Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Book: Builder ministry for the 21st Century

Builder Ministry for the 21st Century is intended to promote productive discussion among ministers and church leaders who are concerned about the future of their congregations and church bodies. Author David Luecke says "the bottom-line message of this book is that Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians need to become better at promoting and sharing personal spiritual experiences. Instead of assuming the spiritual goods of life in Christ, they need to be more effective at delivering the spiritual goods."  

Contents
Chapter 1 notes how the overlap between a congregation's loyal church community and the larger social community is disappearing.
Chapter 2 shows how churches that stayed with their roots in European state protected church bodies have a valuable heritage of stressing the objective truths about God, sin, Christ and salvation.
Chapter 3 focuses on the inherited shepherd model of ministry, with its strengths and weaknesses.
Chapter 4 describes the builder model of ministry that is oriented to building up the fellowship of Christ's body in a particular location.
Chapter 5 presents the fellowship builder's box of tools.
Chapter 6 discusses how to cultivate the soil for the Holy Spirit's work in a congregation.
Chapter 7 explores the place of personal spiritual experience and feelings in church life together.
Chapter 8 highlights how church bodies develop their own customs and cultures for living out their faith.
Chapter 9 distinguishes between a congregation's formal organization in service to its basic identity as an informal fellowship.
Chapter 10 develops the role of oversight in church leadership.
Chapter 11 focuses on a transition process

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