Resources From the ISM and Emergent Movement
Reconstructing Catholicism: How Faithful Catholics Are Embracing an Inclusive, Emergent Way of Being the Church
By Rev. Trish Sullivan Vanni, PhD
In recent years, a movement to form Catholic faith communities outside the umbrella of Rome has been gaining momentum in the U.S. Most trace their roots to a centuries-old trajectory that began in Europe, "Old Catholicism." However, these emergent U.S. Catholic jurisdictions are also shaped by a particularly American sensibility, particularly the experience of the renewal of the Church promised by Vatican II. This book explores the genesis of these faith communities, and describes for readers what is the same and what’s different in this emergent, independent, and inclusive way of being Catholic.
Tradition and Adaptation: Interjurisdictional Perspectives on Inclusive Catholicism in 2022 (Independent Catholicism)
Edited By Rev. Dr. Jayme Mathias
In a movement where most books are written and published by individuals, this first-of-its-kind work brings together the collective wisdom of more than 75 lay and ordained leaders in the Inclusive/Independent Catholic movement throughout the United States. Topics range from sacramental theology, ecclesiology and mental health, to patriarchy, sexism and racism in church and society. The diverse group of participants discuss what Inclusive Catholics can agree on, the (im)possibility of greater union within the movement, and current events like the establishment of the New Catholic Community, the Roman Catholic Church's Synod on Synodality, and the persecution of Inclusive Catholic clergy and communities by the hierarchs of the Roman Catholic Church. This work is intended as a historical document that might reflect the best collective thinking on Inclusive Catholicism in 2022!
INCLUSIVE PASTORAL LEADERSHIP AND THEOLOGY IN THE CHURCH: On LGBTQIA+ Inclusion: An Apologetics Without Apologies
By Rev. Michael Angelo D'Arrigo
Trauma experienced by LGBTQIA+ individuals within churches can be deeply distressing. Many face discrimination, rejection, and prejudice due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. This can lead to emotional and psychological harm, including:
1. **Rejection:** LGBTQIA+ individuals may be shunned or excluded from their church communities, which can result in feelings of isolation and abandonment.
2. **Conversion Therapy:** Some churches have promoted harmful practices like conversion therapy, attempting to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, leading to severe psychological trauma.2. **Conversion Therapy:** Some churches have promoted harmful practices like conversion therapy, attempting to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, leading to severe psychological trauma.
3. **Internalized Shame:** LGBTQIA+ individuals raised in religious communities that view their identity as sinful may experience internalized shame and guilt.
4. **Loss of Faith:** The trauma can lead to a loss of faith or strained relationships with one's religious beliefs.
5. **Mental Health Issues:** The stress and trauma can contribute to mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
6. **Spiritual Crisis:** It can create a spiritual crisis, as individuals grapple with the conflict between their identity and religious teachings.
Please use this book to help articulate why being fully inclusive is absolutely necessary and scriptural. Use it as Apologetic if that’s what you need, just utilize it’s message to fulfill the Great Commission.
The Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of Christianity
By Eric Elnes
The Phoenix Affirmations, named for the town in which the principles were created and the mythological bird adopted by ancient Christians as a symbol of resurrection, offers disillusioned and spiritually homeless Christians and others a sense of hope and a more tolerant, joyful, and compassionate message than those we often hear from the media and some Christian leaders. These twelve central affirmative principles of Christian faith are built on the three great loves that the Bible reveals: love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self. They reflect commitments to environmental stewardship, social justice, and artistic expression as well as openness to other faiths. Transcending theological and culture wars, inclusive and generous in spirit and practice, these principles ask believers and seekers alike to affirm their Christian faith in a fresh way.
Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It
By Brian D. McLaren
From the author of A New Kind of Christianity comes a bold proposal: only doubt can save the world―and your faith.
"An honest, vital conversation... will help you live fuller and breathe easier. He illuminates the reality that belief and doubt are not opposites" ―Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Love Warrior
"Important book…Helps you find a deeper and wiser faith " ―Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, author of The Universal Christ
Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart.
Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages―Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony―offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.
God After Deconstruction
By Thomas Jay Oord and Tripp Fuller
Deconstruction is hard!
Bad views of God and harmful experiences lead many of us to deconstruct. But we’re right to run from the nonsense we’ve been taught and from those who hurt us.
God After Deconstruction will not be welcomed by traditionalists. It’s not a book for people who want the status quo or who think conventional theology works. It isn’t for people who just want to tweak a bit what they’ve been taught.
Thomas Jay Oord and Tripp Fuller offer an open and relational vision of God. This vision makes sense; it fits our experience; it’s livable. The open and relational view aligns with our deep intuitions about love and freedom.
God After Deconstruction is for those deconstructing and those wanting help after deconstruction. It’s for people in the fire and those with scars.
God After Deconstruction is an adventure for lovers in tumultuous times!
Buy this book!
Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
By Rachel Held Evans
Are you struggling to connect with your church community? Do you find yourself questioning the core beliefs that you once held dear? Searching for Sunday, from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans is a heartfelt ode to the past and a hopeful gaze into the future of what it means to be a part of the modern church.
Like millions of her millennial peers, Rachel Held Evans didn't want to go to church anymore. The hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, the scandals--to her, it was beginning to feel like church culture was too far removed from Jesus. Yet, despite her cynicism and misgivings, something kept drawing Evans back to church.
Evans found herself wanting to better understand the church and find her place within it, so she set out on a new adventure. Within the pages of Searching for Sunday, Evans catalogs her journey as she loves, leaves, and finds the church once again.
Evans tells the story of her faith through the lens of seven sacraments of the Catholic church--baptism, confession, holy orders, communion, confirmation, the anointing of the sick, and marriage--to teach us the essential truths about what she's learned along the way, including:
Faith isn't just meant to be believed, it's meant to be lived and shared in community
Christianity isn't a kingdom for the worthy--it's a kingdom for the hungry, the broken, and the imperfect
The countless and beautiful ways that God shows up in the ordinary parts of our daily lives
Searching for Sunday will help you unpack the messiness of community, teaching us that by overcoming our cynicism, we can all find hope, grace, love, and, somewhere in between, church.
The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why
By Phyllis Tickle
Rooted in the observation that massive transitions in the church happen about every 500 years, Phyllis Tickle shows readers that we live in such a time right now. She compares the Great Emergence to other "Greats" in the history of Christianity, including the Great Transformation (when God walked among us), the time of Gregory the Great, the Great Schism, and the Great Reformation.
Combining history, a look at the causes of social upheaval, and current events, The Great Emergence shows readers what the Great Emergence in church and culture is, how it came to be, and where it is going. Anyone who is interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their personal affiliation, will find this book a fascinating exploration.
Study guide by Danielle Shroyer.
Approved Bibles in the Emergent Catholic Church
New Revised Standard Version update edition (NRSV(ue))
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Revised English Bible (REB)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Common English Bible (CEB)
The New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)
The Message (MES)
The King James Version (KJV)
Recommended Study Bibles
The Following are the Most Accurately Translated Into English and the Most Up-To-Date Study Bibles as approved by Modern Biblical Scholar Academia
The SBL Study Bible NRSV(ue)
A thoroughly revised edition of The HarperCollins Study Bible, one of the leading study bibles used in undergraduate and graduate courses, the first study bible offering the full text of the New Revised Standard Version—Updated Edition.
Supported by the largest and most respected academic association of Bible scholars, The Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible is the landmark general reference Bible that offers the full text of the New Revised Standard Version.
Now, this completely revised edition reflects the changes in the updated NRSV, incorporating:
The latest scholarship and findings
New diagrams, charts, and maps covering all the key time periods and regions of biblical events
Comprehensive, accessible introductions to every book of the Bible with commentary and notes on each page
Hundreds of new articles, charts, and images explaining key words, concepts, people, historical events, and historical context
The Westminster Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition with the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books
The Westminster Study Bible (WSB) is the first entirely new study Bible to utilize the recently released New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
Soon to be an essential tool for all religious studies contexts, The Westminster Study Bible includes interpretive materials from over eighty leading biblical experts who, as teachers in a variety of educational settings, are sensitive to how the biblical texts have been received, what their cultural and social consequences have been, and how readers might hear them now in multiple contexts.
The Westminster Study Bible also pays close attention to the interdisciplinary connections that contemporary students, teachers, and other readers from diverse backgrounds will find both useful and relevant. It is an ideal textbook for a range of biblical studies courses, as well as courses in religion, philosophy, and the general humanities, whether introductory or advanced. The Westminster Study Bible's emphasis on the cultural framing of the Bible's theological, historical, literary, and philosophical elements allows it to be useful beyond the university and seminary classrooms, aiding teachers in religious congregations and organizations with their ministries as well.
Reading and engaging the Bible today is not as simple as discovering what it meant in its time in order to determine what it means for all time. All readers—whether students or instructors, clergy or general readers, religious or nonreligious—bring their own perspectives to the interpretation of the Bible. The themes and ideas that matter to twenty-first-century readers tend to resonate with our present situations in some way. The Westminster Study Bible takes this interactive dynamic between historical and contemporary interpretations seriously. Through study notes, thematic excursuses, and a range of illuminating essays, The Westminster Study Bible delves into the ancient contexts of the Bible, its continually evolving interpretations, and its contemporary reading and reception, critically exploring both the worlds of the text and the worlds of its many readers today.
Please visit www.wjkbooks.com/WSB for additional information and a more in-depth look at this exciting, new study Bible.
General Editors:
Emerson B. Powery is Professor of Biblical Studies and Interim Dean of the School of Arts, Culture, and Society at Messiah University
Stacy Davis is Professor of Religious Studies and Theology and Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at Saint Mary's College
Mary F. Foskett is Wake Forest Kahle Professor of Religious Studies and John Thomas Albritton Fellow at Wake Forest University
Brent A. Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law at Duke University
The Catholic Study Bible 3rd Edition
This landmark resource, the first fully-based on the authoritative NABRE translation, contains the trustworthy study notes, expanded essays, and informational sidebars which have guided and informed students and general readers for 25 years. In this new edition, which comes in a protective slipcase, one-third of the Reading Guide materials are new, and all of the other Guides have been reviewed and revised by their original authors.
The extensive Reading Guide, the focal point of this volume, leads the reader through the Scriptures, book by book. References and background information are clearly laid out to guide the reader to a fuller understanding of the Bible. New to this edition is a more extensive treatment of the biblical background, including history and archeology.
Other outstanding features include: a 15-page glossary of special terms and complete Sunday and weekday lectionary readings for the liturgical years of the Church. Thirty-two beautiful pages of full-color Oxford Bible Maps come with a place-name index for easy reference.
Perfect for both higher education and clergy, Bible study and general readers, The Catholic Study Bible is an essential resource for both experienced students and first-time readers.
The New American Bible Revised Edition:
The New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) brings to culmination the work of nearly 100 scholars, including translators, editors, and a subcommittee of Catholic bishops who provided extensive review of the biblical text over a period of many years. The NABRE is the first major amendment to the New American Bible translation since 1991. It features:
*The first update of the Old Testament since 1970, taking into account recent archaeological and textual discoveries.
*Complete revision of the Psalter.
The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha
This volume combines a cultural guide to the biblical world and an annotated Bible. Its notes feature the reflections of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish scholars.
* Twenty-three insightful articles on aspects of the history, literary background, and culture of the biblical era.
* A special index of people, places, and themes of the Bible.
* 36 pages of full-color New Oxford Bible Maps, with index.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version 5th Edition
For over 50 years students, professors, clergy, and general readers have relied on The New Oxford Annotated Bible as an unparalleled authority in Study Bibles. This fifth edition of the Annotated remains the best way to study and understand the Bible at home or in the classroom. This thoroughly revised and substantially updated edition contains the best scholarship informed by recent discoveries and anchored in the solid Study Bible tradition.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible, with twenty new essays and introductions and others--as well as annotations--fully revised, offers the reader flexibility for any learning style. Beginning with a specific passage or a significant concept, finding information for meditation, sermon preparation, or academic study is straightforward and intuitive.
A volume that users will want to keep for continued reference, The New Oxford Annotated Bible continues the Oxford University Press tradition of providing excellence in scholarship for the general reader. Generations of users attest to its status as the best one-volume Bible reference tool for any home, library, or classroom.
The Old Scofield Study Bible: King James Version, Standard Edition
Here's a full-featured study Bible at an amazing price. Oxford is proud to offer this edition, which contains reflections on the Word of God that have guided believers for nearly nine decades. A convenient size and affordable price make this study Bible a real bargain. This treasured volume has been digitally reset to provide a more readable typeface without altering its pagination.