Hospitality Publications
Deep and Wide: Hospitality and the Faithful Church
By Steve Clapp, Fred Bernhard, and Ed Bontrager
Within a year of officially joining a congregation, 62% of new members are less active in the church than at the time they joined. Twenty-five percent simply stop coming within the first year of official membership. Evangelism and outreach are important, and growing churches have learned how to practice warm hospitality to new people. But new members don't continue involvement unless they are thoroughly assimilated.
In this new book, you'll learn that the level of hospitality in many congregations just doesn't go deeply enough to connect with people at a level that will keep them coming--and the level of hospitality isn't wide enough to help newer members really feel that the are as much a part of the community of faith as longer-term members.
This book includes guidance on reaching new people, involving them in the initial weeks and months, and truly assimilating them into the life of the church. The book talks frankly about the many ways people can get hurt in the life of the church and offers suggestions for making the church a safer place. The authors also give guidance on how to respond when people have been hurt.
The book includes a study guide and is excellent for individual, small group, or congregation-wide study. This book can make your church a warmer, more hospitable place for new members and long-time members.
$17 each, $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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Widening the Welcome of Your Church by Fred Bernhard and Steve Clapp. Now in its 4th edition–revised and expanded!
Pastor Fred Bernhard, convinced that hospitality is an essential part of the Gospel, developed a comprehensive model
of a welcoming congregation which has had dramatic impact. His congregation, located in rural Ohio, had a 19%
increase in worship attendance and a 36% increase in Sunday school attendance in the first three months using this
model–and the growth has continued! This book gives you step-by-step help for transforming the hospitality of your
congregation. A guide for group study is included. Recommended in Net Results.
$15 each; $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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The First Thirty Seconds by S.Joan Hershey with forward by Steve Clapp. Greeters and ushers are the "first
contact" with the congregation for many who visit. The number one question visitors want answered is: "
Is this a friendly congregation?" This booklet offers clear training for greeters and ushers, with an
emphasis on hospitality. Giving copies to all greeters and ushers in your church can help widen your church's welcome.
$5 each.
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Public Relations Kit: Help from a Hospitality Perspective by Kristen Leverton Helbert and Dick Benner.
Media exposure and publicity can play a valuable role not only in a church’s evangelistic efforts but also in its
outreach ministries. This practical kit, which comes with permission to photocopy, shares how the Internet,
newspapers, radio, television, direct mail, the yellow pages, the telephone, the appearance of the church, and
the attitudes of people can all contribute to the church as a place of hospitality.
$19 each.
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Worship & Hospitality by Steve Clapp and Fred Bernhard. Looks at worship through the lens of hospitality. This book
is an effort to move beyond the tension among traditional, contemporary, and blended worship to create worship which
speaks to the deepest needs of people and builds up the church as the body of Christ. A guide for individual or
group study is included.
$15 each; $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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Hospitality: Life in a Time of Fear by Steve Clapp and Fred Bernhard. This book deals directly with the tough
questions raised by the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and reveals that the answer to fear is not turning
inward but turning outward. Learning to recognize the presence of Christ in others can have a liberating
impact on all that we do and can enable us to move past the fears which threaten to immobilize us. This book
offers practical help in cultivating hospitality as a part of the spiritual life not only in the church but also in
the home, at work, and in the community. Includes discussion questions for classes and small groups. Another
Net Results recommended book.
$15 each; $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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Invite a Friend Kit by S. Joan Hershey. This kit will provide you with a thorough step-by-step plan for an “Invite a
Friend Sunday.” The kit includes 5 copies of the new booklet entitled A Guide to an Effective Invite a Friend Sunday as
well as a timeline for planning the event, ideas for engaging congregational participation, and sample printed materials.
$26 for the kit.
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Not Necessarily Religious Publications
The E-Mail Diet Book by Martin A, Siegel and Steven E. Clapp. So the New Year’s resolution to lose weight and hit
the gym is now just a fading memory to good intentions. How about tackling a new diet that eliminates excess
e-mail pounds and a training program that can turn you into the Schwarzenneger of cyberspace! Martin A.
Siegel, executive associate dean of the School of Informatics at Indiana University, and Steven E. Clapp
of Fort Wayne, Indiana, have a recipe to help computer users keep their in-boxes toned and empower them to use
e-mail to achieve personal and professional goals. The E-Mail Diet Book is a slim 121-page book that gives weighty
and practical tips.
Among the healthy servings of advice Clapp and Siegel offer in their book are ways to help users avoid becoming
victims of spamming, identity theft and discourteous messages; explore ways to use e-mail to streamline work
and improve productivity; discuss approaches to use e-mail to better connect users with their families and the
world at large; and the future of e-mail as it becomes more a part of global communications. This book has its
own website if you’d like further information or chocolate recipes:
www.emaildietbook.com
$13 each.
Click here to order.
Discounts are available for quantities of fifty or more. Call us for details (1-800-774-3360) or e-mail us at
info@churchstuff.com.
Monday I’ll Save the World by Larry Hayes with Foreword by U.S. Senator Dick Lugar. Larry Hayes was for a quarter
century the editorial page editor and columnist for The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana. During that time,
he won more than 50 state and national awards. In 1986 he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. While a self-professed
liberal, Hayes had the ability to make friends and enlist supporters from all sides of the political and social
spectrum.
Hayes never took the role of an impartial journalist, sitting on the sidelines. He got involved in the pressing
issues of his community, state, and nation, and he persuaded others to work with him and make a difference.
Monday I'll Save the World gives the full story of the integration of Fort Wayne's schools and tells how ordinary
people and civic leaders can make a difference. William Barton, Professor of Social Work at Indiana University,
writes: "The list of causes Hayes has championed is nearly unprecedented: promoting school desegregation, ending
corporal punishment, advocating for the rights of children in the juvenile justice system, fighting against the
death penalty, and perhaps most passionately raising awareness of society's stigmatization and oppression of
persons with mental illness." Senator Lugar and Hayes especially connected with each other in their mutual concern
for persons with mental illness.
Copies ordered directly from Christian Community/LifeQuest come with a free study guide for congregational or
community reading group use.
16.00 each.
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Stewardship Publications
The Dessert First Complete Financial Commitment Program by the Staff of Christian Community. This brand new package
draws on Christian Community’s extensive research to give your congregation four options for the annual commitment program:
- Cottage Meetings
- Celebration Sunday
- Pass It On
- Every Member Visitation
You can choose the most appropriate strategy for your church at this time and use the other options in future years.
The Dessert First Complete Financial Commitment Program includes:
- The Dessert First Notebook filled with detailed instructions for all four campaign options.
- A separate packet of materials ready to photocopy.
- A computer cd with letters in several formats.
Permission to duplicate the above materials is included in the price of the kit.
The kit also includes copies of these additional publications (that are described
in more detail later):
- The Desires of Your Heart: Financial Giving and the Spiritual Life which reports on Christian Community’s research and offers 10 strategies to increase giving in the congregation.
- The Dessert First Devotional Booklet, a 28-day resource for use by church members. Quantity discounts are available.
- Cell Phones, Dessert, and Faith, a personal reading or group study book for congregational use. Quantity discounts are available.
The Dessert First Complete Financial Commitment Program sells for $139 including permission to duplicate the notebook and
related materials.
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The Desires of Your Heart: Financial Giving and the Spiritual Life by Steve Clapp, Kristen Leverton Helbert,
Holly Sprunger, and Angela Zimmeriman reports on Christian Community’s major research on giving that involved
1,157 congregations from thirty different denominations. That study made clear that the single most important
step needed to increase church giving is to directly connect individual giving to the spiritual life of each
person. This book shows how to make that connection and provides ten practical strategies for increasing the
giving in your congregation.
$20 each.
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The Dessert First Devotional Booklet by Steve Clapp. This booklet provides devotions for 28-days that directly relate
spirituality to financial giving. Providing one of these for every household in the congregation is a great way to
involve everyone in daily reflection on the spiritual life. The devotions help people deal with their anxieties
about money, with issues of consumerism in our culture, with concern for the poor, with priorities on time, and
with the environmental aspects of stewardship–as well as providing motivation for people to increase their giving.
$5 each for 1-25 copies; $4.50 each for 26-50 copies; $4 each for 51-75 copies; $3.50 each for 76-99 copies; $3 each for 100+ copies.
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Cell Phones, Dessert, and Faith by Steve Clapp. This book has been written for individual reading or for group study and provides a positive, insightful look at the place of money in our lives. Readers will:
- Be helped to recognize how their childhood experiences influence their present practices and values on money.
- Recognize that cell phones and other aspects of our culture offer tremendous pleasure but also exert enormous control over our lives.
- Look at the ways that time management and concern for the environment are also a part of stewardship.
- Learn to challenge the force that consumerism has on our lives.
- Find helpful strategies for dealing with their anxieties about money.
- Better understand how the our generosity affects the ministry and outreach of the congregation.
- Better recognize the way that money in our society determines our opinions of other people and of ourselves.
- Come to see that God seeks to bless our lives not only financially but in other ways as well.
- Learn to celebrate dessert and all the other blessings of our lives.
$15 each. $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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Funds for the Future of the Church: Planned Giving Options for the Local Church by Thomas C. Rieke. Contains
strategies and information that have not previously been this accessible for local church leaders. You’ll not only
learn the basics about wills, estates, life insurance giving, endowment funds, and similar topics but also how to
develop a comprehensive planned gifts program. This report is clearly written, easy to understand, and includes
a resource section with additional information not in the main text.
Your church may be missing out on tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars by not
having a planned giving program in place.
$59 each including permission to photocopy.
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The Generosity Option: Planning Options for Contemporary Disciples by Thomas C. Rieke. Church members across
North America give generous support to the current budget and capital campaigns of their congregations.
Relatively few members, however, have considered the benefits of helping the church and other charitable
causes through planned giving. In this easy-to-read booklet, leading stewardship authority Tom Rieke gives
clear explanations of planned giving options and answers your questions. Tom Rieke was for many years in charge
of Stewardship for the Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. He is one of the most knowledgeable
persons in the country on planned giving.
$6 each—intentionally priced low so you can provide copies to people in your congregation.
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Forms and Formats for the Local Church compiled by Thomas C. Rieke. This notebook contains forms and formats you’ll
find helpful in setting up current and planned giving within your church.
$25 each including permission to photocopy.
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Church Vitality Publications
Alternatives for Worship by Cindy Hollenberg and Steve Clapp contains twenty ready-to-use, non-traditional worship
services in a convenient loose-leaf notebook, which makes it easy to remove pages to make copies for other
participants (and permission to photocopy is included!). In order to communicate each of the twenty worship
messages, the services utilize an assortment of media, including drama, video clips, reader's theater,
storytelling, guided meditation, sharing, and music. Each of the twenty services includes an order of worship,
ready to photocopy; the full text of prayers, readings, and meditations; and all the guidance needed to handle
video clips or other special arrangements.
$29 each including permission to photocopy.
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The Alternative Worship Primer by Cindy Hollenberg Snider is arranged in a question-and-answer format like an
old-fashioned school primer. But there is nothing old-fashioned about the strategies and ideas shared in this
practical book! The Alternative Worship Primer provides up-to-date counsel on the issues churches face when they
consider and start alternative worship services.
$12.00 each.
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Sharing Living Water - Evangelism as Caring Friendship by Steve Clapp and Sam Detwiler provides practical, non-manipulative,
non-canned guidance to help church members share their faith. Most church members, while readily agreeing that they should
share their faith with others and invite them to church, are not comfortable doing so. This practical, easy-to-understand
book deals directly with the major barriers to faith-sharing and helps people identify comfortable strategies. A study
guide is included.
$14.00 each; $9 each for 10 or more.
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Healthy Pastor–Healthy Church by S. Joan Hershey and Steve Clapp addresses what pastors, church leaders, and church members can do to nurture the kind of pastoral health that results in congregational health. Chapters in this booklet include:
- The Tension–the difficulty of maintaining spiritual health in a performance-based culture
- Taking Care of Yourself–A Guide for Pastors
- Taking Care of the Pastor–A Guide for the Church Board, Executive Committee, Pastor-Parish Committee, and Other Official Groups
- The Congregation–Supporting and Encouraging the Pastor
- When Change Comes–suggestions for handling pastoral transitions
- Plus a discussion guide for a five-session study of the booklet.
$8.00 each.
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The Church of Recovery by Sam Detwiler and Steve Clapp explores healthy ways congregations can help people grow in
their spiritual lives and help people deal with addiction and stress. Alcoholics Anonymosu and other 12-step programs
have changed the lives of tens of millions of people in North America. And the principles taught in such programs
have tremendous power to help anyone deal with the tension and pressure found in everyday life. This book can
be a valuable resource for churches wanting to find creative, practical ways to speak to the spiritual needs of
members and for churches wanting to have more effective outreach to persons in need. A study guide is incorporated
into the book.
$15.00 each; $9 each for ten or more copies.
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The Invite a Friend Sunday Kit by S. Joan Hershey is a practical guide to having an effective Invite a Friend Sunday
in your church! Joan was for many years the executive director of New Life Ministries and has had extensive experience
taking congregations through the Invite a Friend Sunday process. This can be a fabulous outreach opportunity for your
church. The kit includes five copies of the new booklet A Guide to an Effective Invite a Friend Sunday.
You’ll find practical guidance on:
- Establishing a realistic timeline for the event.
- The role that each person on the leadership team should play.
- How to engage the congregation in participation.
- Developing effective publicity materials.
- Creating the right worship service and brunch or luncheon for the Sunday.
- Following up so that visitors are drawn into full participation.
$26.00 each kit.
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Blessed Assurance Greeting Cards designed by Rosanna McFadden are full-color cards based on great hymns of the faith.
These greeting cards are a wonderful way to express concern and support to others with simple and sincere messages.
Ideal for caregivers, other groups within the local church, and for personal use. Each box has eight cards and four designs.
$16 per box; $10 a box for five or more boxes.
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Religion and Sexuality Publications
Faith Matters by Steve Clapp, Kristen Leverton Helbert, and Angela Zizak.
How do religious faith and congregational involvement influence the sexual values and behaviors of teenagers?
This book reveals the results of Christian Community’s national study of 5,819 teenagers representing a broad
range of religious traditions, ethnic backgrounds, economic levels, and geographic locations. A study guide is included.
$16 each; $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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The Gift of Sexuality: Empowerment for Religious Teens by Steve Clapp.
Based on Christian Community’s extensive research on teenage sexuality, this book contains factual information and
clear guidance to help empower teenagers for the decisions they face about the care of their bodies, dating,
sexuality, marriage, and parenting. This book can be used in a variety of ways: for private reading by
teenagers; for reading by teens and discussion with their parents; and for class, youth group, or retreat use.
$16 each; $9 each for 10 or more.
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Adult Guide to The Gift of Sexuality: Empowerment for Religious Teens by Steve Clapp.
Developed to accompany the youth resource described above, this book provides helpful guidance for parents, clergy,
youth workers, and community leaders who are concerned about teens and who either want to study the youth resource
along with teens or who are looking for a resource about teen sexuality from an adult perspective. This book gives
practical advice on talking with teens about sex and also provides session plans for six week, eight week, or
thirteen week studies of The Gift of Sexuality.
$14 each; $9 each for 10 or more.
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A Time to Heal: Protecting Children & Ministering to Sex Offenders by The Reverend Debra W. Haffner.
This important book provides the tools that faith communities need to:
- determine under what circumstances, if any, a convicted sex offender may be involved in the congregation
- determine how to respond if someone in the congregation is accused of a sexual offense be sensitive to and supportive of persons in the congregation who have been victims of abuse
- develop and implement strategies that will keep children in the congregation safe and which will prevent sexual abuse from happening.
$12 each; $9 each for 10 or more copies.
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A Time to Speak: Faith Communities and Sexuality Education by The Reverend Debra W. Haffner and Kate M. Ott.
This book affirms the unique role of congregations in providing sexuality education. This publication explains:
- why religious institutions must be involved in sexuality education
- how churches can provide sexuality education in the congregational environment
- and how churches can support sexuality education in the community.
This resource includes an extensive listing of denominational statements on sexuality education and a thorough guide
to sexuality resources available from many denominations. This book is a great planning tool for the local church.
$13 each.
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A Time to Build: Creating Sexually Healthy Faith Communities by The Reverend Debra W. Haffner. This book provides:
- characteristics of sexually healthy faith communities
- characteristics of sexually healthy religious professionals
- guidance on “safe congregation” policies, including the prevention of sexual abuse and sexual harassment
- ideas for worship services and sermons on sexuality issues
- guidance on sexuality counseling by trained religious leaders
- strategies for sexuality education for children, youth, and adults
- information on becoming a welcoming and affirming congregation
- suggestions on how congregations can advocate for sexual and spiritual wholeness in their communities.
$13 each.
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