Sixty-two percent of food pantries and meal programs in the United States are faith-based. Most of these ministries are transactional; people needing food interact with church volunteers to earn access to direct service. Elizabeth Magill advocates relational ministry as a better model for food ministry. People donating food or money eat with the people who need food and get to know them as they serve alongside them. Those needing food share all aspects of the ministry, including planning, set...

What is scriptural imagination? The word imagination does not mean the Bible is fantasy or untrue. A scriptural imagination allows us to look at the world through the stories and images of the Bible. As we view our world with scriptural imagination, we enter a continuous process of becoming more Christlike. In A Beginner's Guide to Practicing Scriptural Imagination, Kenneth Carter focuses on four scripture passages to give readers an easy entry into the practice of scriptural imagination. Car...

What energizes someone in pastoral ministry for the long haul? Holy days like Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost are the exception. Ordinary Time, the longest season of the Christian year, is where pastors spend most of their ministry. James Harnish invites pastors and other ministers to see Ordinary Time as a metaphor for the ordinary days of ministry. "Whether we thrive or merely survive depends on what we do with the ordinary days," he writes. Harnish encourages ministers to develop spiritua...

Christians often have the head knowledge that we are beloved, but deep in our hearts do we truly believe it? Author Kristen Vincent takes us on a journey with Jesus that helps us discover how deeply beloved we are. This 6-week Lenten journey follows stories of Jesus' experience of God's love. The incarnate Son of God was made fully human, which means that Jesus had to fully mature in strength and wisdom to learn that he was beloved. Just as Jesus learned of his belovedness, we, too, can culti...

During Advent we think about a wondrous mystery: that God chose to become human and lived among us. The Savior of the world was born a vulnerable child. The king who will rule all of creation was laid in a humble manger. The Wondrous Mystery invites readers to reflect on several paradoxes that make up the Advent season: light and darkness, peace and strife, solitude and community, simplicity and complexity. This daily Advent reader incorporates meditations from Weavings: A Journal of the Chri...

People in the later years of life face many changes, many that are not of their own choosing. Still Praying After All These Years offers 52 reassuring meditations that encourage readers to realize that their lives still have meaning and that aging holds opportunities for spiritual growth. Each meditation begins with a concern, question, or insight expressed in the author's conversations with people ages 75-100. In the Perspectives section, the author provides psychological and theological ins...

Earthshaking. Status-quo challenging. World transforming. That's what the church was intended to be. "An excellent resource for energizing your local church..." —Mike Slaughter, Author and Pastor Emeritus, Ginghamsburg Church, Dayton Ohio Problems in the church are nothing new; the book of Acts is full of them. In We Are the Church..., Pevey offers encouragement that today's church can truly be a transformative presence in the world, just as the early church was in the book of Acts. While so...

Este recurso es el fruto del trabajo misional del autor en iglesias de América Latina y EE. UU. Las clases están diseñadas para proveer enseñanza tanto a personas nuevas en la fe, como a quienes tienen más conocimiento o madurez y desean profundizar su estudio de las Escrituras a través de los lentes de la herencia, la teología y las doctrinas básicas de la fe wesleyanas—herramientas fundamentales para nutrir el discipulado cristiano en la tradición wesleyana. Cada estudio bíblico o clase co...

The why—and how—of faith-based fundraising and stewardship. For years, many faith-based fundraisers and communities have been inspired by Henri J. M. Nouwen's book A Spirituality of Fundraising and his approach to fundraising as a calling and ministry. Many who are inspired by Nouwen's vision remain hesitant to ask for money, saying, "I don't have the personality to raise money" or "Asking for money still feels too complicated and makes me fearful." Nathan Ball, a close colleague and friend ...

Imagine listening to the rhythmic ebb and flow of the tide, feeling the heat and grit of the sand between your toes, and viewing the vast expanse of the sky stretching across the horizon. The wonder of the beach illuminates the magnificence of the Creator. With Beach Calling you don't have to be at the beach to experience the sea, the sand, the sky, and the glory of the One who created it all. Author Missy Buchanan's brilliant descriptions—intertwined artfully with scripture—paint a vivid pic...