Church Ministry

We live in a season when church attendance is still building back to what it was before the pandemic. Many Christians have been separated from their church communities. How do we resume and re-prioritize church life and join back together? Why do we even need to—especially when online church fits so neatly around our schedules? Gathered for Good addresses this felt need with empathy and authority and encourage believers to commit to their local church community as a way to deepen their spiritual growth and invest in treasure that will last.

If you're longing to become more attentive to God - to listen to him, know his voice and experience his love, spiritual direction can point the way. In Seeking God Together, experienced spiritual director Alice Fryling offers a unique introduction specifically for group spiritual direction: a place where individuals can experience what it means to be listened to and loved by others, so that they can learn to listen more attentively to God in their daily lives and be used by God.

That nagging thought drove William Kirkwood to develop this primer on worship for all lead pastors and worship planners who have wondered the same thing. Most pastors come out of seminary with little training in worship yet are ultimately responsible for the worship life of their church. Most worship planners/leaders have musical and leadership skills but little theological background in worship. Kirkwood brings his decades of worship leading experience and education from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in this timely book.

A great reckoning is underway in the church today: a naming and exposing of the exclusivity, abuse, racism, patriarchy, and unchecked power that have marked evangelical Christianity for far too long. What kind of church will emerge on the other side?

Is it time for your church to go multisite? How do you know if it's the right solution for your congregation? MultiChurch brings clarity to the multisite movement and assembles the lessons it has learned over the past 15 years. Combining insights from multisite church pastor Brad House and Christian theology professor Gregg Allison, this book will help anyone interested in multiplying gospel-centered churches to effectively evaluate and develop the best multisite model for their own church context.

Our goal as Christians is never simply to build our own tribe. Instead, we seek the peace and prosperity of the city or community in which we live through a gospel movement led by the Holy Spirit, a movement united by the gospel of Jesus Christ, a common mission to reach and serve others, and a commitment to be gracious and generous to those who disagree with you. In Serving a Movement, best-selling author and pastor Timothy Keller looks at the nature of the church’s mission and its relationship to the work of individual Christians in the world.

You've probably noticed.... Churches aren't growing. Young adults are walking away. Volunteers are hard to recruit. Leaders are burning out. And the culture is changing faster than ever before. There's no doubt the church is in a moment in history for which few church leaders are prepared. You can look for answers, but the right response depends on having the right conversation. In Lasting Impact, Carey Nieuwhof leads you and your team through seven conversations that will help your church grow and have a lasting impact.

We are living in historic times. Not since the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s has our country been as vigorously engaged in the reconciliation conversation. There is a great opportunity right now for culture to change, to be a more perfect union. However, it cannot be done without the church, because the faith of the people is more powerful than any law government can enact.

The goal of the church should be simple—share the gospel to the ends of the earth. But in our highly politicized age, Christians can tend to place earthly political and social agendas over God's spiritual mission of the church. In Empowered Witness, author Alan D. Strange examines the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, making a clear distinction between the functions of the church and other institutions.

I spent many years in the “hell” of bondage to sexual lust. I know the torment it brings. You feel dirty, defeated, ashamed, and hopeless. You are aware that the Bible states that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God, but you are unable to escape your enslavement to sexual lust. There is hope. I have been set free by Jesus Christ and his word. There is a biblical pathway to freedom from sexual sin. I am sharing that biblical path in this book. Your deliverance is assured, if you follow the biblical instructions and requirements listed in this book.

Think about an incredibly joyful event in your life. Do you remember how you couldn’t wait to talk about it? You were willing and eager to have a conversation about it with anyone who would listen! Why doesn’t our excitement for Jesus overflow from our lives in a similar and natural way? In this book, Thom Rainer explores what makes so many Christians hesitant to talk about the greatest news the world has ever heard. There are real obstacles, challenges, and fears, but God is bigger and stronger than these hurdles.

The Christian world has been rocked by the number of prominent leaders, in both church and parachurch organizations, who have been compromised by moral, ethical, and theological failures. This pace-setting volume addresses this alarming problem and offers Christian leaders valuable guidance in dealing with the inherent risks of their work.

While many churches talk about discerning calling and engaging in mission, very few are structured to make this their ministry focus. Underground Church is a new vision for the church rooted in its biblical mission to share the love of God and serve the poor. Sanders explores how to make structural changes, how to think about leadership, how to fund ministries, and how to truly engage people in God's mission. Filled with creative insights, he explains what it means to center the mission of the church around the callings of individuals to outward ministry.

The Vatican's silence in the face of Nazi atrocities remains one of the great controversies of our time. History has accused wartime pontiff Pius the Twelfth of complicity in the Holocaust and dubbed him "Hitler's Pope". But a key part of the story has remained untold. Pius ran the world's largest church, smallest state, and oldest spy service. Saintly but secretive, he skimmed from church charities to pay covert couriers, and surreptitiously tape-recorded his meetings with top Nazis.

In this second volume of the Called Out of Darkness trilogy, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., draws together some of the best advice given by Catholic spiritual masters across the ages and brings it into harmony with modern scientific research, offering practical ways to live out the gospel in our busy days. It is a road map to a deeper relationship with the Lord and to authentic transformation through the imitation of Christ. Giving evidence that Jesus established just one Church, with Peter as its head, Spitzer shows that the Catholic Church continues to be fertile ground for conversion.

Missiologist James E. Plueddemann presents a roadmap for cross-cultural leadership development in the global church. With keen understanding of current research on cultural dynamics, he integrates theology with leadership theory to apply biblical insights to practical issues in world mission. The future of the global church depends on effective multicultural leadership. God has called people from various contexts to minister and lead in every land for the sake of the gospel.

Jesus commands his disciples to love one another and promises that “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). But what does genuine care for those in our church family look like? This warm, practical book by Dwayne Bond goes beyond specific pastoral-care roles and responsibilities and explores how all church members can love and care for one another in the rhythms of ordinary life.

If you're leading students—as a volunteer, teacher, small group leader, or pastor—you're spiritually forming the up-and-coming kingdom of God. In my decade of youth ministry, I've seen how small group leaders, teachers, and youth workers impact the spiritual trajectory of teenagers, often without support or resources. In this audiobook, we will explore what it means to lead our students with confidence, creativity, and clarity.

The #MeToo movement has revealed sexual abuse and assault in every sphere of society, including the church. But victims are routinely ignored by fellow Christians who deny their accounts and fail to bring accountability to the perpetrators. All too often, churches have been complicit in protecting abusers, reinforcing patriarchal power dynamics, and creating cultures of secrecy, shame, and silence.

She provides women with a fresh and unique perspective on many of the hot issues women face today. Twenty-something single recording artist Rebecca St. James teams up with 40-something radio talk show host and mother of three Lynda Hunter Bjorklund to present a multigenerational look at why women feel out of control and vulnerable. She helps women understand how they can be safe, healthy, and empowered as they find their identity and security in God.