Books from Resurrection

Engaging worship and intentional follow-up processes are important, but what compels guests to return to our churches is the warmth of our welcome and hospitality that goes beyond their expectations. The Art of Hospitality, a new comprehensive program developed by hospitality experts from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, promises to guide a local church in exactly what the program's title implies: the artform of creating radical hospitality that infiltrates the heart and culture of the entire church. Complete with techniques and strategic planning throughout, The Art of Hospitality will effectively change how you do church, leaving guests surprised, delighted, and eager to return. The Implementation Guide contains step-by-step implementation strategies for leadership and teams tasked with developing and leading hospitality ministry. Additional components purchased separately include: The Art of Hospitality: A Practical Guide for a Ministry of Radical Welcome Book: Loaded with key principles and methods honed by hospitality experts Debi Nixon and Yvonne Gentile in their work at The Church of the Resurrection, this guide is designed to engage staff across all ministry areas in creating a common language around the ministry of welcome. The Art of Hospitality: Implementation DVD: A supplemental DVD to accompany Implementation with visual training in all areas of hospitality. The Art of Hospitality: Companion Book: Three-chapter book for the congregation as a whole or small groups to coincide with a sermon series in order to prepare the hearts and minds of the people in the pews. This compelling and practical program has been created by two hospitality leaders with credentials to claim their expertise: Debi Nixon is the Executive Director of ShareChurch, and Yvonne Gentile is the Senior Director of Guest Connections at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection--the largest United Methodist Church in the United States with more than 22,000 members and 13,000 average weekly attendees across its campuses.

Engaging worship and intentional follow-up processes are important, but what compels guests to return to our churches is the warmth of our welcome and hospitality that goes beyond their expectations.

The Art of Hospitality, a new comprehensive program developed by hospitality experts from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, promises to guide a local church in exactly what the program's title implies: the artform of creating radical hospitality that infiltrates the heart and culture of the entire church. Complete with techniques and strategic planning throughout, The Art of Hospitality will effectively change how you do church, leaving guests surprised, delighted, and eager to return.

Loaded with key principles and methods honed by hospitality experts Debi Nixon and Yvonne Gentile in their work at The Church of the Resurrection, this guide is designed to engage staff across all ministry areas in creating a common language around the ministry of welcome.

Additional components purchased separately include:

The Art of Hospitality: Implementation Guide Includes step-by-step implementation strategies for leadership teams tasked with developing and leading hospitality ministry.

The Art of Hospitality: Implementation DVD A supplemental DVD to accompany Implementation with visual training in all areas of hospitality.

The Art of Hospitality: Companion Book Three-chapter book for the congregation as a whole or small groups to coincide with a sermon series in order to prepare the hearts and minds of the people in the pews.

This compelling and practical program has been created by two hospitality leaders with credentials to claim their expertise: Debi Nixon is the Executive Director of ShareChurch, and Yvonne Gentile is the Senior Director of Guest Connections at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection--the largest United Methodist Church in the United States with more than 22,000 members and 13,000 average weekly attendees across its campuses.

This book has no rules of engagement.No table of contents.No chapters.No time frame.God doesn't always move in an orderly, expected way, so why should your devotional experience be contained? Bounce was created to allow you to explore where God leads you--to be an ongoing experience that allows you to encounter God through your own rhythm.Bounce around, read all the entries on a specific topic at once (there is an index in the back to help you out with that), or read the book front to back or back to front. It's up to you.So start the journey however you would like; may the grace of God, the love of Jesus, and the leadership of the Holy Spirit be with you as you explore the places where God is.

Pastors and church leaders genuinely want to care for people in their congregations and communities. But pastors cannot care for an entire church, and most laypersons don't have the training to do it. The Caring Congregation Ministry is a model for person-to-person care that's been proven to work in small and large churches across the U.S. It is a laity-centered ministry, where laypersons receive rigorous training and then are commissioned to serve as Congregational Care Ministers, caring for others in their own congregation and their extended community.
This remarkable approach to congregational care was first developed by author Karen Lampe and her team at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, in Kansas City. It has been tested, refined, and strengthened, and is now being adapted in all sorts of congregational settings. One early adapter was co-author Melissa Gepford, who launched a Caring Congregation Ministry in her own rural church. Together, Lampe and Gepford have created an immensely practical set of resources for any pastor or leader seeking to create a congregational care ministry.
This book, The Care Minister's Manual is the personal training workbook and reference guide for Congregational Care Ministers (CCM's), who serve a central role in the Caring Congregation Ministry. CCM's receive in-depth training, where they learn the theological foundations of congregational care, plus the behaviors, habits, and practices they will need to follow in order to serve others well. Each CCM-in-training should have a copy of this Manual. It serves as their training workbook, which then becomes the CCM's personal reference guide.
The main book for starting a Caring Congregation Ministry is The Caring Congregation Ministry: Implementation Guide, available from your favorite bookseller. It introduces the ministry model and explains the Five Essentials which form the ministry's foundation. It is extremely practical, full of checklists and other tools to help pastors and other leaders understand (and explain) this way of providing congregational care.

Catch is a comprehensive program for invitational evangelism developed by the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, one of the fastest-growing churches in the U.S. This newly revised and updated resource shows you how to attract visitors to your church, connect them with your faith community, and help them learn to know, love, and serve God. The Catch program has three phases:

The Implementation Guide is a vital follow-up resource, for use by church leaders and other teams to put the Catch principles into practice at your church. This step-by-step guide will enable you to convert principles, inspiration, and excitement into action.

The guide describes the four parts of the Catch program:
1. Attracting People in Your Community (Marketing)
2. Making Visitors Feel Welcome (Hospitality)
3. Connecting and Following Up with Visitors (Connection)
4. Inviting Others to Grow in Faith (Membership)

For each part, the steps are described, and the tasks to accomplish those steps are listed. Forms, scripts, and other reproducibles are provided.

Catch is a comprehensive program for invitational evangelism developed by the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, one of the fastest-growing churches in the U.S. This newly revised and updated resource shows you how to attract visitors to your church, connect them with your faith community, and help them learn to know, love, and serve God. The Catchprogram has three phases: 

The Implementation Guide is a vital follow-up resource, for use by church leaders and other teams to put the Catch principles into practice at your church. This step-by-step guide will enable you to convert principles, inspiration, and excitement into action. 

The guide describes the four parts of the Catch program: 

1. Attracting People in Your Community (Marketing) 
2. Making Visitors Feel Welcome (Hospitality) 
3. Connecting and Following Up with Visitors (Connection) 
4. Inviting Others to Grow in Faith (Membership) 

For each part, the steps are described, and the tasks to accomplish those steps are listed. Forms, scripts, and other reproducibles are provided

Catch is a comprehensive program for invitational evangelism developed by the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, one of the fastest-growing churches in the U.S. This newly revised and updated resource shows you how to attract visitors to your church, connect them with your faith community, and help them learn to know, love, and serve God. The Catch program has three phases:

This Small-Group DVD contains short, inspiring videos to be used during a four-week small-group study as part of the Catch program. The videos feature Adam Hamilton, Debi Nixon, and other leaders at Church of Resurrection describing their evangelism ministries.

1. Becoming Relentlessly Outward Focused (3:05)
2. Asking Three Important Questions
· Why Do People Need Jesus Christ? (1:51)
· Why Do People Need the Church? (1:34)
· Why Do People Need Your Church? (3:12)
3. Making Visitors Feel Welcome
· A Welcoming Worship Environment (2:57)
· Faithful to Jesus’ Command (1:59)
4. Inviting Others to Grow in Faith (7:31)

The accompanying Leader Guide includes information on:

· Setting up and leading small groups
· Coordinating small-group study with worship and program activities
· Discussion questions
· Activities putting program into action

Catch is a comprehensive program for invitational evangelism developed by the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, one of the fastest-growing churches in the U.S. This newly revised and updated resource shows you how to attract visitors to your church, connect them with your faith community, and help them learn to know, love, and serve God. The Catch program has three phases: 

This Small-Group DVD contains short, inspiring videos to be used during a four-week small-group study as part of the Catch program. The videos feature Adam Hamilton, Debi Nixon, and other leaders at Church of Resurrection describing their evangelism ministries. 

1. Becoming Relentlessly Outward Focused (3:05) 
2. Asking Three Important Questions 
          Why Do People Need Jesus Christ? (1:51) 
          Why Do People Need the Church? (1:34) 
          Why Do People Need Your Church? (3:12) 
3. Making Visitors Feel Welcome 
          A Welcoming Worship Environment (2:57) 
          Faithful to Jesus’ Command (1:59) 
4. Inviting Others to Grow in Faith (7:31) 

The accompanying Leader Guide includes information on: 

Setting up and leading small groups 
Coordinating small-group study with worship and program activities 
Discussion questions 
Activities putting program into action 

If you are the parent of a preteen, you may feel as if you are the only person in the world trying to deal with this almost-grown stranger in your home. You might describe your preteen as opinionated, sometimes defiant, seeking independence one day and totally dependent on you the next, inquisitive, and--above all--seeking to break the world record for the number of text messages sent and received in one day. How, with all that is going on in the hearts and minds of preteens, can we parents help them develop A Faith of Their Own?

Chris Folmsbee is an experienced youth worker, an author and speaker, and a dad. He understands that you the parent of a preteen is learning as you go.

Understanding the Common Cry of Preteens is the first piece of a three-part series designed to help you help your teen develop spiritually as he or she develops physically and mentally. The ultimate goal is to prepare you as you lead your child to conform to the image of God through Jesus Christ.

Within the church today there are five generations represented: Traditional, Boomers, Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z. Each generation has value and influences the church community, but research indicates that churches are not engaging Millennials and Generation Z for the purpose of making lasting disciples and that a trend of decline has developed.

There will always be a "next generation" to reach.

The Garden Resonates will equip church leaders with a framework for sharing the gospel in relevant and compelling ways to the emerging generations. It reframes the gospel narrative and provides leaders with practical help to reverse the trend of decline while weaving a new story of growth and vibrancy.

Bible dramas that teach the Bible and require no rehearsals!

This resource is designed to be used by children's ministry leaders in introducing scripture stories to elementary children. Each drama is designed to allow children the opportunity to participate in the telling of the story with no rehearsal or planning. The narrator expresses the story and the children provide the action. With fifty-six dramas the major Bible stories are told in a way that will have the elementary children engaged immediately.

Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God is a three-part basic faith course that helps to answer essential questions as it guides participants on the journey of growing as a Christian. The goal? Becoming a deeply committed follower of Jesus Christ. The three studies are grounded in 15 core traits of a deeply committed Christian--traits that paint a picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ with increasing passion and dedication.

This Daily Readings book serves as the devotional companion for the entire three-part Journey 101 Series, with a total of ninety devotions focusing on the topics of knowing, loving, and serving God.

Explore the good news of the Bible and discover Bible study tools and resources to deepen your understanding of God and the Scriptures.

Journey 101 Knowing God is one component of Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God.

Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God is a three-part basic faith course that helps to answer essential questions as it guides participants on the journey of growing as a Christian. The goal? Becoming a deeply committed follower of Jesus Christ. The three studies are grounded in 15 core traits of a deeply committed Christian--traits that paint a picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ with increasing passion and dedication.

Each of the three separate, interactive 6-week studies utilizes a group teaching format with a leader and a video presenter combined with small group table breakouts. For the church and leadership, the three studies are part of a complete offering. However, the program is flexible enough that group members can take the three studies in any order.

Each Leader Guide includes complete session guides with leader helps for facilitating a six-week study.

Learn spiritual practices that will help you fall more in love with God as you grow in your relationship with God and others.

Journey 101 Loving God is one component of Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God.

Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God is a three-part basic faith course that helps to answer essential questions as it guides participants on the journey of growing as a Christian. The goal? Becoming a deeply committed follower of Jesus Christ. The three studies are grounded in 15 core traits of a deeply committed Christian--traits that paint a picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ with increasing passion and dedication.

Each of the three separate, interactive 6-week studies utilizes a group teaching format with a leader and a video presenter combined with small group table breakouts. For the church and leadership, the three studies are part of a complete offering. However, the program is flexible enough that group members can take the three studies in any order.

Each Leader Guide includes complete session guides with leader helps for facilitating a six-week study.

Understand the biblical context for service that will enable you to share your time and spiritual gifts with others.

Journey 101 Serving God is one component of Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God.

Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God is a three-part basic faith course that helps to answer essential questions as it guides participants on the journey of growing as a Christian. The goal? Becoming a deeply committed follower of Jesus Christ. The three studies are grounded in 15 core traits of a deeply committed Christian--traits that paint a picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ with increasing passion and dedication.

Each of the three separate, interactive 6-week studies utilizes a group teaching format with a leader and a video presenter combined with small group table breakouts. For the church and leadership, the three studies are part of a complete offering. However, the program is flexible enough that group members can take the three studies in any order.

Each Leader Guide includes complete session guides with leader helps for facilitating a six-week study.

The Kaleidoscope Effect identifies the common leadership needs of emerging generations and provides church leaders practical "how-to" solutions for engaging and serving these generations.

Based on the research of author Scott Chrostek, this book dives deep into the character and leadership traits of both Millennials and Gen Z. Pastors, lay staff, and volunteers will learn how to steadily rotate their individual leadership skill sets while identifying common leadership needs that emerging generations crave.

The implementation of the ideas and principles found in this book will produce better leaders who will serve a greater number of people, resulting in the ability to cultivate and sustain attractive environments that ignite the imagination of emerging generations.

This ministry guide has been written to provide information about how to provide support ministry to the people with whom you work. This guide is also for people who work in many different ministry settings, a church or denominational administrative office, a small or medium size church, a parachurch or missions focused organization, and large churches. It will assist them with how they look at their ministry, and the level of support that is needed for their particular setting.

A call to ministry is an important thing to understand for an administrative assistant; your heart and the way you deal with people and tasks are different if you understand your position as a call to ministry rather than a job for a paycheck. If you understand that you represent not just your pastor and your church, but Christ to every person who calls, stops by, e-mails, etc., you approach your tasks and people differently. Working as the assistant to a pastor, or any person in ministry, you have to approach your tasks with an understanding of who you are serving, and you are serving Christ and his people.

The position of Administrative Assistant is a vital part of the over-all ministry of your church and the congregation. You are the gate-keeper, bridge-builder, keeper of the "information", soother of wounded feelings, and the deliverer of unwanted news. You are the person who has your finger on the pulse of your congregation and your community. You are the person people will come to for answers. You will handle thousands of details related to dozens of different projects and commitments for your pastor. You will help make your pastor's ministry seamless.

While all of these descriptions may make your head spin, this is a part of the ministry of being an assistant. You can look at each day as a challenge or an adventure. If you understand your job as a ministry and understand your call to this ministry you are ready for a great adventure. Begin each day with a prayer for wisdom and strength, surrender your mind and will to God, and prepare yourself to work with the heart of a servant.

As Christ walks alongside you in your daily life, you will learn to walk along side your pastor and to be a partner in their ministry.

Pastors and other church leaders often feel ill-equipped in the critical area of stewardship and giving. Propel: Good Stewardship, Greater Generosity fills that need by offering a comprehensive course in church stewardship for the pastor, stewardship leader, or seminarian. Author Clayton Smith gives clear instructions for the organization and implementation of annual campaigns, planned giving programs, memorial gifts, and much more. He offers an extraordinary depth and breadth of practical information along with the wisdom that comes with decades of real church leadership experience. "Every pastor should have a copy of Propel readily at hand all year long. It is as complete a guide to all phases of Christian financial stewardship as exists today. I highly recommend it because of the excellent content but also because of the author. Clayton Smith has been a student of financial stewardship all his life. I am thrilled that now others may learn from him. I wish I had this book forty years ago when I started out. Propel will make a difference in your ministry!" --J. Clif Christopher, President and CEO, Horizons Stewardship Company "As leaders, we often know we must do something differently, but we are not sure what or how. Clayton Smith propels us forward. This amazing resource identifies the many wayswe can lead our congregations into a bright future. Smith's strategies and methods for generosity apply to every church leader, any size church, and all denominations. This is more than a stewardship or finance book. It helps build a culture in which Christians can become the generous people they are intended to be." --Donald W. Joiner, Director of Operations and Stewardship, General Board of Discipleship "Propel demystifies the practices of generosity and stewardship in local congregations. It is both a scholarly guide for pastors and a detailed handbook for lay leaders. Smith covers giving of all varieties and offers proven techniques that work in churches of all sizes and contexts. Propel is a valuable guide for every leader, clergy or lay, who sees generosity as an inescapable element of Christian discipleship." --Byrd L. Bonner, AIF, President, United Methodist Church Foundation "Clayton Smith in his wonderful book Propel: Good Stewardship, Greater Generosity, describes six different ways to help people grow in their giving." --Margaret Marcuson, Marcuson Leadership Circle

The Abingdon-Church of the Resurrection Ministry Guides are the first choice for recruiting, motivating, and developing lay leadership for specialized ministries from A to Z—from adult ministries to ushering. Each inexpensive, 64-page Guide brings together Church of the Resurrection’s can-do attitude with Abingdon Press’s ministry of empowering church leaders. The result is a series that is user-friendly, encouraging, and most important, practical. The passion to help churches experience how many things they can do to encourage participation drives these Ministry Guides.

Each Guide is concise, conversational, and current, full of ideas you’ll be able to implement immediately, with little or no budget. Recognizing that volunteers are busy people who work hard, the Guides will be the first place to turn when you’re new to a topic, to help you feel empowered, prepare quickly, and get up and running with confidence and creativity. You’ll find eye-catching icons and features that help you move directly to practical, fun, and effective solutions.

An excerpt from the Circuit Rider review: "This little guide, another in the series out of The Church of the Resurrection in Leawood Kansas, will be helpful to churches large, medium and small desiring to develop and expand lay participation in all aspects of congregational life and work. Dan Entwistle, managing executive director for programs and ministries at The Church of the Resurrection, writes out of years of experience in recruiting, training and deploying laypeople for ministry. His book will be no less valuable to UMM and UMW units, campus ministries, conference and district staff and church-related non-profits."

How do we walk with Christ--daily follow him, grow in him, and faithfully serve him? In the Gospels, Jesus modeled for us the Christian spiritual life. The apostles taught it in their writings. And the Church has, through the last 2,000 years, sought to pursue this Christian spiritual life.

In The Walk, Adam Hamilton focuses on five essential spiritual practices that are rooted in Jesus' own walk with God and taught throughout the New Testament. Each of these practices is intended as part of our daily walk with Christ while also being an essential part of growing together in the church.

In each chapter, Hamilton explores one of these practices, its New Testament foundation, and what it looks like to pursue this practice daily in our personal life and together in the life of the church. Deepen your walk with Christ as we explore the five essential practices of worship, study, serving, giving, and bearing witness to our faith.

Additional components for a six-week adult study include a comprehensive Leader Guide and a DVD featuring the engaging teachings of author and pastor Adam Hamilton. Also available are resources for children and youth.

How do we walk with Christ--daily follow him, grow in him, and faithfully serve him? In the Gospels, Jesus modeled for us the Christian spiritual life. The apostles taught it in their writings. And the Church has, through the last 2,000 years, sought to pursue this Christian spiritual life. In The Walk, Adam Hamilton focuses on five essential spiritual practices that are rooted in Jesus' own walk with God and taught throughout the New Testament. Each of these practices is intended as part of our daily walk with Christ while also being an essential part of growing together in the church. In each chapter, Hamilton explores one of these practices, its New Testament foundation, and what it looks like to pursue this practice daily in our personal life and together in the life of the church. Deepen your walk with Christ as we explore the five essential practices of worship, study, serving, giving, and bearing witness to our faith. Additional components for a six-week adult study include a comprehensive Leader Guide and a DVD featuring the engaging teachings of author and pastor Adam Hamilton. Also available are resources for children and youth.

In the Wesley 21-day Challenge small groups or whole churches will spend three weeks working through 21 questions that will engage their physical, spiritual and emotional lives and their relationship with God and others.

With fast-paced emphasis on graphics and short content bits, the challenge will inspire us to a new kind of commitment--one that is more authentic, vulnerable and soul shaping resulting in thousands of people who have a renewed passion to discover deeper levels of commitment to God and others.

The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the 21 day challenge including session plans and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.