Michael Cassidy – författare

'Michael Cassidy is one of Africa's foremost evangelists and prophets. His story deserves a wide readership and will make a deep impact.' - Moss Ntlha, General Secretary, Evangelical Alliance of South AfricaAs Africa shook off colonialism in the 1960s, a young man was gripped by a singular purpose: to play his part in God's plans for the fractured nations of Africa.A son of apartheid South Africa, Michael Cassidy appeared an unlikely candidate to lead a team bringing a gospel message of salvation, reconciliation and hope to a continent overturning white rule. Over five decades, and with the support of his extraordinary wife Carol, Michael and his African Enterprise team courageously built up ten national teams and a network of relationships criss-crossing Africa.Michael saw clearly the need for quality leadership. He fostered vital dialogue among top politicians in the tense run-up to South Africa's 1994 elections. As the country hurtled towards civil war, he helped facilitate a last-minute settlement, paving the way for the peaceful inauguration of Nelson Mandela.Told with inimitable charm and humour, this is a personal story of family, friendship and faith and beautifully demonstrates God's love at work in the turbulence of Africa's recent history.'A must read.'Joni Eareckson Tada'African Enterprise has made, under God, a real contribution in South Africa. This is the founder's inspiring story. I warmly commend it to you.'Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Masterful, comprehensive, and timely.' - Professor Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver This book is the fruit of meditation over thirty-five years on John 17. For most of his ministry Michael Cassidy has been wracked by the discrepancy between the church Jesus portrays, and the church in daily experience. Luther wrote of John17: 'It is so deep, so rich, so wide, no one can fathom it.' John Knox had the chapter read to him every day of his last illness. William Temple once reflected that 'it is perhaps the most sacred passage even in the four Gospels.' John Stott called it 'one of the profoundest chapters of the Bible'. Michael Cassidy looks at Jesus's vision and the church's mundane reality with care and prayerful reflection, asking: Where have we gone wrong? What can we do? How should we amend our ways? He studs his text with dozens of luminous and engaging anecdotes. This is an enormously readable and attractive book, permeated with Michael's generous, engaging spirit and shot through with insights into the human condition.

In this book, Michael Cassidy argues that the built environment should be designed to last physically for a very long time, saving on valuable material resources. By incorporating flexibility and adaptability into every design, buildings remain functionally useful for as long as they last without the need for wasteful demolition. This approach, which he calls Double-Design, has two complementary consequences. Firstly, design must accommodate changing uses beyond the initial one. Secondly, the users of buildings would be enabled to play their full part in ensuring the usefulness of buildings for as long as they last physically.Through the assessment of compatibilities of the physical requirements for buildings serving different uses over time, this book suggests an approach that establishes a long-life infrastructure within which shorter-life and recyclable material may be used in the fit-out to serve each successive use. Over time, the implementation of Double-Design would provide buildings that are more suited to the changing needs of the future.Guided by sixty years of professional experience as an architect, planner and teacher, Dr. Cassidy considers the underlying assumptions that provide the present context for design and construction. Building upon the work of many scholars and practitioners, he suggests that Double-Design could contribute to the reinvigoration of architecture by keeping it grounded in serving human needs.This is essential reading for practising architects, those entering the profession and anyone interested in the built environment's future. This book is considered an important contribution to the debate about the future of architecture in the new era of information.

In this book, Michael Cassidy argues that the built environment should be designed to last physically for a very long time, saving on valuable material resources. By incorporating flexibility and adaptability into every design, buildings remain functionally useful for as long as they last without the need for wasteful demolition. This approach, which he calls Double-Design, has two complementary consequences. Firstly, design must accommodate changing uses beyond the initial one. Secondly, the users of buildings would be enabled to play their full part in ensuring the usefulness of buildings for as long as they last physically.Through the assessment of compatibilities of the physical requirements for buildings serving different uses over time, this book suggests an approach that establishes a long-life infrastructure within which shorter-life and recyclable material may be used in the fit-out to serve each successive use. Over time, the implementation of Double-Design would provide buildings that are more suited to the changing needs of the future.Guided by sixty years of professional experience as an architect, planner and teacher, Dr. Cassidy considers the underlying assumptions that provide the present context for design and construction. Building upon the work of many scholars and practitioners, he suggests that Double-Design could contribute to the reinvigoration of architecture by keeping it grounded in serving human needs.This is essential reading for practising architects, those entering the profession and anyone interested in the built environment's future. This book is considered an important contribution to the debate about the future of architecture in the new era of information.