Books published by publisher Pilgrim Press

Real Good Church offers a look at everything First Church Somerville UCC, a progressive Christian church in the shadow of Harvard, MIT and Tufts Universities, did to reverse their death spiral and become the healthy, stable, spirited and robust community it is today. The triumphant renewal is highly visible in the large percentage of children and young adults in the church, a sixfold increase in pledged giving in the last decade, and most importantly in the spirit of joy that pervades the community. The strategies they used can work in any church, in any setting: regardless of denomination, demographics, or political landscape. The book addresses topics like outreach and growth strategies, finances and giving, creative worship including the central place of personal testimony and corporate prayer practices, church conflict and change, anxiety and laughter, and much more--all treated with humor and offering real, practical, immediate steps for getting started.

From inside the book:The popularity of the Parables of Safed the Sage has grown steadily since the appearance of the first of them in the summer of 1915. The Mississippi Mate, whose language was most unlike to that of the pulpit, but whose essential message was not wholly different, introduced this series in that year, and provoked so much of mirth and wholesome reflection that other articles in the same vein followed. The series on the Hollyhocks fairly launched the author upon his career as a grower of those beautiful flowers, bringing him seed from many readers, and requests for seed from the Hollyhocks of Safed.In some respects this is a unique form of instruction; in others it is very ancient. The things of ordinary life are taken as suggestions for practical lessons. This is a form of instruction not only time-honored, but inevitable. We are continually advancing from the known to the unknown, and interpreting spiritual things in the light of things tangible. But Safed's method is wholly his own. His combination of things new and old is unlike that of any other writer of his generation.Two volumes of his Parables have already appeared in book form. The third is presented herewith. The publishers are confident that wherever it goes, home life will be more wholesome, childhood will appear more lovable, and common things will be seen to be full of valuable lessons.The publishers appreciate the interest with which the previous volumes have been welcomed, and are confident that this one will increase the number of those who loved Safed and Keturah.Contents:1 The Cherry Pie 2 The Shoes Under the Bed 3 The System of Keturah 4 The Sunny Side of the Street 5 The Spliced String 6 Of Knowing Too Little and Too Much7 The Stone Half Way Up 8 The Millionaire and the Scrublady 9 The Long Walk 10 The Pet Aversions 11 Things that are Small12 Asking and Receiving 13 The Late Arrival 14 The Iron Fetters 15 The Great Game 16 The Ship that Did Not Sail 17 Something Different 18 The Moving Vehicles 19 Perhaps 20 The Courage of the Captain 21 Rising Above the Clouds22 The Oyster Shell 23 The Gravity Trolley 24 The Frog and the Hornet 25 The Barometer 26 The Private Car 27 Reformers 28 The Man Who Saw New York 29 The Cocoanut Cakes 30 The Viol that was Almost in Tune 31 The ROADRUNNER 32 The Guest-room Towels 33 Pens 34 Consistency 35 Profanity 36 The Evil and Good of Gossip 37 The Kind of People in Our Town 38 The Ethiopian Maiden and the Alarm Clock 39 The Contented Conductor 40 The Strawberry Sundae41 The Traffic Cop and the Blind Man 42 The Screens and the Shoes 43 Things Not to be Forgotten 44 The Car Wheels 45 Things Ancient and Modern 46 The Shoestrings 47 The Lost Tooth 48 The Transformed Tooth 49 The Minister and the Saw 50 The Transplanted Pine 51 The Value of Things Despised 52 The Flesh and the Spirit 53 The Hornets' Nest 54 Heroes and Heroines 55 Good Health and Veraoty 56 Failure and Success 57 The Bed and the Mattress 58 Proteids and Calories 59 The Doughboy and the Kitten 60 The Pianola 61 The Unidentified Taste 62 The Keeper of the Inn 63 Being Put Off at Oconomowoc 64 The Man Who Ran Over a Rattlesnake65 The Worm in the Concrete Gutter 66 Philosophy and Money 67 The Convention of the Lumbermen 68 The Autumn Hollyhocks 69 The Golden Hair 70 The Little Girl in the Blue Dress 71 Seeing the Fire Engine 72 The Wives of the Prophet This book published in 1921 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

How can we answer the many questions young children have about death? Looking for a meaningful way to explain the death of a five-year-old friend to neighborhood children, Stickney adapted a graceful fable about a water bug that changed into a dragonfly. First published as a book in 1982, it has become The Pilgrim Press's bestselling book, Water Bugs and Dragonflies. This full-color edition features delightful illustrations by artist Robyn Henderson Nordstrom of Cleveland, Ohio.

Brian D. McLaren praises Real Good Church. . ."OK, folks: it’s here: the practical, encouraging, field-tested book to help pastors and lay leaders turn declining churches around. Really. This is it! It names the skills you need and books to help you get them, gives you samples of job descriptions and letters and lots of other super-practical stuff. As a veteran pastor, I can tell you that Molly has packed these pages with the guidance you need.""This is a practical manual of everything our church did," says author Molly Phinney Baskette, "to reverse our death spiral and become the healthy, stable, spirited and robust community it is today—evident in the large percentage of children and young adults in our church, and a sixfold increase in pledged giving in the last decade."Baskette, pastor of First Church Somerville, UCC in the Boston area, strongly believes her church's strategies will work for any church, in any setting, regardless of denomination, demographics, and political landscape. In this new book, she shares everything her church did, addressing topics such as: outreach and growth strategies, finances and giving, creative worship, church conflict and change, anxiety and humor, and much more.What makes Real Good Church unique in the field of church growth books? It's practical. It actually tells churches what they can do. . .and how to do it.It offers beginning and intermediary steps for growth and renewal. Churches, no matter what situation they're in, will be able to jump in and get to work.It has a sense of humor. Baskette's easygoing, often self-deprecating writing style and approachable strategies will empower the reader and their church to revitalize itself. (If her church could do it, we can, too!)Real Good Church is a testament to Baskette's and First Church Somerville UCC's success and a gift of hope for all churches that find themselves struggling to keep their doors open.