This textbook uses the 'riddles' metaphor to introduce social analysis and to communicate the critical, questioning aspects of sociology which are at the heart of its tradition. The book teaches the student how to be aware of the social 'riddles' around them and how to solve those riddles using sociological analysis. Case studies, in-depth social analysis, illustrations and discussion questions make it the perfect book for active learning.

The Riddles of Human Society

Politics & Social Sciences

Kanagy, Conrad L.

Kraybill, Donald B.

Social Sciences

Sage Publications, Inc.

With data from a 2006 survey of Mennonite Church members, Conrad L. Kanagy provides spiritual and sociological markers of the church today. He notes changes since surveys of Mennonites in 1972 and 1989, and compares the denomination with other U.S. faith traditions. Kanagy s pastoral and missional perspective points to signs of hope and renewal.

Road Signs for the Journey: A Profile of Mennonite Church

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Herald Pr

In this theological biography of the most prolific Old Testament student of the twenty-first century, Conrad Kanagy portrays Walter Brueggemann within the historical and cultural landscape of his formation. Kanagy follows Walter from his childhood home in Blackburn, Missouri, to Elmhurst College, Eden Theological Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary. Kanagy introduces us to the teachers who most influenced Brueggemann's personal and theological development. We observe Walter Brueggemann's unflappable energy as he moves toward the publication of The Prophetic Imagination, which will land him on the theological map of biblical studies and the American church. This breakthrough will define the rest of Brueggemann's life as he pivots among the biblical text, classroom, church, and world. The book addresses the riddle of The Prophetic Imagination's surprising emergence and enduring resilience, peering deeply into the theologian's interior life, about which little has been understood by even those closest to him. If all "theology is biography," we have missed much about Brueggemann's understanding of God by knowing so little of his person. The book's integration of his work and life within his community across nine decades reveals the most complete portrait to date of this remarkable prophet, pastor, preacher, teacher, and friend. Still, after all the careful research, much of who Walter Brueggemann is remains a mystery. He rejects reductionist portraits of himself, the biblical text, and God. He recognizes that the worlds we construct theologically are messy, perhaps because he sees the "wild and woolly" God of the world as more than a bit messy: a God who cannot be fully measured, a God who pivots just when we imagined we knew the way, and a God whose mystery and preference for openness and unpredictability are enough to keep any one of us on our toes.&nbsp;

Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Fortress Press

Are you a church leader who is tired, frustrated, or disillusioned with the endless promises of experts and authors that if we as church leaders just do the right things, address the right challenges and opportunities, and take the right steps, we can determine the future of our congregations? As a sociologist of religion for three decades and a pastor of a local congregation for fifteen years, I make no such promises. Instead, I am cautious about the idea that rebuilding, fixing, changing, or transforming American congregations is the right question or approach. For if “the Spirit is dismantling the church” as I suggest (see my previous book A Church Dismantled—A Kingdom Restored—Why is God Taking Apart the Church?), have we as leaders taken enough time to discern whether we are working with or against God’s Spirit? The 38 short essays in this book were written during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in part document my own journey as a church leader in the midst of the tensions felt by so many congregations. These essays reflect my resistance to the church and mission “industrial complex” and the commodification of the mission of God. Gimmicks, programs, and rational strategies do not seem to be making an impact on the American church in terms of the metrics that matter most in the Kingdom. The Biblical story is so clear that destruction, “plucking down,” and lowering mountains are often part of what God is up to in the divine eschatology that leads to the new heaven and new earth. I have received plenty of resistance to this message, perhaps because for some it seems so “unGod-like.” But if I cannot believe that the desolation I see all around me in the church and the world does not include the providential hand of God, then frankly, I am left without hope. And so are you. But if we can claim and even glimpse the Almighty’s shadow in the midst of everything crumbling around us, then once again hope returns!

Ministry in a Church Dismantled: To Tear Down or Build Up?

Masthof

Walter Brueggemann's Big Imagination: A Biography for Children

Children's Books

Religions

Masthof Press

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Books by Kanagy, Conrad L.