MAJOR ARTICLES (copies of this issue may be obtained for $7.50 which includes S & H - e-mail Editor or Admin. VP)
Seven Enduring Principles for Transforming Your Congregation by The Rev. Dr. George Bullard, Jr. About every decade significant new approaches emerge, some principles become enduring, and other principles that have been dismissed reappear. These seven principles appear to be enduring and timeless, but listeners had questions about applying them in their congregations. Principle One - Continual Transformation Rather Than One-Time Transformation. Principle Two - Going Forward Rather Than Going Back. Principle Three - People Before Programs. Principle Four - Being Both Spiritual And Strategic. Principle Five - Future Rather Than Past. Principle Six - Kingdom Growth Rather Than Church Growth. Principle Seven - Vision Plus Intentionality. George Bullard is a Ministry Partner and the Strategic Coordinator for The Columbia Partnership at www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org He has been involved in congregational transformation efforts for 35 years. His books include Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation, Every Congregation Needs a Little Conflict, and the forthcoming Real Denominations Serve Congregations.
The Outsider: Preaching about the Immigration Crisis from the Book of Ruth, by Rev. Dr. Jerry A. Gladson, APC. Following a Georgia trooper's highway stop on a cold winter's evening, with his wife and three young children in the car, police interrogated the Puerto Rican naturalized citizen driver for two hours. As a lay pastor of a small, growing Hispanic church, he told his members the next Sunday. Without a word, 40 members immediately fled Georgia for a more hospitable state, leaving the church only a handful of members. Dr. Gladson mused over how he might raise his own congregation's consciousness by preaching on the topic of immigration. How might he lift up the plight of the strangers in our midst and point to the higher, more compassionate ethic found in Scripture? Jerry A. Gladson, Ph.D. APC, is Senior Minister, Emeritus, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Marietta, GA, and adjunct professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA, and Richmont Graduate University, Atlanta, GA.
Scenes from an Illness, by Rev. Lawton W. Posey, FAPC. A personal story of family illnesses as a child was formative in his entering into a life of care for the sick in body and mind and spirit. He invites readers to reflect on their experiences which shaped them. Lawton W. Posey, FAPC, is a retired Presbyterian (PCUSA) pastor living in West Virginia.
Ministry with Military Families at a Time of Death, by Rev. John Hugus, APC. An Army Chaplain of the Florida National Guard, the author is called upon by the U.S. Army to give death notices to famillies of victims of the Iraq War. This is his description. In part, the author writes, "The Chaplain does not read the letter from the Secretary of Defense. I play a supporting role. It is a ministry of presence. I offer a prayer if the family wishes for me to do so and they usually do. John Hugus, APC, is a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) living in Jacksonville, FL.
BOOK REVIEWS (Below are the book reviews in very abbreviated form. The full review is available in over 60 seminary libraries which subscribe to Sharing the Practice. Subscriptions to STP are $30/year and individual copies are $7.50, including S & H. Valuable for making your purchases.)
JOB: Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary, by Samuel E. Balentine, Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing Col, 2006, 750 pp. In seeking to discern Job's understanding of his reason for suffering and God's role or relationship to that suffering, Balentine offers Job as a legitimate model for an unpredictable, challenging, arguing and pained protest of suffering. Balentine directs our cries of "why" to "touch and see" the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, and what it means to be "grieved, even to death." A CDROM is available. Here are resources beyond one's imagination to understand the deep meaning of the Book of Job. Balentine is Professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. Reviewed by William Powell Tuck, FAPC.
SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, by Douglas A. Blackmon (New York, NY, Doubleday, 2008), 468 pp. This is an informative, yet disturbing, book to read in light of the subtle and not too subtle racism evident in the U.S. When congregations and community groups want to enter into conversations on racism, it is well to know this potent and powerful element of racism which spread from the "south" to the northern states following the Civil War (the War Between the States). It is, for many outside the "south," something of an unknown history, but a history which greatly influenced both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and many lesser known activists. Reviewed by Paul Binder, APC.
FAITH IN THE GREAT PHYSICIAN: Suffering and Healing in American Culture, 1860-1900, by Heather D. Curtis. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2007. A book particularly for pastors, parish nurses, Stephens ministers, healing prayer providers and chaplains, the author gives a sympathetic, but not uncritical, accounting of the various healing movements of that time. But the book's value extends to present-day healing prayers, practices and services. Curtis does remind those who are influenced by scientific thinking that there is another world out there. It is a mysterious world, poorly represented by some of today's very public practitioners. Reviewed by Lawton Posey, FAPC.
FORTRESS INTODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE UNITED STATES, by Nancy Koester. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007, 239 pp. The author is a church historian at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, and realizes that history is written from a certain point of view. As a result, she recognizes and has quotes from many other church historians, giving it a perspective different from usual church activities of the majority, namely, white Europeans. One of the great strengths of the book is the inner and outer emphasis of each of the time periods of the eight chapters on the inner and outer Christian elements, or "this worldly" vs. "other worldly" life of faith. Koester indicates that this book was written for "college and seminary students, book clubs, and individual readers." To aid its use, she ends each chapter with "Suggestions for Further Reading," and "Discussion Questions." Reviewed by Paul Bauman, APC.
A FIELD GUIDE FOR THE MISSIONAL CONGREGATION: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation, by Rick Rouse and Craig Van Gelder, with Foreward by Martin E. Marty. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008, 144 pp. A lay-friendly book for congregations and clergy willing to explore what the church, if it is to be faithful to its calling must be missional. The authors are concerned about the transformation of the church as it makes its way through the 21st century. To be missional is to discern where God is at work and then join in the action, for the 1950's are not coming back. Today's church must make its way in a postmodern world that is increasingly disinterested in institutions. It is a day in which quick fixes and church growth fads are of little value, a day in which efforts at maintenance lead only to decline. The key premise of the missional church is that what a congregation does to be deeply informed by what God has made it, and is making it, to be. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.
THE SCANDALOUS GOSPEL OF JESUS: What's So Good About the Good News? by Peter J. Gomes. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2007. 264 pp. The author set out to challenge our efforts at domesticating and manipulating Jesus for our own purposes. In his own inimitable way, Gomes reminds us that Jesus doesn't fit well with the status quo, despite centuries of Constantinian efforts seeking to inoculate us to his message. Gomes tells that Jesus is a nonconformist in a culture that values conformity, then and now. The book is an eloquent statement that should cause us to rethink what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the modern world. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.
BECOMING A PASTOR: Reflections on the Transition into Ministry. (An Alban Institute Speciall Report), by James P. Wind and David J. Wood, Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 44 pp. Entering the ministry from seminary is a great transition and this report provides great insight into this transition. Based on the findings of the Fund for Theological Education's "Transition into Ministry Program" (TiM) which seeks to reshape the preparation of pastors as they face the challenges of the 21st century. Examples are provided of carefully shaped learning environments that help new pastors learn - much like with doctors - from their peers, from mentors and supervisors, and from the people they serve. Reviewed by John Hugus, APC.
THE FIDELITY OF BETRAYAL: Towards a Church Beyond Belief. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2008. 196 pp., by Peter Rollins. The author is representative of a growing number of young evangelicals who are questioning the received traditions. The Word of God is "what the believer encounters as a presence exploding from the heart of the text, a presence that can never be captured in some confession of faith or creedal formation..." When it comes to God, we must move from seeing God as object to engaging God as subject. What is primary is belonging. The author challenges the traditional doctrinal and institutional forms of the faith because unless there is life in them there is no purpose for them. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship, WJK Press, Louisville, 2008, 213 pp. by Brian Wren. Wren, whose hymns can be found in many hymnals, has produced an extremely helpful resource for these three seasons - all the expected responses and ceremonies, responsive calls to worship, collects, and pastoral prayers. The resources are for all three lectionary cycles. If you like Brian Wren, or if you are looking for something new that's both progressive and Trinitarian, this might be a good fit. Included is a CD containing the complete text of the book, for cutting and pasting. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.
VELVET ELVIS: Repainting the Christian Faith. Zondervan, Grand Rapis, MI, 2005, 194 pp., by Rob Bell. In part autobiography and part theological treatise, the book invites the reader into a conversation, but one far from complete. It's a process Jesus has entered, and into which we're invited to work "out how to live as God created us to live." Bell is an evangelical pastor but he states that it is inappropriate to claim that one knows with absoluteness the meaning of scripture. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.
HOLY GROUND: A Liturgical Cosmology, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2003, 228 pp., by Gordon W. Lathrop. This is the last in a trilogy beginning with 1) Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology, and 2) Holy People: A Liturgical Ecclesiology. Lathrop, in company with lectureships around the world and as the Charles A. Schieren Professor of Liturgy at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphis, has also been extensively involved in the international and ecumenical endeavors of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation. When God tells Moses that the place on which he is standing is holy ground, God does not say that "I am holy and all else is not. . . . God's presence includes and does not exclude." Reviewed by John E. Hugus, APC.
UNLOCKING THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE: Guide to Biblical Interpretation, Chalice Press, St. Louis, 2008, 86 pp., by Sharon Warner. With biblical illiteracy running rampant within the church, "this study," writes the author, "is intended to help people in church learn how to become better interpreters of the Bible." The focus is on teaching people how to handle scripture in a responsible way, which is an important antidote for the church's illiteracy. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.
SOUL SEARCHING: The Journey of Thomas Merton, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 3008, 208 pp., edited by Morgan C. Atkinson with Jonathan Montaldo. This is a companion book to a documentary filmed and produced by Morgan Atkinson. He produced the book because he had so much material left over that he decided to share the words of what he calls a "Merton Choir." Atkinson is a film maker from Louisville, KY, which is home to the Trappist monastery of Gethsemani, the home of Merton for much of his life. Montaldo is director of Bellarmine University's Thomas Merton Center. As the writers state, "He isn't a saint, . . . (but) a man of deep spirituality, and yet also a person who is deeply complex. Reviewed by Robert Cornwall, APC.