"What does it mean to be a United Methodist?" The answer to this question, says Kenneth H. Carter, Jr., is to live a particular way of life and follow a particular form of discipleship. The distinctive aspects of that way of discipleship are contained in what has recently come to be known as "the practices." Christian practices are things done together, over time, in response to God's grace. They constitute an extended argument against some harmful alternative in the culture; they address and define a fundamental human need; they come to focus in worship; and they add up to a way of life. Carter contends that there are 6 essential practices in the United Methodist tradition: (1) searching the scriptures, (2) generosity with the poor, (3) testimony, (4) singing, (5) Holy Communion, and (6) Christian conferencing. Written primarily for those who lead in United Methodist congregations, this book will give the reader not only an understanding of what the central United Methodist practices are, but also how they can be taught. Being formed in and by these practices does not happen overnight; it happens across a lifetime of observing the practices in others and trying them out oneself. Neglecting the Christian practices--failing to attend to them--can mean a life devoid of much of the purpose and power that life in the Spirit can hold.

A Way of Life in the World: Spiritual Practices for United Methodists

Religion & Spirituality

Carter, Jr. Kenneth H.

Christian Books & Bibles

ABINGDON PRESS *

Carter writes a piece which will stir the sympathies of pastors thwarted by their own efforts to emulate a congregation's successful predecessor. Within months, these pastors see little success as fatigue and burn-out set in. All Christians are graced with specific and distinctive spiritual gifts. Too often pastors forget that God has given them particular gifts for ministry. While all pastors must attend to the different tasks of congregational ministry, they need to discover those functions for which they have been particularly gifted. When they begin to make these gifts the focus of their ministry, then deep personal satisfaction and connection with others results. This book is written to help pastors overcome the false belief that if their ministry is to succeed, it must emulate that of a high-profile orator. Carter explains that when we make our distinctive gifts the center of our ministry, we lose the illusion that we are in control, and instead trust that God will complement us with others' gifts to meet the needs of God's people. Key Features: includes a "consumer guide" to spiritual gift inventories; resource lists including retreat centers, congregations, and publications. Key Benefits: Provides pastors a biblical/theological framework for understanding ministerial gifts.

The Gifted Pastor

This booklet with CD-ROM contains a step-by-step guide with tools enabling a pastor to plan, implement and promote the Confronting the Controversies program. Features include: sermon starters - scripture references - materials for logo, banner, flyer, and more.  Confronting the Controversies is a 7-session group study of “tough issues” based on Adam Hamilton’s sermons on these topics.  The study is designed as a “fishing expedition,” with tools and helps that will enable congregations to make the study a church and community wide outreach event, including sermon starters and promotion aids. The seven sessions are:  The Separation of Church and State Creation and Evolution in the Public Schools The Death Penalty Euthanasia Prayer in Public Schools Abortion Homosexuality

Confronting the Controversies - Pastor's Guide: Biblical Perspectives on Tough Issues

Few services are more important in the life of the congregation than the service of baptism. Part of the Just in Time! series, Baptism Services, Sermons, and Prayers provides prayers, litanies, sermon ideas, and other resources designed to render baptism meaningful to the entire congregation. It also includes ideas for special baptismal services, such as those associated with confirmation and youth retreats.

Just in Time! Baptism Services, Sermons, and Prayers

Reference

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Based on the Revised Common Lectionary and broadly ecumenical, this addition to the Just In Time! series provides creative liturgies, sermon helps, and prayers for Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, and the 40 days of Easter.

Just in Time! Easter Services, Sermons, and Prayers

In a brief introductory chapter, the author addresses the question of why we need to confess our sins, and offers three reflections in response: Sin as Pride, Sin as Violation of Boundaries, Sin and the Possibility of Forgiveness. The book includes seventy prayers of confession and words of assurance, with accompanying liturgies and music suggestions (Scripture and hymn indexes included!). The prayers are offered in three sections, confession and pardon related to: The Human Condition, The Holy Scriptures, The Liturgical Year. The Just in Time! Series offers brief, practical resources of immediate help for pastors at an affordable price.

Just in Time! Prayers and Liturgies of Confession and Assurance

Prayer nurtures our faith and encourages spiritual growth. This thematic Bible study calls individuals and small groups to a deeper life of prayer during the season of Lent. It guides readers to spiritual transformation and application of Bible study to everyday, practical life experience. By coming near the cross through prayer, we can know and imitate heart of Christ.  This thematic Bible study is designed to be used by individuals and small groups during the Lent 2016 season. In addition to the main content, each chapter offers questions for reflection and discussion, a brief prayer, and a focus for the week. The focus emerges from the chapter content and encourages readers to engage in a spiritual practice or do something specific that will help them grow in faith. On the whole, this thematic seasonal Bible study series is designed for transformation and application of Bible study to everyday, practical life experience.

Near the Cross Large Print: A Lenten Journey of Prayer

When the Holy Spirit showed up with power in Acts 2, it’s unlikely many of the believers present in Jerusalem that day had any idea the magnitude of what was in store. The Spirit began building the church then and is still active in the world today. In these four sessions based on Acts, Carter explores the work of the Holy Spirit in three areas: shaping, guiding, and disrupting. He maintains that the Holy Spirit creates Christian community, shapes and reshapes community, and works through groups of believers to speak to the culture. In Holy Spirit and Community, you’ll learn how to recognize the Spirit at work in your community. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Holy Spirit and Community

A wave of new Christian churches are emerging to reach unchurched and dechurched people who live in a culture that is increasingly non-religious and multi-religious. These new forms of church gather and network with people who typically have never been to church. The new faith communities listen to people and go where they are on the journey toward Jesus. They are deeply ecumenical but do not lose their distinctiveness because they learn fresh ways to communicate their identity through discipleship. Fresh Expressions began in the United Kingdom where it ignited over 3000 new faith communities. In the United States the movement is putting down roots in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Ken Carter and Audrey Warren offer this book as a group study for church leaders and congregations who are in the grip of Holy Spirit motivation to renew their tradition by reaching people who are dechurched or not yet in a discipleship relationship with Jesus. Each chapter includes two Bible study experiences for group conversation. "I have been an observer of and cheerleader for the Fresh Expressions movement ... from the beginning, and I've lamented how slow US congregations have been to welcome and adapt this movement for our setting. Now, as an admirer and ally of the United Methodist mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, I am thrilled to see Fresh Expressions gaining this hearing in United Methodism in the United States. May thousands of congregations be inspired and equipped by Audrey Warren and Kenneth Carter's new book!" - Brian D. McLaren, author of The Great Spiritual Migration "I was most fortunate to have Ken Carter and Audrey Warren as my guides as we explored Fresh Expressions of Church all across England. Now you are fortunate enough to have them lead you on a similar journey through the pages of this book. I hope you will be as excited as I was to find Church as I always dreamed it could be, moving outside the walls of sanctuaries and radically following the Holy Spirit's lead to new spaces and new people. This is the Church of Acts and the early Methodists. I hope it is also the Church of the twenty-first century. Enjoy your journey!" --Sue Haupert-Johnson, Resident Bishop of the North Georgia Episcopal Area, The United Methodist Church “If you’ve felt God calling your church into a new kind of mission but you haven’t been sure how to go about it — this book is a great place to start. Get ready for a dose of hope.” —Kenda Creasy Dean, Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church and Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary “This book is an essential group study for United Methodists who are serious about God’s mission. Well researched, clearly written, and insightful, this volume includes carefully developed Bible studies and reflection questions for every chapter. —Elaine A. Heath, dean, Duke Divinity School “I owe my spiritual life to a group of pioneer missionaries who followed Jesus into my world. Fresh Expressions is a new way to do this.” —Jorge Acevedo, lead pastor, Grace Church, a multi-site United Methodist congregation “Marvelous stuff! Pray God this timely book, with its readable and inspirational content and Bible studies, finds its way into the hearts, minds, and decisions of every congregation in every conference!” —Martyn Atkins, former General Secretary of the Methodist Church in Britain "The traditional church should not fear the loss of their traditions in fresh expressions of church, but rather find hope that their traditions can be passed down to generations to come." - Luke S. Edwards (http://www.lukesedwards.com)

Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church For People Not In Church

Warren, Audrey

Embracing the Wideness contrasts a generous orthodoxy with the culture wars that seek to drive a wedge between Christians with deep faith convictions. A generous orthodoxy is possible for The United Methodist Church because scripture supports both a confessing movement and a reconciling movement. In addition to our divergent understandings of holiness in The United Methodist Church, we apparently have two distinct conceptions of church. These two conceptions of church present in American Methodism grew from seeds planted in the earliest practice of British Methodism: <ol>
<li>A separatist church, which views holiness as a calling that separates us from the world—“come out from among them and be separated” (2 Corinthians 6:17). Here holiness is a quality that distinguishes Christians from the world.</li> <li>An activist church, which understands holiness as a movement for change in an unjust world. The boundaries between church and society are blurred, with the “wheat and tares” growing together (Matthew 13) until God’s final judgment.</li> </ol>
At times, a denomination is able to hold these two conceptions of church in tension. And at times, as in recent experiences of American Christianity, there is fragmentation and division. The division may finally be the result of clearly articulated values that are not compatible. And the division may also be the result of how leaders do harm to each other. What great things could be accomplished if we rediscovered orthodoxy in service of the healing, instead of dividing, of our bodies—our churches! Such a generous orthodoxy would help us not to become immersed in the emotional processes that pit people against each other. Such a generous orthodoxy would keep us from becoming stuck in cycles of harmful collusion and escalating conflict. Such a generous orthodoxy would know that the source of our capacity to be healed of our schisms is a miracle beyond our human power or goodness or intelligence.

Embracing the Wideness: The Shared Convictions of The United Methodist Church

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