General Recommendations
An Introduction to Joy by Rob Bell
Totally Like Whatever, You Know? by Taylor Mali
Theories of Israel’s Emergence by Dr. Dale Manor
The Problem of Jericho by Dr. Dale Manor
The Bible Project YouTube page
My Next Gen Preacher Search Sermon
Books That Greatly Impacted Me
- Ruth Hailey Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry. Purchase here.
- Steven D. Boyer and Christopher A. Hall, The Mystery of God: Theology for Knowing the Unknowable. Purchase here.
- Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination. Purchase here.
- Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick-Fix. Purchase here.
- Makoto Fujimura, Art and Faith: A Theology of Making. Purchase here.
- John Mark Hicks, Searching for the Pattern: My Journey in Interpreting the Bible. Purchase here.
- ___________, Women Serving God: My Journey in Understanding Their Story in the Bible. Purchase a copy here.
- Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. Purchase here.
- Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Bretler, The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently. Purchase here.
- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. Purchase here.
- ________, The Screwtape Letters. Purchase here.
- ________, The Great Divorce. Purchase here.
- Adam S. McHugh, The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction. Purchase here.
- Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. Purchase here.
- Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Purchase here.
- __________, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. Purchase here.
Books I Read Every Year
- Ruth Hailey Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry. Purchase here.
- Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick-Fix. Purchase here.
- Adam S. McHugh, The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction. Purchase here.
- Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. Purchase here.
Women in Ministry
Community Without Barriers – Community Without Barriers is an extension of the Manhattan Church of Christ and the work of Dr. Thomas Robinson and Dr. Amy Bost Heneger. Community Without Barriers has the stated goal of showing that “the scriptures never intended to silence or disempower women in general in any aspect of the church’s work, public or private.” There are downloaded resources including sermons, study guides detailing the arguments for female inclusion in the church. There is also a Spanish translation of the Community Without Barriers Study Guide.
Where the Spirit Leads – This site has a directory of gender inclusive and egalitarian churches of Christ in the United States and Canada. Some of the information in the directory is outdated, but the list is still generally helpful in discovering gender inclusive and egalitarian churches of Christ. There is also an article titled “Focusing on the Questions” by Wiley Clarkson which presents a brief case for inclusion of women in church leadership on the basis of Galatians 3:26-29.
Women in Ministry – A small website seeking to lend support to women in ministry serving in Churches of Christ. The site has several state goals as part of their mission:
- to encourage each other through conferences, gatherings, and online communities
- To provide support as sojourners on this common road
- To connect women who are geographically isolated from other women in
ministry - To walk alongside each other on our spiritual journeys
- To provide and share resources relevant to our community
Christians for Biblical Equality International (CBE) – This site contains a multitude of resources including articles, blogs, book reviews and more. There is also an academic journal connected with CBE called the Priscilla Papers.
Beth Allison Barr, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth. Purchase here.
Michael F. Bird, Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry. Purchase here.
Aimee Byrd, Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: How the Church Needs to Rediscover Her Purpose. Purchase here.
John Dickson, Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons. Purchase here.
Eldon J. Epp, Junia: The First Woman Apostle. Purchase here.
John Mark Hicks, Searching for the Pattern: My Journey in Interpreting the Bible. Purchase here.
____________, Women Serving God: My Journey in Understanding Their Story in the Bible. Purchase here.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Purchase here.
Dorothy Lee, The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision for Church Leadership. Purchase here.
Scot McKnight, Junia Is Not Alone. Purchase here.
Philip B. Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters. Purchase here.
John G. Stackhouse Jr., Partners in Christ: A Conservative Case for Egalitarianism. Purchase here.
Church of Christ Specific
- This article consists of an interview conducted with the Minter Lane Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas who appointed two females elders on December 8, 2019.
- This article was published on March 26, 2019 and consists of a list of 10 Churches of Christ from across the nation that were then transitioning to inclusion of women in leadership in some fashion at their church. The list provides links to the Church’s websites with resources explaining their study of this issue.
- This article is a follow-up to an article that listed churches of Christ that transitioned to more open roles for Women in the assembly. This article articulates the problems and arguments that are involved in appointing women as elders in the churches of Christ.
- An article presenting 20 different passages from scripture that include women speaking or having authority over a man in the assembly and elsewhere.
- This article discusses the results of a 2018 long-term study showing the negative effects traditional church of Christ theology has had on women.
- This is a link to many articles concerning gender and church leadership by Richard Beck on his excellent blog “Experimental Theology.”
Non-Church of Christ Specific
- This is an article by Ben Witherington III about why arguments against women in ministry aren’t biblical.
A podcast series called PreacHer. This podcast exalts female voices in the act and art of preaching. The reasoning behind this offering of female preaching is that churches are shrinking because of their harmful theology against women.
Magnifications – Online Jounral of Biblical reflections written by women in the Ston-Campbell movement.
Restoration Movement
ACU Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts, and Personal Papers Finding Aids
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) website
Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ website
Disciples of Christ Historical Society
Grave Markers of Restoration Movement Leaders
History of the Restoration Movement
International Churches of Christ Website
Origins of the Restoration Movement: An Intellectual History
Restoration Church History Research Guide @ Harding School of Theology Library
Spire [Previously the North American Christian Convention]
Stone-Campbell Resources @ Abilene Christian University Digital Commons
Theological Commitments in Churches of Christ
“Four Reasons Why I’m Church of Christ.” Richard Beck. Read here.
“Churches of Christ Versus Evangelicalism: Five Contrasts.” Richard Beck. Read here.
“A Little Good News Today: Lessons From Our Past to Propel Us Into The Future.” Wes Crawford. Restoration Quarterly, 63, no 2 2021, 103-111.
“Twenty-Five Years of Restoration Scholarship: The Churches of Christ Part I.” Richard T. Hughes. Restoration Quarterly, 25 no 4 1982, 233-256.
“Twenty-Five Years of Restoration Scholarship: The Churches of Christ Part II.” Richard T. Hughes. Restoration Quarterly, 26 no 1 1983, 39-62.
Discovering Our Roots: The Ancestry of Churches of Christ. By C. Leonard Allen and Richard T. Hughes. Purchase here.
Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ. By Gary Holloway and Douglas Foster. Purchase here.
Renewal for Mission: A Concise History of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. By W. Dennis Helsabeck, Jr., Gary Holloway, and Douglas Foster. Purchase here.
Renewing Christian Unity: A Concise History of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). By Mark G. Toulouse, Gary Holloway, and Douglas Foster. Purchase here.
Renewing the World: A Concise Global History of the Stone-Campbell Movement. By Gary Holloway and Douglas Foster. Purchase here.
The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement. Edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams. Purchase here.
Hard-Fighting Soldiers: A History of African American Churches of Christ. By Edward J. Robinson. Purchase here.
Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of Churches of Christ in America. By Richard T. Hughes. Purchase here.
The Stone-Campbell Movement: A Global History. Edited by D. Newell Williams, Douglas A. Foster, and Paul M. Blowers. Purchase here.
The Christian Baptist by Alexander Campbell. See also here.
The Christian System by Alexander Campbell
Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny, And the Christian’s Relation to It by David Lipscomb
Declaration and Address by Thomas Campbell.
History of the Christian Churches in the West by Barton W. Stone.
The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery
The Millennial Harbinger by Alexander Campbell. Also here.
The Third Birth of a Nation by S. R. Cassius.
The Christian Chronicle – Church Positions, Other Positions, Products and Services
Freed-Hardeman – Church Postings
Harding School of Theology Ministry – Job Opportunities
Harding University – Church Connections
Heritage Christian University – Church Openings
Lipscomb University – Community
Lubbock Christian University – Current Ministry Openings
Abilene Christian University – MinistryLink
Ohio Valley University – Churches Looking for Ministers
Oklahoma Christian University – Ministry Jobs
Pepperdine University – Church Jobs [Contains both Church of Christ and Christian Churches/Churches of Christ job posting]
York College – Ministry Openings
Carolina Christian College – Employment Opportunities
Central Christian College of the Bible – Ministry Openings
Dallas Christian College – Job Postings
Great Lakes Christian College – Church Employment
Hope International University – Ministry Opportunity Network
Kentucky Christian University – Ministry Openings
Lincoln Christian University – Open Ministry Listing
Louisville Bible College – Open Ministry Opportunities
Manhattan Christian College – Ministry-Based Career Opportunities
Mid-Atlantic Christian University – Jobs Archive
Milligan University – Current Job Positions
Nebraska Christian College – Ministry Positions
Ozark Christian College – Ministry Openings
Point University – Churches and Ministries
St. Louis Christian College – Ministry Opportunities
Summit Christian College – Job Postings