According to the leading church growth expert, Ken Hemphill, Sunday School is not only worth saving, it has the potential to revitalize your entire church. 'Revitalizing The Sunday Morning Dinosaur' gives you specific, detailed steps on how to lead your congregation in making it happen.

Written by specialists from various fields, this edited volume is the first systematic investigation of the impact of imperialism on twentieth-century Britain. The contributors explore different aspects of Britain's imperial experience as the empire weathered the storms of the two world wars, was subsequently dismantled, and then apparently was gone. How widely was the empire's presence felt in British culture and society? What was the place of imperial questions in British party politics? Was Britain's status as a global power enhanced or underpinned by the existence of its empire? What was the relation of Britain's empire to national identities within the United Kingdom? The chapters range widely from social attitudes to empire and the place of the colonies in the public imagination, to the implications of imperialism for demography, trade, party politics and political culture, government and foreign policy, the churches and civil society, and the armed forces. The volume also addresses the fascinating yet complex question of how, after the formal end of empire, the colonial past has continued to impinge upon our post-colonial present, as contributors reflect upon the diverse ways in which the legacies of empire are interpreted and debated in Britain today.

This is the final volume in a four-volume series, using contemporary texts to illustrate key themes in the history of Nonconformity in England and Wales. Although the twentieth century was in many ways a century of decline, this book shows that there was still much life in the nonconformist tradition. It also looks at contemporary issues such as racism and the place of women.

When the Sunday School pioneers saw a need in their communities in the late eighteenth century, their response provoked a 200 year movement. These early Sunday Schools met a clear social need: that for basic education. By the 1960s, they faced rapid decline – a rigid institution amidst societal change. Over recent decades, Christian youth work has emerged as a response to further youth decline within churches. Many youth workers engage with young people’s self-perceived needs by delivering open-access youth provision in their local communities alongside more specifically Christian activities. Tensions emerge over whether the youth worker’s role is to serve community or church needs, with churches often emphasising the desire to see young people in services. Drawing together historical and contemporary research, Young People and Church Since 1900 identifies patterns and change in young people’s engagement with organised Christianity across time. Through this, it provides a unique analysis of the engagement and exclusion of young people in three key time periods, 1900–1910, 1955–1972, and the present day. Whilst much commentary on religious decline has focused on changes external to churches, this text draws out the internal decisions and processes that have affected the longevity of Christianity in England. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars of young people and Christianity in the twentieth century and today, as well as youth ministry students and practitioners and those interested in youth decline in churches more widely.

Looks at the history, traditions, theology and structure of the ancient and modern churches and monasteries.

Both Egyptian and foreign historians have testified to the high status of women in all spheres of life during the ancient Egyptian period. Women were queens in their own right; once, the chief physician was a woman. In the spiritual life, there were priestesses and female musicians and dancers serving in temples. This book deals with the role of women in the Christian Coptic Orthodox Church, which was established in the first century AD. The Coptic church has been blessed with thousands of female martyrs and saints, some of whom are of worldwide fame. There are fourteen female saints after whom Coptic churches in Egypt are named. The Virgin St. Mary is the most prominent of them. The two Egyptian saints Demianah and Refqah are also popular. Sts. Verena and Regula are Egyptian saints who were martyred and buried in Switzerland. St. Verena evangelized in Switzerland and taught Swiss maidens hygiene practices. There are more than eighty monuments consecrated to St. Verena in Switzerland. The Egyptian St. Sophia has a world-famous church in her name in Istanbul, Turkey. Unfortunately, after the Arab invasion of Egypt in the seventh century, the role of women in the church diminished considerably. However, since the middle of the twentieth century, a great revival of the role of women has occurred; more women have entered religious life as nuns and deaconesses, serving as Sunday school teachers, writing books about the church, and even teaching in Coptic seminaries. My goal is for this book to reach English language readers all over the world and enlighten them about the contribution of women in the service of Christianity through the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt.