The Laity and Christian Education


Book Description

This book tells the story of how the role of the laity - as essential in the life of the Church - moved to "center stage" during the Council, and how lay people were among those who made it happen.




Basics of Christian Education


Book Description

Congregations are always struggling with what quality Christian education is and how to build and maintain it. In this concise and easy-to-use guide, Karen Tye offers practical help, addressing the vital areas that need attention when planning for and building a Christian education program. Questions and exercises at the end of each chapter help pastors, Christian educators, seminary students, and laity apply the information to their own unique setting, building on the basics to renew and transform Christian education.




Liberating the Laity


Book Description

Every church has far more work than any one person can do. Even a team of professionals is not enough. The New Testament solution was for every member to be a minister. Though the priesthood of all believers was a key idea in the Reformation, it is little practised today. Following secular models, churches usually organize around the clergy, who are paid by the laity to do the ministry. Paul Stevens argues that, according to Scripture, the primary task of a Christian leader is not to do the work but to equip the saints to do it. Exploring new options for pastors, tentmakers and laypeople, this book provides structures and strategies to best equip all the saints for ministry.




The Laity in the Middle Ages


Book Description

Presents essays on the medieval European Catholic Church




Gravissimum Educationis


Book Description

The sixteen official documents—constitutions, decrees, and declarations—of the Second Vatican Council are now available from Liturgical Press in the most popular and widely used inclusive-language edition translated by Irish Dominican Austin Flannery (+October 21, 2008). As the worldwide Church continues to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Council (1962–65), there is a great need in college classrooms and parish faith formation groups—as well as for individuals—to again have access to these documents in contemporary English. As Flannery wrote in his introduction to the 1996 edition, “The translation of the texts of the Vatican documents in the present volume differs from that in the previous publication in two respects. It has been very considerably revised and, in place, corrected. It is also, to a very large extent, in inclusive language. “I say ‘to a very large extent,’ because we have used inclusive language in passages about men and women but not, however, in passages about God, except where the use of the masculine pronoun was easily avoidable.”




Mapping Out Curriculum in Your Church


Book Description

This new book from top Christian education professionals integrates biblical foundations, educational theory, and practical insights into a new curriculum formation approach for the local church. Uniquely identifying curriculum as a means of ministry through the metaphor of mapmaking, it shows how believers are lost along the spiritual journey without a study plan, having no clear destination or reliable path to follow toward maturity. Detailing the theological, educational, and pastoral dimensions that make a curriculum Christian, the text is arranged into four sections: (1) rationale for curriculum, (2) curricular foundations, (3) curricular theory, and (4) the practice of curriculum. Covering areas from children’s ministry to adult education, contributors include editors James R. Estep, Karen L. Estep, and Roger White as well as Holly Allen, Mark H. Senter III, Michael S. Wilder, Timothy Paul Jones, and Brett Robbe.




Catechism of the Catholic Church


Book Description

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.




Co-workers in the Vineyard of the Lord


Book Description

Co-workers in the Vineyard of the Lord offers pastoral and theological reflections on the reality of lay ecclesial ministry, affirmation of those who serve in this way, and a synthesis of best thinking and practice.




Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church


Book Description

DISCOVER AND LIVE YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE THROUGH YOUR LAY VOCATION! The Church's mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone. As lay disciples of the Savior, our shared mission is to bring the message of His saving life, death and resurrection to all men and women through our words and deeds. Your personal lay vocation is even more focused: God has created you for a unique purpose only you can accomplish for Him! As you read this book you will discover the intensely interesting history and theology of the lay vocation and how our Church's reemphasis on the role of the laity in our day is meant to help awaken this "sleeping giant." But this is not simply a book of history and theology-it's about your mission in life and your eternal destiny. Russell Shaw's insightful work makes a direct connection between the teachings of the Bible, Vatican II, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis I and your everyday life as a lay follower of Jesus. Here you will learn how to begin discerning your unique personal lay vocation and how to establish, deepen and maintain your friendship with Jesus while you live out your lay vocation in the "real world." Jesus told us: I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." Read this book and find that life through your lay vocation!




Equipping the Saints


Book Description

Experts on congregational life tell us that ministry in the next century will depend more on called, trained, and committed lay leadership than it has since the days of the early church. But how will congregations recruit these lay leaders? How will they develop new models for training and equipping them for all the ministries of the church? What will the role of clergy be in adopting this new partnership that Leonard Sweet calls "ancient-future ministry"? Equipping the Saints seeks to help congregational leaders answer these and other questions related to mobilizing lay ministry in the years ahead. The chapters include: "Shall We Abolish the Clergy or the Laity?" by Michael Christensen; "Team Building Through Spiritual Gifts" by Brian Bauknight; "The Loss and Recovery of the Biblical Basis for Ministry" by Russell Moy; "Out of the Pew, Into the World" by Jessica Moffat; "The Seeker Service in the Mainline Church" by Eric Park; "Circuit Riding in the 21st Century" by Rob Duncan; and, "Life Together: Reclaiming the Ministry of Small Groups" by Christine Anderson. Key Features: - Responds to emerging trends that promise to be determinative of the shape of ministry in the next century - Addresses an important practical need in congregations - Offers help in formulating new models for congregational ministry Key Benefits: - Readers will understand the important emerging need for called, trained, and committed laypersons to engage in ministry - Readers will learn how to recruit and train lay leaders - Readers will identify a new model of clergy/lay ministry partnership