George B. Thompson 
Treasures in Clay Jars [PDF ebook] 
New Ways to Understand Your Church

Thompson, a prolific author of church leadership resources, believes the continuing decline in membership of mainline denominations and the increasing number of multicultural and multiracial churches call for a new way of thinking: ministers must begin to see their ministry differently in order to do their ministry differently.

Treasures in Clay Jars is designed to provide persons in training for ministry with a paradigm-shifting framework to interpret and work effectively with the complex dynamics of local faith communities. Thompson takes an innovative approach by utilizing explicit and relevant conceptual and theoretical tools from the social sciences–sociology, economics, and cultural anthropology–to engage future pastors to minister effectively to twenty-first-century congregations.

The book discusses congregations in five different ways: as social group, as bearer of meaning, as locus of exchange, as collective capacity, and as complex organization. A study guide is included for church leaders who would like to engage their congregations in this new paradigm of ministry.

O autorze

George B. Thompson Jr. is Professor of Leadership and Ministry Practice at The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, George. Thompson is the editor and co-author of Alligators in the Swamp: Power, Ministry, and Leadership (2005, The Pilgrim Press) and author of Church on the Edge of Somewhere: Ministry, Marginality, and the Future (The Alban Institute, 2007). Some of his other books include:Futuring Your Church: Finding Your Vision and Making it Work How to Get Along with Your Church: Creating Cultural Capital for Doing Mininisty How to Get Along with Your Pastor: Creating Partnership for Doing Ministry Alligators in the Swamp: Power, Ministry, and Leadership (editor and co-author)Church on the Edge of Somewhere: Ministry, Marginality, and the Future Grace for the Journey: Practices and Possibilities for In-Between Times (co-author with Beverly Thompson)