Richard R. Hammar, “Child Sexual Abuse: Far too many churches are legally vulnerable” Church Law & Tax Report (March-April 2016).

Image: Dmitry Ratushny

Samuel Ogles, “Answering Church Leaders’ Common Questions About Background Checks: Looking more closely at what is needed to effectively screen volunteers and employees who work with minors” Church Law & Tax Report (June 2015).

Tara Beecham, “Screening the Screener: What to Look For in a Background Check Service: Two simple steps to reduce the risk” Church Law & Tax Report (March 2013).

Elizabeth Jackson, “What Do You Do with Volunteers Who Exhibit ‘Gray Area’ Behavior?: Three attorneys explain how churches can respond to concerning situations involving church volunteers” Church Law & Tax Report (November 2016).

Richard J. Mathews, “What I Learned from Advising the Boy Scouts of America During Their Abuse Crisis: An attorney’s advice for organizations on preventing and responding to child sexual abuse” Church Law & Tax Report (August 2016).

I would also like to point you to resources from PneumaReview.com:

Jennifer Cisney, “Healing From the Pain of Sexual Assault” Enrichment (Spring 2009). Reviewed by Mara Lief Crabtree. As appearing in the Spring 2010 issue.

Andrew J. Schmutzer, “A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse: Creation, Evil, and the Relational Ecosystem, Part 1.” As appearing in the Summer 2013 issue.

Andrew J. Schmutzer, “A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse: Creation, Evil, and the Relational Ecosystem, Part 2.” As appearing in the Fall 2013 issue.

In Conversation with Andrew Schmutzer, Part 1. As appearing in the Summer 2013 issue. An interview with Andrew Schmutzer about The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused, and part 1 of his chapter, “A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse: Creation, Evil, and the Relational Ecosystem.”

In Conversation with Andrew Schmutzer, Part 2. As appearing in the Fall 2013 issue. An interview with Andrew Schmutzer about The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused, and part 2 of his chapter, “A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse: Creation, Evil, and the Relational Ecosystem.”

In Conversation with Andrew Schmutzer, Part 3. As appearing in the Winter 2014 issue. An interview with Andrew Schmutzer about The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused, and part 1 of the chapter, “A Charge for Church Leadership: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse and Ministering to Survivors.”

Nancy Nason–Clark and Stephen McMullin, “A Charge for Church Leadership: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse and Ministering to Survivors,” Part 1. As appearing in the Winter 2014 issue.

Nancy Nason–Clark and Stephen McMullin, “A Charge for Church Leadership: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse and Ministering to Survivors,” Part 2. As appearing in the Spring 2014 issue.

Andrew J. Schmutzer, “A Theology of Sexual Abuse: A Reflection on Creation and Devastation” JETS 51:4 (Dec 2008). Reviewed by Bradford L. McCall. Appearing in the Winter 2010 issue. Editor’s note: As you might gather from the title, this is a review of an article that originally appeared in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. This article became one of the anchor articles for the book, Andrew J. Schmutzer, ed., The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused (Resource Publications, 2011), and was later a featured excerpt in the Summer and Fall 2013 issues (see links above) at PneumaReview.com.

God’s Appointed Times: A Practice Guide to Understanding and Celebrating the Biblical Holidays, By Barney Kasdan

© 1993, Lederer Messianic Publications, Baltimore, MD. ISBN# 1-880226-54-5

Written by the leader of one of the largest Messianic Jewish congregations in the world, this is more than a “how to” manual. In a simple, yet meaningful fashion, Kasdan leads the reader through biblical references and ancient observances, tying them nicely into word pictures of the Messiah. For those interested in going a step further, Kasdan outlines how a believer today might celebrate the feasts, including songs, recipes, and crafts for children. 136 pages, paperback.

God’s Appointed Customs: A Messianic Jewish Guide to the Biblical Lifecycle and Lifestyle, By Barney Kasdan

© 1996, Lederer Messianic Publications, Baltimore, MD. ISBN# 1-880226-63-4

Similar to God’s Appointed Times, this book dives into the life of the children of Abraham. Kasdan takes a cursory look at circumcision, the bar mitzvah, the Jewish wedding, as well as customs such as the mezuzah, the prayer shawl, and phylacteries. Readers gain a working knowledge of the biblical root, ancient observance, modern meaning in the life of a Jewish believer, and potential application. 160 pages, paperback.

Both Times and Customs are available at your local Christian bookstore, or by ordering directly from Lederer Messianic Publications at 1-800-410-7367

The Internet

You probably already know that the Internet has become a tremendous resource to many pastors, professors and Bible students. It can be a seamless tool for research of all kinds, from locating a Bible school to looking up ancient sources. In this issue, just a few of the countless internet resources that you can make use of are listed here. Check them out for yourself, and if you know of some that should appear here, write the Pneuma Review to tell us what they are.

Charismatic and Renewal Centers on the Web

The Catholic Charismatic Center on the World Wide Web

www.garg.com/ccc/[Inactive as of April 19, 2014]

Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America

The PCCNA seeks to “provide a framework for fellowship, dialogue, and cooperation between the various Pentecostal and charismatic denominations, churches, and ministries in North America that agree with the purposes and goals of the organization. Since these churches and fellowships share a common history of Holy Spirit renewal and an overriding goal of evangelizing the world, they wish to join in a common witness to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh in                      the last days.” One of the former chairpersons, Bishop Ithel C. Clemmons, has said that, “The responsibility for promoting racial healing rests with all Americans , but especially within the Christian Church. PCCNA has been established as a symbol of interracial, intercultural, intergender cooperation that by precept and example challenges good people to step forth and say “Enough!” to hate, bigotry and violence.”

www.pccna.org

Theological and Biblical Study Resources Online

Pentecostal-Charismatic Theological Inquiry International (PCTII). For Pentecostal/charismatic study, this is likely one of the most comprehensive sites on the Internet. It is an informal network of some 500 scholars spread over 6 different continents. Here you will find links to Bible schools (schools which are Pentecostal/charismatic and those which have faculty who have joined the PCTII network), Pentecostal/charismatic organizations, and numerous indexes to theological journals including a link to the Cyberjournal for Pentecostal/Charismatic Research. PCTII also has links to newsletters, other online publications, churches in the network, and academic societies. PCTII is found on the world wide web at:

www.pctii.org

One of the related links to the PCTII is the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Archives and Research Center. Here are a number of links to Pentecostal/charismatic research archives including such institutes as Holy Spirit Research Center at Oral Roberts University, Regent University Library, and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center. These archives are located at:

http://www.pctii.org/arc/research.html

The Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) is a library of nearly 8,000 theological thesis/dissertation titles representing research from as many as 70 different institutions. TREN also makes available conference papers presented at annual meetings of several academic societies including the Society for Pentecostal Studies. Titles may be ordered online through their search and order system or by downloading the TREN Database.

www.tren.com

The Society for Pentecostal Studies home page has links and indexes to various Pentecostal and charismatic theological journals as well as an index of its own journals Paraclete (published between 1967 and 1995) and PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.

http://sps-usa.org

The ECOLE Initiative. According to their “About” page, “The Early Church On-Line Encyclopedia (ECOLE) Initiative is a cooperative effort on the part of scholars across the internet to establish a hypertext encyclopedia of early Church history (to the Reformation) on the World-Wide Web.” This extensive encyclopedia is actually a hyper-linked index to multiple sites. The substance of this encyclopedia includes everything from articles to scanned original documents to artwork from church and museum archives. The Church history buff will be spending multiple eons making use of this incredible resource.

ecole.evansville.edu