Theology And Social

In Leaving Church, we followed Barbara Brown Taylor as she left full-time ministry to become a university professor, a decision that allowed her to discover new ways to "keep the faith" outside of traditional Christianity. Now, in An Altar in the World, Taylor shares her techniques for encountering God far beyond the walls of the church.

From deep meditations to simple practices like walking, working or even getting lost, each chapter of An Altar in the World reveals meaningful ways to find the sacred in the small things we do and see. Through Taylor's expert guidance, we learn to live with purpose, pay attention, slow down, and revere the world in which we live.

Barbara Brown Taylor was ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1983. A frequent guest preacher and teacher at churches and universities across the country, she was named one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world by Baylor University in 1996 and resigned from her parish soon thereafter to accept an endowed chair in religion at Piedmont College. She lives on a working farm in rural Habersham County, Georgia with her husband, Ed.

"An Altar in the World is a delight to the eyes, mind and heart, a book I will certainly return to again at a later time, if only to remind myself of the spirituality of everyday living."

- America Magazine--Read the Spirit

Difference can enrich us or tear us apart. Difference can make our lives stronger, fuller, and richer or it can destroy them. Therefore, how we engage difference matters. Conflicts between different peoples around the world, the movement of refugees from nation to nation, tensions over immigration, and growing diversity within our society bring difference to our doorstep daily. We can engage people who are different constructively and compassionately, or we can allow the fear of difference to distance us from others and to demonize them. At a time when racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious differences have created heightened tensions, we need more than ever to find our bearings. We need to re-examine what we think about difference.

Author Theodore "Ted" Hiebert re-examines the Bible's stories explaining difference and its beginnings in the book of Genesis, exposing the inclination to interpret these stories as a negative view of difference. These stories recognize difference as God's intention for the world, providing us with constructive resources of living with difference today. Hiebert starts with the story of "The Tower of Babel" and moves beyond it to examine how Genesis's writers saw their unique identity and role in the world not as separate from all others but as members of the human family of which they were a part. He presents how biblical characters lived with difference and how the first Christians embraced difference. Finally, he invites the reader into new conversations about our biblical traditions that reveal a respect for difference, a generosity toward others, a desire to include rather than exclude, and a continuing interest in negotiating difference in ways that build relationships rather than destroy them.

Praise for The Beginning of Difference

"At a time of increasing diversity in American society, polarized social and political discourse, and heightened suspicions about 'the other, ' Theodore Hiebert provides this much-needed and accessible study of biblical notions of difference. His readings of texts from Genesis and Acts challenge long-standing interpretations that assume and perpetuate fear of difference and urge instead the recognition, negotiation, and celebration of human identities and differences as divine gifts. The result is an ancient and compelling call for openness, realism, empathy, and generosity with one another for the survival and flourishing of all."--Christine Roy Yoder, J. McDowell Richards Professor of Biblical Interpretation, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA

"Ted Hiebert teaches a better way about diversity from the very inception of scripture. He sets forth his interpretation of Genesis and Acts extensively and compellingly. Hiebert repeatedly demonstrates that old, sectarian interpretations of Genesis are not coterminous with the book called 'The Beginning'--a book that showcases the God-ordained and God-blessed difference that relates all of us to one another."--Brent A. Strawn, professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC

Sustainability is about contributing to a society that everybody benefits from, not just going organic because you don't want to die from cancer or have a difficult pregnancy. What is a sustainable restaurant? It's one in which as the restaurant grows, the people grow with it.--from Behind the Kitchen DoorHow do restaurant workers live on some of the lowest wages in America? And how do poor working conditions--discriminatory labor practices, exploitation, and unsanitary kitchens--affect the meals that arrive at our restaurant tables? Saru Jayaraman, who launched the national restaurant workers' organization Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, sets out to answer these questions by following the lives of restaurant workers in New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Detroit, and New Orleans.Blending personal narrative and investigative journalism, Jayaraman shows us that the quality of the food that arrives at our restaurant tables depends not only on the sourcing of the ingredients. Our meals benefit from the attention and skill of the people who chop, grill, sauté, and serve. Behind the Kitchen Door is a groundbreaking exploration of the political, economic, and moral implications of dining out. Jayaraman focuses on the stories of individuals, like Daniel, who grew up on a farm in Ecuador and sought to improve the conditions for employees at Del Posto; the treatment of workers behind the scenes belied the high-toned Slow Food ethic on display in the front of the house.Increasingly, Americans are choosing to dine at restaurants that offer organic, fair-trade, and free-range ingredients for reasons of both health and ethics. Yet few of these diners are aware of the working conditions at the restaurants themselves. But whether you eat haute cuisine or fast food, the well-being of restaurant workers is a pressing concern, affecting our health and safety, local economies, and the life of our communities. Highlighting the roles of the 10 million people, many immigrants, many people of color, who bring their passion, tenacity, and vision to the American dining experience, Jayaraman sets out a bold agenda to raise the living standards of the nation's second-largest private sector workforce--and ensure that dining out is a positive experience on both sides of the kitchen door.

Christian Doctrine has introduced thousands of laity, students, and theologians to the tenets of the Christian faith. This edition reflects changes in the church and society since the publication of the first edition and takes into account new works in Reformed theology, gender references in the Bible, racism, pluralism, ecological developments, and liberation theologies.

NEW FOREWORD BY ERIC METAXAS

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century, illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus in this classic book on living as a Christian.

Dreamers is a movement book for the generation brought to the United States as children--and now fighting to live here legally

Of the approximately twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, as many as two million came as children. They grow up here, going to elementary, middle, and high school, and then the country they call home won't--in most states--offer financial aid for college and they're unable to be legally employed. In 2001, US senator Dick Durbin introduced the DREAM Act to Congress, an initiative that would allow these young people to become legal residents if they met certain requirements.

And now, more than ten years later, in the face of congressional inertia and furious opposition from some, the DREAM Act has yet to be passed. But recently, this young generation has begun organizing, and with their rallying cry "Undocumented, Unapologetic, and Unafraid" they are the newest face of the human rights movement. In Dreamers, Eileen Truax illuminates the stories of these men and women who are living proof of a complex and sometimes hidden political reality that calls into question what it truly means to be American.

Book by Knight, Henry H., III

Historians have noted the connections between the Wesleyan Methodist movement that began in the eighteenth century, the emergence of African American Methodist traditions and an interdenominational Holiness movement in the nineteenth century, and the birth of Pentecostalism in the twentieth century. This volume, written by historians, theologians, and pastors, builds on that earlier work. The contributors present a diverse array of key figures-denominational leaders and mavericks, institutional loyalists and come--outers, clergy and laity--who embodied these movements. The authors show that in spite of their differing historical and cultural contexts, these movements constitute a distinct theological family whose confident and expectant faith in the transforming power of God has significant implications for the renewal of the contemporary church and its faithfulness to God's mission in the world today.

Contributors
Corky Alexander
Estrelda Alexander
Kimberly Ervin Alexander
Leslie D. Callahan
Barry L. Callen
Douglas R. Cullum
Dennis C. Dickerson
D. William Faupel
Philip Hamner
David Aaron Johnson
J. C. Kelley
Henry H. Knight III
William C. Kostlevy
Diane K. Leclerc
Joshua J. McMullen
Rodney McNeall
Stephen W. Rankin
Harold E. Raser
Douglas M. Strong
Matthew K. Thompson
Wallace Thornton Jr.
L. F. Thuston
Arlene Sanchez Walsh
Steven J. Land
Laura Guy
John H. Wigger

"This remarkable book fills a gap in contemporary understandings of American--even global--Christianity. Scholars such as Vinson Synan and Donald Dayton have shown the genetic kinship of Wesleyan, Holiness, and Pentecostal Christianity; this book fills in the picture. With sensitivity to cultural, gender, and racial dynamics, the book offers essential historical and theological insights. Biographical studies of key leaders add flesh and blood to the account. The book is accessible to general readers, not demanding specialized knowledge of the movements covered."
--Howard A. Snyder
Professor of Wesley Studies
Tyndale Seminary, Ontario

"This is an absolutely terrific volume. It provides a whole new angle of vision--historical, theological, and pastoral--for looking again at the legacy of Wesley; it raises searching questions for the future of the Wesleyan and Pentecostal traditions which urgently demand attention; and its potential for breathing new life and hope into the contemporary church is enormous."
--William J. Abraham
Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies
Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

"From Aldersgate to Azusa Street is a panoramic survey of the lives and times of Wesley and his descendents once and twice-removed. The result is a fascinating biographical history of the emergence of world Christianity. The important contributions of these men and women make this an essential text for teachers and students of Wesleyan, Holiness, and Pentecostal movements.
--Amos Yong
J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology
Regent University

"Contrary to many convoluted texts, this remarkably readable book uses a narrative approach to embody the primary teachings and ministries defining the Wesleyan family. It focuses on leaders who have engaged in the quest for holiness from Aldersgate to Asuza. Helpful charts clearly highlight the branches and leaders of the Wesleyan family tree. For those seeking renewal of persons, church, and society, this is a must read!"
--Susie C. Stanley
Professor of Historical Theology
Messiah College

Henry H. Knight III is Donald and Pearl Wright Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of five books, including The Presence of God in the Christian Life (1992) and A Future for Truth (1997).

"God’s Welcome" is a different kind of how-to book on hospitality, one that studies the stories of God’s welcome and takes seriously the culture of hostility that sometimes masquerades as Christianity. Gather your small group or leadership group (discussion guide included in the book) and dig into the important work of gospel hospitality.

When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation with over 300,000 copies in print. This stand-alone resource applies the principles of that book specifically to short-term missions.

Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions: Participant's Guide aims to train and debrief team members, preparing them to do short-term missions as effectively as possible. To do this, it provides practical examples and guidelines for team members, and it creates interaction and reflection opportunities through questions and journaling.

With eight units, six of which are built around free online video content, this book equips teams to avoid harming materially poor communities and to translate their experience into lasting and mutual engagement with missions and poverty alleviation. In conjunction with the separately available Leader's Guide, it is an ideal resource for churches, Christian colleges, mission agencies, and missionaries.

Do conservatives or progressives "own" the teachings about what the Bible says about human sexuality and marriage? For some--perhaps a vocal minority--the question is no longer up for debate or discussion: conservatives win. For others, the issues are not that simple. A fresh, rigorous, but yet concise, theological examination of the Bible's teachings is required. There are other ways to interpret scripture faithfully with respect to sexuality other than the conservative interpretation.

In Holy Love, Steve Harper strives to articulate the truth about the teachings of the Bible and Wesleyan tradition on human sexuality. This very accessible book is intended for church leaders, small groups, and those interested in understanding the Bible's teaching on this fundamental component of human life, experience and relationships. The book will help church leaders and small groups make the constructive case that biblical, Christian teaching is compatible with faithful, covenantal love and intimacy amidst all sexual orientations.

About the Contributor(s): Tex Sample is the Robert B. and Kathleen Rogers Professor Emeritus of Church and Society at the Saint Paul School of Theology (Kansas City). Author of ten previous books, his most recent is The Future of John Wesley's Theology (Cascade, 2012). He is a freelance speaker and workshop leader in the United States and overseas and is active in broad-based organizing in Phoenix, Arizona.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - REESE'S BOOK CLUB X HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK - From a leading voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female that exposes how white America's love affair with "diversity" so often falls short of its ideals.

"Austin Channing Brown introduces herself as a master memoirist. This book will break open hearts and minds."--Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

 

Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, "I had to learn what it means to love blackness," a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America's racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.

 

In a time when nearly every institution (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claims to value diversity in its mission statement, Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice. Her stories bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric--from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.

 

For readers who have engaged with America's legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I'm Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God's ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness--if we let it--can save us all.

"Originally published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London"--T.p. verso.

This witty and illuminating volume introduces the life and writings of the great American theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). The most widely studied figure in American religious history and an iconic figure of the American colonial period, Edwards is well known and highly regarded as a stalwart defender of Calvinist theology and his Puritan heritage. As James P. Byrd deftly reveals, however, Edwards was also a brilliant thinker and passionate pastor who wrestled continuously with the most important issue of his time: the relationship between faith and reason.

Written by experts but designed for the novice, the Armchair series provides accurate, concise, and witty overviews of some of the most profound moments and theologians in Christian history. These books are essential supplements for first-time encounters with primary texts, lucid refreshers for scholars and clergy, and enjoyable reads for the theologically curious.

How are Christians to live in a violent and wounded world? Rather than contending for privilege by wielding power and authority, we can witness prophetically from a position of weakness. The church has much to learn from an often-overlooked community--those with disabilities. In this fascinating book, theologian Stanley Hauerwas collaborates with Jean Vanier, founder of the worldwide L'Arche communities. For many years, Hauerwas has reflected on the lives of people with disability, the political significance of community, and how the experience of disability addresses the weaknesses and failures of liberal society. And L'Arche provides a unique model of inclusive community that is underpinned by a deep spirituality and theology. Together, Vanier and Hauerwas carefully explore the contours of a countercultural community that embodies a different way of being and witnesses to a new order--one marked by radical forms of gentleness, peacemaking, and faithfulness. The authors' explorations shed light on what it means to be human and how we are to live. The robust voice of Hauerwas and the gentle words of Vanier offer a synergy of ideas that, if listened to carefully, will lead the church to a fresh practicing of peace, love and friendship. This invigorating conversation is for everyday Christians who desire to live faithfully in a world that is violent and broken. This expanded edition now includes a study guide for individual reflection or group discussion.

In these essays on the dialogue between science and Christian faith, Barbara Brown Taylor describes her journey as a preacher learning what the insights of quantum physics, the new biology, and chaos theory can teach a person of faith. She seeks to discover why scientists sound like poets and why physicists use the language of imagination, ambiguity, and mystery also found in scripture.

In explaining why the church should care about the new insights of science, Taylor suggests ways we might close the gap between spirit and matter, between the sacred and the secular. We live in the midst of a “web of creation” where nothing is without consequence and where all things coexist, even in such a way that each of us changes the world, whether we know it or not. In this luminous web faith and science join on a single path, seeking to learn the same truths about life in the universe. “For a moment,” Taylor writes, “we see through a glass darkly. We live in the illusion that we are all separate ‘I ams.' When the fog finally clears, we shall know there is only One.”

Mission trips have become a staple in youth ministries across the United States. The problem is many mission trips remain disconnected from the rest of a congregation's ministry. As a result, it's often difficult to integrate students' experiences on the field with their lives back home.

In this book, veteran youth worker and author, Jen Bradbury, will lay out a philosophy for mission trips that does just that: Connects what happens on the field with students' lives at home. To do so, she'll draw upon Scripture as well as stories from the 15 years she's spent leading mission trips herself, both domestically and internationally.

Regardless of how few or how many mission trips a youth worker has led, Jen's words will leave them feeling inspired and equipped to create a comprehensive missions strategy that has the chance to leave a lasting impact on teens, congregations, and the world.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable.

Newsweek called renowned minister Timothy Keller "a C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century" in a feature on his first book, The Reason for God. In that book, he offered a rational explanation of why we should believe in God. Now, in The Prodigal God, Keller takes his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity and uses the parable of the prodigal son to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation.

Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.

In this volume, senior scholars come together to explore how Jewish and African American experiences can make us think differently about the nexus of religion and politics, or political theology. Some wrestle with historical figures, such as William Shakespeare, W. E. B. Du Bois, Nazi journalist Wilhelm Stapel, and Austrian historian Otto Brunner. Others ponder what political theology can contribute to contemporary politics, particularly relating to Israel's complicated religious/racial/national identity and to the religious currents in African American politics. Race and Political Theology opens novel avenues for research in intellectual history, religious studies, political theory, and cultural studies, showing how timely questions about religion and politics must be reframed when race is taken into account.

2018 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalists - Multicultural

"I am a man torn in two. And the gospel I inherited is divided." Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove grew up in the Bible Belt in the American South as a faithful church-going Christian. But he gradually came to realize that the gospel his Christianity proclaimed was not good news for everybody. The same Christianity that sang, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound" also perpetuated racial injustice and white supremacy in the name of Jesus. His Christianity, he discovered, was the religion of the slaveholder. Just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond. When the gospel is reconstructed, freedom rings for both individuals and society as a whole. Discover how Jesus continues to save us from ourselves and each other, to repair the breach and heal our land.

When we start with the wrong question, no matter how good an answer we get, it won't give us the results we want. Rather than joining the throngs who are asking, When will this economic crisis be over? Jim Wallis says the right question to ask is How will this crisis change us? The worst thing we can do now, Wallis tells us, is to go back to normal. Normal is what got us into this situation. We need a new normal, and this economic crisis is an invitation to discover what that means. Some of the principles Wallis unpacks for our new normal are . . .- Spending money we don't have for things we don't need is a bad foundation for an economy or a family.- It's time to stop keeping up with the Joneses and start making sure the Joneses are okay.- The values of commercials and billboards are not the things we want to teach our children.- Care for the poor is not just a moral duty but is critical for the common good.- A healthy society is a balanced society in which markets, the government, and our communities all play a role.- The operating principle of God's economy says that there is enough if we share it.- And much, much more . . .In the pages of this book, Wallis provides us with a moral compass for this new economy--one that will guide us on Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street.Embracing a New Economy Getting back to the way things were is not an option. It is time we take our economic uncertainty and use it to find some moral clarity. Too often we have been ruled by the maxims that greed is good, it's all about me, and I want it now. Those can be challenged only with some of our oldest and best values--enough is enough, we are in it together, and thinking not just for tomorrow but for future generations. Jim Wallis shows that the solution to our problems will be found only as individuals, families, friends, churches, mosques, synagogues, and entire communities wrestle with the question of values together.

In the midst of polarized communities and nations, religious leaders across the theological spectrum are seeking help with how to respond and lead in troubled times. The need for courage to speak out and act is ever-present, because every generation faces a new set of fears and troubles.

Author Ginger Gaines-Cirelli pastors a church in the heart of Washington DC, adjacent to the White House, which actively works to bring justice and help for marginalized communities, refugees and immigrants, and the endangered earth. She inspires and leads this work through preaching and by organizing and developing strong leaders, deeply rooted in a well-developed theological understanding. Pastoral warmth and compassion characterize the recommended practices. Sacred Resistance addresses these questions, among others: -When Christians see that something is wrong in our nation or community, how and when should we respond?
-When we see multiple instances of 'wrong', how do we choose which ones to address?
-How can pastors and other leaders faithfully take risks without violating relationships with the congregation or denomination?
-What historical, biblical, and theological safety nets can be relied on?
-How can we take care of ourselves and one another, so that our ministries and lives are sustained?

Before God touched his heart and transformed his life, Rudy Rasmus was a businessman running a "borderline bordello" in Houston. But thousands now know him simply as "Pastor Rudy"-with a downtown ministry at St. John's Church that he and his wife Juanita started to reach out to those who Jesus called "the least of these." TOUCH is the amazing story of Rudy's life and ministry of grace that is changing lives daily. The church has become one of the most culturally diverse congregations in the country with people from every social and economic background, including the homeless, sharing the same pew. Pastor Rudy's message to touch the lives of those in our own communities has a lesson for us all. Pastor Rudy is also a featured contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine-answering questions on ethics and marking one of the few times O has asked a Pastor to serve in this manner.

"On these pages, the Garden of Eden meets the world we live in."
- Shane Claiborne, activist and author

God once declared everything in the world "very good."
Can you imagine it?

Through careful exploration of the biblical text, particularly the first three chapters of Genesis, Lisa Sharon Harper shows us what "very good" can look like today--in real time.
Shalom is what God declared. Shalom is what the Kingdom of God looks like. Shalom is when all people are treated equitably and have enough. It's when families are healed. It's when churches, schools, and public policies protect human dignity.
Shalom is when the image of God is recognized, protected, and cultivated in every single human. It is the vision God set forth in the Garden and the restoration God desires for every broken relationship. Shalom is the "very good" in the gospel.
Because despite our anxious minds, despite divisions, and despite threats of violence, God's vision remains: wholeness for a fragmented world. Peace for a hurting soul. Shalom.