Like other major Protestant denominations in the United States, the 2.6-million-member Luther Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), founded in 1847, has struggled with issues of relevance and identity in society at large. In this book Mary Todd chronicles the history of this struggle for identity in the LCMS, critically examining the central-often contentious-issue of authority in relation to Scripture, ministry, and the role of women in the church. In recounting the history of the denomination, Todd uses the ministry of women as a case study to show how the LCMS has continually redefined its concept...

Combining archaeological and historical methods, Gabino La Rosa Corzo provides the most detailed and accurate available account of the runaway slave settlements (palenques) that formed in the inaccessible mountain chains of eastern Cuba from 1737 to 1850, decades before the end of slavery on the island. The traces that remain of these communities provide important clues to historical processes such as slave resistance and emancipation, anticolonial insurgency, and the emergence of a free peasantry. Some of the communities developed into thriving towns that still exist today.
La...

On June 24, 2012, Dr. Shane Truman Todd, a young American engineer, was found hanging in his Singapore apartment, just a week before his scheduled return to the United States. Although Shane had repeatedly expressed apprehension about his work with a Chinese company and fear his life was being threatened, authorities immediately ruled his death a suicide. His family initially didn t know what to believe. However, upon arriving in Singapore, they realized the evidence suggested not suicide, but murder.

Shane s family later discovered that what they thought was a computer speaker was...

Are You Ready to Harness Your eMolecule?
Author Mary Todd believes that everyone has an entrepreneurial spirit (what she calls an "eMolecule"), and through self-exploration to find your passion, you can enterprise your passion through business to create a more fulfilling life - so you can live your purpose. However, the decision to look inside yourself to find your eMolecule is often riddled with fear and self-doubt.
The goal of this book is that you will be able to relate to aspects of Mary's story. You'll see that although your paths aren't identical, we all deal with the same...