Jeff McLain

This is a review of Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life by  William H. Willimon  and  Stanley Hauerwas . Published in 1996 by Abingdon Press , the book thoroughly examines each line of the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Jesus and revered by the church through the ages. As a resource, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life offers unmatched historical, theological, and practical insights from two esteemed theologians who have been renowned for their collaboration and their collective work in academia.  Featuring an Introduction and ten chapters, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life is just a little over 100 pages, but is an exhaustive look at the pattern of prayer taught by Jesus and instituted for the disciples and early church. In the Introduction, the authors state that this is a prayer “you must learn to pray,” because each line marks the journey of the Christian.[1] From the start they suggest, we pray the Lord’s Prayer,

This is a review of The Lord’s Prayers by Elton Trueblood. Released in 1965, on Harper & Row Publishers, Elton Trueblood’s classic work was developed after he gave a presentation at St. Paul’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, in 1964. Though he was supposed to present on another topic for the week, he felt nudged to announce a series on the prayers of Jesus. He shares that the book, The Lord’s Prayers emerged from that experience. After that week he shares that he was determined to “put my meditations on this important theme into book form,” and that presentation with “a number of weeks, mostly alone in the wilderness, have made the writing possible.”[1] This reflective book and work has, as he states, a universal appeal and application to more than just that singular context. Though theology is shared, this is not a theological book, and at the same time it is not a general Christian living book either. Elton Trueblood’s The Lord’s Prayers walks a fine line between those two wor

 

This is a book review of Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion by Helen Cameron and Catherine Duce. Released in 2013, by SCM Press , Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion is a book that looks at what integrity-driven, ethical, and formal research entails for those ministry and mission-minded students who are developing research projects and dissertations in their graduate programs. Throughout Researching Practice in Ministry and Mission: A Companion , the authors unpack academic, theological, ideological, and spiritual postures and practices for top-level dissertation research. Each author stems from a long line of academic research experience and achievement, offering a needed strength of resource to this topic. This book systematically lays out the approaches and methods of research that are needed for academic projects in practical theology. The authors define practical theology as drawing belief and action closer together.[1] As a resource,

The story of the early church in Acts shows us that an effective church is one where individuals are devoted "to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" - and they are devoted to these things together in community (Acts 2:42). In I Am A Church Member by Thom S. Rainer , Rainer suggests that belonging to a local church involves "praying together as a family for the church where God has placed us" (Rainer 2013, 60). He suggests the local church also needs individuals who "seek to pray together for the church" (Rainer 2013, 63). Similarly, in his book Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Rainer's experience and research show that when a church was no longer praying and hoping together, "the church started dying" (Rainer 2014, 68). For this reason, Thom S. Rainer suggests committing to praying for our churches, asking God to keep us "passionate and believing prayer as the lifeblood of the church" (R

Over the past few weeks, I have been reflecting on what it means to effectively pray for those I work alongside. I have also been considering the profound impact prayer may have or does have on the interactions we have with the guests we walk alongside. First, out of these reflections and considerations I have  developed a  framework   from the Lord's Prayer  ( Matthew 6:9-13 )  to more holistically pray for the spiritual journey of our guests. However, I also have been looking at what it means to pray before meeting with our guests to orient  our one-on-one sessions with deeper spiritual engagement, aiming to embody what it means to be present and fully surrendered to what God is doing.  For those who don't know, I work for   Water Street Mission , an organization in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that has focused on advancing the kingdom of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ and by doing missionary, relief, and rescue work of all kinds. I serve as the Director of Pastoral Minis