"Klaits' work is not only a major contribution to the anthropology of religion and the social scientific literature on AIDS, but also a significant intervention into debates on how Africanists should approach their understandings of sociality and relatedness."--Matthew Engelke, author of A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church "The reader gets the sense of being a welcome party to a close conversation. Klaits sustains a direct, clear, humane, and jargon-free voice, and we come away with a radically challenged understanding of what it means in an African church to be 'born anew'."--Richard Werbner, author of Tears of the Dead: The Social Biography of an African Family

Our culture is changing at a dizzying rate. But the church seems to be left behind, caught in subcultural backwaters that have little or no impact on mainstream society. Based on the quantitative research of his group, Percept, Regele analyzes the forces in our culture and discusses how the church can fulfill its mission in the face of them.

Ecclesiology (the theology of the church) is a neglected topic in contemporary theology. At a time when the institutional churches are experiencing dramatic decline, says Michael Jinkins, we need a new understanding of what the church is. In this work, Jinkins challenges the church to rediscover its vocation, to follow Jesus Christ even at the risk of its institutional survival. In the face of a variety of perceived threats to its future, he reminds us that the church is most alive and attractive when it forgets about itself and its safety. The ecclesiology Jinkins puts forward is born from a sense of "life in Christ" that can, he argues, face institutional death to recover a remarkable freedom. Without detailing the face of the future church, he asserts his faith that there is indeed life after death for the church as the worshipping body of Christ.

What if true church growth begins by allowing the church to die? In The Death and Resurrection of the Church, Jeremy Myers proposes that most modern church growth practices are built on faulty premises. Some of these are even rooted in the false promises that Satan offered to Jesus in the wilderness temptations. If we want the church to grow and thrive, it first needs to die to these false promises. The church must stop striving after strength, power, fame, riches, and glory, and instead follow Jesus into death. Only then will we become the church that Jesus wants. Since there can be no resurrection without death, the church must die so that it can rise again. This revised and updated book now includes discussion questions, perfect for a small group setting. Books in the “Close Your Church for Good” series: Preface: Skeleton Church Volume 1: The Death and Resurrection of the Church Volume 2: Put Service Back into the Church Service Volume 3: Dying to Religion and Empire Volume 4: Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks Volume 5: Cruciform Pastoral Leadership

Death of the Church Victorious traces, with abundant documentation, the roots and modern growth of “Protestant Zionism” and dispensational theology, i.e., God working in different ways in different periods of time, from its roots in the late 1700’s to the late 1900’s. The new and unique ideas presented during that time were considered unorthodox, even heresy. But through dedication and hard work, men such as John Darby, George Muller, Hudson Taylor, and Dwight Moody changed Christianity from victory to defeat, and exalted “Zionism” over the “Gospel Church.” Now non-dispensational theology is considered unorthodox. Moody’s Northfield conferences, the Civil War, and the publication of Scofield’s popular Reference Bible allowed “Zionism” and dispensationalism to become legitimate Biblical doctrines in America. If Protestants find a monk’s retreat from the world wrong, is their otherworldliness any the less objectionable? “Ovid Need’s study of Death of the Church Victorious, Tracing the Roots and Implications of Otherworldliness is a work of major importance. A false spirituality and an otherworldliness of anti-Biblical characters have long plagued the Christian Church and hobbled its progress… “Pastor Need analyzes those views in evangelical circles which are working against the future of the faith. His study is a summons to a Biblical faith and power. It is written with grace and insight. Its timelessness cannot be overstated. It is a joy to read, and a work that the Christian community should be grateful for.” ~ R. J. Rushdoony (from the Foreword) “Pastor Need brings to light dispensationalism’s dire effects: pessimism instead of prevailing, cowardice instead of conquering, isolation instead of involvement – a system offering a “rapturous” sneaking away at “any moment” instead of encouraging the saints to subjugate and subdue the enemy until victory is obtained!” ~ Dave MacPherson (from the foreword) This title is a direct print from and original copy.

A good death was as central to Methodism as conversion and holiness. Based on an analysis of 1,200 obituaries, this book contributes to an understanding not only of death but of the history of Methodist and evangelical Nonconformist piety, theology, social background and literary expression in mid-nineteenth-century England, and focuses on the tension in Nonconformist allegiance to both worldly and spiritual matters.