Dear Church
Dear Church

Author: Lenny Duncan

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2019-07-02

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 1506452574

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Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work--drawing a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part manifesto, part confession, and all love letter, Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of Duncan's denomination and the broader mainline Christian community of faith. Dear Church rejects the narrative of church decline and calls everyone--leaders and laity alike--to the front lines of the churchÂs renewal through racial equality and justice. It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice. Duncan gives a blueprint for the way forward and urges us to follow in the revolutionary path of Jesus.

Good and Bad Ways to Think about Religion and Politics
Good and Bad Ways to Think about Religion and Politics

Author: Robert Benne

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2010-09-23

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 0802863647

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"There is nothing greater than indignation to stimulate a writer to write." says Robert Benne, "and my outrage has been stirred mightily by reading so many wrongheaded 'takes' on how religion and politics ought to be related." --

Fat and Faithful
Fat and Faithful

Author: J. Nicole Morgan

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2018-08-01

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1506448283

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You are already enough, and you are not too much. J. Nicole Morgan grew up fat and loving Jesus. But she was forever burdened by what she saw as her biggest spiritual flaw: her weight. In Fat and Faithful, she shares her journey from body shame to fat acceptance and shows us how to care for the image of God found in every body--including our own. When the world tells us that our bodies are too much, J. Nicole Morgan reminds us that all people--no matter their size, shape, or ability--are beloved of God. Bodies of all sizes, shapes, colors, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities are expressions of the body of Christ. When our first prayer isn't about changing our bodies, we create space to care for our neighbors and to celebrate the unique ways we are equipped to serve our communities in the bodies we have. Fat and Faithful shows us that the world is wider than the size of our waistline.

Lutherans Today
Lutherans Today

Author: Richard Cimino

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2003-10-02

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780802813657

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I. Change and Movements in American Lutheranism American Lutherans Yesterday and Today Mark Noll The Curious Case of the Missouri Synod Mary Todd The Lutheran Left: From Movement to Church Commitment Maria Erling Word Alone and the Future of Lutheran Denominationalism Mark Granquist The Evangelical Catholics: Seeking Tradition and Unity in a Pluralistic Church Richard Cimino Goliaths in Our Midst: Megachurches in the ELCA Scott Thumma and Jim Petersen Lutheran Charismatics Renewal or Schism? Robert Longman II. Trends and Issues in American Lutheranism Pastors in the Two Kingdoms: The Social Theology of Lutheran Clergy Jeff Walz, Steve Montreal, and Dan Hofrenning North American Lutheranism and the New Ethnics Mark Granquist Multiculturalism and the Dilution of Lutheran Identity Alvin J. Schmidt Integrity and Fragmentation: Can the Lutheran Center Hold? Robert Benne Loose Bonds, Emerging Commitments: The Lives and Faith of Lutheran Youth Eugene C. Roehlkepartain.