Asbury Theological Seminary

Aaron Perry, ed., Developing Ears to Hear: Listening in Pastoral Ministry, the Spiritual Life, and Theology is our new book release in the title "Pietist/ Wesleyan Studies" sub-series
 

This is a book about listening. It is about active, engaged listening which discovers,in the process, redemptive moments which can bring healing, hope, and a renewed sense of direction and purpose in relationships. The authors are all practiced in listening, whether it be listening in worship, listening to those we are discipling, or really listening to the Word of God through the practice of lectio divina. This collection of essays is a prescription for a new period of health and vitality for the church.

 For more information on this book, click here.

Zaida Maldonado P'erez, The Subversive Role of Visioins in Early Christian Matyrs, is our new book release in the title 'Early Church Studies" sub-series
 

From Back cover:

During the persecution of the early church, the stories of the witness of the martyrs— later known as the Acts of the Martyrs--became a critical part of the church’s reading and devotional material. Why? This book argues that the reading of the Acts, and especially their visions, did more than just encourage the persecuted church; they reveal a nuanced view of God, the world, power, and powerlessness, death and life that at times subverts what may have been construed as normal or dominant by either church or the Greco-Roman society. This nuanced view may in fact reflect an underlying grass-roots or “popular theology” not readily available to the reader
through other early church literature. The author refers to this act of upsetting, undercutting or reversing "things as they are" for the sake of things "as they should be" as the subversive dimensions of the visions of the martyrs.
The argument for the subversive dimensions of these visions also has implications for today’s church. While we are fascinated by the witness of these Christians—true and legendary alike—we also tend to dismiss it as models of extraordinary sacrifice which we are not all called to imitate, or as instruments used to support church authority. This book honors this witness as well as the challenges these visions may suggest for personal and ecclesial praxis in today’s world.

 For more information about this book and to purchase a copy click here.

 The third consultation is planned to take place on 20 -23 October, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.  The focus for this consultation will move from the descriptive and normative issues of consultations one and two to deploying this data in practical field test. This data will be deployed to engage and interpret six cases concerning contemporary revitalization movements currently developing in Toronto, Canada. Each of these cases will concern diasporic ministry initiaves that work with particular transnational North American. Globalization and trans-nationalism are two of the dominant features impacting twenty-first century Christianity. Most of these immigrants come from the fastest growing sector of Christianity, the Global South, which is also the site of rapid growth among Moslems.

The venue will be Campus of Tyndale, as well as a large multicural congregation in Toronto, which reflects the diversity of the city and functions as a center for revitalization within it. The consultation is planned for around 35 participants and a public froum that will share the results of the three year project with pastors and church leaders from this meteropolitan area and beyond.