 |
|
 
|
| Always in Rehearsal: The Practice of Worship and the Presence of Children |
|
By James H. Ritchie, Jr. (Discipleship Resources, 2005)
Warning: This book will create marvelous messes and changes in your worship! So writes an enthusiastic reviewer of Ritchie's latest book about how the generations (particularly, the younger ones) experience worship.
Authentic worship happens when the full community is together. Yes, that includes wiggling, loud-whispering, sometimes crying kids. Always in Rehearsal lays a foundation for including all God's children in worship and provides a wealth of ideas for implementing this approach in your congregation.
|
| By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism |
|
|
| Change Management Resources |
|
|
| Creating an Authentic Youth Ministry |
|
By Edward M. Fashbaugh II (Discipleship Resources, 2005)
Fashbaugh offers a gimmick-free approach to bringing new vitality to your church’s youth ministry. Instead of outlining the latest trends and quick-fixes for getting teens to church, this book examines six principles that will ensure the vitality and stability of a long-term, soul-impacting ministry to and with teenagers. These principles will help you develop a high-impact and lasting ministry with your teens.
|
| Creative Preaching on the Sacraments |
|
By Lester Ruth, Craig A. Satterlee (Discipleship Resources, 2001)
Creative preaching can help you move the sacraments to the center of your congregation's spirituality by making Scripture, personal experience, and the sacraments intersect in such a way that a wealth of meanings surfaces.
|
| Dancing With Words: Storytelling as Legacy, Culture, and Faith |
|
by Ray Buckley (Discipleship Resources, 2003)
In Dancing With Words, the reader will discover that storytelling can enable hearers to view history, values, culture, faith, life-lessons, and other critical elements in ways that may be easily assimilated in memory.
|
| Faith & Money: Understanding Annual Giving in Church |
|
by Michael D. Reeves and Jennifer Tyler
(Discipleship Resources, 2003)
Grounded in the gospel, Faith & Money identifies the challenges of fund development in local congregations, develops a consistent theological foundation for fund development, and guides congregations in building worthy expectations and attitudes on how to fund ministry.
|
| Four Tools for Lay Leader Selection |
|
|
| Global Resources for Worship: A Bibliography |
|
|
| Go Preach! A Primer for Beginning Preachers |
|
by Jack Gilbert
This book offers practical tips for people who are called on to preach occasionally, but who are not formally trained as pastors. (Discipleship Resources, 2002)
|
| Insiders/Outsiders: A Theology of Evangelism (Vital Ministry in the Small-Membership Church Series) — An e-Book in pdf |
|
By Karen Spencer-Barnes and M. Eugene Barnes. (Discipleship Resources, 2004.)
Who are the outsiders, the strangers, in your community? Reach out to them today!
|
| Job Descriptions & Leadership Training for Local Church Leaders 2009-2012 |
|
By Betsey Heavner (Discipleship Resources, 2009)
In addition to individual positions within congregational life, the book explores biblical roots and dimensions of leader development. It includes new thinking based on field research and training leaders in a variety of settings.
|
| Lay Speaking Ministries: Guide for Conference & District Committees 2005-08 |
|
By James W. Lane (Discipleship Resources)
Guidelines for the administrative and support systems of the lay speaking program. Includes sample annual reports, job descriptions for the director of lay speaking, and a litany for consecration. Designed for lay speakers and those who plan for lay speaking ministries.
|
| Learning Organizations: Resource List |
|
|
| List of Worship Resources for Pastors and Other Worship Planners and Leaders |
|
The resources listed here, with some updates and additions, were recommended in "Public Worship Module for Local Pastors' Licensing School," prepared by Daniel T. Benedict, Jr., and Thom Blackstone.
|
| Loving God With All Your Mind: Equipping the Community of Faith for Theological Thinking |
|
By Thomas R. Hawkins (Discipleship Resources, 2004)
Thomas Hawkins interprets some of the new brain science in ways that provide practical help for local church teachers and leaders. This easy-to-read book is filled with examples and stories that help congregational leaders think together from their variety of styles to make meaningful decisions about the organization and educational systems in their churches. Teachers and leaders will learn more about how to develop critical thinking skills and how to overcome emotional resistance as they lead groups in theological reflection.
|
| The Ministry of Christian Education and Formation: A Practical Guide for Your Congregation |
|
This manual provides practical suggestions to build and guide a ministry team through the many tasks and responsibilities of forming, informing, and transforming others as Christian disciples.
|
| Movement and Drama Resource List |
|
|
| Official United Methodist Worship Books |
|
|
| Orientation for New and Returning Teachers: What Every Teacher Needs to Know About (in pdf format for downloading) |
|
A 2 1/2-hour workshop designed to help teachers become familiar with the content of the 10 booklets in the What Every Teacher Needs to Know About series.
|
| Paradigms and Change Resource List |
|
|
| The Past Matters: A Chronology of African Americans in The United Methodist Church |
|
By Marilyn Magee Talbert (Discipleship Resources, 2004)
The story of African Americans in the church offers insight into national history because Methodism parallels the history of the United States.
|
| Planning and Conducting Worship |
|
|
| The Practice of Spiritual Leadership (in pdf) |
|
Please note that you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free download from Adobe) to read pdf files.
|
| Supplemental Resources for Services of Ordination, Commissioning, and Consecration |
|
The following is a list of mostly musical resources for services of ordination, commissioning, and consecration from The United Methodist Hymnal, The United Methodist Book of Worship, and The Faith We Sing, intended to supplement the listing of hymns in "Services for the Ordering of Ministry in The United Methodist Church" (2004).
|
| Resources for Black History Month: A Brief Bibliography |
|
This brief bibliography was compiled by Upper Room and General Board of Discipleship staff. It is by no means exhaustive, but it does represent a sampling of materials that are available.
|
| Resources for Worship and Prayer in the Face of Violence |
|
|
| Resources for the Study of Baptism and Related Issues |
|
|
| Sacramental Faithfulness: Guidelines for Receiving People from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
|
This paper was written by the Reverends E. Brian and Jennifer L. Hare-Diggs and edited by Dr. Gayle C. Felton. It presents to The United Methodist Church the results of a conference on baptismal theology and practice in The United Methodist Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and makes recommendations toward an official denominational position.
|
| Stewardship Bibliography |
|
|
| Styles of Worship Resource List |
|
|
| Systems Resource List |
|
|
| The Taizé Community Resources |
|
|
| Ten Excellent Books for Leaders in Spiritual Formation |
|
|
| Ten Good Books About the Postmodern Paradigm |
|
|
| This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion by Gayle Carlton Felton |
|
(Discipleship Resources, 2005)
This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion is a study guide of the General Conference-approved document. An all-in-one resource, this book is for both participants and leaders. It's divided into seven sessions, providing commentary on the history, practice, and principles of Holy Communion in United Methodist congregations.
|
| This Is Your Baptismal Liturgy (pdf file) |
|
A Resource for Understanding The United Methodist Ritual of Baptism. (This document is a pdf file. You must have Acrobat Reader installed to open it. The Reader is a free download from Adobe's website.
|
| To Walk in Integrity: Spiritual Leadership in Times of Crisis |
|
By Stephen Doughty (Upper Room Books)
Our troubled world needs spiritual leadership now more than ever. Doughty's To Walk in Integrity provides a model for spiritual leadership in times of crisis. Examining the biblical understanding of integrity, he identifies nine key qualities. He tells powerful stories of people who acted with integrity in difficult situations despite great personal cost.
|
| "Transformation of the Heart" Video |
|
This video was created in November 2004 by first-year students at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. They are members of a student-led Covenant Discipleship group that meets weekly for one hour.
|
| Wedding Guidelines (courtesy of Violetville UMC, Baltimore, MD) |
|
Violetville United Methodist Church, Baltimore, Maryland, has graciously allowed us to post their "Wedding Guidelines" and "Wedding Contract" on our website.
|
| Wesley Resources |
|
|
| Worship Resources for the Installation of Church Leaders |
|
The following resources are suggested as tools for churches seeking to install, commission, or recognize church leaders. This page was prepared in response to a request for resources to commission ushers, greeters, and church school teachers.
|
| A Worship Tool Box |
|
|
| Your Ministry of Singing in the Church Choir |
|
By Roger N. Deschner (Discipleship Resources, 2005)
As one reviewer of Your Ministry of Singing in the Church Choir says, "The vocation of the choral singer is just as important as the clergy in embodying worship. This book articulates beautifully what it means to be a part of that special and important community in the life of the church."
|
| Discussion Guide for Your Ministry of Singing in the Church Choir (pdf) |
|
 Roger Deschner's Your Ministry of Singing in the Church Choir is full of wisdom for anyone involved in the practice and performance of music in the church. This Discussion Guide by Dean B. McIntyre is designed to provide questions for thought, discussion, even debate. Order the book from Discipleship Resources.
|
| Pulpit & Pew Research Reports from Duke University |
|
|
|
