Church Ministry

Lost and Found is written to the church, using often-surprising results from the copious research here to strike another nerve and break some long established assumptions about how to effectively engage the lost. Leading missiologist Ed Stetzer and his associates first offer a detailed investigation of the four younger unchurched types.

Christians from a low-church background do not have to be afraid of liturgy and sacraments. On the contrary, these ancient ways of engaging with Scripture and faith help us see the beauty and taste the grace of heaven through the incarnation of Jesus. Earth Filled with Heaven is an evangelical introduction to the theological framework and habits of the sacramental life. Author and Anglican priest Aaron Damiani translates this sometimes strange-to-us way of Christ-centered faith in an invitational and pastoral manner.

For more than 25 years John Thavis held one of the most fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the inner workings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalities in the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than it first appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerations of modern life.

God called. He wants his church back. Many Christians have begun to recognize that God desires his church to function as an organism rather than an organization. After over 11 years of experience founding and facilitating a house church, author Keith Giles shares the insights he developed in the trenches. Filled with practical, real-world examples of how to plant and nurture an organic gathering, listeners will find a wealth of information to help them bring Jesus back to the forefront of every meeting.

The book of Revelation is filled with angels and dragons, fantastic beasts and golden cities, bottomless pits and mysterious numbers. It’s dramatic, sure - but what exactly does that have to do with the tests we face today? Actually, a lot. When the apostle John penned the book of Revelation, believers lived in a time of deception and injustice. But his message doesn’t just reflect their cries for things to be made right; it reveals heaven’s perspective of the bigger picture.

The Sunday collection in every Catholic church throughout the world is as familiar a part of the Mass as the homily and even Communion. There is no doubt that historically the Catholic Church has been one of the great engines of charity in history. But once a dollar is dropped in that basket, where does it go? How are weekly cash contributions that can amount to tens of thousands of dollars accounted for? Where does the money go when a diocese sells a church property for tens of millions of dollars?

Insights from Philip Yancey's personal pilgrimage away from and back to the church. Why are there so many more professing Christians than churchgoing Christians? Is it because something is wrong with the church? In his candid, thought-provoking manner, award-winning author Philip Yancey reveals the reasons behind his own journey back from skepticism to wholehearted participation in the church, and weighs the church's human failings against its compelling worth as the body of Christ.

What are Christians called to do during these turbulent times? How can you make a difference in your family, among your friends, and within your community? Church in the End Times serves as the next step in equipping ourselves with the tools and insights we need to be a guiding light to a world coping in the last days' darkness of chaos and deceit.

How do we live out the message of Jesus in today’s ever-changing culture? The church is facing its greatest challenge - and its greatest opportunity - in our postmodern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious “imperfect people” to become his church - but how are we doing at welcoming them? No Perfect People Allowed shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture.

God calls us to be "devoted to one another in love" (Romans 12:10). What does this look like for us today? How can we be the kind of church member who makes a real difference? This timely and engaging book by Tony Merida explores what church is, why being part of it is exciting, and why it’s worthy of our love and commitment. He sets out eight privileges and responsibilities of a church member: to belong, to welcome, to gather, to care, to serve, to honor, to witness and to send.

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope and the first from the Americas, offers a challenge to his Church. Can he bring about significant change? Should he? Garry Wills argues that changes have been the evidence of life in the Catholic Church. It has often changed, sometimes with bad consequences, more often with good - good enough to make it perdure. In this brilliant and incisive study, he gives seven examples of deep and serious changes that have taken place within the last century.

What is an ideal church, and how can you tell? How does it look different from other churches? More importantly, how does it act differently, especially in society? Many of us aren't sure how to answer those questions, even though we probably have some preconceived idea. But with this book, you don't have to wonder any more.

In A Change of Allegiance, Taylor takes the listener on a moving journey through the Scriptures, Christian history, and his own life's story demonstrating the incompatibility of Christianity and war. Ultimately, Taylor challenges his listener to consider where their allegiance really lies.

Why is it that so many gifted and passionate leaders end up on the sidelines of ministry rather than finishing well? How can you avoid the pitfalls that face those who serve Christ and his church? What steps can you take that will propel you forward into a more faithful and fruitful ministry than you ever dreamed? These questions and more are addressed in Leadership from the Inside Out.

Longtime Christian journalist, researcher, and ministry leader Rick Lawrence believes that the driving force propelling the church into irrelevance is its propensity reduce Jesus. Deeply researched and comprehensively sourced, Editing Jesus, explores the 8 ways the Jesus of the contemporary church has been edited to fit the spirit of the age. Lawrence writes on:

Homosexuality is one of the most controversial moral issues of our day. Headlines teem with stories of athletes "coming out", politicians changing positions, and courts handing down same sex marriage rulings. Sadly, the church has often been afraid to talk about homosexuality. Many Christians feel confused and divided between the call to love and the call for truth. The time is ripe for God's people to think and speak about same sex attraction in a way that is both biblical and beneficial. Love into Light is designed to move the church toward that end.

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.

While much of church planting today is approached as an innovative new effort, church leaders can take comfort in the truth that they are simply stewards of what the faithful church has been doing for millennia. By rediscovering the foundations of our heritage, we are able to build healthier, more faithful, and more effective churches. At the same time, the act of planting new churches can breathe new life into these ancient traditions as they are applied to a variety of cultural contexts.

What would your church look like in the future if it were to maximize the dormant gifts of the women God has brought there? In Developing Female Leaders, Kadi Cole, 20-year veteran in leadership and people development, offers a practical strategy to help church and organizational leaders craft cultures that facilitate the development of women as volunteer and staff leaders.

Despite its many crises, especially in Western Europe, there are still 1.2 billion Catholics in the world and the Church remains a powerful, controversial and defiantly archaic institution. After the French Revolution and the democratic rebellions of 1848, the Church retreated, especially under Pius IX, into a fortress of unreason, denouncing almost every aspect of modern life, including liberalism and socialism. In Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World, Dr. Ambrogio A. Caiani narrates the epic, fascinating, entertaining and horrifying history of the Roman Catholic Church.