From personal interviews with chaplains at the temporary mortuary at Ground Zero and her own experiences as an Episcopal priest, psychotherapist, and chaplain, Storm Swain offers a new model of pastoral care grounded in theology and practice, which enables wholeness and healing for caregivers and those for whom they care.
In this sequel to Creating a Healthier Church, Richardson employs the same methodology to address the roots of personal issues that may hinder pastorsA ability to function effectively as leaders within their congregations, and may in fact cause them deep difficulties.
This book explores the relationship between the practices of pastoral care and the practices of spiritual direction with the aim of enabling pastoral caregivers to draw upon the guiding principles, resources and techniques of spiritual direction within the Christian tradition. With an emphasis on both "practice" and "presence," the book reclaims ......
Family Systems Theory, Leadership and Congregational Life
An introduction to the Bowen Family Systems Theory and its applications both to church life and to the role of leadership in creating a healthier church, this book explains the complexities of congregational emotional life in understandable language.
Digital Homiletics demystifies the art of online preaching, helping readers understand both the why and the how of engaging listeners via digital formats. Sunggu Yang lays a concise and accessible theological foundation and then shares ten methods for effective digital preaching. Readers will encounter concrete tips and advice for ......
Kathleen McShane and Elan Babchuck argue that empire-inspired leadership models hollow out faith institutions and exhaust their leaders. In Picking Up the Pieces, the authors offer a leadership model based on the conviction that power shared is power multiplied. The book offers a hopeful, practical, and sustainable way forward for all God's ......
Receiving This Life offers devotional reflections, prayers, practices, and liturgies that seek the meaning inside experiences and create ways to embrace and rehearse meaning. Kara K. Root empowers the reader to embrace life as sacred and to practice receiving life as a gift by attuning to meaning in the ordinary.
Injustice and the Care of Souls, Second Edition discusses injustices prevalent in church and society. It offers pastoral and spiritual caregivers knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively to oppressed and marginalized persons and reflect on how their own social location affects their ministries. It provides resources to support their ......
My Burden Is Light invites preachers to reclaim proclaiming Jesus as the goal of preaching. Satterlee argues that by preaching Jesus's life, death, and resurrection as good news, we address the issues we face. This book is foundational for preaching courses and a balm for preachers needing nourishment and renewal.
In For Every Matter under Heaven: Preaching on Special Occasions, Beverly Zink-Sawyer and Donna Giver-Johnston offer a process for creating biblically grounded, relevant sermons for events that arise from calendars, celebrations, or circumstances by considering the occasion, the gathered listeners, and the ways God is at work in that season.
The proclamation of the gospel is the responsibility of the baptized rather than the privilege of the ordained. Preaching is not a solo endeavor. It is a communal practice, a ministry of the whole congregation that is most faithful when the process is shared. In The Peoples' Sermon, Shauna K. Hannan argues that it is no longer faithful for a ......
Healthcare chaplains working as part of interdisciplinary teams are frequently involved in contributing to discussions on all aspects of patients' wellbeing. This insightful collection of
case studies shows how chaplains can effectively support patients and their families in making decisions regarding medical care, as well as for ......
ln Ways of the Word, a dynamic team of master preachers, Sally A. Brown and Luke A. Powery, speaks with one voice their belief that preaching is a witness to the ongoing work of God in the world.
Walter Brueggemann declares that the necessary character of truly prophetic preaching today is "a contestation between narratives." If the dominant narrative of our time promotes national self-sufficiency (through militarism) and personal self-sufficiency (through consumerism), it must be opposed by a different narrative. Prophetic preaching takes ......
What can practical theology contribute to other theological disciplines and the church about the nature of God and the church's witness to Jesus Christ in the world? What can we learn about the love and power of God in Jesus Christ from the community of survivors of violence? Rethinking Faith urges all Christians to consider themselves practical ......
Against the easy assurance of a too-enculturated religion, Walter Brueggemann refocuses the preaching task around the decentering, destabilizing, always risky Word that confronts us in Scripture if we have the courage to hear.
The experience of grief has been a source of intrigue and curiosity throughout history, and it continues to stimulate thought and theory in various fields of study. Unfortunately, these fields tend to function in isolation from each other. The result is a substantial disconnect between grief research, theory, and carewhich has evolved greatly over ......
Church scandals relating to sexual boundary violations by clergy have made all professionals more aware of the underlying dynamics of the pastoral relationship. Pamela Cooper-White plumbs these depths and proposes a framework for understanding the relationship and the root causes of misconduct and effective care.
