Transitions: Leading Churches through Change

by David N. Mosser (Editor), Robert Schnase (Foreword by)

Overview

Preacher and teacher David Mosser offers practical and spiritual guidance for pastors struggling to manage and respond to changes in the economy, changes in their neighborhoods, changes in their denominations, changes in the congregation, changes in culture, and the life changes present in every parishioner's life. Wise words from authors such as Alyce McKenzie, David Buttrick, Joanna Adams, and Thomas Long all contribute to this most timely and helpful book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664235437
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	04/04/2011
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	706,279
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David N. Mosser is Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas. He also teaches preaching at Perkins School of Theology and is the author or editor of eleven books on preaching, including The Stewardship Companion.

Editorial Reviews

"This volume is filled with theologically smart and practically wise counsel—a welcome conversation partner, a thoughtful companion, and thus an essential guide to every preacher who pastors in settings that request change and create high anxiety. Thank you, David Mosser, for amassing the best theorists and practitioners to create a volume that will be gratefully and eagerly consumed by pastoring preachers!" David Fleer, Professor of Homiletics, Lipscomb University



"This collection of rich essays has about it a contagion concerning the bewilderment, burden, and wondrous mystery of ordained ministry. It plunges into the 'mind-numbing changes' that the church now faces. It offers, in response to that change, reflection by experienced veterans of preaching who offer their self-critical honesty, their deep wisdom, and their humor that prevents taking themselves too seriously. The reader will be engaged by alert colleagues who exhibit joyous readiness for the challenge of ministry in hard times." Walter Brueggemann, Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary



"This book is a treasure trove of wise, practical advice for pastors who want to be transformative leaders and for congregations who want a future. We can't follow a living God without being willing to move into the future, this book teaches us how to do that more faithfully." William H. Willimon, Bishop, North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church

From the Publisher

The foreword to this book describes living in a "white-water world." How does a pastor or congregational leader succeed in ministering and preaching in the midst of life-altering transitions? Mosser (homiletics, Southern Methodist Univ.) brings together an impressive collection of essays, sermons, and other short pieces centered on the theme of preaching in the face of incredible changes among pastors, congregations, and church communities. Each selection approaches the topic with its own distinctive writing style, ranging from the academic to actual sermons to case studies, along with a few humorous musings. The results are a fine mixture of high-quality scholarship and practical, helpful content. Just the chapters on preaching to the elderly, neighborhoods in transition, funeral sermons, and pastoral transitions would make this a worthwhile purchase. VERDICT While many of these pieces contain excellent material on the themes of change, the preaching perspective limits the audience to clergy largely in conservative mainline denominations, although with some crossover appeal to evangelicals. Recommended to applicable seminaries and academic libraries.—Ray Arnett, Fremont Area Dist. Lib., MI

Library Journal