Story Signs And Sacred Rhythms

"Today’s teens are even more passionate about changing the world than the generation before them. They are learning just how closely their lives tie in to God’s sweeping story of redemption. And as they see how their journeys of faith are connected to an ongoing story, they are asking how to go deeper into that story. So how can we help align their passion with God’s mission so that their lives and the world can be changed? Story, Signs, and Sacred Rhythms presents a new model for youth ministry that is relevant to the missional church and the changing culture. After challenging youth pastors around the world to consider A New Kind of Youth Ministry, Chris Folmsbee now brings a practical approach to youth ministry that will: • offer a clear and compelling vision of a narrative-missional youth ministry • present a theologically rich and accurate summary of God’s story and mission • equip you with an approach to youth ministry that enables you to create, sustain, and refine environments for Christian transformation • unpack a ministry design that’s customizable, measurable, and evaluative, allowing you to refine and change course as needed • empower you to transform an emerging generation, resulting in teens joining God in his mission to restore the world By exploring a narrative approach that is about God’s story, looking at the signs of God, which are God’s images and metaphors to guide our lives, and discovering the saintly cadences that provide the connection between God and mission, you’ll find concepts and ideologies of an entirely new way of thinking about and doing youth ministry."

For teens whose faith seems a little blurry, Clear will help put it into focus. The interactive exercises in this book will help students develop a better understanding of God and his truths so they can be more like Jesus.

Gladhearted Disciples: Equipping Your Congregation with Generous and Enduring Faith addresses a critical need for church leaders and pastors: How can we guide people to live like Jesus and to draw others into that life? This is a book to study and with your leaders and teams. Gladhearted Disciples starts with an indisputable yet often ignored reality: In a post-modern, post-Christian world, we can no longer attract people by convincing them of our “truth.” We must instead embody the Gospel in such clear and compelling ways that they will be attracted to our way of life. This is the true measure of discipleship. Folmsbee provides a template for the spiritual formation of hopeful, grace-filled, kingdom-focused disciples who represent God’s love in the world. Pastors, Christian educators, and small-group leaders will find here an inspiring new perspective to inspire and support their work.--Ann Michel, Associate Director, Lewis Center for Church Leadership I recommend this book for faith communities and all who yearn for a new way of understanding our sacred calling as followers of Jesus.--DJ del Rosario, Sr. Pastor, Bothell UMC, Bothell, WA If you are seeking to guide others in following Jesus into the mission field that exists right outside your front door, read this book. You’ll encounter vivid stories and a theologically grounded, practical, and missional approach to discipleship in a post-Christian world. --Sara B. Thomas, Chief Strategist for Vital Congregations, Discipleship Ministries, The United Methodist Church Gladhearted Disciples takes a radically different and welcome approach to evangelism and discipleship. It is a winsome and accessible book with two audaciously important messages. First, Christian discipleship is grounded in grace, characterized by humility, upwardly focused in gratitude, and outwardly-turned in compassion. Second, Christian communities should be marked by the same. Every church would do well to heed this prophetic yet hopeful message. --Robert K. Martin, Dean and Professor of Christian Formation and Leadership, Wesley Theological Seminary If you seek a fresh way to understand and share our faith—a way that makes sense in our current reality, I invite you to delve into this book. May you be newly inspired! --Dottie Escobedo-Frank, author of The Jesus Insurgency with Rudy Rasmus, from Abingdon Press

How Ministers Can Be Excellent and Effective Teachers Effective teaching is important not only to the Christian faith but to the success and impact of Christian ministry. This book champions the role of teaching as a necessary skill for ministers to develop, equipping them to work effectively for the spiritual growth of young people. Terry Linhart, who has more than twenty-five years of experience training youth workers, brings together expert Christian educators representing a broad array of evangelical institutions and traditions to show how teaching connects to discipleship and the church in current contexts. Designed for the classroom, the book covers a wide range of topics and includes helpful illustrative diagrams, tables, line drawings, and charts.

Christianity regards teaching as one of the most foundational and critically sustaining ministries of the Church. As a result, Christian education remains one of the largest and oldest continuously functioning educational systems in the world, comprising both formal day schools and higher education institutions as well as informal church study groups and parachurch ministries in more than 140 countries. In The Encyclopedia of Christian Education, contributors explore the many facets of Christian education in terms of its impact on curriculum, literacy, teacher training, outcomes, and professional standards. This encyclopedia is the first reference work devoted exclusively to chronicling the unique history of Christian education across the globe, illustrating how Christian educators pioneered such educational institutions and reforms as universal literacy, home schooling, Sunday schools, women’s education, graded schools, compulsory education of the deaf and blind, and kindergarten. With an editorial advisory board of more than 30 distinguished scholars and five consulting editors, TheEncyclopedia of Christian Education contains more than 1,200 entries by 400 contributors from 75 countries. These volumes covers a vast range of topics from Christian education: History spanning from the church’s founding through the Middle Ages to the modern day Denominational and institutional profiles Intellectual traditions in Christian education Biblical and theological frameworks, curricula, missions, adolescent and higher education, theological training, and Christian pedagogy Biographies of distinguished Christian educators This work is ideal for scholars of both the history of Christianity and education, as well as researchers and students of contemporary Christianity and modern religious education.

Sacred Rhythms: The Monastic Way Every Day is a compilation of reflections originally published in our Notes from a Monastery series. Gathered here under the themes of prayer, work, faithfulness, and conversion, these meditations showcase the knowledge of religious and lay authors familiar with the Benedictine way of life.