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The mountaintop Emmaus weekend experience is temporary, while the rest of a pilgrim's life may seem like a valley. The author guides new pilgrims on how to come down from the mountain and work in the valleys of everyday congregational life.

The author covers qualities of a team member, spiritual benefits of team membership, what happens at team meetings, leadership development, and other aspects of being part of an Emmaus team. Every conference room team member needs this booklet.

It's hard to know which is more intimidating: a roomful of wiggling pre-schoolers or know-all adults."Adult students come with their own agendas and will connect learning to what's going on in their lives," writes Bruce. "They learn what they want to learn." Both facts present challenge and great opportunity to teachers, according to Bruce. "Adults are eager to learn and are searching for meaning, but we must break through their initial reluctance to encourage them to think, question, and make connections."Based on some of the latest theories about faith development and learning, Start Here offers practical, down-to-earth strategies designed for teaching adults. Whether you're a Sunday school teacher, a Bible study teacher or a teacher in another setting, you'll find instruction in creating environments where adults grow in faith through your guidance.Topics in Start Here include: planning a lessondealing with disagreement in classinformation about adult faith developmentcreating an environment that galvanizes faith formation and faith sharingmethods to engage a variety of learning stylesthe latest data in how adults learnusing learning hooks to increase participationDiscussion questions at the end of each chapter are included.

This guide provides everything you need to prepare and lead small-group studies. The Way of Discernment provides: Principles of personal and group discernmentDaily exercises to help you move from information to experienceWeekly meeting plans designed for group sharing and worshipPenetrating questions to aid the process of discernmentThe 10-week study focuses on the ancient spiritual discipline of discernment for individuals, congregations, or larger bodies of the church. In addition to a preparatory meeting, sessions include: The Beckoning of DiscernmentThe Heart of DiscernmentFruit as TouchstonesCore Identity as TouchstoneGrowing in the GiftIn the Hard PlacesCommunal Discernment: BeginningsCommunal Discernment: Going FartherElements of Perpetual ChallengeThe All-Encompassing AudienceThe Leader's Guide contains step-by-step instructions for sessions and a list of materials needed for the weekly group meetings.

A 6-week exploration of the Lord's Prayer (traditional version) that shows readers how this ancient prayer can serve as a model for their prayers today.

Psalms for Black Lives includes thirty devotions, each containing a psalm, a reflection, and an invitation for the reader to develop a justice imagination through further engagement with the text. Psalms for Black Lives also includes daily discussion questions to support small-group study and a guide for congregational and community groups who want to embody the words of the Psalms together.

With this guide on baptism and confirmation in The United Methodist Church, Rev. Dr. Gift Machinga provides an essential resource for the church in Africa. The book is intended to motivate pastors to consider the ministry of education and to guide pastors and lay members in preparing their people for baptism and confirmation.

This book is the first of two volumes on Preaching in the African Context. For both seasoned preachers and beginners, including students in seminaries, Bible colleges, and universities, this first volume explores why we preach and the principles of contextual preaching in Africa. Nhiwatiwa demonstrates that contextual preaching serves as the most appropriate way of communicating the gospel in Africa-it can connect with and engage the minds of people in effective ways. Read these volumes to see why preaching is an urgent aspect of ministry that can open new horizons and give fresh outlook for the future.

Getting to know God means getting to know ourselves. The more we know who God is the more we know who we are. The Gospel of John records several declarations of Jesus known as the "I Am" sayings. This 7-week study is designed for the entire congregation to explore each of those sayings and will help you find and form an answer to the most essential question in the Christian faith, "Who do you say I am?"One by one, Jesus' statements grab our imagination, reveal more about his identity and purpose, and connect us to the God of Moses, who spoke the first "I Am." These significant yet ordinary images (bread, light, shepherd, vine, and more) give us insightful ways to experience Jesus and point us to a God who wants to be known.

We all need companions and guides on our spiritual journey. W. Paul Jones believes that spiritual direction is essential for every Christian. "Along each person's pilgrimage are those who can make one's journey accountable and whose hospitality makes it possible," Jones says.In The Art of Spiritual Direction, you'll discover the answers to these questions and more: What is spiritual direction?What is the difference between spiritual direction and counseling?How can you know if you are called to the ministry of spiritual direction?What should happen in direction sessions?The appendixes feature helpful tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a Theological Worlds Inventory, the Enneagram, and other resources. Whether you are a pastor, church leader, or a layperson, you will benefit from the wealth of information contained in this book.

For many churches, the call to make disciples comes with a realization that the church's current worship opportunities do not reach certain groups in their surrounding community. New worship services offer the most promising strategy for renewing established churches and planting new worship communities. In a post-pandemic world, churches will be challenged to reach new people with the gospel and to help them meet in a way that is meaningful to them.Accessible to ministry professionals and lay leaders, Launching a New Worship Community is a comprehensive guide to starting a new worship community-whether that means an established church beginning a new worship service or a church startup designing its first worship offering. The authors, writing with a team of church planting experts, provide practical advice rooted in solid academics, theology, and real-world experience. With this guide, readers will have the tools they need to begin and sustain a new worship community.

Though the shadow side of aging is a reality, author Missy Buchanan brings spiritual light and nourishment to people in the later years of life. Older adults struggle with chronic pain and diminished physical abilities. They contend with losses that pile up like the dry bones in the prophet Ezekiel's vision--the loss of loved ones and friends, the loss of their home and belongings, the loss of independence, and the loss of purpose. In a culture that values youth more than age, older adults often feel forgotten and without purpose. Each chapter of From Dry Bones to Living Hope opens with an intimate, prayerful lament to God from the perspective of the older adult who longs for spiritual renewal and purpose. The authentic voice of lament establishes credibility with older readers who yearn for others to empathize with their struggles. The second part of each chapter, Cultivating Hope, guides them to God's perspective on aging and specific actions they can take that lead to hope and joy.

Whom Shall I Fear? encourages church leaders and congregations to step back from fear and examine their security policies in the light of scripture. It provides thought-provoking reflections on topics such as locked doors, whether congregations should have armed security, and Christians' duty to extend hospitality to their neighbors. Author Rosalind Hughes tells stories from survivors of gun violence and shares wisdom on how churches can work to transform an anxious, fear-driven world. Includes a Leader's Guide that can be used for a 5- to 10-session study.

"Often when we experience the heartache of a significant loss, we choose to patch ourselves up, put our heads down, and contort ourselves around our pain. The rush is on to get back to status quo. Yet, what if our good, compassionate God longs for each of us to be on the formational journey towards becoming an emotionally and spiritually mature adult and offers us an "on-ramp" to that experience through stewarding our pain? Typically, though, we want to shut pain down in the fastest way possible-and most of us have many strategic ways of doing so. Set in the context of the author's own story of loss, What Loss Can Teach Us offers stepping stones for the journey of not "getting through" the chaos of loss and pain but saying yes to the invitation of emotional and spiritual formation. Spiritual practices that serve as meaningful companions for the process are included"--

Magill encourages churches to move beyond giving food to people in need to share all aspects of food ministry with them--planning, setting up, leading, serving, and cleaning. Those donating food or money eat with people in need and get to know them as they serve with them. Full of practical advice, this book emphasizes that building relationships and offering radical welcome is more important work for churches than efficiency or order.