Cò Trắng Vườn Chim tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Sarah Guittard sarahguittard — Rereading in a new context. Already a known quantity in the world of post-modernism in American Christianity, Carol Howard Merritt has published her second book Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation. This is not a rehash of her previous work. Rather it builds and expands on it. In Tribal Church, Merritt was primarily concerned with "Where are the young people? What do they want?" In Reframing Hope, she emphasizes the need to stay grounded in the traditions of our mainline churches, while looking for additional ways to "be Church". She encourages us to quit obsessing about the numbers decline in our denominations and instead to "shift our focus, take into account where we have been, and imagine what God is calling us to be." The changing currents in "technology, organizing, communication, and spirituality...deeply affect the way we minister and form community." We can make two mistakes in dealing with this societal change. We can ignore what is coming, or we can dismiss what has passed. Both of these options will lead to our eventual demise. But we have faith that God is doing something in the world right now. It is up to us to discern what that is and what our role is in bringing it about. Merritt discusses the opportunities available to us by redistributing authority, re-forming community, reexamining the medium (electronic communications), retelling the message, reinventing activism, renewing creation, and retraditioning spirituality. Using both biblical and personal examples and stories, she leads us to look again at our world and at our churches. As a 30-something pastor in a mainline urban church, she speaks with experience and insight into the needs, wants and desires of the world around us. This book, published by the Alban Institute, should be required reading for any church leader who is serious about discerning the church's mission and vision for the future.