The Arts Of Ministry

First United Methodist Church in Augusta, Georgia, gives concerts to raise money for local service organizations. Trinity Lutheran Church in Mission, Kansas, has been sponsoring a religious art show for more than twenty-five years. Fellowship Lutheran Church runs a Christian arts camp for young people every summer. These are just three of the eighteen case studies of practicing arts ministries in this book, in which Michael Bauer encourages the nurture and support of all the creative gifts of God's people. Bauer lays a solid foundation for arts ministry, grounding it in the historic Christian tradition and urging churches to expand their engagement with the creative arts -- "to live and worship in full color," as he puts it. A concluding chapter clearly lays out how to develop an arts ministry, helping readers to take these ideas from theory to practice, to embrace and celebrate the continuing creative activity of God in the church.

Offering the most relevant, effective, and transformative approaches to ministry as it develops a feminist and womanist practical theology, this book brings together the best in feminist and womanist scholarship that deals with the work of ministry in a one-volume format.

To develop an art is to develop an ability or a skill. The Bible states that favor comes to men of skill. The work of ministry demands great ability. This new book "The Art of Ministry" is a much-needed resource for all who desire to do the work of ministry. It clearly presents what is the right and wrong thinking of ministry, what is required of you as a worker in ministry and how to perform the

Named one of the Top Ten Books by the Academy of Parish Clergy Hundreds of books, tapes, workshops and seminars promise to answer these impossible questions. Some offer a set of practical guidelines; others suggest a system or pattern to follow. Some stress various ministry functions; others feature case studies as models of success or failure. Some are helpful. Others are not. But in The Art of Pastoring, David Hansen turns pastoral self-help programs on their heads. He tackles the perennial questions from within his own experience. From the Inside Out Hansen's fresh, bold narrative grows from nearly a decade of ministry. He draws you into his life and into the lives of Florence-Victor Parish in the mountains of Montana, including unforgettable encounters with unforgettable people--a stubborn pioneer woman who still chops her own firewood though she's blind and 90 years old, a championship rodeo cowboy who was baptized in his boots, and many more. Hansen's goal is to help you discover "that pastoral ministry is a life, not a technology . . . [that] life as a pastor is far more than the sum of the tasks I carry out. It is a call from God that involves my whole life." From Calling to Living Parable Every pastor has encountered those who struggle to hear God's voice in a hospital room, who reach for Jesus in the sacraments. No systematic answers can meet their deep, eternal needs. What can touch them, Hansen contends, is a life itself, a life lived as a parable of Jesus. "As a parable of Jesus Christ," Hansen writes, "I deliver something to the parishioner that I am not, and in the process I deliver the parishioner into the hands of God." It is this knack for getting to the heart of things that makes The Art of Pastoring valuable for pastors in any setting--rural, suburban or urban. Parachurch workers, missionaries, church leaders and ministry volunteers will also find inspiration here. In this significantly revised new edition, Hansen includes new insights into his view of pastorate as parable and adds a new postlude in which he comes clean on his "constant attempts to leave the ministry."

This book addresses the fact that, despite the inevitability of aging, the vast majority of us are ill-prepared for eldercare. Eldercare as Art and Ministry broadens and deepens an understanding of eldercare as an art and as a ministry. As art, eldercare requires creativity, imagination, and perseverance. Here, ministry is considered in its fullest meaning, to include guiding, administering, serving, waiting upon, or acting as a loved one's agent. Through stories, lessons, and poignant vignettes, Jackson-Brown calls each one of us—whether young or older, ordained or laity, fortunate or less fortunate, prepared or not—to serve and care for an aging loved one. For lay people and professionals, this book is a guide to navigate the challenges of eldercare and to find meaning in this important work.

In The Art of Prophesying, Puritan William Perkins (1558-1602) teaches how to preach the Word with "studied plainness," not relying on technique or soaring flourishes of oratory, but rather by unleashing the majestic power of the unencumbered Word of God. Unlike so much of the milquetoast preaching heard today, Perkins teaches how to utilize the Scripture in all its capacities: for teaching correct doctrine, for reproof and correction, and for training the godly in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). This type of preaching changed lives during Perkins' lifetime, and it has the same effect today. Includes a biographical preface by Benjamin Brook. Scripture references (from the ESV) are embedded in the text as hyperlinks--no internet connection required.