Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation

F. Douglas Powe, Jr. and Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Embodied Hope explores the implications of an embodied theology of hope for preachers' ability to nurture imaginative abundance and purposeful hope-filled action even in the most chaotic of times. As an embodied theology, this conception of Hope is grounded in a theological anthropology that foregrounds humanity's inherent identity as imago Dei and embodiment of God’s Spirit. Hope is the alwaysspeaking voice of God's Spirit assuring us of God's power, faithfulness, and redemptive presence and calling us toward loving, just, and restorative action in our world today. Over and against the voice of despair, Hope creates yearning for the wellbeing of all creation

Clergy and other church leaders often feel pressed to preserve cherished traditions even as they direct people to discern the new thing God is doing They face this tension of sustaining tradition while guiding fresh initiatives and addressing unfamiliar issues.

Frederick

Douglas Powe Jr. and Lovett H Weems Jr guide leaders in stewarding traditions while seeking innovative opportunities for faith communities.

Engaging Faith-Based Organizations to Promote Health through Health

Ministries in Washington, DC

Ayanna Wells,

Robin

McClave, Elizabeth W. Cotter, Tom Pruski, Deborah Nix & Anastasia M.

Snelling

This article describes capacity building and formative assessments completed at five faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Washington, DC to inform sustainable health promotion programming led by certified health ministers. Five FBO partners were recruited with two congregation members from each FBO completing a health minister certificate program. A series of health assessments were conducted to assess each FBO’s capacity to implement evidence-based lifestyle change programs that are responsive to congregation members’ health needs Results indicated a need for programming to support older adults in managing high blood pressure and arthritis. Health ministers represent a significant opportunity for building capacity within FBOs to deliver programming that can improve health outcomes

Brushes with Faith Aaron Rosen

Contemporary artists are engaging more deeply than ever with religious imagery, themes, practices, and audiences With a bracing, jargon-free style, Aaron Rosen a leading scholar, art critic, and curator takes readers into studios, galleries, and worship spaces as he paints a compelling picture of art and religion today

What Would Jesus See? Aaron Rosen

What would Jesus see if he looked at the world around us today? In these pages, Aaron Rosen, one of the world's leading experts on art and religion, tackles this question--in turn helping us do the same He invites readers to use their imagination and explore with him how Jesus saw, what he saw, and why it is important today.

William Taylor and the Mapping of the Methodist Missionary Tradition: The World His Parish Dr. Douglas D. Tzan

This book is the first critical biography of William Taylor, a nineteenth-century American missionary who worked on six continents. Following Taylor’s global odyssey, the volume maps the contours of the Methodist missionary tradition and illumines key historical foundations of contemporary world Christianity. A work of social history that places a leading Methodist missionary in the foreground, this narrative illustrates distinctive aspects and tensions within Methodist missions such as the importance of doctrines like universal atonement and entire sanctification, a deeply pragmatic orientation rooted in God’s providence, an embrace of both entrepreneurial initiatives and networked connection, and the use of revivalism for missionary outreach and leadership development.

Generosity, Stewardship, and Abundance: A Transformational Guide to Church Finance (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021)

Lovett H. Weems, Jr. and Ann A. Michel

This book provides practical advice to pastors and church leaders tasked with funding ministry and inspiring others toward responsible stewardship and greater generosity The book integrates the practical and theological dimensions of finance to empower congregational leaders to think critically about stewardship from a Christian perspective and use personal and congregational resources faithfully