How to cultivate a thriving Christian community in a disconnected culture

What does it mean to be a Christian community? And what does it mean to lead one? How does a pastor address today’s challenges, from lack of faith in institutions, to conflict in the church, to the tension between tradition and innovation?

C. Kavin Rowe addresses these topics and a multitude of others in this collection of keen essays. Bite-size and conversational, yet deeply rooted in Scripture and recent pastoral theology, the essays in Leading Christian Communities reflect on the shaping of Christian leaders for the flourishing of their communities. Pastors and seminarians, as well as all those involved in church ministry, will find inspiration and insight in these pages.

Table of Contents

Foreword 
Part 1: The Acts of the Apostles and Thriving Communities 
          The Pattern of Life in Thriving Communities 
          Networking—a Feature of Thriving Communities  
          Visibility—a Feature of Thriving Communities 
          Room for the Weak in a Thriving Community 
          Incorporating Disagreement in a Thriving Community 
          Why Does Your Community Exist? 
          Suffering Is Part of Thriving 
Part 2: Christian Leadership  
          Humor as a Mark of Life-Giving Leadership 
          Becoming a Christ-Shaped Leader 
          The Formation of a Scriptural Imagination 
          Cultivating Resilience 
          Failure as Christ-Shaped Leadership 
          Making the Connections 
          Leadership and the Discipline of Silence 
          Christian Success 
          Listening Well 
          Orienting Hierarchies toward the Good 
          Our Most Significant Experiences Are in Institutions 
          “Power” in the Christian Sense Is the Concrete Shape of Hope 
          Leading in the Age of the Image 
          The Church and the Vanishing Neighbor 
Part 3: Traditioned Innovation 
          Traditioned Innovation—a Biblical Way of Thinking 
          Pentecost as Traditioned Innovation 
          Navigating the Differences in the Gospels 
          The New Testament as an Innovation of the Old 
          King Jesus 
Part 4: Christmas and Easter 
          Why Christmas Needs Easter 
          Why Easter Needs Christmas