Mad Church Disease

Growing up the daughter of a pastor, Anne Jackson experienced firsthand the conflict, stress, and struggle church leaders often face. She vowed her life in ministry would be different. Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. After being released from the hospital, an associate pastor asked her, 'Does working at this church interfere with your communion with Christ?' The question was aramount in turning her life around. Thinking she wasn't alone, Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of burnout. Using anecdotal parallels between Mad Cow Disease and leadership trends in the church, she writes not only to help us realize what church leaders are facing, but also to provide practical and positive treatment plans. Mad Church Disease is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry---vocational or volunteer---who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.

Does serving in the church hurt your relationship with Christ? That question may have saved author Anne Marie Miller's life. She believes it could save yours, too.As the daughter of a pastor, Anne saw firsthand the struggles leaders face and the toll it takes on their families. She vowed her life in ministry would be different.Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. She had burned out.Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of pain.Mad Church Disease, born out of that experience, is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone who has ever stepped foot in a church who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.

This annual bestselling resource for preachers provides a planned preaching program for an entire year, including Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and midweek sermons as well as helps for special occasions such as weddings, funerals, and youth meetings.

Are you living in crisis or in Christ?

Introverts are called and gifted by God. But many churches tend to be extroverted places where introverts are marginalized. Some Christians end up feeling like it's not as faithful to be an introvert. Adam McHugh shows how introverts can live and minister in ways consistent with their personalities. He explains how introverts and extroverts process information and approach relationships differently and how introverts can practice Christian spirituality in ways that fit who they are. With practical illustrations from church and parachurch contexts, McHugh offers ways for introverts to serve, lead, worship and even evangelize effectively. Introverts in the Church is essential reading for any introvert who has ever felt out of place, as well as for church leaders who want to make their churches more welcoming to introverts. Discover God's call and empowering to thrive as an introvert, for the sake of the church and kingdom.

It seems today that people no longer want to actively participate in church. Ask most of those who have abandoned the church and you will hear stories of hypocrisy and church abuse. Long-time believers are ready to walk away out of boredom and frustration. Killed by the Church, Resurrected by Christ seeks to equip people with the principles they need in order to fall in love with the church again in a much healthier way. In this book, you will find stories from around the world and right next door. Stories of all the good the church has to offer and sadly, some of the worst as well. You will discover Biblical principles that relate not only to church, but to our relationship with the body of Christ at large. You will hopefully develop a deeper understanding of your identity in Christ. You will also read of the author’s recovery from “death by church” and his own resurrection by Christ. “Rick takes the reader through a valley of the shadow of death––only, sadly, this valley’s shadow is cast by a series of disastrous church experiences. But through it, he freshly encounters Christ, and learns that surely goodness and mercy follow him all the days of his life, and he will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is a book for all those who love the church enough to want the best for it.” Shalom, —Mark Buchanan

Sex is such an intimate topic historically wrapped in shame and when someone shares they were sexually abused, we may not know how to respond. With recent #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, we are learning just how many men, women, boys, and girls have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a trusted person, often family members or leaders in the church. Sexual abuse is rampant in modern society and now--sometimes many years later--sexual abuse survivors are sharing their stories. Anne Marie Miller is a survivor of childhood clergy sexual abuse and has shared her journey toward healing with audiences all over the world. After speaking with thousands of survivors and their loved ones, she saw the need for a fundamental and practical guide for helping supporters of sexual abuse survivors understand the basics of abuse, trauma, healing, and hope. Drawing from her own experience as a survivor and evidence-based research, Anne addresses these questions and more in Healing Together: What is sexual abuse? How can I help survivors? Who are predators and how do they groom victims? How does trauma affect survivors? What happens when someone doesn't remember the details of their abuse? How does abuse wound the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of people who have been abused? When and how should authorities be contacted? How do you talk to your children about sexual abuse? What are the warning signs of abuse? Is healing possible? Whether you are a spouse, a family member, a friend, or a church leader looking for easy-to-navigate resources to understand and support sexual abuse survivors, you'll find answers and hope in these pages.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.