Practicing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities

Practicing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities

Author: Jeanne Hoeft

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2013-07-01

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 0800699548

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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.


Book Synopsis Practicing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities by : Jeanne Hoeft

Download or read book Practicing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities written by Jeanne Hoeft and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2013-07-01 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.


Reclaiming Rural

Reclaiming Rural

Author: Allen T. Stanton

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-05-15

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 1538135256

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As rural America continues to undergo massive economic and demographic shifts, rural churches are uniquely positioned to provide community leadership. Leading a rural congregation requires a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing these communities, as well as a strong theological and community-focused identity. Allen T. Stanton describes how in establishing this identity, rural leaders build a meaningful and vital ministry. Reclaiming Rural explores the myths and realities of rural places, and how those common narratives impact the leadership of rural churches. Ultimately, rural congregations must practice a contextual understanding of vitality, which understands both the strengths and challenges of leading in a rural setting. Arguing for a practice of evangelism imbued with this mission of vitality, Reclaiming Rural promotes the church as a leader in economic and community development, modeled upon a Wesleyan theology of grace. Acknowledging the many challenges facing rural churches, this book is an energetic and encouraging guide to overcoming social and economic obstacles to build a thriving congregation.


Book Synopsis Reclaiming Rural by : Allen T. Stanton

Download or read book Reclaiming Rural written by Allen T. Stanton and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-05-15 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As rural America continues to undergo massive economic and demographic shifts, rural churches are uniquely positioned to provide community leadership. Leading a rural congregation requires a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing these communities, as well as a strong theological and community-focused identity. Allen T. Stanton describes how in establishing this identity, rural leaders build a meaningful and vital ministry. Reclaiming Rural explores the myths and realities of rural places, and how those common narratives impact the leadership of rural churches. Ultimately, rural congregations must practice a contextual understanding of vitality, which understands both the strengths and challenges of leading in a rural setting. Arguing for a practice of evangelism imbued with this mission of vitality, Reclaiming Rural promotes the church as a leader in economic and community development, modeled upon a Wesleyan theology of grace. Acknowledging the many challenges facing rural churches, this book is an energetic and encouraging guide to overcoming social and economic obstacles to build a thriving congregation.


Beyond Church Walls

Beyond Church Walls

Author: Dr. Richard Rouse

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2016-05-19

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1506410278

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Pastoral care has been traditionally understood as pastoral acts administered to individuals or small groups by an ordained or lay religious practitioner. As congregations in the twenty-first century begin to reclaim the missional nature of church, this view must be broadened to include care and concern for the needs of the larger community. A missional perspective of pastoral care embraces the notion that all of Gods peoplenot just trained professionalsare called to partner in the healing and redemption of the world. In Beyond Church Walls, Rick Rouse sets out to articulate precisely what such an approach to pastoral care looks likeand the substantial impact it can have on congregations and communities. A skilled teacher and pastor with deep experience in real communities, Rouse leads readers through the changing realities of the twenty-first century and to new ways for missional churches to succeed in offering pastoral care for the whole community.


Book Synopsis Beyond Church Walls by : Dr. Richard Rouse

Download or read book Beyond Church Walls written by Dr. Richard Rouse and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastoral care has been traditionally understood as pastoral acts administered to individuals or small groups by an ordained or lay religious practitioner. As congregations in the twenty-first century begin to reclaim the missional nature of church, this view must be broadened to include care and concern for the needs of the larger community. A missional perspective of pastoral care embraces the notion that all of Gods peoplenot just trained professionalsare called to partner in the healing and redemption of the world. In Beyond Church Walls, Rick Rouse sets out to articulate precisely what such an approach to pastoral care looks likeand the substantial impact it can have on congregations and communities. A skilled teacher and pastor with deep experience in real communities, Rouse leads readers through the changing realities of the twenty-first century and to new ways for missional churches to succeed in offering pastoral care for the whole community.


The Caring Congregation Ministry Implementation Guide

The Caring Congregation Ministry Implementation Guide

Author: Karen Lampe

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 1791013392

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Pastors and church leaders genuinely want to care for people in their congregations and communities. But pastors cannot care for an entire church, and most laypersons don't have the training to do it. The Caring Congregation Ministry is a model for person-to-person care that's been proven to work in small and large churches across the U.S. It is a laity-centered ministry, where laypersons receive rigorous training and then are commissioned to serve as Congregational Care Ministers, caring for others in their own congregation and their extended community. This remarkable approach to congregational care was first developed by author Karen Lampe and her team at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, in Kansas City. It has been tested, refined, and strengthened, and is now being adapted in all sorts of congregational settings. One early adapter was co-author Melissa Gepford, who launched a Caring Congregation Ministry in her own rural church. Together, they have created this immensely practical guide for any pastor or leader seeking to create a congregational care ministry. This Implementation Guide is the main book for getting started. It introduces the ministry model and explains the Five Essentials which form the ministry's foundation. It is extremely practical, full of checklists and other tools to help pastors and other leaders understand (and explain) this way of providing congregational care. The Implementation Guide also includes a section focused on the crucial component of this ministry–the Congregational Care Minister, or CCM. This section fully describes the characteristics of CCM's, how to recruit people to this ministry, how to discern if candidates are a good fit, and how to conduct the CCM training over a multi-week period. It details the critical information CCM's must know, and the behaviors and habits they must practice in order to be effective. Note that the companion book, The Caring Congregation Ministry: Care Minister's Manual, is required for the CCM training. It serves as a training workbook, which then becomes the CCM's personal reference manual.


Book Synopsis The Caring Congregation Ministry Implementation Guide by : Karen Lampe

Download or read book The Caring Congregation Ministry Implementation Guide written by Karen Lampe and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastors and church leaders genuinely want to care for people in their congregations and communities. But pastors cannot care for an entire church, and most laypersons don't have the training to do it. The Caring Congregation Ministry is a model for person-to-person care that's been proven to work in small and large churches across the U.S. It is a laity-centered ministry, where laypersons receive rigorous training and then are commissioned to serve as Congregational Care Ministers, caring for others in their own congregation and their extended community. This remarkable approach to congregational care was first developed by author Karen Lampe and her team at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, in Kansas City. It has been tested, refined, and strengthened, and is now being adapted in all sorts of congregational settings. One early adapter was co-author Melissa Gepford, who launched a Caring Congregation Ministry in her own rural church. Together, they have created this immensely practical guide for any pastor or leader seeking to create a congregational care ministry. This Implementation Guide is the main book for getting started. It introduces the ministry model and explains the Five Essentials which form the ministry's foundation. It is extremely practical, full of checklists and other tools to help pastors and other leaders understand (and explain) this way of providing congregational care. The Implementation Guide also includes a section focused on the crucial component of this ministry–the Congregational Care Minister, or CCM. This section fully describes the characteristics of CCM's, how to recruit people to this ministry, how to discern if candidates are a good fit, and how to conduct the CCM training over a multi-week period. It details the critical information CCM's must know, and the behaviors and habits they must practice in order to be effective. Note that the companion book, The Caring Congregation Ministry: Care Minister's Manual, is required for the CCM training. It serves as a training workbook, which then becomes the CCM's personal reference manual.


The Rural Church

The Rural Church

Author: Edward Wesley Hassinger

Publisher:

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9780687365876

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Book Synopsis The Rural Church by : Edward Wesley Hassinger

Download or read book The Rural Church written by Edward Wesley Hassinger and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


God's Country

God's Country

Author: Bradley Roth

Publisher: Herald Press

Published: 2017-08-25

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781513802398

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With the poetic force of Kathleen Norris and the pastoral warmth of Eugene Peterson, Kansas pastor Roth sets forth a vision for vibrant rural churches, for ministry in congregations that bear a profound sense of both loss and possibility, and for harvesting fruits of transformation and renewal. Rooted in stories from Scripture, his own ministry, and interviews with rural church leaders, Roth offers a sturdy theological and practical alternative to church-growth strategies that rely on success stories and flashy metrics. Reclaiming God’s vision for the rural church, Roth writes, means learning how to praise, abide, watch, pray, grow, work the edges, die, befriend, and dream. In God’s Country, rediscover the stunning abundance of God’s presence in rural communities. Name the ways that the rural church testifies to God’s glory and goodness. Learn to live and love and minister right where you are, no matter how small or unassuming it may seem. Winner of the Award of Merit, Christianity Today 2018 Book Awards, The Church / Pastoral Leadership category. Free downloadable study guide available here.


Book Synopsis God's Country by : Bradley Roth

Download or read book God's Country written by Bradley Roth and published by Herald Press. This book was released on 2017-08-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the poetic force of Kathleen Norris and the pastoral warmth of Eugene Peterson, Kansas pastor Roth sets forth a vision for vibrant rural churches, for ministry in congregations that bear a profound sense of both loss and possibility, and for harvesting fruits of transformation and renewal. Rooted in stories from Scripture, his own ministry, and interviews with rural church leaders, Roth offers a sturdy theological and practical alternative to church-growth strategies that rely on success stories and flashy metrics. Reclaiming God’s vision for the rural church, Roth writes, means learning how to praise, abide, watch, pray, grow, work the edges, die, befriend, and dream. In God’s Country, rediscover the stunning abundance of God’s presence in rural communities. Name the ways that the rural church testifies to God’s glory and goodness. Learn to live and love and minister right where you are, no matter how small or unassuming it may seem. Winner of the Award of Merit, Christianity Today 2018 Book Awards, The Church / Pastoral Leadership category. Free downloadable study guide available here.


Rural Social Work

Rural Social Work

Author: T. Laine Scales

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-07-03

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1118673093

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A thoughtful text integrating strengths, assets, and capacity-building themes with contemporary issues in rural social work practice Now in its second edition, Rural Social Work is a collection of contributed readings from social work scholars, students, and practitioners presenting a framework for resource building based on the strengths, assets, and capacities of people, a tool essential for working with rural communities. This guide considers methods for social workers to participate in the work of sustaining rural communities. Each chapter features a reading integrating the themes of capacity-building and rural social work; discussion questions that facilitate critical thinking around the chapter; and suggested activities and assignments. Rural Social Work, Second Edition explores: Important practice issues in rural communities, including the challenges of working with stigmatized populations such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, the homeless, and people living with HIV/AIDS Practice models that hold special promise for rural social workers, including evidence-based practice and community partnership models Newer research tools such as asset mapping, social network analysis, concept mapping, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Exploring how social workers can integrate the tremendous resources that exist in rural communities into their practice, Rural Social Work, Second Edition provides a solid introduction to the complex, challenging, and rewarding work of building and sustaining rural communities.


Book Synopsis Rural Social Work by : T. Laine Scales

Download or read book Rural Social Work written by T. Laine Scales and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-07-03 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thoughtful text integrating strengths, assets, and capacity-building themes with contemporary issues in rural social work practice Now in its second edition, Rural Social Work is a collection of contributed readings from social work scholars, students, and practitioners presenting a framework for resource building based on the strengths, assets, and capacities of people, a tool essential for working with rural communities. This guide considers methods for social workers to participate in the work of sustaining rural communities. Each chapter features a reading integrating the themes of capacity-building and rural social work; discussion questions that facilitate critical thinking around the chapter; and suggested activities and assignments. Rural Social Work, Second Edition explores: Important practice issues in rural communities, including the challenges of working with stigmatized populations such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, the homeless, and people living with HIV/AIDS Practice models that hold special promise for rural social workers, including evidence-based practice and community partnership models Newer research tools such as asset mapping, social network analysis, concept mapping, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Exploring how social workers can integrate the tremendous resources that exist in rural communities into their practice, Rural Social Work, Second Edition provides a solid introduction to the complex, challenging, and rewarding work of building and sustaining rural communities.


The Forgotten Church

The Forgotten Church

Author: Glenn Daman

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Published: 2018-05-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0802496458

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Winner of Christianity Today's Award of Merit for The Church/Pastoral Leadership 2018 Whether it’s because of the 2016 Presidential election or books like “Hillbilly Elegy,” Americans are beginning to understand the tremendous influence people in rural areas have in our nation. But rural America—not urban America—is also the new center of poverty. Thus, the rural church stands at the crossroads of strength and struggle. It carries the gospel, the very hope and power needed. Yet its ministry efforts are hamstrung because urban and suburban churches often don’t realize their need for rural churches, and the rural church itself rarely understands its unique assets and values. The Forgotten Church addresses these problems and: provides an overview of rural ministry explores opportunities recent trends provide showcases the remarkable benefits of suburban, urban, and rural churches working together This book is essential for any pastor—whether from the city or the sticks—because we are one body and we need each other.


Book Synopsis The Forgotten Church by : Glenn Daman

Download or read book The Forgotten Church written by Glenn Daman and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of Christianity Today's Award of Merit for The Church/Pastoral Leadership 2018 Whether it’s because of the 2016 Presidential election or books like “Hillbilly Elegy,” Americans are beginning to understand the tremendous influence people in rural areas have in our nation. But rural America—not urban America—is also the new center of poverty. Thus, the rural church stands at the crossroads of strength and struggle. It carries the gospel, the very hope and power needed. Yet its ministry efforts are hamstrung because urban and suburban churches often don’t realize their need for rural churches, and the rural church itself rarely understands its unique assets and values. The Forgotten Church addresses these problems and: provides an overview of rural ministry explores opportunities recent trends provide showcases the remarkable benefits of suburban, urban, and rural churches working together This book is essential for any pastor—whether from the city or the sticks—because we are one body and we need each other.


The Practice of Pastoral Care

The Practice of Pastoral Care

Author: Carrie Doehring

Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corp

Published: 2014-12-05

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0664238408

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The Practice of Pastoral Care has become a popular seminary textbook for courses in pastoral care and a manual for clinical pastoral education. In it, Doehring encourages counselors to view their ministry through a trifocal lens that incorporates premodern, modern, and postmodern approaches to religious and psychological knowledge. Doehring describes the basic ingredients of a caregiving relationship, shows how to use the caregiver's life experience as a source of authority, and demonstrates how to develop the skill of listening and establishing the actual relationship. This new edition elaborates on and expands the author's previous work, adding an intercultural perspective that gives more attention to religious pluralism in the pastoral care setting. It offers a road map for using a step-by-step narrative, relational, embodied approach to spiritual care that respects the unique ways people live out their values and beliefs, especially in coping with stress, loss, and violence. Readers will be able to confidently and professionally offer pastoral care and counseling to members of their congregations or other places of ministry.


Book Synopsis The Practice of Pastoral Care by : Carrie Doehring

Download or read book The Practice of Pastoral Care written by Carrie Doehring and published by Presbyterian Publishing Corp. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Practice of Pastoral Care has become a popular seminary textbook for courses in pastoral care and a manual for clinical pastoral education. In it, Doehring encourages counselors to view their ministry through a trifocal lens that incorporates premodern, modern, and postmodern approaches to religious and psychological knowledge. Doehring describes the basic ingredients of a caregiving relationship, shows how to use the caregiver's life experience as a source of authority, and demonstrates how to develop the skill of listening and establishing the actual relationship. This new edition elaborates on and expands the author's previous work, adding an intercultural perspective that gives more attention to religious pluralism in the pastoral care setting. It offers a road map for using a step-by-step narrative, relational, embodied approach to spiritual care that respects the unique ways people live out their values and beliefs, especially in coping with stress, loss, and violence. Readers will be able to confidently and professionally offer pastoral care and counseling to members of their congregations or other places of ministry.


Portable Roots

Portable Roots

Author: Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2014-06-19

Total Pages: 139

ISBN-13: 1443861758

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Bicultural individuals often articulate the themes of rootlessness, identity formation, cultural dissolution, and “home”, and reframe them into theological questions. Bicultural individuals who have spent their formative childhood years living in, and interacting with, two or more cultures can be found in immigrant, refugee, transnational, missionary, borderland, and hybrid communities. This book challenges the traditional understanding of human development. In particular, Portable Roots: Transplanting the Bicultural Child underscores the contextual and religious nature of development. By focusing on identity formation in children and adolescents who have grown up in more than one culture, the parameters of stage theorists such as Erik Erikson are expanded. Three samples of children of missionaries formed the initial research population. The children were raised in boarding schools, mission schools, and international schools – settings which have been likened to a hybrid or third culture or interstitial space. These original three samples first articulated a phenomenon of “rootlessness” that sent the author on an investigative journey spanning three decades. After interviewing many persons with portable roots, the study’s last sampling in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2012, articulated what was needed for the end of this quest: how transplanted roots thrive in terra firma.


Book Synopsis Portable Roots by : Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner

Download or read book Portable Roots written by Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-06-19 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bicultural individuals often articulate the themes of rootlessness, identity formation, cultural dissolution, and “home”, and reframe them into theological questions. Bicultural individuals who have spent their formative childhood years living in, and interacting with, two or more cultures can be found in immigrant, refugee, transnational, missionary, borderland, and hybrid communities. This book challenges the traditional understanding of human development. In particular, Portable Roots: Transplanting the Bicultural Child underscores the contextual and religious nature of development. By focusing on identity formation in children and adolescents who have grown up in more than one culture, the parameters of stage theorists such as Erik Erikson are expanded. Three samples of children of missionaries formed the initial research population. The children were raised in boarding schools, mission schools, and international schools – settings which have been likened to a hybrid or third culture or interstitial space. These original three samples first articulated a phenomenon of “rootlessness” that sent the author on an investigative journey spanning three decades. After interviewing many persons with portable roots, the study’s last sampling in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2012, articulated what was needed for the end of this quest: how transplanted roots thrive in terra firma.