Bøker utgitt av SCM Press

What is church? What spaces does church occupy? Can ecclesial space exist beyond the boundaries of church? In An Interweaving Ecclesiology Mark Scanlan offers a fresh vision of Christian community as constructed for and by participants as potential ecclesial spaces combine to create an experience which we call "church". Drawing in particular on research into the dynamic between youth groups and the churches within which they operate, Scanlan brings us a distinct approach to the church in mission that can nuance and develop the tired and sometimes flawed thinking around Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry. Combining deep ecclesiology with a practical approach, this book will be useful to students and scholars of pioneer and youth ministry and those with a wider interest in how churches operate.

Inclusion has recently become a high priority issue within the development sector, brought to the fore by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development's commitment to leave no one behind. Practices within the remit of inclusion often focus on increasing access and meaningful participation, with emphasis placed on bringing those at the margins to the centre. Theologies and Practices of Inclusion challenges such centre-focused practices from a global perspective, based on research conducted within the Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation Tearfund and beyond.Offering inspiration for practitioners within the sector and faith-based organisations in particular, as well as an academic contribution to the fields of international development studies and theology, the book aims to bridge theology and practice in an accessible way.Consisting of 13 chapters and case studies, this book draws on the wisdom of a diverse team of contributors at the forefront of international development, working in a variety of contexts. These include South Africa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Ecuador, Panama, Bolivia, the Philippines, Iraq, Egypt and the UK. Highlighting 'journey', 'change' and 'belonging' as three key aspects of inclusion, the book explores the outworking of theologies of inclusion within organisational practice.With a foreword by Ruth Valerio, and an afterword by Catriona Dejean.

Judges is one of the most misunderstood and underused books in the Old Testament - it is a text people outside of the higher echelons of Old Testament academia are afraid of. Too often it is dismissed as too violent, outrageous, or simply too puzzling for practical use - or full of tales which are only of any use as children's stories or as simple moralising tales for adults.Focusing on core theological themes across the book, this commentary is predicated on the idea that far from being too awkward to touch, Judges in fact holds up a mirror to today's world, with its stories of abuses of power, war and violence, and the human tendency towards individualism. Overall, the commentary argues that in Judges we are given the story of a people who keep getting life and faith increasingly wrong, and the story of God's response to their cry for justice and mercy.Bridging the gap between accessibility and scholarly rigour, this commentary offers an excellent tool for ordinands, students, teachers in higher education and preachers to engage with the theology of the book in its Old Testament context as well as how its message is revealed in the New Testament and continues to speak today.

If the church is ever tempted to think that it has its theology of grace sorted, it need only look at its reception of queer black bodies and it will see a very different story. In this honest, timely and provocative book, Jarel Robinson-Brown argues that there is deeper work to be done if the body of Christ is going to fully accept the bodies of those who are black and gay. A vital call to the Church and the world that Black, Queer, Christian lives matter, this book seeks to remind the Church of those who find themselves beyond its fellowship yet who directly suffer from the perpetual ecclesial terrorism of the Christian community through its speech and its silence.

This title provides a basic introduction to a variety of models of theological reflection and identifies their strengths and weaknesses, providing historical and contemporary examples of these models. It reflects the diversity of church and global traditions and the various approaches to theological reflection, and more.

Engaging with the Bible in a small group context has the potential to be transformative, but the picture is not without some complications. Key factors in determining whether a small group can be transformed through scripture include the use (or abuse) of 'experts', the opportunity for challenge in the group, and how study materials are used."Do Small Groups Work?" not only presents extensive research into these questions, with the potential to transform practice, but also offers a unique window into how practical theological research can productively encounter scripture.

Much of the conversation and concern of churches and of Christian individuals is centred around Christian discernment or knowing God's leading in decision-making. The language we use around these moments is fluid, and often feels inadequate - ask someone how they 'know' what God might be saying in a given situation and they may well reach for the phrase 'I just know'. In "How do you know it's God?", Lynn McChlery draws on ethnographic research amongst those in different kinds of 'discernment' processes, along with theological, spiritural and psychological insights to try and understand this phenomenon of 'insight' - or 'just knowing'.Challenging the perception that such intuition needs to be marginalised and removed from discernment conversations, McChlery suggests that instead intuition can and should be intentionally matured both individually and in communities; and that it can be verified, articulated and recorded in forms appropriate to its own mode of insight. It is a vital new contribution to the scholarship for all practical theologians researching ecclesiology, vocation, group dynamics in churches, and communal decision-making processes of any kind.

The experiences of infertility and childlessness, while not worse than other griefs and disappointments people experience, are nevertheless distinctive in a number of important respects. Unlike other griefs, they often take place in private, with no body, no funeral, and no public acknowledgement of the loss.In her profound and wise theology of childnessness, Emma Nash takes her own story as a starting point, examining several distinctive features of this painful human experience. She asks what biblical and theological resources offer consolation, and what liberative action individuals and churches might take to make an appropriate response.Weaving trauma theology together with personal experience, Nash offers a profound and heartfelt theological reflection which breaks the barriers between pastoral resource and carefully constructed theology.

A welcome supplement to the bestselling How to Read the OT and How to Read the NT, indicating more recent developments in biblical studies especially in the area of narrative criticism.

Descartes' "Meditations on First Philosophy", published in 1641, was designed for the philosopher and for the theologian. It consists of six meditations. Part of "SCM Briefly" series, this title seeks to serve as a support resource for students. It summarises the original text. It is intended for Philosophy Level One courses in the UK.

The SCM Studyguide to Anglicanism offers a comprehensive introduction to the many different facets of Anglicanism.Aimed at students preparing for ministry, it presumes no prior knowledge of the subject and offers helpful overviews of Anglican history, liturgy, theology, Canon Law, mission and global Anglicanism.As well as offering updated and improved lists of further reading, this second edition brings a greater emphasis on worldwide expressions of Anglicanism, with more examples taken from Asian and African contexts, and a brand new section which considers the rise of the global communion alongside issues of inculturation and indigenisation.

What do we need to learn and receive from the other to help us address challenges or wounds in our own tradition? That is the key question asked in what has come to be known as 'receptive ecumenism'. And nowhere is this question more pressing and pertinent than in women's experiences within the church.Based on qualitative research from five focus groups, For the Good of the Church expose the difficulties women face when they work in a church - sexism, unfulfilled vocation, and abuse of power and privilege, as well as the wide range of gifts and skills which women bring in light of these.The second part of the book continues to draw on the particular wounds and gifts, which arise in the focus groups. Specific case studies are used to identify gifts of theology, practice, experience, vocation and power.Against negative prognoses of an 'ecumenical winter', Gabrielle Thomas reveals how radically different theological and ecclesiological perspectives can be a space for learning and receiving gifts for the well-being of the whole Church.

Theology, according to liberation theologians is only a second step. The first is praxis. A liberating praxis puts the poor and the marginalised at the centre. It is found in the collective response of global religious communities responding to crises - and a global pandemic offers an important case in point, reminding religions of our shared humanity, and the need for interreligious cooperation and understanding to effect a positive response.In the context of seismic socio-economic and political change, religion provides a communal response for feeding the poor, fighting for their rights, and challenging the post-colonial financial model that is now beginning to lose its ground.This book blends an examination of emerging research on the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in marginalised communities, with the author's own research on social and poverty isolation in India, and his own experience as told in diaries written whilst in lockdown in a poor district of Santiago, Chile. It challenges majority world churches and religions in a post-pandemic world to learn from each other and from Jesus' own identification with the outcast, and urges them to take on a way of life and prophetic learning from the world of the poor.

Part of the 'SCM Classics' series, this title provides writing still of relevance to students of theology today.

Offering a ground-breaking new perspective on one of the great concerns of our time, Eric Stoddart examines everyday surveillance in the light of concern for the common good.

Bringing together theologians, missiologists, computer scientists and practitioners, Missio Dei in a Digital Age explores the implications of digitality for Missio Dei in thought and practice. This edited collection includes a diverse range of topics from evangelism to pastoral care, biases in algorithms and public theology to homiletics.