The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms: why spiritualities without God fail to transform us by
How Do You Minister to People Who Are Spiritual but Not Religious? In a secular age that offers a buffet of spiritualities focused on the self and on personal transformation, Andrew Root demonstrates the difference between these reigning mysticisms and an authentic Christian view of transformation. "Root playfully illustrates how we have become trapped in the present by way of the past, and neither heroics nor introspection, nor ourselves, will save us. Instead, he posits an enticing, ancient transformation in confession and surrender to something beyond ourselves. A balm for those guilted by Instagram and self-help, Root's book is both illuminating, intellectual history and an essential guide for spiritual leaders navigating secular mysticisms." --Erin Raffety, Princeton University and Princeton Seminary "A theological gem. This book is a primer on spiritual theology and philosophical theology that inspires readers to recover and reconsider traditions of confession and surrender. Root balances wit and humor with intellectual depth. This thought-provoking book is an important read that challenges mainline pastors and congregations striving for relevance in the secular age." --Kermit Moss, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary "A gifted practical theologian, Root invites us to wrestle with the nature of historical and contemporary mysticism in the Western world so that we might resist a spirituality that essentially ends in the self and respond to the transformative invitation to Christ-centered relationships. Ministry leaders will benefit greatly from Root's practical wisdom." --Angela Reed, Truett Seminary, Baylor University "Root's final book of the Ministry in a Secular Age series passes on a legacy: the mystery of how a theology of the cross paradoxically offers a path for transformation of the self. At the end of his secular pilgrimage, Root becomes a mystical guide, pointing passionately at how transcendence may be found in the receptive life--a life of passive surrender and confession." --Bård Norheim, NLA University College, Norway; coauthor of The Four Speeches Every Leader Has to Know
A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth by
Despite our best efforts to create welcoming and affirming congregations, the reality is that church can still be a harmful place to LGBTQIA youth. Inside A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth, author Cody J. Sanders challenges pastors and church leaders to reflect on the various trials that adolescence brings for LGBTQIA youth. Designed for congregations that currently have a theologically and biblically affirming stance toward the LGBTQIA community, this unique resource provides insight and practical advice for tough questions like: How does an affirming stance toward LGBTQIA people affect the day-to-day experience of teenagers in a church setting? In what ways can a church's youth ministry have a positive impact on the lives of LGBTQIA youth who want to fully live out their Christian faith and their gender identity? How can a pastor, youth minister, or youth ministry volunteer embrace, nurture, and provide skillful care for LGBTQIA youth in a congregation or community? A glossary of terms to use when talking about LGBTQIA issues and a list of national and location resources that can be used to support LGBTQIA youth are included.
A Burning House: redeeming American evangelicalism by examining its history, mission, and message by
American Evangelicalism is ablaze. This is an inevitable result of divisions along ethnic and cultural lines, which have long tarnished the movement's witness. Doctrinal identity unites black and white evangelicals, but rifts afflict the camp, so the movement is waning. In A Burning House, Brandon Washington contends that deliberate and sacrificial integration is the sole solution to bolster evangelicalism's foundation. In the 1950s and '60s, with desegregation on the horizon, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I've come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house." As with the country, if we hope to move toward integrating the American Evangelical church, we must do so as firefighters. Washington is not calling American Evangelicalism to become something new. Rather, he challenges the movement to realize what it has always been in Christ. The selfless integration of Evangelicalism will result in a holy witness to humanity and a greater understanding of Shalom--peace, justice, wholeness--in the world. These are the inevitable fruits of espousing and preaching a comprehensive gospel message.
Scenes with My Son : love and grief in the wake of suicide by
A celebration and an elegy, Scenes with My Son sensitively renders the terrible privilege of grief in the wake of suicide. After years of battling clinical depression exacerbated by autism, Auggie Hubbard died by suicide at the age of 19. In this poignant tribute to his son, Robert Hubbard--a theatre scholar and actor--stages Auggie's life in a series of vivid and tender scenes: Auggie's insatiable hunger for Accelerated Reader points. His tireless lightsaber practice in the local park. His sonorous tuba practice in the ward of his inpatient program. Through these anecdotes of Auggie's life and the days following his death, readers journey with a family shaken by mental illness and share in their hard-won joys in defiance of depression. Refusing easy answers and clichés about "God's plan," Hubbard unflinchingly asks: Does faith matter amid such tragedy? What do you do when awareness isn't enough? When you've tried so hard to keep your child safe, but your efforts fail? His honesty and vulnerability--and his tender portrait of Auggie--are gifts to all who live with their own questions in the wake of a loved one's death.
When Church Stops Working: a future for your congregation beyond more money, programs, and innovation by
What if the solution for the decline of todays church isn't more money, people, programs, innovation, or busyness? What if the answer is to stop and wait on God? When Church Stops Working shows how actively watching and listening for God can bring life out of death for churches in crisis today.
The missionary movement from the West : a biography from birth to old age by 
Empowering Spirit, Empowering Structures : the contributions of Noel Perkin to Assemblies of God world missions by
Noel Perkin, a banker-turned-missionary, led Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) for more than thirty years (1927-59). His life exemplifies the missionary zeal historians have noted within the early Pentecostal movement. Perkin's experience of the Holy Spirit and his experiences as a missionary in Argentina led him to create systems intended to empower others to fulfill Christ's commission to make disciples of all nations.Perkin's empowering leadership played a significant part in AGWM's remarkable growth into a leading Pentecostal mission-sending agency which currently sends over 2,000 missionaries to 140 countries. As one of the principal architects of AGWM's missiology and operation, Perkin transformed a two-person office relying on envelope boxes for its accounting system into a well-structured, strategic mission agency and laid a foundation for AGWM's continued growth. Empowering Spirit, Empowering Structures uses the foundation of a biographical study to examine the concept of empowerment through Perkin's life and the impact that Perkin and his missiology had and continues to have upon AGWM.
Evangelism: learning from the past by
Michael Green's valedictory work: a personal history of evangelism Beyond his prolific academic career, Michael Green is fondly remembered for his commitment to sharing the gospel with everyone. His passion for evangelism, the heart of his life and work, shines through in Evangelism: Learning from the Past, his last manuscript before his passing in 2019. Green narrates how evangelists spread the good news, starting with first evangelist, Jesus, and his apostles. He then moves through the early church, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, and Revival movements. The book culminates with Green's reflections on his own decades-spanning career in evangelism and how he adapted the timeless truths of the gospel amid the major cultural shifts of the twentieth century. Throughout the narrative, he focuses on what we can learn from evangelists through history to inform our own practice today. To this end, each chapter concludes with questions to encourage reflection. Those who have been moved by Green's work will treasure this deeply personal final addition to his extensive oeuvre. Evangelism: Learning from the Past will offer inspiration and encouragement to all evangelical Christians looking to revitalize and contextualize their work in proclaiming the good news to all.
Partnership in Ministry: a study of networking and collaboration in Paul's ministry and their implications by
What type of relationship did New Testament churches have with one another? Was it a relationship of conflict and competition? Or was it a loose aggregation of individual churches scattered across the Roman Empire? Or can it be described as a cohesive partnership for the common cause of the gospel of Christ? Most New Testament church activities are recorded in connection with Paul's ministry. In this sense, the present study started on the premise that close attention to Paul's partnership ministry would offer a richer understanding of New Testament church relationships.By exploring some ministry areas--such as Paul's coworkers, financial assistance, and communicative activities--this book demonstrates that Paul's churches, occasioned and mediated by Paul's partnership ministry, were engaged in networking and collaboration far more closely than has generally been assumed, not only among themselves but also with non-Pauline churches. Paul's partnership ministry significantly contributed to the relationship of New Testament churches.
Partners, Sisters, and Twins : flourishing partnerships among local congregations around the world by
Congregations are increasingly developing partnerships as a way of engaging directly in global missions. One of the most common ways they do this is forming relationships with congregations in other parts of the world. This book looks at the reasons that churches seek out missions partners, how the partnership phenomenon developed, and what beliefs, concepts, structures, and practices inform the healthiest mission partnerships. With insights drawn from a survey of churches from across the country and around the world, this book provides data-driven insights to guide the practice of international congregational partnerships.
Leading Faithful Innovation: following God into a hopeful future by 
Forming Leaders for the Public Church: vocation in twenty-first century societies by
Churches around the globe are answering God's call to engage the challenging religious, political, and humanitarian crises facing the world today. Based on the public theology of Gary M. Simpson, public church leaders demonstrate in this book how to respond within diverse global contexts with Gospel compassion, courage, and contextual leadership.
Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching: an introduction to biblical hermeneutics by
Renowned biblical scholar Stanley Porter offers an accessible introduction to hermeneutics to help students and pastors better interpret and understand God's Word. Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching focuses on various levels of interpretation and proclamation, which are arranged in a necessary hierarchy: language and linguistics, the biblical text, biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics. Stanley Porter grounds the discussion within a conversation of biblical authority and offers a fresh examination of the key issues. The result is a workable method that introduces each of the major topics of interpretation and addresses some of the complexities of their use. This book provides the basics for a Bible interpreter to move from fundamental questions about the task of biblical interpretation to understanding a text and its theology to creating and delivering a sermon. It offers valuable guidance for professors and students of hermeneutics and equips pastors and Bible teachers to deliver a relevant message to those who rely on them to be faithful interpreters.
Enjoy the latest articles by Luther Sem's own Faculty, from Word & World's most recent issues, accessed via Luther Library's subscription to ATLA -Religion Database. Here are some recent articles, including a few by our own faculty:
Also found in the ATLA Database are the Currents in Theology and Mission, and the Lutheran Quarterly, and more recently, Spiritus:ORU Journal of Theology. Here are a few examples from their most recent issues:
On Becoming Wise Together : learning and leading in the city by
Theological education is for whole communities, not just individuals. Urban ministry reaches across the city's socioeconomic, ethnic, generational, and faith boundaries. All should be able to gather at the table and find God's peace. How can theological education in the city further this goal? Maria Liu Wong addresses this question through the lens of her experience as a British-Chinese immigrant to Long Island, a missionary kid, a wife and mother, and the provost of City Seminary of New York. Using autoethnographic methodology, Liu Wong presents anecdotes and images from her life, with which she thinks broadly about how theological education functions in the city, both formally and informally. What she finds is that theological education is less about individuals accruing knowledge and more about communities growing in wisdom together--as a family, as friends, as colleagues, as coleaders. In these pages, seminary and university professors will find ways to learn with and from not just individual students, but the communities they comprise. Pastors and ministry leaders will find inspiration and encouragement in the ways our lives form our faith and future in the city.
Beyond Homelessness, : Christian faith in a culture of displacement ... Anniversary Edition by
Envision a future beyond homelessness.  The rise in homeless encampments. The destruction of our planet. The disconnection from place caused by capitalism and technology. Beyond the unavailability of housing, our culture is experiencing a devastating loss of home. In Beyond Homelessness, Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh illuminate the relationship between socioeconomic, ecological, and cultural homelessness. Bouma-Prediger and Walsh blend groundbreaking scholarship with stirring biblical meditations, while enriching their discussion with literature, music, and art. Offering practical solutions and a hope-filled vision of home, they show how to heal the profound dislocations in our society.  In this fifteenth-anniversary edition, the authors return to their work with a new postscript, in which they discuss the evolution of their ideas and share true stories of home and community built anew. This revitalized classic is a must-read for any Christian committed to social justice--and anyone longing for home.
Worship at a Crossroads : racism and segregated Sundays by
This book calls Protestant churches, and the ELCA in particular, to a church-wide conversation about racism. It is a response to the 2019 book Dear Church by Lenny Duncan, a former Lutheran pastor who is Black and who, among other reparations, calls for changing the church's worship in order to address segregated Sundays. Changes in worship affect theological foundations. Informed consideration is essential. Because entering into life-changing conversations requires vulnerability and commitment, this book includes several narratives: my life as a White woman and pastor, the history of the Black church as defined by Black theologians, the development of the liturgical renewal movement, and my experiences as a professor navigating worship conflicts as my seminary struggled with financial constraints and a changing student body. The seminary conflicts offered me a window into how better to address racism inspired by the example of post-WWII German truth-telling and how some US Southern states have come to grips with the history of the Jim Crow South (described in Susan Neiman's Learning from the Germans). This book outlines a way forward for churches in responding to racism by encouraging healthy engagement with contentious relationships as a necessity for healing.
African Artists under Mission Patronage: focus on Tanzania by
The development, promotion, and status of African art and African artists in twentieth-century Africa is linked to several stakeholders and agencies, including Western Christian missions. Fadhili Safieli Mshana, in African Artists under Mission Patronage, surveys how mission patronage of African artists influenced twentieth-century African art, presenting specific case studies of Oye-Ekiti Workshop (Nigeria), Cyrene and Serima missions (Zimbabwe), Grace Dieu and Rorke's Drift missions (Republic of South Africa), Kungoni Center of Culture and Art (Malawi), and Nyumba ya Sanaa/NYS or "House of Art," Bujora Mission, the Hernnhut Brethren of Urambo Mission, the Benedictine Abbey Ndanda, and Maneromango Lutheran Mission (Tanzania). Mshana considers the philosophies and policies of these missions, their approaches in training artists, the processes of knowledge exchange surrounding art-making and attitudes toward art, the role of visual traditions, the use of art objects, the status of artists, and the socio-economic climate of the cultures hosting the missions. He concludes that the artists and the missions that supported them made significant contributions to the history of contemporary African art. nomic climate of the cultures hosting the missions. He concludes that the artists and the missions that supported them made significant contributions to the history of contemporary African art.
Handel's Messiah: a new view of its musical and spiritual architecture : study guide for listeners and performers by 
To Mend the World : a new vision for youth ministry by
Increasingly, social entrepreneurship-- the disruption of the status quo for the purpose of creating new solutions to social issues--provides an important catalyst for cultural and social change. To Mend the World: A New Vision for Youth Ministry brings together practical theology, Christian ministry, and social entrepreneurship for a new approach to work with young people. This interdisciplinary conversation begins with a simple premise: the old models of ministry are no longer working. Young people and emergent adults are shaped more by the dominant culture than the practices of the Christian community. Churches frantically create ministry programs to address this reality, but these attempts either run parallel to the dominant cultural narratives or are co-opted and undermined by them. To Mend the World,written by a practical theologian and a practitioner, draws on the principles and practices of social entrepreneurship to provide ministry leaders with a thoughtful, robust theological perspective along with practical insights for youth ministry today and tomorrow.
Between God and Hitler : military chaplains in Nazi Germany by
During the Second World War, approximately 1000 Christian chaplains accompanied Wehrmacht forces wherever they went, from Poland to France, Greece, North Africa, and the Soviet Union. Chaplains were witnesses to atrocity and by their presence helped normalize extreme violence and legitimate its perpetrators. Military chaplains played a key role in propagating a narrative of righteousness that erased Germany's victims and transformed the aggressors into noble figures who suffered but triumphed over their foes. Between God and Hitler is the first book to examine Protestant and Catholic military chaplains in Germany from Hitler's rise to power, to defeat, collapse, and Allied occupation. Drawing on a wide array of sources - chaplains' letters and memoirs, military reports, Jewish testimonies, photographs, and popular culture - this book offers insight into how Christian clergy served the cause of genocide, sometimes eagerly, sometimes reluctantly, even unknowingly, but always loyally.
Why Evangelical Theology Needs the Global Church by
Christian theologians and students are aware that evangelicals in the Majority World now outnumber those in North America and Europe, and many want to know more about emerging voices in the global church. At the same time, these voices are largely absent from Western evangelical theology. Stephen Pardue seeks to bridge this divide by arguing, biblically and theologically, that it is imperative for Western evangelical theology to engage with the global church, and he provides examples of how this can be done. Case studies throughout the book illustrate opportunities for fruitful engagement with non-Western theology in various areas of Christian doctrine. Readers will be given an introduction to the riches available within the worldwide body of Christ and learn how to engage productively with the global church.
Uncovering Spiritual Narratives : using story in pastoral care and ministry by
All cultures use story as a way to make sense of life. Yet for many, only a single story line is seen as the "real truth." Using narrative therapy as a caregiving approach can help individuals uncover multilayered narratives that are far more complex and liberating. Drawing on theological approaches and real life experiences, Coyle creates a contextual pastoral theology that helps caregivers find the power of God in people's stories.
Preaching the word : contemporary approaches to the Bible for the pulpit by 
Sustaining While Disrupting: the challenge of congregational innovation by 
Fresh Expressions of the Rural Church by 
Untrustworthy: the Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community by 