We live in critical times, in which many have argued that the church is no longer relevant, or must be modified to meet the expressed or felt needs of those labeled "seekers," seeking alternate forms of spirituality. This same environment is pregnant with opportunities for the church to gain even greater clarity on who and why she is and what she is fundamentally about. The church is presently situated to reclaim the richness of a biblical and theological heritage with a proven historical record for meeting, not merely the "felt" but, the deepest needs of the human heart, mind, soul, and...

""When we are called to minister to the dying and/or bereaved, many of us who count ourselves as servants of God too easily prejudge the matter and rush in with words and a trite formula. Words have become our trade, jargon our bane, and verbiage our downfall. ""Bert Walsh knows this all too well. Only in the last of five chapters does he get around to the things which we are to say in the presence of crisis. But those are words we have long ago learned from reading the New Testament or heard time and again from well-meaning consolers. What is crucial is that which comes before those words...

The United Church of Christ was formed in 1957 to be first and foremost a proactive agent in the often tangled but nonetheless breathtaking ministry and mission of ecumenicity in the pursuit of ever greater visible unity among the diversity of Christian churches. This singular task of ecumenicity is arguably the most crucial in the formulation of an ecclesiology essential to the United Church of Christ as a --united and uniting-- church; a mission Albert Walsh refers to in this book as her God given --vision-and-vocation.-- In United and Uniting, Walsh contends that the identity and...

Description: The poems in this collection are offered along two related lines. In the first part of the book the poems and etchings coalesce to form what the author calls a family portrait of grace and faith, representing the fruit of a process of biblical study and reflection, which will be of interest to both the lay person and pastor in his or her preparations for teaching and preaching. In the second section of the book the author provides a variety of poems disclosing the dynamics of life in its multiplicity of patterns and expressions. Together the two sections seek to express the grace...

Description: The role of the Torah is poorly understood within the religious communities of both Judaism and Christianity, but with varying causes. Its use in biblical salvation history is much more than the foundational text for Israelite existence, covenant, and stipulation. ""Torah"" is the Hebrew word for instruction, not law, and this sacred document contains, not only the well-known Abrahamic covenant of grace, but two core lessons: the serious nature of sin and the fearful necessity of transforming grace. Torah of Sin and Grace provides a fresh, honest, and careful examination of both...

About the Contributor(s): Albert J. D. Walsh is pastor of Heidelberg United Church of Christ in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, where he has held office for twelve years. Ordained in 1981, Pastor Walsh has served churches throughout the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference. Previous publications include: A Pastoral Proposal for an Evangelical Theology of Freedom; The Eucharist's Biographer; United and Uniting; and, Slices of Life, all published by Wipf & Stock.

In this collection of sermons, Dr. Albert Walsh, after more than three decades of pastoral ministry, presents the gospel message as the Christ-centered proclamation of hope for all those who sojourn along the path of life. Walsh's sermons speak directly to those who hold faith in Christ, but they also speak with force to those who are searching for the meaning and purpose of life as the gift of a gracious God. This collection of sermons offers the reader a word of genuine hope in times of trial, struggle, and in the face of the innumerable sufferings--both small and great--we so often...