Church Beyond Walls

Church Beyond Walls tells inspiring, informative and occasionally funny stories of how a group of people took Christian spirituality outside of church buildings to engage a world increasingly uninterested in religion, God and faith. From imaginative and wide-ranging experiments, it draws out principles to inspire local churches to express their faith in their communities, and it shares liturgical and other resources developed for these occasions. Based in Brighton and known as BEYOND, for over ten years this group of dreamers, artists and provocateurs have experimented with public art, created light shows and walking meditations, partnered with retailers to create spiritual shop window trails, celebrated the festivals of the church in secular spaces, used folk traditions and more to introduce people to the Christian faith. Their goal and the aim of this book is to help local churches create opportunities for epiphanies: moments when the divine can break into human experience.

Church Beyond Walls tells inspiring, informative and occasionally funny stories of how a group of people took Christian spirituality outside of church buildings to engage a world increasingly uninterested in religion, God and faith. From imaginative and wide-ranging experiments, it draws out principles to inspire local churches to express their faith in their communities, and it shares liturgical and other resources developed for these occasions. Based in Brighton and known as BEYOND, for over ten years this group of dreamers, artists and provocateurs have experimented with public art, created light shows and walking meditations, partnered with retailers to create spiritual shop window trails, celebrated the festivals of the church in secular spaces, used folk traditions and more to introduce people to the Christian faith. Their goal and the aim of this book is to help local churches create opportunities for epiphanies: moments when the divine can break into human experience.

In Church Without Walls, prominent author Jim Petersen offers an exciting definition of the church that pushes beyond the too-small boundaries we've inherited from the past. This book explores why some church forms impede the gospel in today's postmodern world.

The church today is in many places “on the nose.” For many people, it stinks. It has passed its “use-by” date and should be relegated to the dustbins of history, and the sooner, the better. Nevertheless, the contributors to this volume believe that the church, in spite of its somewhat checkered history and its many present failures, remains an integral part of God’s redemptive purposes being worked out in the world, and that God’s call to the church is now what it has always been: to be the faithful people of God, bearing joy-filled witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in word, worship, and work, in its corporate life, and in the lives of each of its members. Each chapter in this book explores an aspect of what it means to be the church, both with respect to its own life, and with an eye to its presence and mission in the world.

Good pastoral leadership is not a "by the numbers" proposition. It is a matter of heart and soul, of devoting the whole self to the vision God gives for the congregation in which one serves. Yet neither is it purely intuitive; it requires hard, careful thinking about the directions and details of the path down which God calls. When Adam Hamilton became pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, its membership consisted of himself and his family. Ten years later the church averages between five and six thousand worshipers per weekend. Throughout this remarkable period, Hamilton learned many serious lessons about both the broad visions and the specific details of pastoral leadership. Bringing a depth of analytical skills often lacking in visionary leaders, in this book he goes beyond simply telling the story of Church of the Resurrection. He shares the questions that he learned to ask about the largely unchurched population to which Church of the Resurrection has reached out. Further, he demonstrates what he learned by listening to the answers to these questions, and how doing so has made possible a number of strategically crucial decisions the church has made. One of those crucial decisions was to make more traditional forms of worship and praise the center of the congregation's life. The result is that the example of Church of the Resurrection offers pastors and church leaders (especially those in mainline denominations) the realization that they need not completely change their liturgical and theological identity in order to reach out to the unchurched. Drawing on his own experience, as well as the detailed research on the characteristics of highly successful congregations he undertook during a sabbatical leave, Hamilton offers pastors and other church leaders solid, substantive thinking on steps that congregations can take to become centers of vibrant outreach and mission.

Dan Montgomery invites you to step through the first page of the book and walk with him to the top of a mountain peak. There you talk heart to heart while sharing your favorite drink. This imaginary journey begins a dialogue about the difficulties of being human and how faith in God infuses your life with guidance and companionship. Theologian Gabriel Fackre writes: "Christian teaching about the Trinity becomes up close and personal in this engaging work by a wise counselor. Here is enriching daily guidance from compass therapy for our pilgrimage with the triune God." GUIDEPOSTS Roving Editor Elizabeth Sherrill writes, “I’ve waited a long time for a book like this! Like a caring counselor in private session, Dan Montgomery writes to anyone who thinks being a Christian means conforming to someone else’s pattern. To anyone who believes his current situation is hopeless. To anyone seeking a more intimate walk with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.â€

"The churches of Jerusalem, whether ancient or contemporary, are steeped in that very special aura which surrounds the Holy City. Now, with the publication of Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem, you can unravel the mysteries which lie underneath each magnificent - or modest - facade. In Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem, former Jerusalem Post correspondent Aviva Bar-Am offers in-depth narratives, stirring legends, and lively anecdotes which bring 30 of the Holy City's historic churches to life. Among the sanctuaries and sites vividly described in Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem are the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (including a step-by-step walk-through guide), St. James' Cathedral, the Church of St. John the Baptist in Ein Kerem (and the Church of St. John the Baptist in the Old City of Jerusalem), the Basilica of the Agony at Gethsemane, and Dominus Flevit. The author, Aviva Bar-Am, also introduces the reader to the Ethiopian Church, the Church of the Visitation, Ecce Homo Basilica, St. Andrew's Church, Mary's Tomb (the Church of the Assumption), the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the Church of the Flagellation, the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, and more! Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem is the perfect gift for pilgrims planning to visit the Holy Land, and is a wonderful guidebook and souvenir. Even if you can't make the journey, this wonderful text, with its beautiful, full-color photographs, makes an invaluable addition to any home library, and for the armchair traveler and historian."--Publisher statement