The Better Pastor


Book Description




Rebuilt


Book Description

Drawing on the wisdom gleaned from thriving mega-churches and innovative business leaders while anchoring their vision in the Eucharistic center of Catholic faith, Fr. Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran present the compelling and inspiring story to how they brought their parish back to life. Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter is a story of stopping everything and changing focus. When their parish reached a breaking point, White and Corcoran asked themselves how they could make the Church matter to Catholics, and they realized the answer was at the heart of the Gospel. Their faithful response not only tripled their weekend mass attendance, but also yielded increased giving, flourishing ministries, and a vibrant, solidly Catholic spiritual revival. White and Corcoran invite all Catholic leaders to share the vision, borrow their strategies, and rebuild their own parishes. They offer a wealth of guidance for anyone with the courage to hear them.




Making Parish Councils Pastoral


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Making Parish Councils Pastoral traces the historical development of the ôpastoralö style of council and shows how councils can more effectively embrace the church's vision of studying and reflecting on parish matters and recommending their conclusions to the pastor.




What is a Parish?


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Help! I'm a Pastor!


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Richard Armstrong and Kirk Morledge present this practical guide for pastoral ministry, offering counsel about a wide range of topics related to a pastor's professional ministry and personal life. Topics include beginning a new ministry, balancing one's personal life and ministry, wrestling with conflict, worrying about church finances, and preaching. This introduction to ministry can function as a textbook as well as an invaluable handbook or desk reference for pastors in the midst of congregational ministry.




Parish Finance


Book Description

A practical, accessible guide to help church leaders through the steps needed to ensure an effective, accountable, and transparent financial process in a parish.




The New Parish


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Headlines rage with big stories about big churches. But tucked away in neighborhoods throughout North America is a profound work of hope quietly unfolding as the gospel takes root in the context of a place. The future of the church is local, connected to the struggles of the people and even to the land itself.




Meet Pastor Goodenough


Book Description

Little does young Pastor Willie B. Goodenough expect the challenges awaiting him at his first call: All Sports Lutheran Church in Cadaver, Wisconsin. There he meets Betty May, the gossip; Erv Klipstein, the treasurer who is determined not to spend people's offerings on the Lord's work; and I. C. Coldshoulder, the greeter who makes sure church visitors never return. Countless other curmudgeons take turns whisking away their unsuspecting pastor on a whirlwind of unforeseeable, unforgettable, and nearly unforgivable antics. Again and again we're reminded that scoundrels never get past God--or the minister's wife. In this humorous parody of a pastor's life, real-life Pastor Lyle Luchterhand leads his readers from one laugh to another, while Willie's faithful wife Missy reminds us that no matter how crazy the ministry gets, no congregation is ever quite so God-forsaken as it may seem.




ChurchMoney


Book Description

There is a secret formula to help convince parishioners to give financially to your church. It’s pretty simple: Just ask them. And when you do, make sure it’s not about the money. In ChurchMoney, Rev. Michael White and Tom Corcoran—award-winning authors of the bestselling book Rebuilt—will help you learn the basic skills you need to discover that true success in raising funds comes from the incredibly freeing approach that connects giving to discipleship. The two share stories of success and failure during their twenty years leading the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland. They tell you what they learned to meet the real financial challenges of their mission. And they offer the practical wisdom and inspiration you need to tackle the thorny matter of raising money in your Catholic parish. So if giving isn’t about the money, what is it about? Giving is about: loving God and serving him; loving others and helping them fall in love with their Savior; transforming the world little by little through love; and the eternal impact we can and need to make with money. White and Corcoran contend that giving actually glorifies God and attracts others to the Church. Over and over again in scripture, they point out, you’ll find the same, simple point: Giving gladly serves as a key ingredient to the Church’s growth from its very beginning. White and Corcoran share the lessons, facts, habits, and great ideas they’ve implemented from some of the most successful and vibrant churches in the United States. ChurchMoney offers a proven plan for raising money in parishes. It’s readily adaptable, firmly rooted in the reality of leading a Catholic parish, based on the Bible, and finessed with the best advice of communication professionals. You will read stories of embarrassing failure and exhilarating success in tripling a budget and running three extraordinarily successful capital campaigns over a ten-year period including a recent campaign leading to the construction of $16 million sanctuary built debt-free. White and Corcoran have increased staff fourfold and significantly raised salaries and increased staff benefits while expanding mission outreach both locally and internationally.




Faith After Doubt


Book Description

From the author of A New Kind of Christianity comes a bold proposal: only doubt can save the world and your faith. ONE of the Best Spiritual Books of 2021—Spirituality & Practice "Will help you live fuller and breathe easier..” —Glennon Doyle Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages—Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony—offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.