Moving On In Ministry

While the Church of England provides practical resources for clergy as they make changes in their ‘careers’, very little theological reflection has been done around this subject. Not all change is welcome and driving factors differ from those in secular employment. This important volume explores key questions to consider at points of transition.

G. Travis Norvell challenges church leaders and members-persistently asking them and their respective churches what they are doing to make a real difference in others lives. The author proposes that the people of the "living church" start moving in, around, and with their communities to truly move toward renewal and social justice, drawing on his own experiences as a church pastor who walked, rode his bike, and took the bus as he went about his work. The book provides concrete, practical ways for the church body and individuals to begin implementing this movement, including study questions, suggested resources, and "experiments" between chapters that can help them find the ways that work best in their respective contexts

More than 40 million Americans move each year, and studies show it can be one of the heaviest strains on a marriage. For women especially, relocating can be a traumatic event. With true stories, ingenious insights, and helpful hints, this great book makes transitioning smoother so women can get on with their lives. Those who are moving will find this valuable book as important as packing tape.

Navigating the ebbs and flows of Children’s Ministry can come with its own set of challenges but take heart. With the right approach your journey through the great world of Kidmin cannot only be successful but enjoyable. In her own whimsical way, Esther Moreno provides key insights to do just that. Whether you are a Children’s Ministry director or a Kidmin volunteer, the principles in this book, if applied, will revolutionize the way you see ministry, and will dramatically change the type of results you are currently experiencing. Esther Moreno has dedicated her life to reaching the next generation for Christ. She has over 15 years of Children’s Ministry experience across various churches and denominations. She is one of the hosts of Children’s Ministry Today on Fishbowl Radio Network. In addition to hosting monthly live webinars on social media, she leads virtual trainings for Children’s Ministry departments all over the country. Esther is a gifted speaker, teacher, and author. She holds a Masters in Christian Education from Ashland Theological Seminary. She currently attends Life Church of Huntsville, Alabama, where she resides with her husband Guylando and their two beautiful children, Grace and Gideon.

For most pastors and church staff members, gone are the days of serving at the same church for twenty or thirty years. What’s more, the landscape of pastoral hiring has changed, with the advent of more sophisticated search committees, the Internet, and professional search firms. But the fine art of changing churches or moving to a new career isn’t something most of us learned in seminary.Whether you are searching for your first position or are a seasoned veteran wrestling with if, when, and how to move on, Moving On, Moving Forward will help you navigate the ins and outs of the ministry employment maze. Based on research with nearly 200 pastors who themselves have gone through transitions in ministry, this book uniquely addresses the needs of people in ministry. It deals with the crucial and sometimes painful emotional and familial issues involved in ministry transition. And it is immensely practical and informed by many real-life examples. Topics covered include dealing with search committees, writing a letter of resignation, preparing a resume, negotiating compensation, and more. Includes charts and worksheets.

The mainline church in the past few decades has witnessed a ghettoization of youth within the church, segregating them off to a particular room, perhaps in the basement, where they engage in ministry in isolation from the rest of the congregation. They are assigned a “youth minister” or “youth director,” often the staff person with the least experience, freeing up the “real” ministers to serve the adults in the church. They seldom serve on church boards or governing bodies in anything other than a cursory manner. Their leadership in worship is limited to one special Sunday a year; their activities seen more as programming than ministry, and their place often described as “the church of the future” rather than the body of Christ in the here-and-now. For decades, youth ministry in mainline churches has been program-driven, assuming that the primary function of youth ministry was to use activities and events to attract young people to church and keep them occupied until they were ready to be adult members in the faith. In recent years, it has become increasingly obvious that this paradigm has failed to develop youth as life-long participants in the Christian church and in the Christian faith. The result of such a model of ministry is that youth come to see church only as those segregated activities reserved for teenagers, most of which bear little resemblance to the practices of the rest of church life. Consequently, when youth graduate from high school and youth group, they perceive that their most meaningful church experiences are ended. Mainline congregations are now seeing the evidence of the real lack of impact of their youth ministries as the population of young adults in churches continues to shrink – even those young adults who were once regular participants in church youth group programs. In short, the program-driven model of youth ministry has failed to help youth find their place within the mission of the Church. Rethinking Youth Ministry critiques this older paradigm and invites the reader into a dialogue to help rethink many of the deepest assumptions of youth ministry in the mainline church. We challenge the consumerist goal of judging a youth ministry’s success by the number of its participants. We push back against the notion that a youth ministry is the sum total of the events on the calendar. We rethink the place of volunteers and parents, calling for a greater role of adults as spiritual mentors in the lives of church youth. We send out a call for greater understanding of modern methods of teaching and the impact of brain research on the intellectual and spiritual development of youth and we re-imagine a new role for mission within youth ministry which calls youth to see mission not as isolated activities but as the very heart of their faith journey. Rethinking Youth Ministry serves as a theological companion and practical guide for all those “working in the trenches” of youth ministry who are seeking to offer students a deeper, more consequential, and active life-long relationship with God through the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Follow God's process for growth and find hope in life's darkest moments with Bishop T.D. Jakes's uplifting stories and advice from his own faith journey. In this insightful book, #1 New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes wrestles with age-old questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God in all the injustice? Bishop Jakes tells crushing personal stories from his own journey -- the painful experience of learning his young teenage daughter was pregnant, the agony of watching his mother succumb to Alzheimer's, and the shock and helplessness he felt when his son had a heart attack. Bishop Jakes wants to show you how God uses difficult, crushing experiences to prepare you for unexpected blessings. If you are faithful through suffering, you will be surprised by God's joy, comforted by His peace, and fulfilled with His purpose. Crushing will inspire you to have hope, even in your most difficult moments. If you trust in God and lean on Him during setbacks, He will lead you through.