Journal: Trinity Journal
Volume: TRINJ 13:1 (Spring 1992)
Article: Book Notices
Author: Anonymous

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TrinJ 13:1 (Spring 1992) p. 119

Book Notices

Christian Education

Brereton, Virginia Lieson. Training God’s Army: The American Bible School, 1880–1940. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.

Harvard professor Brereton demonstrates that the Bible school movement has made a significant contribution to the strength and vitality of conservative evangelicalism in this century. In time some of these schools evolved into liberal arts colleges. Because of their innovative capacity they pioneered many concepts and techniques. She tells the stories of Moody Bible Institute, Gordon College, Nyack College, Boston Bible School (Advent Christian), and Biola University with accuracy and even enthusiasm.

Callahan, Kennon L. Effective Church Leadership. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1990.

While holding a Ph.D. in systematic theology, Callahan, with Lyle Schaller and possibly one or two others, has established himself as one of America’s finest church consultants. Callahan brings to the fore important relational characteristics such as mission objectives, the search for individuality, and leadership environment. He views the church as a team of people gathered at the front lines of human hurts and hopes; the mission team motif sees the church as a M*A*S*H unit that moves quickly and flexibly toward people’s needs. This balances his first rate Twelve Keys to an Effective Church (1983), which looked at functional aspects such as buildings, financial resources, and the size of parking lots.

Groome, Thomas H. Sharing Faith. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.

In 1980 Groome gained international recognition and stature for his Christian Religious Education. For the ensuing ten years the Boston College religious education professor labored over this product, which Roman Catholic theologians David Tracy and Richard McBrien and Protestant religious education leaders Iris Cully, Edward Farley, and Don Browning have said is: “A work of impressive scholarship, poetic inspiration, and practical wisdom”; “The leading theorist in religious education today”; “The dominant perspective around which all other views

TrinJ 13:1 (Spring 1992) p. 120

will define themselves.” The gracious and modest Irish-born theorist must be answered with the power of sound exegesis and a full grasp of what and who transforms character.

Cully, Iris, and Cully, Kendig Brubaker, eds. Harper’s Encyclopedia of Religious Education. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1990.

Two hundred and seventy authors contributed over six hundred individual articles in this significant volume. Fourteen topics were chosen as the basis for ext...

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