Sentences with phrase «congregational members»

But is it okay for a spiritual leader to emotionally / spiritual abuse congregational members?

Reverse the thinking and processes: inventory the work being done the congregational members, then describe it in One (1) sentence.

Not exact matches

Any exploration of congregational world view therefore requires attention to the way a church sees and deals with its individual members, its corporate body, and the wider world.

The difference is often detectable in the very way that a church member may express her congregational affiliation; «I go to that church on Brady Street» is very different from «I belong to a great community of people, and we call ourselves St. Paul Lutheran Church.»

Through the discourse of its members the congregational story establishes its world setting.

Congregational pastoral care occurs when members reach out through very concrete acts such as sitting by the bedside of someone who's ill, listening as parents describe their fears and grief when a teenager leaves home, offering hope to someone in despair, or praying for those who suffer on the margins of the church and society.

But reconciliation in the New Testament means primarily reconciliation to God and transformation of persons who then work for transformation in the world - not carte blanche provision for whatever views and life - styles members bring to congregational life.

And just as families select artifacts that suggest past happiness in order to soften the blows inflicted by actions of family members in less happy times, congregational histories can create illusions: authors might relate in two sentences the experience of an unhappy pastorate that led to two decades of misery — and distort the whole story by dwelling on the beauty of the old sanctuary, hence suggesting general happiness.

Throughout the trouble the structure of the congregational household is painfully manifest to its members.

The alarm system of the congregational household immediately alerts its members.

My working definition of the congregation is this: A congregation is a group that possesses a special name and recognized members who assemble regularly to celebrate a more universally practiced worship but who communicate with each other sufficiently to develop intrinsic patterns of conduct, outlook, and story.9 We can sharpen our appreciation of congregational structure by comparing its thick culture with that of other religious associations.

As long as a congregation seems to surmount its problems of social interaction, it is easy to forget its congregational aspects and to view its members as free agents who spontaneously collaborate to practice high Christian precepts.

Decisions — about budgets, for example, or about organizational and programming priorities — are constantly being made in committee and congregational meetings, and these determine the style of church life, for they crucially affect members» perception of what the church is all about.

Its worship may be more varied today than it was in earlier decades, and its leadership may now be more representative of its members as a whole, but the fundamental patterns of congregational culture that most of us encountered as children will probably cloak our aging and burial.

Congregations with a loyal membership tend to grow, members tend to give, and there is more congregational activity.

Members of a church may identify the focus of their common hope with the phenomenon of warmth20 and point to specific occurrences of warmth in places or phases of congregational life.21 Members of Corinth Methodist experienced warmth at various physical and temporal thresholds that bound its life to its larger neighborhood.

He identifies and clearly articulates three subcategories: cultural Christians (those who identify themselves as Christian because they view it as synonymous with being American), congregational Christians (those who identify themselves as Christian because they or a family member have some loose connection to a church), and convictional Christians (those who identify as Christian because of the fervency of their religious conviction).

Prompted by his continuing experience with the institute courses, he began a serious research effort, convinced of the need «to find new ways to talk about the congregational body that can provide deeper insight into its nature, and enrich conversation with and among its members.»

(Again, in the Pew study an overwhelming 97 percent of respondents from churches with «high access» to Internet communications said that e-mail «helped congregational staff and members stay in touch.»)

(1) clarity, strength and persuasiveness of Christian conviction and commitment; (2) good preaching and the ability to design and lead meaningful worship; (3) conviction of and commitment to pastoral calling as integral to Christian ministry and pastoral care; (4) deep sensitivity to the needs of people individually and in groups; (5) concern for, dedication to, and skill in working for congregational development and growth as a part of faithfulness, for the nurture and retention of members who show signs of slackening commitment, for the motivation and training of lay persons to work for church growth; (6) capacity to generate enthusiasm in other people, personal warmth, competence, spiritual authenticity; (7) ability to encourage and generate a spirit of unity in a congregation; and (8) organizational development and conflict management skills.

The formation of a consensus is considerably less important for this exercise than the development of an understanding of the range of values held by members of the same congregational household.

In virtually every aspect of congregational expression, the discourse of members is in some manner narrative.

Not only does narrative convey the experience of corporate existence, it also characterizes the continuing form of symbolic interchange among members.14 The rich discourse that constitutes congregational life occurs almost entirely in story form.

Using data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, a national sample of religious congregations and members, Stroope and his team, composed of two researchers from Hope College and Baylor University, measured the dependent variable of college completion and the independent variables of individual biblical literalism and congregational biblicCongregational Life Survey, a national sample of religious congregations and members, Stroope and his team, composed of two researchers from Hope College and Baylor University, measured the dependent variable of college completion and the independent variables of individual biblical literalism and congregational bibliccongregational biblical literalism.

Townes, a longtime member of the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, often emphasized the importance of faith in his life, and was honored with the 2005 Templeton Prize for contributions to «affirming life's spiritual dimension.»

MaryJane also serves on the board of directors of Fresno Metro Ministry and is a member of the First Congregational Church of Fresno.

Community groups included Northern Berkshires for Racial Justice, Northern Berkshire Community Collation, Common Folk Artist Collective, the First Congregational Church of Williamstown, Lift Ev» ry Voice, and members of the North Adams and Pittsfield Police Departments.

Dual Relationships Within Congregational Life About the Author: Barney Self, Ed.D. is a clinical member of AAMFT, serves as Pastoral Counseling Minister at Forest Hills Baptist Church, and is an adjunct teacher in Trevecca's Family Therapy program.