Henry H. Knight III

Transforming Community

Sat, 14 May 2022 02:54:25 GMT

Drawing from the strength of their previous book, Transforming Evangelism, Henry Knight and Douglas Powe show us a Wesleyan way to form missional communities and congregations. Drawing from John Wesley's own organizing abilities, this will better equip today's congregations to be more transfomational. Each chapter also has study questions.

This is the Participant's Book. Click here for the Leader's Guide, Leading Missional Small Groups.

Transforming Evangelism

Sat, 14 May 2022 02:36:42 GMT

Because of the more aggressive and confrontational tactics we hear about, evangelism has developed a bad connotation. Doors are shut hurriedly, phone calls end abruptly, and e-mails left unanswered.

After all, isn't this a task better handled by the pastor?

Perhaps it's time to reexamine John Wesley's model of evangelism as a full, natural circle—where it's a communal beginning point rather than a solitary end.

The central motive of authentic evangelism is: Having received a message that's made all the difference in our lives, we desire to share that message with others in the hope that it will transform their lives as well. Wesley models an evangelism that reaches out and welcomes, invites, and nurtures, and speaks to both head and heart.

"Evangelism is about relationship," the authors write. "How we are in relationship to God, who is able to transform us into new beings. How we are in relationship to our neighbor, whom we must love like ourselves."

As one reviewer says, "Knight and Powe have given us a relational book. They describe the deep connection between John Wesley's thoughts, Charles Wesley's hymns, scholarly thinking about evangelism and biblical understandings of the gospel—all in relation to the needs, concerns, and hopes of everyday people."

Learn on your own or as a congregational group from this practical study on living an evangelistic life that demonstrates the transforming power of loving God and neighbor.

Lead in Evangelism by Henry Knight III and F. Douglas Powe, the Leader's Guide is also available here.

A Year with John Wesley and Our Methodist Values

Thu, 05 May 2022 20:41:16 GMT

Do we act, live, and breathe our faith?

What do United Methodists believe? Do people notice a difference between the way United Methodists practice faith in the church and in the world?

A Year with John Wesley and Our Methodist Values is an engaging and provocative study of the practices of discipleship that are of 'the Methodist way.' Brief scholarly reflections on Wesleyan themes are followed by short essays making recurring Wesley tenets timely and relevant to today's world.

Covering one aspect of distinctly Wesleyan theology a month, the collection of essays contained in this book provide an in-depth yet easily approachable 12-month survey of the Methodist tradition for clergy and laity alike.

"A Year with John Wesley reveals and makes plain the essence of John Wesley's life and witness," writes one reviewer. "A Methodist way of living becomes accessible through these great themes expressed in contemporary language and situations. Those who read and reflect upon these pages will gain understanding of United Methodist theology, polity, and practice, but even more significantly, they will learn what it means to walk with Christ in our contemporary world."