Once and Future Church Series – serie

This book is written as a resource to help pastors and laity (1) talk about the changes transpiring in congregations and (2) shape a new congregation for the future.

Mead presents five key challenges facing today’s churches-and how they represent opportunities for the evolutionary, transformative changes he believes must take place in congregations if the church is to remain a viable institution into the twenty-first century. Readers of Mead''s Once and Future Church and Transforming Congregations for the Future will want to continue the journey begun with those books. A must for congregational leaders at all levels.

This ebook is now available from Bloomsbury Academic. Bloomsbury Academic publish acclaimed resources for undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as the general reader, across a broad range of subjects including Archaeology, Art & Visual Culture, Biblical Studies, Business & Management, Drama & Performance Studies, Economics, Education, Film & Media, History, Linguistics, Literary Studies, Music & Sound Studies, Philosophy, Politics & International Relations, Psychology, Religious Studies, Social Work & Social Welfare, Sociology, Study Skills, Theology, and Wellbeing, Health & Lifestyle. Visit bloomsbury.com for more information.

What''s working and not working in your congregation? You''ll explore the factors that inspired and motivated changes to reverse decline as other congregations wrestled with the same issues you''re facing: ministry to current members, ministry to the unchurched, worship, changing neighborhoods, and more.

Mead takes a broad look at past and present changes in the church, and postulates a future to which those changes are calling us. Denominations, once structured to deliver resources to far-off lands of foreign mission, now encounter the mission field in the layperson''s workplace and the community surrounding the local congregation. Thus, the church is called to reinvention for this new mission frontier

In 1991 The Once and Future Church by Alban Institute founder and former director Loren B. Mead created an instant sensation in congregational circles with its prophetic insights into the life of the church in a post-Christendom era. Still often-quoted and in demand, the book stands as Alban''s all-time best seller. Two subsequent titles, Transforming Congregations for the Future and Five Challenges for the Once and Future Church, extended Mead''s original vision with similar success. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the publication of The Once and Future Church, Alban released all three of these books as a single, special edition hardcover. In addition to these classic texts in beautiful, newly designed formats, this collection features an interview with Loren Mead discussing how his views have changed since the books'' first publications and his current thoughts on directions for the church in the twenty-first century. This hardcover volume is the perfect gift for graduating seminary students, new congregational leaders, or for pastors whose original editions of these three books may be dog-eared or missing--and a wonderful addition to every church library. All who love the church and pray for the future of our congregations will value this opportunity to have Loren Mead''s seminal works in a single, long-lived edition.

Hobgood examines new pressures on clergy that are emerging in the "post-Christendom era:" financial stresses; the effects of a conflicted and confrontational culture; the needs of an increasing number of people living broken or dependent lives; dysfunctional behavior on the part of pastors and parishioners; questions regarding clergy respect and job satisfaction. How is ministry being affected by these changes? What skills will clergy need as they enter the new century? An invaluable resource thoroughly grounded in research and full of practical observations for clergy, judicatory executives, seminary professors, and long-range planners.

In this third volume of the Once and Future Church Series Loren Mead focuses on what he sees as the age-old call of the church - living and breathing the good news promise of spiritual transformation for all to see. He explores how we as the church may need to change as institutions and as individuals within institutions. Anyone who has read The Once and Future Church will want to explore the next step as Mead challenges us to examine the transformations inherent in God''s call to renew His church.

Used successfully in Episcopal dioceses and congregations, Total Ministry describes a new way for local congregations (especially small ones) and judicatories to organize their response to God''s call and to provide resources, support, and encouragement for ministry-a way that is not dependent only on full-time, seminary-trained, ordained leaders.