Christian Transition

Based on candid interviews with thousands of young people tracked over a five-year period, this book reveals how the religious practices of the teenagers portrayed in Soul Searching have been strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they have moved into adulthood.

The vibrant and complex life of the eastern Mediterranean during a time of reinvention and renewal is the subject of the exhibition Transition to Christianity and this accompanying catalogue, which explore a period of extraordinary creativity and reveal new and largely unknown aspects of the Greek world of Late Antiquity. The exhibition is jointly organized by the Onassis Foundation (USA) and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture - Byzantine and Christian Museum, with the academic support of an advisory committee from the Program in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University.

The title Christian Transition could strike one as non-committal, general enough to be applicable to a great many subjects. But the urgent message of the Introduction highlights a very glaring gap for the present generation both in the contents and the manner of presentation of our Catholic faith. To fill that gap Fr Joseph Shiels suggests a way forward, sharing with us his awareness of Christian transition, as St Teresa of Avila had described it, taking place within himself. Fr Joseph Shiels is an Irish Columban priest who spent his working years as a missionary in the Southern Philippines. Fundamentally, this book witnesses to two graces experienced by the author during that time. The first grace, which came early in his career, was a refreshed awareness of a traditional teaching of the Church. This is the teaching that the real, essential Christianity within us is that we are in this world to be divinised. Christian transition is the name of the process of divinisation. The author reminds us of this doctrine by presenting it in an unashamedly attentiongetting phrase, namely 'becoming-God-along-with-God'. Such a phrase is no more than the kind of advertisement that comes out of countless publicrelations offices. But no less: in terms of its summing-up of the implications of what our Christian faith really was, and still is, offering to all its members. His second, supplemental grace is that, in mid-life, after an apparently chance introduction to a book outlining the teaching of St Teresa, our author tried the contents for size - and found they fitted! The contents gave him a Teresian understanding that a progression and development - to some extent verifiable - was possible in the spiritual life of the ordinary Christian. Still in the style of an advertising executive, Teresian teaching is presented in simplified form, originally to make it accessible those to whom he had ministered, now, to inform and encourage his readers. Starting from two parables of Jesus, Fr Shiels' fresh and intriguing approach supplies a strongly scriptural basis for his account of his new awarenesses, and his witness to their potential to transform our lives too. In conclusion he shows that these graces are are really the essence of Christianity for all Christians; his experience is simply a case study of what is no more than the humble beginnings of a Christian transition, in accordance with, and by application of, theteachings of St Teresa of Avila. Fr Joseph Shiels opens up the riches of the Christian tradition to a new generation, showing how we too are invited to share in this very transition which will change our lives forever.

The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture In our fast-growing post-Christian, postmodern culture, the church often finds itself marginalized and ineffective in mission. The new emerging church is both hopeful and frightening compared to more traditional forms of Christianity. However, these "two churches" need each other. The Church in Transition presents honest stories of the failures and successes of a variety of transitioning fellowships.

This book takes readers through a step-by-step process that can help any church make the transition from being program driven to purpose driven.

Preacher and teacher David Mosser offers practical and spiritual guidance for pastors struggling to manage and respond to changes in the economy, changes in their neighborhoods, changes in their denominations, changes in the congregation, changes in culture, and the life changes present in every parishioner's life. Wise words from authors such as Alyce McKenzie, David Buttrick, Joanna Adams, and Thomas Long all contribute to this most timely and helpful book.

In Lost in Transition, Christian Smith and his collaborators draw on 230 in-depth interviews with a broad cross-section of emerging adults (ages 18-23) to investigate the difficulties young people face today, the underlying causes of those difficulties, and the consequences both for individuals and for American society as a whole. --From publisher description.