Bücher veröffentlicht von Pickwick Publications

Description:This book is about leadership, a scholarly and pastoral response to the urgent demand for the renewal of the contemporary Christian church. It challenges readers to articulate the identity and vision of the church in new ways, and encourages them to revitalize their ministry with fresh insight and passion from women''s perspectives. The eight essays written by female scholars in relation to various areas of theological study and the nine pastoral responses to the essays written by ministers from seven different denominations, based on their experiences of actual ministerial settings, provide new paradigms of church leadership--theologically profound, practically relevant, and historically timely. This volume, a product of a collaborative process between academia and church, promises to be a most useful resource to renew the leadership of the church and its vocational commitment to the transformation of the church and society.Endorsements:""This is a book befitting the pioneering scholar and leader it honors. These essays advance the essential conversations required for contemporary church leadership with scholarly integrity and pastoral sensitivity.""--Lovett H. Weems Jr.Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church LeadershipWesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC""In anxious and disorienting times, these essays provide refreshing and bold paradigms for the future leadership of the church. As befits the honoring of Jean Miller Schmidt, this is a clarion call that pulls us deeply into the leadership of God, that honors the fruit of our heritage, that focuses on the edifying experience of women and others whose witness has been marginalized as a way to the future. This volume is filled with grace, confidence, and vibrant hope.""--Rev. Dr. Mark A. FowlerMurray H. Leiffer Associate Professor of Congregational LeadershipExecutive Director of the Institute for Transformative Leaders & CommunitiesGarrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois""This volume is a welcome and much-needed addition to our discussion of church leadership, which is too often dominated by a single perspective. Eunjoo Mary Kim and Deborah Beth Creamer have collected a rich variety of voices who examine new experiences and paths of leadership, yet at the same time keep us grounded in faith and tradition. This book will be widely used and discussed in classrooms, churches, and denominational offices.""--Deborah J. KappEdward F. and Phyllis K. Campbell Associate Professor of Urban MinistryMcCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IllinoisAbout the Contributor(s):Eunjoo Mary Kim is Professor of Homiletics at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She is the author of Preaching the Presence of God (1999), Women Preaching (2004), and Preaching in an Age of Globalization (2010).Deborah Beth Creamer is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Library and Information Services at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She is the author of Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities (2009).

Description:Text, Theology, and Trowel consists of ten essays on the understanding and reception of the Hebrew Bible in Judaism and Christianity. Textual exegesis, historical contexts, and modern reception of the Hebrew text are placed side by side to encourage interdisciplinary study. Two theologically minded essays are included to help overcome the biblical studies/theology dichotomy. By placing such divergent approaches together, this volume will help expand ways of thinking about the Bible and its cognate fields.Endorsements:""This collection of articles by promising young scholars in the field of Religious Studies, especially Biblical Studies, indicates that interdisciplinary research combining theology with literary studies, archaeology, and historical and sociological research is leading into new directions and opening up new fields of enquiry.""-Catherine Hezser, SOAS, University of LondonAbout the Contributor(s):Lidia D. Matassa has a number of previous publications on the archaeology of synagogues, including several articles in Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jason M. Silverman is the editor of the collection, A Land Like Your Own (Pickwick Publications, 2010).

Description:How did a first-generation Jewish messianic movement develop the momentum to become a dominant religious force in the Western world? The essays here first investigate the roots of God''s mission and the mission of his people in the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism, specifically in the Psalms, Isaiah, and Daniel. The contributions then discuss the mission of Jesus, and how it continued into the mission of the Twelve, other Jewish believers (in the Gospels, General Epistles, and Revelation), and finally into Paul''s ministry to the Gentiles documented in the book of Acts and his epistles. These essays reach backward into the background of what was to become the Christian mission and forward through the New Testament to the continuing Christian mission and missions today. Endorsements:""For too long now biblical scholarship and missiology have been progressing in splendid isolation with little reference to each other. This sparkling collection of essays not only demonstrates the interdependence of these disciplines but also takes seriously the Hebrew Scriptures and Second Temple Judaism as fertile soil in which the seeds for Christian mission were sown, came to flower in the New Testament, and continue to bear fruit in the ongoing global mission of the church at the beginning of the twenty-first century.""--Trevor J. Burkeauthor of Adopted into God''s Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor""Biblical scholars and missiologists have much to learn from each other. This work, with contributions from notable scholars, offers some fresh biblical insights for thinking about Christian mission.""--Craig Keenerauthor of Romans: A New Covenant Commentary (Cascade 2009)""We have needed a work that presents the development of Mission from Israel to the early church. These essays, written by leading scholars in both fields, admirably accomplish that goal. Here is a work that covers the field, presents missional roots as well as strategy, is very readable, and would serve as a fine textbook both for courses and personal study. I highly recommend this book.""--Grant Osborneauthor of The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical InterpretationAbout the Contributor(s):Stanley E. Porter is President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament, at McMaster Divinity College. He has published extensively in the area of New Testament and Greek language and linguistics, including New Testament Greek Papyri and Parchments (with Wendy Porter, 2008).Cynthia Long Westfall is Assistant Professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College. She is the author of A Discourse Analysis of Hebrews (2006).

Description:When the New Testament was read publicly, what effect did the performances have on the audience? In Delivering from Memory, William Shiell argues that these performances shaped early Christian paideia among communities of active, engaged listeners. Using Greco-Roman rhetorical conventions, Shiell''s groundbreaking study suggests that lectors delivered from memory without memorizing the text verbatim and audiences listened with their memories in a collaborative process with the performer. The text functioned as a starting place for emotion, paraphrase, correction, and instruction. In the process, the performances trained and shaped the character of the reader and the formation of the audience. The lector''s performance functioned as a mirror for the audience to examine themselves as children of God. These conventions shaped the ways lectors performed Jesus. Just as the New Testament reflects many titles for Jesus, so the canonical form of the Gospels offers many ways Jesus was performed in the ancient world. By interpreting through the eyes of performance, we join a conversation that has existed since the formative stages of the Christian movement. By performing with the ancient audience, we shape the character of reader and audience through the emotions, rhetorical figures, and memories in the text. We raise new questions about audiences in the ancient world and interpret stories through the ears of performance.Endorsements:""Drawing on ancient rhetorical criticism and the emerging field of performance criticism, Shiell uses the Greco-Roman rhetorical convention of memory to explicate the relationship between performer and audience in the hermeneutical process of performing and hearing sacred texts. This book simply sparkles with gems from the rhetorical handbooks that illuminate the ways in which performance of Christian texts instructed, informed, and formed (what Shiell calls paideia) the identity of early Christian audiences as followers of Christ . . . This is a must-read book for scholars and preachers alike!""-Mikeal C. ParsonsProfessor and Macon Chair in ReligionBaylor University""Based on a wealth of information from ancient sources, William Shiell paints a fascinating picture of the early church as a predominantly oral culture--performers, audiences, and rhetorical impact. He argues persuasively that oral teaching from memory shaped the social identity and practices of early Christian communities. This book will transform your image of the early church and stimulate fresh possibilities for the church today. I commend this study to preachers, teachers, students, and scholars as a solid introduction to the oral ethos of early Christianity.""-David RhoadsEmeritus Professor of New TestamentLutheran School of Theology at ChicagoAbout the Contributor(s):William D. Shiell is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the author of Reading Acts: The Lector and the Early Christian Audience (2004) and Sessions with Matthew (2008).

Description:The subject of ""culture"" has provided theologians with a whole new realm of exploration. By the turn of the twentieth century and the beginning of this new milennium the subject of culture had presented itself to theologians and church leaders for vital consideration. As one of the world''s leading theologians, Robert Jenson''s eminent career has coincided with the pre-eminence of culture in theological and churchly discussion. Having described himself as a theologian of culture in his earliest works, culture continually informs Jenson''s systematic theology, which in turn works its way out in countless cultural forms. In Rhyming Hope and History we explore the philiosophical and theological influences of Jenson''s work and outline their vast and varied applications to the world of culture and the life of the church. For Jenson, the church is the cultural embodiment of the risen Christ in the fallen reality of our world. In a series of conversations between Jenson and leading thinkers, including G.W.F. Hegel, Jonathan Edwards, Wittgenstein, Richard H. Niebuhr, Kathryn Tanner, Paul Tillich, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Augustine, and Jeremy Begbie, we explore this creative and courageous proposal. Endorsements:""Robert Jenson is one of the most creative and interesting theologians to emerge in America in recent generations. In this fine study, Russell Rook offers important insights into his theology, and in particular, highlights the constant dialogue with American--and broader Western--culture that has been such a significant part of Jenson''s project. Rook writes with verve and with an easy mastery of the subject; this is a very good book on an important figure.""--Stephen R. HolmesSenior Lecturer in TheologyThe University of St. Andrews""Robert Jenson is a towering figure in contemporary theology, one who has made a signal contribution to understanding culture theologically rather than letting theology be determined by the cultural shibboleths of the day. Russell Rook provides the first systematic analysis of Jenson''s work and in the process makes an astute, lucidly written, and doctrinally rich contribution to broader debates about what it means to be the church in our Christ haunted and Christ forgetting cultural context.""--Luke BrethertonReader in Theology and PoliticsKing''s College LondonAbout the Contributor(s):Russell D. Rook is a member of The Salvation Army and was formerly the chair of Spring Harvest, one of Europe''s largest Christian conventions. A writer and teacher, Russell''s publications include: What Are We Waiting For? Reflections on Eschatology and Contemporary Culture (with Stephen Holmes) and Living Out Loud: Conversations in Virtue, Ethics and Evangelicalism with Stanley Hauerwas and Friends.

Description:Today the ""land of promise"" is a spark in the tinder dry atmosphere of Middle Eastern affairs. Events there continue to wield influence among peoples and in places well beyond the region itself. This raises for Christians the acute theological problem of how to relate to the ""land of promise"" today and in light of the land of the Bible. Our hope is that this volume of essays will contribute to a more informed and theologically coherent response to the ""Land of Promise."" It is offered here in the name of peace for all peoples in that place and among those who continue to look to her as a place of promise.Endorsements:""This volume is as important as its topic is serious. We must think clearly and Christianly about what the scriptures tell us concerning land, holy land, the modern Middle East, and biblical promise in a world that entertains enormous theological confusion. These able and provocative essays will offer us skilled guidance in territory few scholars are willing to enter.""-Gary M. BurgeWheaton College""I salute the brilliant scholarship, biblical integrity, and keen commitment to justice that emanates from every chapter of The Gospel and the Land of Promise. This book will be a valuable tool in the hands of laypersons, teachers, pastors, and scholars who seek to understand the political and theological realities in Israel/Palestine in the light of God''s word. From New Zealand, the farthest country from the land of promise, comes this dynamic voice of reason and compassion.""-Alex AwadBethlehem Bible College""In these excellent essays, Christian scholars in New Zealand--where indigenous land rights have long been at the center of public discourse--reflect on ''land'' in the Bible, and particularly the notion of a ''holy land'' or ''promised land'' in the Middle East. In the main, the book is a rejoinder to Christian Zionism. At the same time, it invites further reflection on the irreducible significance of place or landedness to human existence and Christian identity.""-Chris MarshallVictoria University of Wellington""The Christian world remains split down the middle on the issue of how to relate biblical teaching on the land to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here is a serious attempt by scholars of several different disciplines to wrestle with the question of how to read the Old Testament through the eyes of the New and in the light of the painful realities on the ground today. They have effectively thrown down to gauntlet to Dispensationalists and Christian Zionists of every kind: can they come up with equally detailed, heavy-weight scholarship to support their case?""-Colin Chapmanauthor of Whose Promised Land?""This is an immensely important work of biblical scholarship on the theology of the holy land . . . While Christian Zionists invariably see the coming of Jesus as the postponement of the land promises God made to Abraham, the authors demonstrate conclusively from the Scriptures that these promises were fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ.""-Stephen SizerChrist Church VicarageAbout the Contributor(s):Philip Church teaches biblical studies in the School of Theology, Laidlaw College, Auckland, NZ.Tim Bulkeley teaches Old Testament at Carey Baptist College, Auckland, NZ. He is the author of Amos: Hypertext Bible Commentary (2005).Tim Meadowcroft teaches Old Testament and is Head of the School of Theology, Mission, and Ministry, Laidlaw College, Auckland, NZ.and is the Dean of the Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School, Auckland, NZ. He is the author of Haggai (Readings: A New Biblical Commentary, 2006).Peter Walker is Associate Vice-Principal & Director of Development at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, UK. He is the author of Jesus and the Holy City: New Testament Perspectives on Jerusalem (1996).

Description:A Land Like Your Own explores the ways the Bible has reused previous traditions and has subsequently been reused by both Jews and Christians. The ten essays included cover a broad range of topics in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and subsequent traditions, but they all highlight the many ways in which the traditions associated with Israel have impacted communities. A Land Like Your Own will interest anyone involved in biblical studies (students and scholars alike) through its wide-ranging array of topics, highlighting how interconnected the many biblical studies subdisciplines truly are.Endorsements:""This collection of essays originated in two conferences organized by graduate students of the School of Religions and Theology at Trinity College Dublin. Young scholars from Ireland, Britain, and the United States, working in the areas of Biblical and Near Eastern Studies, share their insights on a range of quite diverse topics. These have been skillfully brought together by the editors, employing the symbol of the ''Land'' as indicative of both loss and hope, reflective of the ways in which the past is variously figured and re-configured by the authors of both Testaments. They are to be congratulated for their initiative in organizing the conferences and applauded for making their deliberations accessible to a wider audience. This collection is a testimony to the ways in which modern Biblical Studies can stimulate new generations of scholars to engage with the Classic texts from the past in a manner that also reflects their own time and place.""--Sean FreyneProfessor of Theology, EmeritusTrinity College, DublinAbout the Contributor(s):Jason M. Silverman is completing his PhD at Trinity College Dublin and is the former chair of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Biblical World conference committee. He is the editor of the forthcoming book, Text, Theology, and Trowel.Amy Daughton is completing her PhD at Trinity College Dublin.

Endorsements:""Art West is in hot water in more ways than one in his latest adventure. After bathing in the famous thermal springs at Pamukkale, Turkey, the intrepid Bible scholar and archaeologist is invited to join an excavation at nearby Hierapolis. A papyrus related to Papias, the noted second-century bishop, has been discovered. However, demons unleashed by a cursed papyrus found in a menorah by Art''s friend, the antiquities dealer named Khalil, are poised to attack. A visit to the Plutonium proves to be a real gas for Art, who must now discover the diabolical forces seeking to kill him. Papias and the Mysterious Menorah is a worthy sequel in the Art West series.""--Mark WilsonAsia Minor Research CenterIzmir, Turkey""Each of Ben and Ann Witherington''s archaeological thrillers is more enthralling than the last. They deftly interweave the puzzles of the past with the complexities of the Middle East today.""--Richard BauckhamEmeritus Professor of New TestamentSt. Andrews University, Scotland ""Ever the pedagogues, Ben and Ann faithfully serve as highly informed, engaging, and deeply sensitive stewards of their narrative. Papias truly offers something for everyone.""--Brad JohnsonInstructor in Biblical LanguagesAsbury Theological SeminaryAbout the Contributor(s):Ben Witherington III is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University, and the author of over thirty-five books, including New York Times Best Seller The Brother of Jesus.Ann Witherington is Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at Asbury College. Ben and Ann have been married for over thirty years and have two adult children, Christy and David.

The role of witness is a recurring theme in the work of Stanley Hauerwas: it is through enacting the truth in a world of lies, through seeking peace in a world of violence, that witnesses show who God is, who we are, and what the world is like.The Necessity of Witness is a study of Hauerwas and his fascinating but complex understanding of witness. Ariaan W. Baan argues that Hauerwas''s approach makes a significant contribution to current debates in systematic theology on the relation between truth and life. Reading Hauerwas can be a precarious adventure. His rhetoric is overwhelming, but his argument is not always crystal clear and carefully formulated. With the help of semiotic and philosophical analysis and biblical exegesis, Baan articulates Hauerwas''s intuitions, fills some of the gaps in his argumentation, and discloses hidden biases. The results of this analysis sometimes surprise. Baan notes that unexpected pericopes in Scripture such as Isaiah and Revelation support Hauerwas''s account of witness, and concludes that his work offers insight into how in our late modern society such diverse groups as martyrs and pop stars offer implicit witness through their lives.""Ariaan Baan does a great service to the discourse of Public Theology by offering a systematic theological discussion of the views of Stanley Hauerwas on the Christian practice of witness. His book . . . sheds light on the quest to go public with Christian faith in pluralistic societies. And this entails, amongst others, that Christian engagement with public life does not imply that thicker theological convictions should be hid or left home.""--Nico Koopman, Professor of Christian Ethics, Stellenbosch University, South Africa""Ariaan Baan deftly navigates Stanley Hauerwas'' indirect theological method and identifies an illuminating and persistent theme for understanding his articulations of truth, Spirit, and Church--his account of Christian witness as a ''testimony of life.'' . . . Baan''s work makes a unique contribution to theology by developing a framework for examining and evaluating theological reflection on Christian witness.""--Benjamin Cooper, Professor of Discipleship and Mission, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI""This theologically reflected book uniquely presents ''the necessity witness'' as a crucial element of Christian practice and living. Ariaan Baan unfolds the rich biblical traditions of witness in its systematic contours . . . and the understanding of witness within the context of Stanley Hauerwas'' work, the most pointed guide for the theological tradition of ''witness.''""--Hans G. Ulrich, Professor of Systematic Theology, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen, GermanyAriaan Baan studied theology at the Protestant Theological University of the Netherlands. In 2014 he successfully defended his doctoral thesis. He now works as a pastor of the Protestant Church in Zoutkamp and Scheemda, two villages in the northern part of the Netherlands.

What would the church look like if Christians saw their lives as constituted by the Spirit's presence to live as Jesus lived? In a time when being "led by the Spirit" is defined more by achieving the "American Dream" than by Jesus's life, answering this question rightly seems all the more critical for the church to survive in a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity. Building upon the work of post-Constantinians John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas and upon the Trinitarian Spirit-Christology of Leopoldo Sanchez, this account of the Christian life provides a framework for seeing one's Christian life as one transformed by the Spirit to live in the resurrection reality of Jesus's sonship with the Father in the Spirit. In the process, one will discover that, for Jesus, being led by the Spirit meant trusting his Father to the point of death on a cross, trusting God to resurrect him even if he did not save him. Should it mean the same for Christians today? If so, this would require the church to reimagine its ministries for the Spirit to work repentance and faith rather than simple agreement. For Christians living in the Spirit, their lives might look very different.

In Christ Died for Our Sins, Jarvis J. Williams argues a twofold thesis: First, that Paul in Romans presents Jesus' death as both a representation of, and a substitute for, Jews and Gentiles. Second, that the Jewish martyrological narratives in certain Second Temple Jewish texts are a background behind Paul's presentation of Jesus' death. By means of careful textual analysis, Williams argues that the Jewish martyrological narratives appropriated and applied Levitical cultic language and Isaianic language to the deaths of the Torah-observant Jewish martyrs in order to present their deaths as a representation, a substitution, and as Israel's Yom Kippur for non-Torah-observant Jews. Williams seeks to show that Paul appropriated and applied this same language and conceptuality in order to present Jesus' death as the death of a Torah-observant Jew serving as a representation, a substitution, and as the Yom Kippur for both Jews and Gentiles. Scholars working in the areas of Romans, Pauline theology, Second Temple Judaism, atonement in Paul, or early Christian origins will find much to stimulate and provoke in these pages.

The relationship between the church and Israel in Pauline interpretation has long been an area of considerable debate. The traditional view has understood Paul to identify the church with Israel, such that the church is the sole inheritor of Israel's sacred history, privileges, and divine promises. Yet recent developments in Pauline scholarship have called this view into question. The so-called New Perspective and its emphasis upon the decidedly Jewish context of Paul's theologizing, along with an increasing sensitivity to the post-Holocaust context of modern interpreters, have brought about readings that understand Paul to maintain a distinction between God's historical people, Israel, and the newly created multiethnic communities of Christ followers, that is, the church. Nevertheless, there are still scholars who, while embracing the New Perspective, have interpreted Paul as holding that the church is indeed identifiable in some way as Israel. This work explores a spectrum of scholarly views on the subject advanced between 1920 (as per the publication of C. H. Dodd's The Meaning of Paul for Today) and the present. Furthermore, it examines the most relevant Pauline texts upon which these views are founded, in dialogue with various readings of these texts that have been offered. Each view on Paul's understanding of the church vis-a-vis Israel is critically assessed in light of the exegetical findings. Using this approach Zoccali demonstrates that a view holding to both a certain distinction between, as well as an equating of, the church and Israel represents the most plausible interpretation of Paul's understanding.

The doctrine of providence is one that has fallen into theological oblivion in recent years. How can the words God and history still be said in the same sentence? This book surveys important contemporary attempts to talk about God and history, examines why they haven''t been successful, and offers a contemporary doctrine of providence that is historically realistic, adequate to religious experience, and grounded in the Christian tradition. The author draws on the philosophical orientation of Alfred North Whitehead and brings it into conversation with liberation and ecological theologies.""Divine providence is a vexing and multi-faceted doctrine. Zbaraschuk weaves together multiple voices from the past and present to provide a compelling answer to what it means to live in a Spirit-filled world. His answer fits our diverse experiences, is relevant to living life here and now, and offers hope for transformation in the future.""--Thomas Jay Oord, Author of The Nature of Love and The Uncontrolling Love of God""If contemporary theologians do not work to resuscitate traditional doctrines, much of the vital energy of past thinkers is lost to us. Zbaraschuk contributes to this effort with an innovative approach that restores the notion of providence to a progressive theological vision. Best of all is his appreciative, illuminating reading of a diverse library of scholars, from metaphysics, theology, philosophy of history, and even literature.""--Donna Bowman, Professor, Norbert O. Schedler Honors College, University of Central Arkansas""Intellectually satisfying and beautifully written, Zbaraschuk''s theology on providence weaves together classics in theology, philosophy of religion, liberationist, process and feminist theologies into a refreshing and, more importantly, credible doctrine of God''s providence for our time. The depth, diversity, and synthesis of his scholarship are exceptional . . . Zbaraschuk proposes a new understanding of divine providence that inspires the world toward freedom, beauty, and liberation.""--Marit Trelstad, Professor of Constructive Theology, Department of Religion, Pacific Lutheran University""Providence has become theology''s most controversial claim. How do we, children of a skeptical age, still find faith in a living and active God? With a profound sense for both the challenges and the need, Zbaraschuk leads readers toward a compelling resolution: ''a primal, incarnate, active Spirit, living in people and communities, taking the form of love-in-praxis and issuing in hope.'' It''s a journey worth taking.""--Philip Clayton, author of Adventures in the SpiritG. Michael Zbaraschuk is Assistant Professor of Religion at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He is the coeditor (with Daniel J. Peterson) of Resurrecting the Death of God (2014).

Many opinions contend in the church today for what constitutes true worship of God and how best it can be practiced. This collection of essays carries on a conversation between biblical scholars and church music practitioners. It begins with three studies investigating what we can learn about worship in the Old Testament, followed by essays on the teaching about worship in the Gospels, Epistles, and the book of Revelation in the New Testament. The church music practitioners featured in the book respond to each of these essays. The final essay by Wendy Porter takes a historical journey of theological reflection on Christian worship from the days of the early church, tracing worship developments in the Western church through the centuries to today. This is an important book for anyone who wants to think theologically about how and why Christians worship God.""I welcome this collection of the best of biblical and theological insights regarding Christian worship, combined with a serious attempt to address this matter by practitioners. It should provide a new starting point for the discussion and implementation of this key area of Christian life.""--Richard S. Hess, Denver Seminary, Denver, CO""There can never be too many interdisciplinary conversations as leaders pursue an understanding of Christian worship from God''s point of view. This collection of essays is unique: real dialogue transpires while not creating a dichotomy between scholar and practitioner. Ministerial borders are crossed throughout its pages, to the benefit of worship leaders everywhere.""--Cherry Constance, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN""Wow! Porter''s group of theologians and practitioners walk the reader through Scripture: Beginning with the Mosaic view of worship, progressing to the worship described and prescribed in the Revelation. Finally, Porter provides a worship walk through church history. This text is a resource for church musicians, pastors, and educators: it is a text to be read and referenced.""--MaryAnn Hawkins, Anderson University School of Theology, Anderson, IN""Rediscovering Worship brings together seven essays and seven responses that explore aspects of worship in the major parts of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. . . . This book successfully brings together biblical scholarship and applied theology.""--Craig A. Evans, Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, NSWendy J. Porter holds a PhD from the University of Surrey, UK. She is Director of Music and Worship at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She teaches courses on music and worship, theological reflection, spiritual formation, and the history of worship and liturgy. She plans and leads worship in numerous settings, writes worship songs, and has recorded three vocal albums.

This biography of Isabel Crawford is a lively account of a feisty and fascinating Baptist missionary. Born in Canada in 1865, she had an independent spirit leading her to remarkable accomplishments in a life marked by obstacles. Her conversion at age ten created a lifelong commitment to Christian service. In her teens a near-fatal illness left her deaf, but nevertheless in 1893 she completed studies to become a missionary. Rejected for overseas service, she was assigned to a troubled Indian mission in Oklahoma. She began her work there with great reluctance but developed a lifelong bond with her beloved Kiowa converts. Her success as a woman missionary created friction with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and she left the mission in 1906. Remaining committed to the Women''s Home Mission Society, Crawford became a sought-after inspirational speaker for them and later served again as missionary, this time in western New York. She retired in 1930 and moved back to Canada in 1942. Crawford is buried, as she had arranged, at her Saddle Mountain, Oklahoma, mission. The biography is enriched by extensive use of Crawford''s witty and perceptive descriptions of the extraordinary challenges and variety of experiences that marked her life.""In this fast-paced account of the career of Isabel Crawford, Whiteley brings to life a largely forgotten but remarkably compelling Canadian-American Baptist missionary to the Kiowa Indians in the Oklahoma Territory at the turn of the twentieth century. Crawford emerges as a courageous . . . woman whose determination to proclaim the gospel marched with determination to fight for the preservation of Kiowa culture. Her story is at once inspiring, sobering, and altogether beautiful.""--Grant Wacker, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Christian History, Duke Divinity School""Marilyn Whiteley has constructed a fascinating historical account of the life of Isabel Crawford, missionary to the Kiowa Indians. Independent, deaf, and unmarried, Crawford broke one stereotype after another--and kept diaries to document her unusual career. Dr. Whiteley''s account is meticulous and readable, the work of a master historian. This book is a fine addition to a growing bibliography on the important subject of women in mission.""--Dana L. Robert, Truman Collins Professor of World Christianity and History of Mission, Boston University""In this fascinating and informative biography . . . Whiteley''s adroit use of a wide variety of archival sources provides an important social and religious history of domestic missionary work among native Americans. This amply illustrated biography also provides fascinating glimpses of how one ''strong, even feisty'' woman both conformed to and confronted social and religious norms as she sought to carry out what she perceived to be her cross-cultural mission to do God''s work.""--Gordon Heath, Professor of Christian History, McMaster University""Between 1896 and 1906 Isabel Crawford worked as a solitary missionary to the Kiowa Native Americans of Oklahoma. Conservative in theology but independent in spirit, she insisted on the right of the church she had gathered to observe the Lord''s Supper in the absence of an ordained minister. Although she loved the Kiowa people . . . the controversy made her resign her position. Marilyn Whiteley has written a sensitive and revealing biography of a formidable woman.""--David Bebbington, Professor of History, University of StirlingMarilyn Fardig Whiteley is an independent scholar living in Guelph, Canada. She holds graduate degrees in church history, but her interest in women''s history has led her to write on many aspects of women in the Christian church in North America. Her books include Canadian Methodist Women, 1766-1925: Marys, Marthas, Mothers in Israel and The Life and Letters of Annie Leake Tuttle: Working for the Best.

The Disciples at Table! The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is about to enter its third century of worship, evangelism and Christian worship. This book is a snapshot of their Table practice: its origins, forms, prayers, and ecumenical development. Single-minded pioneers and advocates of Eucharistic Table fellowship each Sunday, the Disciples forged a unique experience of worship within the restorationist paradigm.What did this worship look like? A free tradition, explicitly ""non-liturgical,"" these Christian communities were open to the directives of the Scriptures and the inspiration of the Spirit. There were no official texts. Yet there was a plethora of worship books and aids, in effect unofficial texts, operating to guide, inform and develop the Disciples'' understanding of the Lord''s Table and their worship. For the first time these devotional books have been uncovered and studied, revealing something of the deeper influences behind Disciples practice, the common lines of thought and ritual that unknowingly bind the communities, and the difficulties that have emerged in light of ongoing ecumenical worship and research.""By promoting a free style of worship, the Disciples of Christ have appealed to many people of faith who struggle to fit their beliefs into a structured liturgy. Yet even freedoms tend to cohere over time. This book will enlighten those seeking to know about trends in worship services that balance tradition and ecumenism with creativity and sincerity. Moore makes a solid contribution to the history and future of Christian prayer.""--Paul Turner, Pastor, St. Anthony Catholic Church, Former President, North American Academy of Liturgy ""In the early days of the Stone-Campbell movement, worship was theologically grounded. Those theological foundations seemed to have gotten lost in practice through succeeding generations. This carefully researched and well-written work recaptures theological significance by presenting some important but forgotten Disciples of Christ worship resources of the mid- to late twentieth century. Examples and analyses of communion prayers from selected manuals illustrate redevelopment in Disciples Eucharistic theology and language. Highly recommended for seminarians, clergy, and elders.""--John Imbler, Director of Denominational Formation (Disciples of Christ), Adjunct Professor of History of Christianity & Disciples Studies, Executive Vice President Emeritus, Phillips Theological Seminary""Gerard Moore makes a substantial contribution with this insightful exercise in liturgical theology. In his Preface he states there has been little research about the theology of Eucharist in the manuals of worship of the Disciples of Christ as seen from the texts themselves. Using both text and context brilliantly, he fills that gap. All Christian traditions will benefit from his scholarly work."" --Gerard Austin, O.P., Dominican Scholar in Residence, Barry University, Miami ShoresGerard Moore is Head of School, School of Theology, Charles Sturt University, Australia, and Associate Professor, where he is Lecturer in Worship and a member of the Practical and Contextual Theology Centre for Research. He is the author of a number of books, including Earth Unites with Heaven: An Introduction to the Liturgical Year (2014).

The subject of baptism continues to be of considerable interest--though it frequently appears within broader studies of sacraments, liturgy, worship, and ecumenical studies, and within confessional bounds: credobaptist or paedobaptist--yet it is rarely discussed by Evangelicals. This book, however, is neither an apologetic for credobaptism nor paedobaptism; rather Cross believes that, as practiced today, both forms are a departure from New Testament baptism, which, he maintains, was an integral part of becoming a Christian and part of the proclaimed gospel. He argues that the "one baptism" of Ephesians 4:5 is conversion-baptism and that the baptism referred to in the various New Testament strata refers to this "one baptism" (of Spirit and water). The study sets out the case for this interpretation and contends that in key passages "baptism" is an example of synecdoche. The case is then made for a sacramental interpretation of baptism from a thoroughgoing Evangelical perspective. Cross concludes with reflections on the necessity of baptismal reform and the relevance of a return to conversion-baptism for the contemporary church in a post-Christian, post-Christendom, mission setting.