeling of being cut off from others, is an epidemic among people in America.

Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth explores how Christian spirituality and practice must adapt to prepare for life on a climate-altered planet.

Faith-Based Organizing: A Congregational Planning Resource for Addressing Poverty was prepared specifically for pastors and lay leaders who want to invite their whole congregations to engage in faith-based community organizing to address poverty and its root causes.

Neoliberalism is the reigning, overarching spirit of our age.

Good people of privilege are increasingly aware of racial injustice but unsure what to do about it and afraid to venture into challenging dialogues and spaces.

Preaching to Those Walking Away will help pastors adapt to a world of YouTube, TED Talks, and video marketing in which traditional preaching styles no longer feel authoritative, engaging, or compelling.

Today's social and political climate often pits conservative or traditional Christianity against "e;progressive"e; Christianity.

In 2012, Steve Austin, then a pastor, nearly died by suicide.

The starting point for In Deep Waters: Spiritual Care for Young People in a Climate Crisis is not news: the world as we know it is shifting.

The characters in Scripture are often portrayed as one-dimensional--as caricatures instead of human beings with real needs, authentic pain, and compelling fears.

Young people can be peacebuilders--citizens who address the root causes of hatred and abuse of power to build more just and peaceful communities.

On December 10, 1953, tragedy was visited on a family when Nathaniel Allen was murdered on the Sampit River by his white employer, who lured him into the meeting under the false promise of reconciliation.

In this third of three volumes addressing Luther's outlaw God, Steven D.

Terry Allen Moe came as pastor to Redeemer Lutheran, a traditional, working-class congregation in a poorer, mixed-race neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, in 1981.

Comedians tend to view the world somewhat askew or askance, and that view--a kind of hermeneutical lens for discerning the comedic in daily life--serves to frame, reframe, and even de-frame reality.

Through the debates about the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the life of the church, one overlooked community is LGBTQ youth.

How should the church relate to the public sphere?

God's People Made New: How Exploring the Bible Together Launched a Church's Spirit-Filled Future reveals the essential role of God's Word in forming a thriving congregation.

The Politics of Faith addresses key biblical texts and their intersection with questions of good government, social policy, and societal leadership.

The proclamation of the gospel is the responsibility of the baptized rather than the privilege of the ordained.

Clergy and other church leaders often feel pressed to preserve cherished traditions even as they direct people to discern the new thing God is doing.

Neighbor Love through Fearful Days is a reflection on pandemics--the Covid-19 pandemic, the accompanying economic collapse, a summer of climate chaos, and the pandemic of white supremacy--as well as on the calling to "e;serve thy neighbor"e; and work toward the common good, even and especially in times of crisis.

Clergy are more likely than ever to be called on to respond to community trauma, sitting alongside trauma survivors after natural disasters, racial violence, and difficult losses.

Called: Recovering Lutheran Principles for Ministry and Vocation explores vocation and the call to ministry from a Lutheran perspective and reveals their promise for the wider church.

Pastors are often ill-equipped in preparing churches to be sacred advocates and activists in the communities most affected by social injustice and neglect.

In Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age, John W.

Asians make up the largest and most dispersed people of the world, and Christians make up a sizable proportion of this demographic.

Just Traveling celebrates overcoming distance and seeking difference as defining human traits.

Many congregations and their leaders are discouraged about the future of the church.

Throughout its history, America has been confronted with two alternative views of its identity.

Susan J.

Matthew Gorkos begins The Storied Church with this compelling statement: "e;I believe in the church--in the power of faithful people serving a good and gracious God--and I believe in the power of a good story.

In Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life, Eileen R.

Our days are filled with a variety of known and lurking fears.

Turning Ourselves Inside Out emerges from the Thriving Christian Communities Project started by the authors in 2015, as well as from a Facebook conversation where someone asked, "e;We always hear about the problems in our churches.