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The Pastor's Library
Although still in beta, this site offers an interesting concept in helping pastors with their personal libraries.

Welcome to MennoLink Books for Pastors! This page highlights books which are authored and/or published by Mennonites, which give a clear Anabaptist/ Mennonite perspective, and will be useful in congregational and other ministries.

Ministry and Lifestyle

• A Journey of Faith by David Ewert
  This autobiography gives us insights into the nature of the man, the nature of the church, and the nature of the world which formed the backdrop to Ewert's career of teaching and preaching.
  
• Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Shepherds by the Living Springs by David S. Young
  David S. Young shows a biblical style of servant leadership and how it can be applied in concrete situations. He sees the spiritual dimension as key to renewal in the church. Servant leaders are attuned to God’s movement and listen for God’s direction to help a congregation find a plan for using the strengths of their church.
  Servant leaders formulate a renewal plan and implement it through prayer, teamwork, and resources. They learn to handle hardship. They are involved in faith formation. They serve by the transforming springs of God and call others to renewal and service.
  
• Caring for the Least of These: Serving Christ Among the Poor edited by David Caes
  Written by poor people and those serving in settings of poverty, this book offers inspiration for individuals, groups, or congregations who want to find faith rooted in the Bible and lived in today's knottiest struggles, connect with other persons who serve amidst the poor, escape the trap of affluence, and break through cultural stereotypes.
  
• Live it Up: How to Create a Life You Can Love by Tom Sine
  On the way up is life getting you down? Are you burning out your treads in the fast track? Tom Sine shows how God invites you into a more festive, satisfying life than the stress-track can offer. God wants to use you to make a real difference in God's world.
  
• Women and Men: Gender in the Church edited by Carol Penner
  Christian women and men experience life differently. In this thought-provoking book, male and female writers tackle important subjects: What does the Bible have to say about gender? What does it mean to live in a female or male body? How do we create homes and relationships that value men and women equally? How does gender intersect with race or age? How do we raise children in nonsexist ways? As we work with such questions, we explore what it means to be women and men together in the church and community.
  

Theology

• The Community of the Spirit: How the Church Is in the World by C. Norman Kraus
  Revision and expansion of a classic and influential work, "Kraus shows that the biblical vision of the church links individuals with community, spirituality with social ethics, and thology with practice." Donald B. Kraybill
  
• Jesus Christ Our Lord: Christology from a Disciple's Perspective by C. Norman Kraus
  In a theological description of Jesus Christ, Kraus offers answers to questions of Jesus' identity and the nature of the revelation-salvation which came through him. "Offers an Anabaptist view of Christology as a legitimate alternative to traditional mainline Protestant and Catholic views." -- John Ferguson in The Expository Times.
  
• God Our Savior: Theology in a Christological Mode by C. Norman Kraus
  This volume makes a systematic theological statement in light of the unique revelation of God and humankind which has come to us in Jesus, the Messiah, as recorded in Scripture. From within Anabaptist theological tradition, Kraus offers a biblically oriented alternative to rationalistic orthodoxy and to liberalism.  It is the companion to Jesus Christ Our Lord.  
  
• Armageddon and the Peaceable Kingdom by Walter Klaassen
  The end times from an Anabaptist perspective.
  "Klaassen offers an alternative vision of the Kingdom of God, based on a balanced interpretation of the New Testament. Instead of putting undue emphasis on the book of Revelation, he gives full weight to the teaching of the Gospels and the epistles, stressing both the spiritual and the ethical dimensions of that teaching." -Arthur W. Wainwright, Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Mission

• God's Call to Mission by David W. Shenk
  The author describes this book as "the fabric from the threads of my experiences and observations as a servant of Christ and his church in local and global mission."  "David Shenk helps us understand what is going on in the world of missions and what we should be doing about it," writes Tony Campolo.
  
• The Transfiguration of Mission:   Biblical, Theological, and Historical Foundations of Faith Edited by Wilbert R. Shenk
  Six contributors with broad mission experience examine current trends in missiological thought. They call the church to renewal in mission based on the model of Jesus the Messiah. Neal Blough, John Driver, Roelf S. Kuitse, Larry Miller, David A.Shank, and Wilbert R. Shenk argue that following Jesus in mission is at the heart of Christian discipleship, not simply an option of the specialized few.
• Images of the Church in Mission by John Driver
  The Bible grounds the church in God's saving mission. John Driver studies twelve biblical images for understanding a church more in harmony with God's missionary purpose for his people. These images communicate with power, reflecting the sense of identity in early Chritian communities.
• Global Gods: Exploring the Role of Religions in Modern Societies by David W. Shenk
  A look at world religions and ideologies from the viewpoint of a Christian experienced in interfaith dialogue. The author honestly assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each major stream. Global Gods contributes to the growing conversation about the role of religion and idology in society.

Church Life

• Building Communities of Compassion: Mennonite Mutual Aid in Theory and Practice by Willard M. Swartley and Donald B. Kraybill
  This path breaking volume offers the first sustained and scholarly assessment of the history, theology, and practice of Mennonite mutual aid.
  At times informally, now often more formally, Mennonite communities have sought and found ways to express mutual compassion in times of need. Carefully and sometimes colorfully, 13 authors tell the intriguing story of the rise and transformation of Mennonite aid.
  
• Congregational Discipling: A Three Fold Vision for Worship, Community, and Mission essays by various authors
  A practical study guide which "takes into account biblical teachings and Anabaptist understandings aout the church and contemporary. It provides a framework for living the Great Commandment: to love GOd, self and neighbor." Marlene Kropf
  
• Communion Shapes Character by Eleanor Kreider
  Is your church boring, funereal, tradition-bound? Do you long to see vital communion at the heart of worship? Do you wonder when all Christians can freely gather together at the Lord's table? Does communion seem unconnected to daily life?
  With liveliness and depth Kreider addresses these and many other issues. She encourages churches to rediscover the biblical and theological themes which shaped early Christian Lord's Supper practices. And she draws on Christian traditions which have found vital communion practices to show that history can help us today.
  
• Enter His Gates: Fitting Worship Together by Eleanor Kreider
  Many people long for more fulfillment through worship. Elenor Kreider describes three ways to move beyond common weaknesses in worship by finding balance between form and freedom, letting the Bible do the talking, and letting God's transcendent majesty and passion for liberation shape worship.
  
• Going to the Root: 9 Proposals for Radical Church Renewal by Christian Smith
  The church today is often tired, lacking vision, and mired in bureaucratic structures. This book suggest an alternative. The church can return to its roots. It can draw fresh vision form the Bible, Jesus, the early church, and the growing worldwide movement of house churches and base Christian communities.
  
• Discipling in the Church: Recovering a Ministry of the Gospel by Marlin Jeschke
  How can the church offer help to an erring brother or sister in the spirit of Christ? How can the church preserve membership with integrity and also reach out to those who are faltering? This book is an attempt to work toward an understanding of church discipline consistent with the gospel. The author shows how the ministry of restoring the erring is inseparably related to and continuous with evangelism and missions.
  
• Surviving Church Conflict by Dave Peters
  Peacemaking in the church is never passive. It is a powerful movement to produce holy character and destroy spiritual darkness, which hurts everyone in the congregation. Many leaders seek a formula for handling conflict. Peters is more concerned with the spiritual health of peacemakers in tense and chaotic situations. The need to be spiritually fit to join the peace that God is already graciously working out.
  
• The Lord's Supper: Believers Church Perspectives Edited by Dale R. Stoffer
  This work gives a stimulating overview of the history, theology, and practice of the Lord's Supper in denominations that share the common heritage of believers baptism.
  
• The 10 Commandments and Christian Community by Jay W. Marshall
  The 10 Commandments have had a great ordering effect upon society. Many persons claim to be moral because they literally observe these prohibitions. However this ancient code has more to teach us--about commitment, community, wholeness, and health.

The Bible

• Believers Church Commentary Series
  The Believers Church Bible Commentary Series is intended for pastors, Sunday school teaachers, Bible study leaders, and other persons interested in careful Bible study.
  • Acts by Chalmer E. Faw
    Chalmer E. Faw blends thorough biblical scholarship with wisdom from extensive and varied experience in missionary work and Bible teaching. His careful exposition of the book of Acts is supplemented with literary and theological discussion.
  • Colossians, Philemon by Ernest D. Martin
    Ernest D. Martin brings years of service as pastor, teacher, and writer to the task as he focuses on the amazingly relevant pastoral concerns that shaped Colossians and Philemon.
  • Daniel by Paul M. Lederach
    Paul M. Lederach presents the stories and dream-visions of Daniel with wisdom drawn from years of developing Sunday school curriculum and teaching and preaching in the church. Lederach sees in Daniel a persistent call to endurance and loyalty to God, even while believers suffer for their faith, pray for deliverance, and speak truth to kings.
  • Ezekiel by Millard C. Lind
    Millard C. Lind helps us hear the Lord's urgent words through Ezekiel. "Clear, concise,, critically responsible, and informed by a deeply felt pastoral concern. Lind writes from a free-church prespective and helps to bring alive the prophet's message of judgement and salvation for readers of different backgrounds who are trying to make Christian community a reality in their own lives."--Joseph Blenkinsopp, John A. O'Brien Professor, Biblical Studies, University of Notre Dame
  • 1 and 2 Thessalonians by Jacob W. Elias
    Jacob W. Elias invites us to listen in while Paul and his missionary companions encourage and warn believers in ancient Thessalonica. Elias illuminates the text, provides historical and cultural background, and Theological, sociological, and ethical meanings and in general, makes "the rough places plain."
  • Genesis by Eugene F. Roop
    Eugene F. Roop provides a distinctive study of Genesis by focusing on the rich story line that trraces the development of a community of faith. As the narrative develops, theological motifs such as creation, disaster and re-creation, promise and fulfillment, infertility and blessing emerge.
  • Hosea, Amos by Allen R. Guenther
    Allen R. Guenther uncovers unique features of the prophecies of Hosea and Amos and discerns a structural unity within each book.
    For both prophets, the Lord's judgement is to lead to repentance and restoration. Guenther explores theological and practical implications of their message to the church in its cultural settings.
  • Jeremiah by Elmer A. Martens
    Elmer A. Martens' commentary on the book of Jeremiah is a valuable resource. Read about Israel's failures, her fascination with other gods, her disregard for justice. But there are also promises. The underlying message jas two faces: God punishes people, yet there is also forgiveness and the promise of a new covenant.
  • Matthew by Richard B. Gardner
    Richard B. Gardner invites readers to explore the dramatic story of Jesus as told by Matthew.
    Gardner probes each section for its meaning in the wider biblical context and in the the life of the church. Thus readers are prepared to engage in their own interaction with the text. Ends with essays, an extensive bibliography, and a list of select resources.
  • 2 Corinthians by V. George Shillington
    V. George Shillington has immersed himself in the study of Paul and of 2 Corinthians. This epistle is Paul's personal testimony about his ministry of reconciliation among the Corinthian Christians (chapters 1-9) and his ministry in defending the truth of the gospel (chapters 10-13). The thread that ties the two parts together is Paul's conviction on pastoral ministry under the banner of Christ. Paul insists that ministry is to be borne in affliction like that of Christ crucified. The only boast allowed is in the Lord, not in one's own achievements or elevated experiences.
    
• A Guide to the New Testament World by Albert A. Bell, Jr.
  How did Jesus dress? How did he and his disciples travel? What did house arrest in Rome mean for Paul. Albert Bell shows us the social and political structure of the Roman Empire, guides us through a day in the life of a first-century person, surveys philosophical schools and religions of that era, and explains why early Christians had problems with the government.