Review\n"Branson and Martinez offer valuable questions and perspectives pastors should consider as they deal with our changing multiethnic reality. This book is a valuable conversation starter for churches facing issues connected to that reality." -- George Yancey, professor of sociology at Baylor University and author of Beyond Racial Division\n"Today, the American church―perhaps now more than ever―needs to embody God's reconciliation and hope. The Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate movements have clearly shone a light on the deep brokenness and racism in our society. Relevant for this racial moment, Churches, Cultures and Leadership offers an amazing sociocultural framework for church leaders to discern God's initiatives, even amid our society's fracturing. Branson and Martinez thoughtfully provide insights, scriptural resources, and group exercises to assist local congregations in becoming a healing signpost and an instrument of God's peace in their communities." -- Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University and cofounder of Stop AAPI Hate\n"The United States is in the midst of a profound diversity explosion that will continue to transform the church for decades to come. Mark Branson and Juan Martinez supply a proven multidisciplinary model of practical theology, which enlarges our capacity to navigate these increasing intercultural complexities." -- Robert Chao Romero, author of Brown Church and associate professor in Chicano/a and Central American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles\n"I assign Churches, Cultures, and Leadership in my courses in Spanish as well as in English. Every church in the United States is called to serve a diverse community and to respond to an ethnically and racially conflicted environment. Every pastor is called to learn the art of discerning the movement of the Holy Spirit in their neighborhood. This new version responds to the signs of the times and is designed to help readers to better process the contents. As the church struggles to transform itself to channel the pure wine of the gospel in the multiplicity of modern wineskins, we need this book to inspire, support, and guide us." -- Alexia Salvatierra, academic dean of Centro Latino at Fuller Theological Seminary\n"The mission of God (missio Dei) is multicultural in nature. God's plan for his church involves the union of different people from different backgrounds and cultures living together as one body in Christ. However, most churches in the United States continue to be ethnically or culturally homogeneous. The ones that attempt to be multiethnic usually tend to exhibit the dominance of one culture or group. Christian leaders are key to bridging the gap between God's ideal and our current congregational practice, but they can only do it with a proper theological, cultural, and leadership framework. This book, in practical and insightful ways, provides this necessary framework. I highly recommend it!" -- Octavio Javier Esqueda, professor and director of PhD and EdD programs in educational studies at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University\n"This book is a unique and profound combination of social science research, theological insights, and personal practical experience that serves as a fantastic field guide for those wanting to build multiethnic congregations. It is a must-read for pastors, lay leaders, and volunteers wanting to struggle for the elusive dream of a truly inclusive, equitable, and multicultural worshipping community." -- Brad Christerson, professor of sociology at Biola University and coauthor of Growing Up in America: The Power of Race in the Lives of Teens\n"Churches, Cultures and Leadership has been a required text in my multicultural ministry course for over a decade. In this revised edition, Branson and Martinez continue to provide ministry students and church leaders with an invaluable resource for envisioning multiethnic congregations participating effec

Churches, Cultures, and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities

Politics & Social Sciences

Martinez, Juan F.

Branson, Mark Lau

Social Sciences

IVP Academic

A second edition of Memories, Hopes, and Conversations is now available! With helpful updates throughout, the new edition features five new chapters on Appreciative Inquiry applied in real congregations. When First Presbyterian Church in Altadena, California, was asked to provide a mission study report for its pastor nominating committee, the congregation was afraid they would find themselves engaging in busy work and producing a report that would wind up in a file gathering dust. They then asked professor Mark Lau Branson to consult with them on writing this report. He invited them to join in a process of Appreciative Inquiry--a transformational organization change process--which resulted in a major shift in congregational conversations and a new sense of hope. Memories, Hopes, and Conversations recounts the experience of First Presbyterian and outlines a process that any congregation can utilize to harness the energies of the congregation at all levels of its common life. Branson first leads readers through the foundations of Appreciative Inquiry and bracingly explores biblical texts for understanding the practice in a faith context. He then outlines and illustrates a four-step process--Initiate, Inquire, Imagine, Innovate--that creatively employs constructive conversations and questions to evoke storytelling and spur imaginations. Branson persuasively demonstrates how concentrating on needs and problems can mire a congregation in discouragement and distract it from noticing innate strengths. By focusing on memories of the congregation at its best, members are able to construct "provocative proposals" to help shape the church’s future. Grounded in solid theory and real-life practice, Memories, Hopes, and Conversations is a groundbreaking work of narrative leadership and the first book to apply the principles of Appreciative Inquiry to the lives of congregations.

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Alban Institute

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry, Missional Engagement, and Congregational Change

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations is a powerful resource that introduces readers to Appreciative Inquiry—a transformational organizational change process that focuses on the strengths of a group. The second edition has been revised and expanded throughout, featuring important new materials on leadership and missional frameworks, as well as five chapters from pastors describing the transformational experiences of their churches and neighbors using Appreciative Inquiry. The book offers a dynamic overview of the Appreciative Inquiry process, real stories of change in action, and a wealth of practical resources for churches to pursue this journey of appreciation, imagination, and change.The second edition includes dynamic stories of Appreciative Inquiry in practice from: Christopher Gobrecht (New Covenant United Methodist Church, Maryland), Jim S. Amstutz (Akron Mennonite Church, Pennsylvania), Jean Burch (Community Bible Church, California), Andrew Menzies (Camberwell Baptist Church, Australia), Michael R. Wilson (Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church, Pennsylvania).

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

In this updated edition, Mark Lau Branson outlines a process that any congregation can utilize to harness the energies of the congregation at all levels of its common life. Branson first leads readers through the foundations of Appreciative Inquiry and bracingly explores biblical texts for understanding the practice in a faith context.

Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruptions: Confronting Modernity's Wager

Leaders in congregations and Christian organizations wrestle with an unraveling of the world in which they have little experience and training. While they are offered unending resources by experts on leadership, some with claims to biblical blueprints, the challenges seem mismatched to those methods. Branson and Roxburgh frame the situation as one in which "modernity's wager"--the conviction that God is not necessary for life and wisdom and meaning--has defined the Western imagination. Because churches and leaders are colonized by this ethos, even when God is named and beliefs are claimed, approaches to leadership are blind to God's agency. Branson and Roxburgh approach this challenge as a work in practical theology, attending to our cultural context, narratives of God's disruptive initiatives in Scripture, and a reshaping of leadership theories with a priority on God's agency. With years of experience as teachers, consultants, and guides, they name practices which lead to more faithful participation. Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruption is wide-ranging in cultural and biblical scholarship, challenging in its engagement with numerous leadership studies, and practical with its focus toward the on-the-ground life of churches and organizations.

Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruptions

Roxburgh, Alan J.

Cascade Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Branson, Mark Lau. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Branson, Mark Lau

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Branson, Mark Lau. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Churches, Cultures, and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry, Missional Engagement, and Congregational Change

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry, Missional Engagement, and Congregational Change

Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruptions

Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruptions: Confronting Modernity's Wager