Dudley and Johnson show how churches are revitalized by claiming the symbols that best articulate self-identity. They describe five images of churches' relationships to their communities over time--the survivor, prophet, pillar, pilgrim, and servant styles--found in a wide variety of congregations and situations.

"In this book, Robert H. Ramey, Jr., proposes a strategy by which pastors can energize lay leaders and create an effective, empowered church." "Each chapter includes stories of churches that have made these strategies work, gleaned from Ramey's years of conducting workshops and church consulting. Included are lists of steps to take, and multiple appendices provide guidance for specific actions pastors can use for group meetings in their churches."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In Care-full Preaching, G. Lee Ramsey, Jr., offers a new vision for how sermons can energize all members of a congregation to care for one another. Using fresh images and sermons from Fred Craddock, James Forbes, Gina Stewart, Barbara Brown Taylor, and himself, Ramsey demonstrates in practical ways how sermons can create a caring community.

In Sister Churches Janel Bakker draws on extensive fieldwork and interviews with participants in congregation-to-congregation partnerships between Western churches and churches in the global South to explore the sister church movement and in particular its effects on American churches.

In this era of "faith-based initiatives," congregations increasingly find themselves in the business of establishing and supporting community ministries-daycare for infants and toddlers, respite care for elders, and programs for housing rehab and home repair, tutoring, and social justice advocacy. In this volume, Carl S. Dudley revises and updates his earlier book, Basic Steps toward Community Ministry, which Loren Mead called "the most valuable book on parish ministry I've seen in a decade."

"A Pioneering work on the emergence, development, and current status of a vital but long overlooked tradtition. Enlightening and engaging." --Scott Barretta, musci historian and former editor of Living Blues magazine.