Bücher veröffentlicht von William B Eerdmans Publishing Co

The concept of "ministry teams" is rapidly taking hold in churches, but just what are they and how do they work? "Transform Your Church with Ministry Teams" outlines what effective ministry teams look like, describes what they can offer local congregations, and gives concrete step-by-step suggestions for making them happen.The power of ministry teams lies in their unique capacity to generate genuine Christian fellowship, nurture disciples, develop leaders, and mobilize people for ministry. While traditional church leadership organizations concentrate almost exclusively on task, policy, and program, ministry teams are designed to enhance faith development and, thus, ministry effectiveness.E. Stanley Ott explores three main areas of ministry-team development. First, he explains the philosophy behind ministry teams and discusses the issues involved in shifting from committee-based to team-based ministry. Second, he tells how to begin ministry teams, including how to identify team leaders and members and how to determine their roles. Third, he looks at the details of ministry-team life, including ways to build team fellowship, foster discipleship and communication within teams, and accomplish specific ministry tasks.Filled with wise, time-tested advice, including four how-to appendixes, this book will help pastors and lay leaders transform the life of their church or Christian organization.

Children today are no longer expected to be -seen and not heard, - yet in many churches children are involved only in programs specifically designated for them. Children Matter offers a full discussion of children's spirituality and shows how the faith community can better nurture its youngest members.Speaking from their experience with children's ministry in a range of Protestant traditions, the authors draw on the Bible, history, and psychology to lay good foundations for such ministry. Discussing the specific content and contexts of faith formation, they also offer wise and practical advice on putting together effective ministries. Rather than focusing on innovative ways to use technology, Children Matter emphasizes relationships between people and encourages the church to welcome all children as valued participants in the people of God.

An introduction to the New Testament teaching concerning the early Christian principles and practices of corporate worship. Among the topics Martin considers are prayers and praises, creeds and confessions, preaching, offerings, and sacraments.

The difficulty of interpreting the Bible is felt all over today. Is the Bible still authoritative for the faith and practice of the church? If so, in what way? What practices of reading offer the most appropriate approach to understanding Scripture? The church's lack of clarity about these issues has hindered its witness and mission, causing it to speak with an uncertain voice to the challenges of our time. This important book is for a twenty-first-century church that seems to have lost the art of reading the Bible attentively and imaginatively. The Art of Reading Scripture is written by a group of eminent scholars and teachers seeking to recover the church's rich heritage of biblical interpretation in a dramatically changed cultural environment. Asking how best to read the Bible in a postmodern context, the contributors together affirm up front "Nine Theses" that provide substantial guidance for the church. The essays and sermons that follow both amplify and model the approach to Scripture outlined in the Nine Theses. Lucidly conceived, carefully written, and shimmering with fresh insights, The Art of Reading Scripture proposes a far-reaching revolution in how the Bible is taught in theological seminaries and calls pastors and teachers in the church to rethink their practices of using the Bible. Contributors: Gary A. Anderson Richard Bauckham Brian E. Daley Ellen F. Davis Richard B. Hays James C. Howell Robert W. Jenson William Stacy Johnson L. Gregory Jones Christine McSpadden R. W. L. Moberly David C. Steinmetz Marianne Meye Thompson

The Conversion of the Imagination contains some of the best work on Paul by first-rate New Testament scholar Richard B. Hays. These essays probe Paul's approach to scriptural interpretation, showing how Paul's reading of the Hebrew Scriptures reshaped the theological vision of his churches.Hays's analysis of intertextual echoes in Paul's letters has touched off exciting debate among Pauline scholars and made more recognizable the contours of Paul's thought. These studies contain some of the early work leading up to Hays's seminal Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul and also show how Hays has responded to critics and further developed his thought in the years since. Among the many subjects covered here are Paul's christological application of Psalms, Paul's revisionary interpretation of the Law, and the influence of the Old Testament on Paul's ethical teachings and ecclesiology.