Philip Jenkins

The Lunch Ladies: Cultivating an Actsmosphere Philip Jenkins

Publisher Marketing: People matter. Souls matter. And when we stop to pay attention, lives are changed forever. "In your hands you hold a written description of an amazing godly solution to transforming apathetic cultures into vibrant, living reflections of Christ." -from the foreword by David Shannon Esmin Green died while sitting inside of the waiting room of a hospital. To make matters worse, people watched her die...and did nothing. Stop and think about that: Esmin Green passed away in the very place where she was supposed to be able to get help. Spiritually speaking, do you ever wonder how many times people like Esmin Green come through the doors of church buildings? The church. God's hospital. The one place where people ought to be able to get help. Do we see them? Do we ignore them? Do we see them and ignore them? A few years ago, some righteously ticked off Christians decided that enough was enough. Tired of seeing a culture of indifference and neglect (inside the church building of all places!), they decided to do whatever it took to show Christ's radical kind of love to everyone who came through the doors of God's hospital. What they discovered is that there is no substitute for the simple, iconic, unmistakable, authentic love of Christ. After all, it's not called "the love of Christians"--it's called "the love of Christ." A grand adventure began, a practical ministry was born, an Actsmosphere was cultivated, and God wrote a story. The Lunch Ladies story won't just change you, it won't just change youth groups, and it won't just change churches. It is changing eternities! Contributor Bio:  Jenkins, Philip Philip Jenkins is Professor of History and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State University. His publications include books as well as numerous articles in historical and criminological journals. His major interests involve the means by which social problems are constructed and presented in politics and the media.