Books about Parachurch from Amazon.com

Great ministers don't just happen.

Great falls from ministry don't just happen either. A complex mix of factors both internal and external an unaddressed need for relational intimacy, a misunderstanding of God's call, unrealistic expectations and inadequate resources coming from the people in your care all test the limits of your ability to minister wholeheartedly over the long haul.

Senior pastor Brad Hoffmann and licensed professional counselor Michael Todd Wilson have studied the struggles that pastors and other shepherds face in their ministries. They began the ministry of ShepherdCare as an extension of their work with pastors who had been removed from their place of service. The common experiences of these pastors revealed patterns that consistently contributed to burnout, ineffectiveness and moral failure. If such patterns can be predicted, they reasoned, can they be prevented?

Preventing Ministry Failure is a personal guidebook for pastors and other caregivers to prepare them to withstand common pressures and to flourish in the ministry God has called them to. Work through the exercises and reflections individually or in conversation with your peers in ministry, and you'll find yourself better equipped for the challenges of vocational ministry, and more conscious of the presence of God leading you on and restoring your soul.

Market/Audience

• Pastors
• People engaged in urban ministry
• People engaged in youth ministry

Features and Benefits

• Written in an interactive format
• Includes incisive questions for people in ministry
• Organized to fit into a busy ministry lifestyle
• Conducive to peer discussion

.
Price: $9.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"North American evangelicals learned to do church in relation to modernity," asserts David Fitch. Furthermore, evangelicals have begun to model their ministries after the secular sciences or even to farm out functions of the church whenever it seems more efficient. As a result, the church, too often, has stopped being the church. In The Great Giveaway, Fitch examines various church practices and shows how and why each function has been compromised by modernity. Discussing such ministries as evangelism, physical healing, and spiritual formation, Fitch challenges Christians to reclaim these lost practices so that the church can regain its influence. Pastors, leaders, and students who minister to the postmodern world will find in this book fresh insight that will stir the hearts of many and spark much-needed discussion about the evangelical church..
Price: $3.38 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Founded as a local college ministry in 1951, Campus Crusade for Christ has become one of the world's largest evangelical organizations, today boasting an annual budget of more than $500 million Nondenominational organizations like Campus Crusade account for much of modern evangelicalism's dynamism and adaptation to mainstream American culture. Despite the importance of these "parachurch" organizations, says John Turner, historians have largely ignored them.

Turner offers an accessible and colorful history of Campus Crusade and its founder, Bill Bright, whose marketing and fund-raising acumen transformed the organization into an international evangelical empire. Drawing on archival materials and more than one hundred interviews, Turner challenges the dominant narrative of the secularization of higher education, demonstrating how Campus Crusade helped reestablish evangelical Christianity as a visible subculture on American campuses. Beyond the campus, Bright expanded evangelicalism's influence in the worlds of business and politics. As Turner demonstrates, the story of Campus Crusade reflects the halting movement of evangelicalism into mainstream American society: its awkward marriage with conservative politics, its hesitancy over gender roles and sexuality, and its growing affluence..
Price: $17.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Leith Anderson's preaching, vision, and leadership have guided his church through a process of change and growth, putting it on the cutting edge to meet the spiritual needs of its people. Speaking to a wide variety of denominations across the country several times a year, his counsel is sound, practical, and full of hope to pastors, church leaders, and lay Christians. Christianity Today selected this book as its top pick in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category for 2000.".
Price: $1.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A look at how people like Moses, David, Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and Paul asked people for money. .
Price: $0.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

My friAnds and colleagues Wes Willmer and David Schmidt have done a marvelous job of capturing the essence of this [parachurch] movement. I commAnd this book to you.
--Billy Graham

The first book to take a comprehensive look at one of the profound paradigm shifts that is redefining religion--the parachurch: what it is, where it came from, how it operates, who supports it, and what is its future. Foreign missions, social services, health care, relief and development, camps, prisons ministry, evangelistic outreach, schools and colleges, rescue missions, and television and radio broadcasting are just a few of the forms that this burgeoning movement has taken.

Willmer and Schmidt provide a new understanding of the transforming of God's Kingdon beyond traditional boundries. They offer practical guidance to parachurch leaders on managing their complex mix of stakeholders in planning for a more strategic future. Those involved in both church and parachurch ministries and those who study religion will find the instructive text essential reading..
Price: $3.89 [Notify me when price goes down.]