From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations
Diana Butler Bass, Joseph Stewart-Sicking
The book reads as a series of first-hand dispatches from pastors on the road to an emerging style of congregational vitality, one centered on the creative and intentional reappropriation of traditional Christian practices such as hospitality, discernment, contemplative prayer, and testimony. From Nomads to Pilgrims is the highly anticipated follow-up to The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church by Diana Butler Bass. Both books offer a hopeful view of a new and often overlooked renaissance occurring in mainline Protestant congregations.
The contributors to From Nomads to Pilgrims are innovators, representing some of the most dynamic leadership voices among today’s clergy. Their experiences challenge conventional thinking and inspire creative experimentation. Any congregational leader searching for positive models will appreciate these insightful essays. Contributors include:
Scott A. Benhase on Taking Risks
Kenneth H. Carter Jr. on Saying Yes and Saying No
Lillian Daniel on Speaking Faith
Todd M. Donatelli on Engaging Creativity
Eric Elnes on Practicing Worship
Paul E. Hoffman on Forming Faith
Steve Jacobsen on Navigating Culture
Gary D. Jones on Making Space for the Sacred
J. Mary Luti on Enlarging Hospitality
Timothy Shapiro on Proclaiming God’s Word
N. Graham Standish on Paying Attention to God
Roy Terry on (Re)Discovering Tradition
The book also features new essays by the editors:
Diana Butler Bass on Pilgrimage Congregations
Joseph Stewart-Sicking on Christian Practices in the Congregation
These are stories of congregations that have found a new sense of purpose through Christian practices that they have made their own. Each in its own way has discovered a renewed sense of identity and mission on the pilgrimage to vitality. These are stories worth sharing.
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Praise for the Book
“Bass imagines a new future for the mainline church. She sees both the forest and the trees, the great tradition and the local parish. Her vision is clear, her passion obvious, and her analysis solid.”—Christian Century
“The Practicing Congregation offers a different vision of mailine churches today. Congregational leaders and people in and out of the pews who care about their churches will enjoy its straightforward and optimistic tone, and may see their own churches in a new, more hopeful light.”—Presbyterians Today
About the Authors
Diana Butler Bass holds a Ph.D. in American religious history from Duke University and is the author of four critically acclaimed books on contemporary spirituality and Christian practice. She has taught at Westmont College, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Macalester College, and Rhodes College. Currently, she is Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, a Lilly Endowment–funded study of mainline Protestant vitality at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. She is the author of Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith (Harper San Francisco, 2006) and is working on Episcopalians in America (Columbia University Press, 2007).
Joseph Stewart-Sicking holds an Ed.D. in counseling from the University of Cincinnati and a certificate in theological studies from the Virginia Theological Seminary. Currently, he is the Project Associate for the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice where he conducts field research on vital mainline Protestant congregations and teaches courses on congregational studies and pastoral psychology.
ISBN# 1-56699-323-7
Alban No. AL313
paper, 179 pages
2005
In stock
$17.00
($13.60 for members)
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