The Empowerment Church

by Stewart, Carlyle Fielding

• ISBN13: 9780687068500
• ISBN10: 0687068509
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Abingdon Pr

Summary

The purpose of the church is simple: it exists to bring people to salvation in Christ, and to positively and permanently change lives for the good of the community. The way the church fulfills this basic calling is through empowerment: endowing people with the capacity to be recipients and catalysts of positive social and personal change. Too many churches in North American have neglected this basic calling, argues the author. If they are to become thriving centers of personal and social transformation, then they must work to empower the whole person through ministries that work at the same time for spiritual, relational, and communal transformation. Only when they thus empower individuals to be disciples of Jesus Christ in ways that then transform those individuals' personal relations and the communities in which they live will the church have fulfilled its basic calling.

Author Biography

Carlyle Fielding Stewart III is pastor of Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Introduction	13	(8)
Jesus' Ministry of Empowerment	21	(8)
Toward a Model of Spiritual Empowerment	29	(42)
``Come, Holy Ghost!'' Reclaiming a Tradition of Holiness	29	(6)
Naming Our Sin and Evil and Not Shaking Hands with the Devil	35	(2)
Converting the Church to Christ	37	(8)
What Happened to Saving Souls?	40	(5)
The Church Should Corporately Repent of Its Sins	45	(2)
Returning to the Wesleyan Revival Spirit and Word-Centeredness in Church Life	47	(8)
B.Y.O.B. and Banishing Scriptural Illiteracy	47	(8)
Getting Back to Basics: Spiritual Training for Christian Leaders	55	(1)
Establishing a Christian Training Academy	56	(4)
Cultivating an Ethos of Gifting	60	(5)
Developing a Spiritual Gifts Ministry	60	(5)
Strengthening Your Vertical Connection	65	(2)
Summary Questions	67	(2)
Summary Checklist	69	(2)
Clergy Empowerment: To Be Seers, Builders, and Leaders of God's People	71	(16)
Claiming Your Spiritual Authority	71	(2)
Discover Your Spiritual Gifts	73	(1)
Is It Well with Your Soul?	74	(1)
Developing and Implementing a Vision Plan for Your Church	75	(4)
What Visions Do	79	(1)
Establishing Your Moral Authority	80	(2)
Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize	82	(1)
Summary Questions	83	(2)
Summary Checklist	85	(2)
Lay Empowerment: To Be Hearers, Believers, and Doers of God's Word	87	(18)
Becoming Followers of the Way and Using Your Gifts for God's Glory	87	(3)
Qualifying to Lead Spiritually and Modeling Christian Spirituality	90	(1)
Developing a Consistent Devotional Life	90	(2)
Putting On and Keeping On the Full Armor of God: Doing Battle Against the Enemy God's Way	92	(2)
A Hungering for God's Word	94	(1)
Being Good Stewards of God's Time, Talent, and Treasure	95	(2)
Can I Get a Witness?	97	(2)
Don't Run the Church, Serve the Church!	99	(1)
Summary Questions	100	(2)
Summary Checklist	102	(3)
Truly Empowered: Reclaiming Our Evangelical and Spiritual Heritage	105	(26)
Appendixes
Appendix A	109	(4)
Appendix B	113	(6)
Appendix C	119	(12)
Notes	131	(2)
Bibliography	133