Jame Emery White,a pastor, adjunct professor, award-winning author and host of ChurchAndCulture.org identifies 25 cultural trends facing the church, showing readers how to prepare and respond to these challenges. More about the book It's time for a reality check. Though many of the signs of the times are disturbing to those of us in the church, we ignore them at our great peril. Changes in belief, culture, marriage and family, media and technology, and mission affect us not only as individuals but also as a body of believers. Functioning as both a telescope and a microscope, this hard-hitting examination of the future of the church looks into the vastness of the world and into the minute recesses of our hearts. James Emery White calls on us to sharpen our spiritual drive and determination in order to meet the challenges of our day--and the future. He calls us to look beyond the daily conflicts in order to see the much larger battle in which we are engaged, so that we might play our vital role in preserving and growing Christ's church in the coming age. What others are saying "Hard-hitting as well as carefully researched. It is also extremely relevant for our day. In twenty-five concise chapters, White scans the landscape of the postmodern world we now live in. This book will serve the church well."--Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary "The Church in an Age of Crisis is more than a survey of the cultural landscape of contemporary America. It is a call to bring Christian values to bear in the marketplace of ideas. With prophetic insight, James Emery White directs the church to be true to its calling--to be salt and light in a dying world."--Alec Hill, president, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA "This book is a wake-up call for those who really care about America and how lost so many are today. The Church in an Age of Crisis provides positive answers on how the grace of God in Christ can break through even the stoniest of hearts."--Jerry Newcombe, Truth in Action Ministries "This book is essential for those who desire to bring the truth, love, and light of Christ to our challenging present age."--Glenn T. Stanton, director, Global Family Formation Studies and Ministry Strategy Development, Focus on the Family
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod's Office of National Mission is addressing the challenge of congregational decline through a comprehensive Revitalization initiative.
In the language of 1 Cor. 3:5-9, revitalization is centered on planting and watering in anticipation of God providing the growth.
Dementia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's affect many people in our community. When a person is affected by either of these not only do they have specific physical needs but they also have Spiritual needs to help them have a quality of life. Following are some resources to help you and your congregation in developing an approach to spiritually helping people with Dementia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's.
Graceful Alzheimer’s Care is a fourteen-week study guide for church and lay leaders to explore the church’s role in providing Christ-like care to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic diseases.
Due to medical and health advances, there are far more elders in our congregations today than ever before—with an alarming percentage living with Alzheimer’s.
Although many faith communities have strong healing ministries, they have fallen short in understanding the challenges of dementia and their ramifications on the individual and caregivers.
Inspired by the two main covenants of the Bible, Graceful Alzheimer’s Care encourages the development of a caregiving covenant with three pillars: prayer, presence, and practice. Then, using uplifting stories from the Old and New Testaments, Dr. Cate applies powerful spiritual wisdom to the international Alzheimer's crisis.
Bringing over forty years of practical, academic, and spiritual knowledge in assisting individuals with dementia and their families, author Cate McCarty, PhD, ADC, wrote this book as a call to action for the spiritual community.
Facilitating Spiritual Reminiscence for People with Dementia: A Learning Guide
Spiritual reminiscence is a way of communicating that acknowledges the person as a spiritual being and seeks to engage the person in a more meaningful and personal way. This practical guide teaches carers how to facilitate engaging and stimulating spiritual reminiscence sessions with older people, and particularly with people with dementia.
After reading the guide, carers will understand the many and varied benefits of spiritual reminiscence, and will have developed the skills, confidence and communication techniques needed to support people with dementia in this activity. The authors present in accessible terms the evidence-base to support the benefits of the approach and provide clear, step-by-step instructions for facilitating spiritual reminiscence sessions, including useful suggestions for ideas and questions to stimulate discussion.
Intended to be used either as a self-learning tool or as the basis for staff training sessions, this will be a valuable resource for staff in care homes and day centres, activity coordinators, pastoral and spiritual care professionals, clergy and spiritual leaders.
A Guide to the Spiritual Dimension of Care for People with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia: More than Body, Brain and Breath
Drawing on her years of experience as a clergywoman working with older people in care settings, Eileen Shamy discusses how pastoral work can help to develop holistic care for those suffering from dementia and related conditions - care which involves understanding of their spiritual as well as physical needs.
This sensitive and informative book provides guidelines for pastoral visits to people with dementia, showing how to empathise with, understand and support individuals during a visit. Emphasising the importance of retaining dignity and freedom of choice for people with dementia, it also presents practical advice about memory cueing and provides frameworks for leading worship for those with dementia.
A useful resource for a variety of people involved in pastoral care with older people, whether professionals or volunteers, this book provides inspiration from a respected author in the field of psychogeriatric care.
'This is a book for those actively engaged in or interested in spiritual ministry to persons with dementia. Shamy draws heavily upon her experience, making this book very personal in its approach. I appreciated this style, feeling that the anecdotes anchor the book in the realm of what can be done rather than the theoretical world of the "maybes". The main concepts of the book, those of spirituality, retained through dementia, and personal worth should be acceptable to people of most world faiths.' - Leveson Newsletter
'This is an important book that has much to offer at a variety of different levels. It ranges from deep philosophical thinking to practical recommendations... a book that should be bought, digested and used frequently.' - Christian Council on Ageing
'Contains valuable material. The passages that attempt a definition of spirituality, and the stories about persons with dementia and how they have been helped to greater well-being, are relevant and excellently done. The spirit of Eileen Shamy shines out from these pages and carries its own message of passionate concern. One of the book's greatest strengths is its stories, which are unfailingly well-told and apposite.' - Ageing and Society
Spiritual Care for Persons with Dementiaexplores spirituality in those with dementia to enrich our understanding of the neurological and psychological aspects of hope, prayer, and the power of belief. You will discover how your ministry is vitally relevant to the clinical well-being and quality of life of people with Alzheimer's disease. Spiritual Care for Persons with Dementia provides you with a model spiritual care program for long-term facilities that supplies you with ideas you can implement in your own ministry.
You will learn to avoid cognitive pastoral care method that can be hurtful to those suffering with dementia by using new approaches found in Spiritual Care for Persons with Dementia. This book provides you with suggestions about how to spiritually care for people with dementia. These important recommendations include:
understanding the value of pastoral contact when ministering to people with a loss of cognitive functions and memory
discovering the Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold psychosocial model (PLST) that can make important contributions by enhancing the quality of life for people with dementia
providing pastoral care using nonverbal methods to overcome the barriers of cognitive dysfunction
exploring a client's cognitive and emotional reality on a daily basis to determine how to best interact with him or her
gaining insight into how a thorough analysis of the illness and personal religious history can assist in planning religious activities that provide comfort and solace for people with dementia and their families
Spiritual Care for Persons with Dementia describes religious, theological, and psychodynamic perspectives that will help you to offer better spiritual care for people with dementia. Using your newly acquired skills from Spiritual Care for Persons with Dementia, you will be more effective when ministering to people with Alzheimer's Disease and to their families. Do This, Remembering Me: The Spiritual Care of Those with Alzheimer's and Dementia
• 5 million+ in the U.S. live with Alzheimer's, 5.5 million caregivers provide 17.7 billion hours’ unpaid care (2013)
• Key resource of practical tools/real-life applications for spiritual and physical dementia ce
“What do I do to help?” Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, almost everyone knows someone with some form of dementia, yet few know how to answer that question, and very little material exists on providing spiritual care to adults with dementia-related diseases. Even seminaries rarely provide training or clinical pastoral education in this field.
This book is an answer. It provies a hands-on manual that will give clergy, spiritual care providers, and family members an understanding of the ongoing spiritual needs of individuals with dementia, as well as practical tools such as how to create a religious service in a memory care unit and how one might plan a nursing home visit. Accessibly written, with real life applications and sample services for a variety of settings. More than just useful, the book inspires with shared stories that are tender, sad, funny—and sometimes all three at once, encouraging readers to develop spiritual care ministries for people with memory loss in congregations, homes, nursing facilities, or other communities—a ministry that will only gain in importance in the coming decade, as Baby Boomers age and the number of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia skyrockets.
The idea of setting aside one Sunday has a long and rich history in many Christian traditions.
G.K. Chesterton once wrote:
“Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
Never forget that the devil fell by force of gravity.
He who has the faith has the fun
Laughter Sunday (also known as Holy Humour Sunday, Hilarity Sunday, God’s Laughter Sunday, Bright Sunday or Holy Fools Sunday) has its roots in a number of different Christian traditions.
Churches in 15th century Bavaria used to celebrate the Sunday after Easter as Risus Paschalis (‘God’s Joke,’ or ‘the Easter laugh’). Priests would deliberately include amusing stories and jokes in their sermons in an attempt to make the faithful laugh. After the service, people would gather together to play practical jokes on one another and tell funny stories. It was their way of celebrating the resurrection of Christ – the supreme joke God played on Satan by raising Jesus from the dead.
The observance of Risus Paschalis was officially outlawed by Pope Clement X in the 17th century. Perhaps people were having too much fun.
In the Orthodox tradition, people would gather on Easter Monday to tell jokes and funny stories, and to dance and eat together.
Other traditions celebrate Laetare Sunday (also known as ‘Mothering Sunday’) on the fourth Sunday in Lent. “Laetare” simply means ‘rejoice,’ and comes from the opening collect for that day: ‘Rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow.' On this Sunday, the usual Lenten purple vestments and altar cloths are replaced by rose-coloured ones instead. Flowers (not normally present during Lent) are also brought into the sanctuary.
Some resource relating to Holy Humour Sunday include:
