Resources for the Evangelist

in addition to our own Community of Christ materials and activities:

Companions in Christ is a broad initiative in congregational spiritual transformation for Christians of all ages and denominations.  It offers small groups an opportunity to engage the classic spiritual practices together in fresh new ways.  Through a combination of daily exercises and experiential group learning, Companions participants build authentic Christian community and deepen their awareness of God in daily life. 

For more information, please go to www.companionsinchrist.org or www.upperroom.org/bookstore or order toll free at 1-800-972-0433.  I have used these materials in English and Spanish and found them an excellent addition to the Covenant Discipleship materials available through our own Spiritual Life Ministries Office.

If you are not familiar with the Alban Institute, I recommend it highly.  The best place to go for congregational leadership resources that I have found.  The focus is primarily on congregations with full-time pastors, but they offer a bookstore, a publication called Congregations, a free weekly e-newsletter, numerous workshops on all aspects of congregational life.  All this information is available at http://www.alban.org.

The Text This Week: Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links and Resources at www.textweek.com is a fine site for scripture study, commentary, and reflection on the weekly lectionary scriptures.  You can search for materials by scripture passage or date.  There are links to art and movies and recommendations for children’s sermons.

The Bible Gateway at www.biblegateway.com is a Bible search engine for many editions of the Bible in English and numerous other languages. It is a free service for reading and researching Scripture online--all in the language or translation of your choice! The site provides advanced tools you can use to search the Bible by keywords or verse, as well as other tools to enhance your study of the Bible.

Oresmus Bible Browser at http://bible.oremus.org/ is a way to access the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version of the Bible) on line.  It is not available through Bible Gateway.