With concise and practical guidelines for recovering the identity of the church, Clark Williamson and Ronald Allen demonstrate that the central task of ministry is teaching the Christian faith. The authors believe that how well ministers understand what is required of them and how well they do what is required of them is part of the problem of churches today, as well as part of the solution.

Ronald Allen and Gilbert Bartholomew introduce preachers to verse-by-verse preaching, in which the preacher interprets the passage unit by unit and the sermon unfolds much like a commentary on the Bible. They note its applicability in a variety of settings and occasions, and offer practical suggestions for preparing a sermon in this style, including sample sermons from different genres and tips for keeping verse-by-verse sermons fresh, vital, and engaging.

In June 1983 the Astronomical Institute of the State University of Groningen, founded by Kapteyn about 100 years ago, celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary. At the suggestion of its Chairman, R.J. Allen, the Kapteyn Institute invited the International Astronomical Union to mark the centenary by holding a Symposium on "The Milky Way Galaxy." The purpose of the Symposium was to review recent progress in the study of our Galaxy, to define current problems, and to explore prospects for future development. The Symposium programme would emphasize the large-scale characteristics of our Galaxy,...