"Can you give me the book that will tell me how to DO Christian education?" The Nuts & Bolts of Christian Education is designed to answer the most frequently asked questions by new as well as veteran teachers and leaders. Even though most churches provide teacher and leader training at least once a year, generally these one- or two-day sessions are unable to answer every question that arises during the year. The Nuts & Bolts of Christian Education is a practical guidebook that leads new and experienced teachers through the challenging, and sometimes confounding, landscape of the education ministry of a congregation. This is not a collection of lesson plans--it is a chock-full survey of nearly every aspect of Christian education one could imagine. DOING Christian Education starts here.
God and Money both make a lot of promises. God keeps all of God's promises, while Money keeps none. However, Money has better advertising, and we keep falling for it. Here's how to turn that trend around in your life and in the lives of those you lead. Chapters include: 1. The Realities of the Situation 2. The Preacher Must Be the Leader 3. A Theology of Giving – Why We Do It 4. Preach It 5. Competing Is Not a Dirty Word 6. Start Now and Don’t Quit 7. You Have to Have a Budget 8. Basic Fundraising Principles 9. Making the Ask 10. Big Money - Capital Campaigns 11. Succeeding in a Capital Campaign 12. Easy Money – Planned Giving 13. Building, Banking and Bonds
With an open, honest, and conversational style, a minister who also manages and a manager who also ministers share insights they've gained through failures, successes, and struggles in their personal and professional journeys. From crises in the family business to existential struggles in the face of recurring cancer, what they show us is this: the heart and soul of leadership is found in following: following your call, following others' input, following your failures, following change, and even following the unknown. If you seek wisdom for your journey, if you seek a life of deep dedication and fulfillment, this book is for you.
Interviews with over 100 people identified as generous givers resulted in a wealth of giving stories. The experiences of these people are woven together to describe how giving patterns develop in real congregations among real people. Their stories can help church leaders better understand how giving becomes a part of the mission and ministry of the church.
On November 11, 1918, in a railroad car outside Compiegne, France, the guns on the Western Front fell silent and the first World War was declared over. Proclaimed by many historians as the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, the price to be paid for peace at the time was steep and left behind a horrific trail of suffering and death. Soldiers returning home discovered much had changed since their deployment. Indeed, a different America awaited them. The nation was still reeling from the Spanish Flu, a flurry of racial riots and labor disputes punctuated civilian life, and the Great Depression caused profound economic collapse. A decade later, the Second World War would begin. In the midst of such turbulence, runaway Henry Cameron finds a home at a remote Vermont horse farm. He soon discovers a true passion for working with horses and learning the craft of horsemanship from a retired calvary officer. When the calvary officer passes away and bequeaths his entire estate to Henry, the young man is faced with rebuilding the horse farm. His efforts are sculpted by those in his life: a protective pair of caretakers, a wounded World War One soldier, a corrupt sheriff, a gifted horse trainer, and a bitter and revengeful uncle. Each would come to shape the destiny of the horseman Henry Cameron.