Tips for accessing BOOKS on Ministry: Many of the titles included on these pages are books found in Luther Seminary Library and only available to seminary students. However, you may be able to borrow these same titles from your local public library. Make note of the title, author and ISBN of the desired book and ask your local library to request the book by "Interlibrary Loan" (ILL). Otherwise, of course, you may choose to buy certain titles from your favorite bookstore or online book source.
The Holy and the Hybrid: navigating the church's digital reformation by
The digital reformation accelerated Friday, March 13, 2020, when the President declared a national emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Church leaders quickly cobbled together virtual worship services, assuming faith communities would be apart for only a few weeks. As weeks stretched into months, however, leaders began to acknowledge that there was no going back to a previous normal, to a time of mostly in-person faith communities. In The Holy and the Hybrid: Navigating the Church's Digital Reformation, Ryan M. Panzer helps church leaders develop hybrid ministries through aligning the shared mission of the church with the collective values of our tech-shaped culture. The goal of the book is to help build communities that serve as the hands and feet of Christ simultaneously online and offline. Church will be at its best, Panzer argues, when we begin our conversations on technology not with apps or IT infrastructure but with values. The more we embrace the value of collaboration in particular, the more missional our faith communities will become and the more effectively we will equip communities for faithful service. "We take up this work," says Panzer, "not for the sake of relevance or trendiness but for the sake of the gospel, not to promote institutional vitality but to form disciples." With his guidance, church leaders will feel confident coaching their communities through this time of great change.
Grace and Gigabytes: being church in a tech-shaped culture by
Grace and Gigabytes: Being Church in a Tech-Shaped Culture explores change and ministry at the intersection of technology, culture, and church. In today's tech-shaped culture, we learn and we know through questions, connection, collaboration, and creativity--the networked values of the digital age. Drawing on experiences from a career as an instructional designer in the technology industry and a lifetime of leadership in the Lutheran church, Ryan M. Panzer argues that digital technology is not a set of tools, but a force for cultural transformation that has profound implications for ministry. Grace and Gigabytes explores shifts in culture that have heightened amid accelerated adoption and use of digital media. Just as previous revolutions in technology have disrupted culture, especially processes of cultural "meaning-making" related to faith and spirituality, so we are living through a powerful revolution of digital technology, culture, and spiritual thought. This revolution calls the church to change. This needed change requires not so much a shift in tactics: launching a website, building a podcast, or starting a social media page. The change is a philosophical pivot: prioritizing collaboration, making the flow of knowledge more dynamic, celebrating connection and creativity, and always affirming the question. Panzer discusses each of these philosophical pivots, describing their technological origins. He tells stories of ministries that have aligned to this cultural moment. And he provides concrete recommendations for the practice of ministry in a digital age.
Communication and Conflict Management in Churches and Christian Organizations by
Churches thrive on communication; they are stifled by conflict. Renowned Christian educator Kenneth O. Gangel joins his colleague Samuel L. Canine to bring good news to the church - communication skills can be learned and conflict can be managed. The church need no longer hide conflict nor excuse itself for poor communication, but can instead acknowledge where it has problems and seek transformation.The authors offer scriptural strategies for overcoming conflict and for building trust in relationships - even relationships among deacons or between deacons and pastors. Drawing from recent studies in the social sciences, Gangel and Canine show the church how to manage strife and foster dialogue so that the church can flourish.Chapter titles include Learning To Listen, Power in Conflict Management, Negotiation and Bargaining in Conflict Management, Organizational Causes of Conflict, Coalitions in Conflict Management, Managing Conflict Destructively or Constructively, Stress: Cause And Cure, and The Workaholic Syndrome.This book is a valuable resource for training church leaders. It is also an important resource for those who are already pastors, for whom the issues are daily realities and not just academic theory. Through its use in churches and seminaries, the book is designed to lead God's church through its conflicts to renewed vigor in ministry and growth.
Charismatic Leadership and Missional Change: mission-actional ministry in a multiethnic church by
Too often, the solution sought by many struggling churches is to make the homerun hire--to find the charismatic leader who will take them to the promised land of growth and vibrant ministry. While this strategy occasionally pays off, it has overwhelmingly failed as seen in the hundreds of churches across the United States that close their doors annually. Is it possible that there is another way forward for those seeking to lead local congregations into missionally vibrant ministry, especially those located in multiethnic urban areas?In Charismatic Leadership and Missional Change, one church's journey from a struggling, primarily Anglo congregation of less than 100 members to becoming a missionally vibrant, multiethnic church of more than 700 attendees with no clear ethnic majority documented. The charismatic leadership style that drove this change is discussed and critiqued, as well as the adaptive challenges that have arisen in the church because of it. An alternative approach--interpretive leadership--is proposed as a different pathway forward in response to these challenges. The result, the author suggests, will be to empower the diverse, everyday people of God to participate in God's mission in exciting and surprising new ways.
Creating Shared Resilience : the role of the church in a hopeful future by
The development community is increasingly aware of tensions and challenges inherent in relief work - and the need for sustainable solutions for communities experiencing poverty and crisis. How can the local church help to create and maintain such resilient communities? Boan and Ayers utilize their extensive experience working within the humanitarian sector, and in cooperation with local churches, to examine the evidence for effective partnerships between development agencies and local faith communities. The authors provide practical guidance on how church leaders can forge stronger relationships with NGOs, donors, and government while reinforcing, rather than compromising, the unique calling of the church. They explore resilience as an inherently communal characteristic and one located at the heart of the church's historic calling to build community, strengthen faith, and shelter those in need. This is an excellent resource for anyone desiring to understand the value of local faith communities in battling poverty and helping communities survive and thrive amidst the impact of climate change and natural disasters.
Adaptive Church: collaboration and community in a changing world by
Christian organization, education, and leadership are changing. Headlines note rising religious disaffiliation ("the Nones"), moral failures by religious leaders, and the mounting crisis for religious education. Research on congregations, Christian higher education, and theological education also paints a dismal picture: declining engagement and growing fragility. These trends have changed the landscape that surrounds Christian thought and practice, but the story of local communities presents a more complex portrait: communities are also coalescing around vitality, wisdom, and hope. Adaptive Church explores what it takes for communities of faith to respond to uncertainty and shifting organizational environments. Based on fifty-two interviews and four years of empirical work, Dustin Benac charts a theological paradigm for collaboration and community in a changing world. He pioneers an interdisciplinary method that identifies the ecclesial ecology as the primary site to discern how Christian communities and leaders adapt to mounting challenges. Moreover, he provides the first in-depth analysis of a novel form of organizing religious life?a "hub"?by telling the story of how collaborative partnerships are creating new structures of belonging in the Pacific Northwest. Neither megachurches nor denominations, these hubs are networks that anchor religious life within a particular community and facilitate webs of connection across Christian institutions. Illumined by wisdom drawn from the Christian tradition, they pursue a particular way of life, one sustained by six complementary forms of leadership that express the possibility of collaboration and community in a changing world. Benac contributes to a new and emerging field at the intersection of practical theology, organizational theory, sociology of religion, and leadership studies. For leaders and communities facing uncertainty, Adaptive Church provides a template for change within and beyond the forms that have historically guided Christian organization, education, and leadership.
Church As Network : Christian life and connection in digital culture by
The emergence of a digital culture has radically challenged assumptions about religious identity, how people connect and maintain relationships, and how people follow and give authority to leaders. This book explores the lessons digital culture offers as new types of congregational networks become popular and effective avenues for ministry.
Digital Ministry and Leadership in Today's Church by
Digital Ministry and Leadership in Today's Churchis designed for pastors and parish leaders who wish to initiate or enhance their use of digital tools and methods to further their mission and ministries. No matter your level of confidence, comfort, and competency in digital ministry, you will find ideas, strategies, and next steps for you and for your church community. Digital Ministry and Leadership in Today's Churchprovides concrete ways to create and foster digitally integrated ministry and faith formation, extending the ministry of the local church into online spaces and communities where more and more people gather to nurture, explore, and share their faith today. Digital Ministry and Leadership in Today's Churchwas created by a team of experienced leaders who bring years of experience in utilizing digital tools, methods, and media in church life and especially faith formation. Margaret Babcock brings a special focus and experience in curation and website development for a Catholic diocese. Deanna G. Bartalini is a parish minister and writes about how to use technology to spread the Gospel. Claudia McIvor is the cofounder of Digital Discipleship Boot Camp. Bill Miller brings decades of experience in faith formation at the local and national levels and is an author and spiritual director. John Roberto is an author, teacher, and founder of Lifelong Faith Associates, and he has over a decade of experience in applying digital tools, methods, and media in lifelong faith formation. Tim Welch is an author and has served as the specialist in educational media/technology for a Catholic diocese.
Congregational Communications Tools from the ELCA
11 Best Church Communication Apps in 2023
Best Communication App for Worship Teams--brief YouTube video for worship leaders
Messaging Apps For The Church Staff, from ChurchCommunications.Com
An Interweaving Ecclesiology : the church, mission and young people by
What is church? What spaces does church occupy? Can ecclesial space exist beyond the boundaries of church? In An Interweaving Ecclesiology Mark Scanlan offers a fresh vision of Christian community as constructed for and by participants as potential ecclesial spaces combine to create an experience which we call "church". Drawing in particular on research into the dynamic between youth groups and the churches within which they operate, Scanlan brings us a distinct approach to the church in mission that can nuance and develop the tired and sometimes flawed thinking around Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry. Combining deep ecclesiology with a practical approach, this book will be useful to students and scholars of pioneer and youth ministry and those with a wider interest in how churches operate.
A Church for the World: the church's role in fostering democracy and sustainable development by
A Church for the World: The Church's Role in Fostering Democracy and Sustainable Development challenges theologians and lay readers alike to think about the role of the church vis-à-vis its responsibility to the world. How may the church contribute to democracy and foster sustainable development? Contributors from mostly non-Western theological communities offer historical, developmental, ecclesiastical, and theological perspectives on the church-world relationship, challenging misconceptions and practices that prevent the church from living up to its transformational vocation as salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13-16). The driving force behind the questions and perspectives discussed here is Gustavo Gutierrez's axiom in A Theology of Liberation: A theology which fails to address the most urgent needs of ordinary people is not worthy of the word "theology." Proceeding from this insight, this book creates awareness about the relationship between religion, democracy, and development, and aims to strengthen the self-understanding of the church with regard to its responsibilities in the world.
Church As Fullness in All Things: recasting Lutheran ecclesiology in an ecumenical context by
What is Lutheran ecclesiology? The Lutheran view of the church has been fraught with difficulties since the Reformation. Church as Fullness in All Things reengages the topic from a confessional Lutheran perspective. Lutheran theologians and clergy who are bound to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions explore the possibilities and pitfalls of the Lutheran tradition's view of the church in the face of contemporary challenges. The contributors also take up questions about and challenges to thinking and living as the church in their tradition, while looking to other Christian voices for aid in what is finally a common Christian endeavor. The volume addresses three related types of questions faced in living and thinking as the church, with each standing as a field of tension marked by disharmonized--though perhaps not inherently opposite--poles: the individual and the communal, the personal and the institutional, and the particular and the universal. Asking whether de facto prioritizations of given poles or unexamined assumptions about their legitimacy impinge the church Lutherans seek, the volume closes with Anglican, Reformed, and Roman Catholic contributors stating what their ecclesiological traditions could learn from Lutheranism and vice-versa.
How the Body of Christ Talks : recovering the practice of conversation in the Church by
In today's highly charged social and political environment, we often don't know how to talk well with others--especially with people whose backgrounds differ from our own. C. Christopher Smith, coauthor of the critically acclaimed and influential Slow Church, addresses why conversation has become such a challenge in the 21st century and argues that it is perhaps the most-needed spiritual practice of our individualistic age. Smith likens practicing conversation to the working of the human body. Bodies are wondrous symphonies of diverse, intricate parts striving for our health, and our health suffers when these parts fail to converse effectively. Likewise, we must learn to converse effectively with those who differ from us in the body of Christ so we can embody Christ together in the world. In community, we learn what it means to belong to others and to a story that is bigger than ourselves. Smith shows how church communities can be training hubs where we learn to talk with and listen to one another with kindness and compassion. The book explores how churches can initiate and sustain conversation, offers advice for working through seasons of conflict, suggests spiritual practices and dispositions that can foster conversation, and features stories from several congregations that are learning to practice conversation.