Pastoral care in rural communities is different from care in other locales. Despite these differences, rural churches and communities also hold a particular wisdom from which the rest of the church might benefit. Small towns and rural areas have particular challenges, and in seeking to live out the Christian life in the midst of those, local churches have unique and useful insights into what it means to care for one another.
It is often claimed that local churches provide a significant proportion of social care today. This important new study considers the reality of the church's involvement to offer compelling and concrete recommendations for the future. It proposes a transformational model of welfare that breaks free from the default approach of ‘eradicating the five giant evils – squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease’. Instead the authors focus on fostering five assets – relationship, creativity, partnership, compassion, and joy – and empowering people to regain control of their lives.
Developed within a network of Canadian researchers and their community partners, this book is a collection of case studies that explore the learning that people do through community engagement. The crucial work here explores learning that is organized by the learners themselves, collectively, rather than as individuals. Reflecting the contributors’ political priorities, the volume covers groups that are highly marginalized in our society and moves on to examine more mainstream citizens.
Johannes Knoetze, Associate Professor in Practical Theology and Missional Studies at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria, served as the editor of this extremely important and relevant publication Mission the “labour room” of theology. The book comprises of 21 chapters by various esteemed scholars in Missiology or Missional Studies. The contributors engage critically with mission history and mission understandings from different contexts in Southern Africa. The book is divided in three sections. The first gives a historical, denominational, and current overview of mission in Africa. A second section focuses on current theological understandings of the origin of mission, the changing contexts of mission as well as importance of mission studies in the theological curriculum in Africa, especially in the 21st century Africa. A third section looks at the “how” of mission, different modes or figure of mission under the title: “Mission as... or mission in the context of...” It is an attractive publication with a wealth of information and a wide collection of reflections on the transmittance and reception of faith in (Southern) African contexts. The chapters are written in a clear, concise and understandable style. This book will appeal to a wide audience, ranging from undergraduate students, ministers, mission practitioners, lecturers teaching practical theology/missiology/missional studies and scholars engaging in academic research.
Major cities have long been seen as centres of secularisation. However, the number of congregations in London grew by 50% between 1979 and the present. London’s churches have been characterised more by growth than by decline in the decades since 1980. The Desecularisation of the City provides the first academic survey of churches in London over recent decades, linking them to similar developments in other major cities across the West. Produced by a large team of scholars from a range of disciplines, this volume offers a striking and original portrait of congregational life in London since 1980. Seventeen chapters explore the diverse localities, ethnicities and denominations that make up the church in contemporary London. The vitality of London’s churches in the last four decades shows that secularisation is far from inevitable in the cities of the future. This study necessitates a significant reassessment of the dominant academic portrayal of Christianity in Britain and the West, which has, mostly, depicted cities as secular spaces within a secularising culture. It will be of great interest to scholars working across a wide range of disciplines, including history, sociology, religious studies and theology.
To Transform a City is a timely, compelling book that helps readers understand how to think about cities, their own city, and the broad strategies needed for kingdom impact. The book begins with an overview of the importance of cities in the new day in which we live. The authors address the process of transformation along with examples of where and how communities have been transformed throughout history. After writing a persuasive chapter on kingdom thinking the authors unfold the meaning of the whole church, the whole gospel, and the whole city. The book ends with the need for people of good faith to work together in the city with people of good will for the welfare of the city.
This book explores the many facets of black urban life from its genesis in the 18th century to the present time. With some historical background, the volume is primarily a contemporary critique, focusing on the major themes which have arisen and the challenges the confront African Americans as they create communities: political economy, religion and spirituality, health care, education, protest, and popular culture. The essays all examine the interplay between culture and politics, and the ways in which forms of cultural expression and political participation have changed over the past century to serve the needs of the black urban community. The collection closes with analysis of current struggles these communities face - joblessness, political discontent, frustrations with health care and urban schools - and the ways in which communities are responding to these challenges.
This text makes a potentially controversial contribution to social policy debates in Britain, Europe, and North America. Drawing on a critical overview of the role religious values, actors, and institutions have on social programs, Rana Jawad examines the workings of religious welfare organizations from the worlda's major faiths.
