Mothering as a Metaphor for Ministry
Mothering as a Metaphor for Ministry

Author: Emma Percy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-15

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1317093941

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Drawing together original research which weaves together ideas from theology, philosophy, feminism and writing on mothering and child development, Emma Percy affirms and encourages aspects of good practice in ministry that are in danger of being overlooked because they are neither well-articulated nor valued. Offering a fresh look at parish ministry, this book uses a maternal metaphor to provide an integrated image of being and doing. The metaphor of mothering is used to explore the relational aspect of parish ministry which needs to value particularity and concrete contingent responsiveness. Percy suggests virtues that need to be cultivated to guard against the temptations to intrusive or domineering styles of care on the one hand or passive abnegation of responsibility on the other. Parish ministry cannot be understood in terms of tangible productivity; different ways of understanding success and evaluating priorities need to be developed. The book suggests ways of being ’good enough’ clergy who can find the right balance between caring for people and communities whilst encouraging and acknowledging the maturity of others.

Calm and Quiet My Soul
Calm and Quiet My Soul

Author: Alyssa Lynn Bell

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2023-10-19

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 1666763438

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Self-care and soul care are trending topics in Christian leadership circles because ministry leaders know they cannot care for their people unless they care for themselves. Pastors who are mothers know this too, and yet it can feel like just one more task to manage among the many they carry on their schedules and in their hearts. The biblical truth is that spiritual rest is a gift from God, not an achievement, a refreshing reminder for women who hold the dual roles of mom and minister. This book invites women leading in these spaces to remember that the God of the Old and New Testaments, the one who pours out replenishment for weary hearts, is a God who is Mother as well as Father, and mothers them with tenderness and strength. Starting here, in the arms of a mothering God who whispers “beloved,” changes the tone of spiritual care for her from a chore to an oasis of replenishment that grounds her in her identity in Christ as a daughter of Creator God.

Making Sense of Motherhood
Making Sense of Motherhood

Author: Beth M. Stovell

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-02-02

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1498273718

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Motherhood provides a crucial place for exploring human life and its meaning. Within motherhood lies a deep tension between the pain, crisis, and association with death in motherhood and the joy, transformation, and life in motherhood. Few metaphors in Scripture (or in life) stand so firmly between life and death, love and loss, and joy and deep pain. After all, motherhood's meaning in part comes again and again at these crucial crossroads. Thus, motherhood has powerful implications for our biblical and theological understanding. Bringing together Jewish and ecumenical Christian scholars from North America, Oceania, and South America, this edited volume provides biblical and theological perspectives on understanding motherhood. The authors reflect upon a selection of biblical texts, systematic theologians, and Christian spiritual traditions to dialogue with the experience of maternity in its diverse manifestations. The purpose of the book is to provide essays that--through these biblical and theological lenses--engage the question of motherhood today, from the experience of pregnancy and birth, to raising children, to losing children and coping with grief. In this way, this volume helps to "make sense" of the complexity of motherhood.

What Clergy Do
What Clergy Do

Author: Emma Percy

Publisher: SPCK

Published: 2014-04-17

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0281070253

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Clergy have a pivotal role in creating and nurturing church communities in which all people can grow up into Christ. This book explores the nature of that role by considering key similarities with the essential but often conflicting demands of motherhood. Like mothers, clergy need to preserve and hold people faithfully, while encouraging them to grow, take initiatives and become more confident and self-supporting. This book will help clergy to think about how this is achieved through the myriad of 'small' things they do from day to day, highlighting skills such as comforting, cherishing and multi-attending - skills that are centrally important but often unarticulated and undervalued.

Out on Waters
Out on Waters

Author: James Michael Nagle

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-03-25

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1725255790

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For a denomination like Roman Catholicism that is canonically difficult to leave, many American Catholics are migrating beyond the institution’s immediate influence. The new religious patterns associated with this experience represent a somewhat cohesive movement influencing not just Catholicism, but the whole of North American religion. Careful examination of the lives of disaffiliating young adults reveals that their religious lives are complicated. For example, the assumption that leaving conventional religious communities necessarily results in a non-religious identity is simplistic and even, perhaps, misleading. Many maintain a religious worldview and practice. This book explores one “place” where the religiously-affiliated and religiously-disaffiliating regularly meet—Catholic secondary schools—and something interesting is happening. Through a series of ethnographic portraits of Catholic religious educators and their disaffiliating former students, the book explores the experience of disaffiliation and makes its complexity more comprehensible in order to advance the discourse of fields interested in this significant movement in religious history and practice.

Engaging with Contemporary Culture
Engaging with Contemporary Culture

Author: Martyn Percy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-29

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1317143345

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Theology and the churches are often considered to be at the margins of contemporary culture, frequently struggling for identity and attention. In this important new book Martyn Percy argues that a rich form of practical theological engagement is needed if the churches are to comprehend their situation in the modern world, thereby enabling them to engage more confidently with society. Drawing on a range of perspectives in the religion-culture debate, and from case studies in the USA and Europe, the book explores the myriad of ways in which culture is now shaping contemporary Christianity, and how vital an appreciation of this dynamic is for the self-understanding of churches and theology. This book explores the crucial and continuing contribution that theology can make to public life, in an era that is often perceived to be dominated by consumerism and secularity. It will especially appeal to scholars of contemporary religion, practical theologians, and all those who are engaged in ministerial formation.

Discovering Biblical Equality
Discovering Biblical Equality

Author: Ronald W. Pierce

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2021-11-02

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 0830854800

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The conversation about gender roles in Christian life and the church has evolved, but the topic continues to inspire debate and disagreement. Now in its third edition, this fresh, positive defense of gender equality brings together scholars firmly committed to the authority of Scripture to explore historical, biblical, theological, cultural, and practical aspects of this discussion.

Ecclesianarchy
Ecclesianarchy

Author: John Williams

Publisher: SCM Press

Published: 2020-09-30

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 0334059828

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Arguing that what is needed is a provisional approach to ministry which recognises that all forms of ministry are, and always have been a response to social and cultural context, 'Ecclesianarchy' brings theological and practical insight to bear on the question of ministry's provisionality.

Recovering Paul's Mother Tounge
Recovering Paul's Mother Tounge

Author: Susan G. Eastman

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2007-08-28

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 0802831656

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Paul's letter to the Galatians begins with a proclamation of deliverance from the present evil age and comes to a climax with the ringing cry "new creation " The letter moves from the Galatian believers' new identity in Christ to the implications of that identity for their life together. Susan Eastman here argues that Galatians 4:12 5:1 plays a key role in this movement: it displays the power of God's act in Christ, apart from the law, not only to generate the Galatians' new life in Christ but also to perfect it. Paul communicates to his converts the motivation and power necessary to move them from their ambivalence about his gospel to a faith that "stands fast" in its allegiance to Christ alone. Eastman argues that the medium and the message are inseparable. Paul's discourse or "mother tongue" -- packed with maternal images, vulnerable yet authoritative, and marked by personal suffering -- demonstrates the content of the good news.

Women, Church, and Leadership: New Paradigms
Women, Church, and Leadership: New Paradigms

Author: Eunjoo Mary Kim

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2012-04-06

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 1630879916

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This book is about leadership, a scholarly and pastoral response to the urgent demand for the renewal of the contemporary Christian church. It challenges readers to articulate the identity and vision of the church in new ways, and encourages them to revitalize their ministry with fresh insight and passion from women's perspectives. The eight essays written by female scholars in relation to various areas of theological study and the nine pastoral responses to the essays written by ministers from seven different denominations, based on their experiences of actual ministerial settings, provide new paradigms of church leadership--theologically profound, practically relevant, and historically timely. This volume, a product of a collaborative process between academia and church, promises to be a most useful resource to renew the leadership of the church and its vocational commitment to the transformation of the church and society.