• A complex story, well told, that describes the rise and development of one of the nation’s most important and uniquely American religious institutions • Documents a sacred place where the nation has celebrated some of its greatest triumphs and grieved some of its greatest losses • Site at the crossroads of American life and culture, where major national issues have been discussed and illuminated, including civil rights and the war in Vietnam This new book provides a history of Washington National Cathedral from its inception to the modern day, focusing finally on the episcopacy of Bishop John T. Walker, who died in the fall of 1989.
Perhaps an unlikely subject for an ethnographic case study, the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto in Canada is a large predominantly LGBT church with a robust, and at times fraught, history of advocacy. While the church is often riddled with fault lines and contradictions, its queer and faith-based emphasis on shared vulnerability leads it to engage in radical solidarity with asylum-seekers, pointing to the work of affect in radical, coalition politics. A House of Prayer for All People maps the affective dimensions of the politics of citizenship at this church. For nearly three years, David K. Seitz regularly attended services at MCCT. He paid special attention to how community and citizenship are formed in a primarily queer Christian organization, focusing on four contemporary struggles: debates on race and gender in religious leadership, activism around police–minority relations, outreach to LGBT Christians transnationally, and advocacy for asylum seekers. Engaging in debates in cultural geography, queer of color critique, psychoanalysis, and affect theory, A House of Prayer for All People stages innovative, reparative encounters with citizenship and religion. Building on queer theory’s rich history of “subjectless” critique, Seitz calls for an “improper” queer citizenship—one that refuses liberal identity politics or national territory as the ethical horizon for sympathy, solidarity, rights, redistribution, or intimacy. Improper queer citizenship, he suggests, depends not only on “good politics” but also on people’s capacity for empathy, integration, and repair.
Contrary to the oft-repeated truism, there are churches in America where Sunday is not the "most segregated day of the week," as Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook convincingly demonstrates in her compelling exploration of congregations tackling racial justice issues. Yet the truism continues to haunt many congregations, and Kujawa-Holbrook reveals, through story and thoughtful analysis, what it means to create and live out multiracial community. Focusing on six congregations from different denominations, geographical regions, and settings, the author shows us the joys and struggles in their intentional pursuits of a more diverse and just community. The stories in A House of Prayer for All Peoples will inspire leaders to explore their congregation's history, study their community's demographics, and, most of all, search their souls for ways they can develop and celebrate the diversity in their midst. The book is capped by an extensive annotated resource list for readers who want to explore the topic further.
The Prayer-Saturated Church provides step-by-step, practical help for mobilizing, organizing, and motivating believers to make their church a house of prayer. Written by a veteran prayer leader with hands-on experience in local church prayer, The Prayer-Saturated Church will enable any church to take prayer to the next level.
“Theologically rich, bursting with Scripture, thoughtfully written, worthy of reflection and faith-enlarging, this is a prayer tool that many sincere Jesus-followers will turn to again and again.” –Dr. John Stumbo, President, The Christian & Missionary Alliance Praying for a Church--for the Church--is one of the most spiritually significant things we can do for the Kingdom of God. In this prayer guide, Ty King has provided 31 powerful Scripture-based prayers that focus on praying the purposes of Jesus Christ for His Bride, the Church. Not meant to be prayed as rote prayers, Pray the Word for Your Church will stimulate the user to go deeper into prayer—beyond the actual prayers in the book—to pray God’s heart for their own community of faith.
New York Times bestseller What is Jesus worth to you? It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily... But who do you know who lives like that? Do you? In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a "successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus. Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment -- a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.
Shakings, Signs, and the Return of Christ You are mentioned in biblical prophecy. You may not be mentioned by name, but you are included there. End-times prophecies speak of faithful followers of Jesus—called the “remnant”—who are ready for the last days and His return, but they also speak of those who are unprepared or fall away before His appearing. Which prophecy will you fulfill? Jesus Is Coming Soon: Discern the End-Time Signs and Prepare for His Return will help you be certain you are part of God’s remnant. The signs of the end of the age and Jesus’s appearing are evident in the physical and spiritual worlds. But most people, including Christians, have not recognized them. What signs has God given to announce the culmination of His purposes for the world? How can we discern them? How can we prepare? This book will unfold: The reason for the unprecedented natural and spiritual shakings in our world What the signs tell us, including unusual signs such as blood moons How God works according to seasons, eras, and the fullness of time How Jewish feasts point to the ages of man, accurately showing us God’s time clock Which imminent biblical signs and promises have yet to be fulfilled The judgments God is bringing to the earth God has given prophecies concerning Israel, the church, and the world. And His Spirit is disclosing His last-days purposes right now. We need to know how to receive the vital revelation and prophetic knowledge He wants to share with His people. When we have this foreknowledge, we can understand the times and prepare for His final plans for the earth. God intends the church to be a community of hope, revival, and supernatural power in the midst of dark times. There is a spirit of confusion in the world today. People must turn to God for the answers only He can give, and the church needs to be ready to provide those answers. In these end times, you do not need to be fearful, discouraged, or distracted. Instead, you can know your true position in God before Christ’s appearing. You can be joyfully prepared, watching and waiting in expectation, with your spiritual eyes open. Live in God’s perfect will for your life and participate in His supernatural, last-days purposes!
Crippled by deformed hips as a child, Mark Richard was told he would spend his adult life in a wheelchair. The son of an unpredictable, violent father and a mother who sought inner peace through scripture, Richard spent his bedridden childhood in the company of books. As a young man, he set out to experience as much of the world as possible before his hips failed him. He spent years doing odd jobs and getting into trouble, grappling throughout with his faith and his calling, before winning a national fiction contest and launching an extraordinary writing career. In this irresistible blend of history, travelogue, and personal reflection, Richard draws a remarkable portrait of a writer’s struggle with his faith, the evolution of his art, and the recognition of one’s singularity in the face of painful disability.
Now with bonus journaling space! A twenty-day prayerful walk to spiritual well-being from the author of the bestsellers The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent. Praying God’s Will for Your Life is not a book about finding the right person to marry or deciding on a career. It is a book about a way of life and a heart attitude that are God’s will for everyone who knows Him. That way of life encompasses three important components: An intimate relationship with God A solid foundation in God’s truth A commitment to obedience As she has in previous bestselling books—The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent—Stormie invites you to discover the power of prayer, this time encouraging you to pray for yourself as you deepen your walk with God. Accept her challenge to pray for yourself in these areas every day for twenty days, and watch how God changes your life as you move into the center of His will. As you experience the power of God's will in your daily faith journey, take advantage of the bonus Prayer Journal, which offers Stormie's own words of encouragement and plenty of space for reflection and listing prayer requests and answered prayers.
