Books by Stephen Spencer

Leadership is a growing preoccupation of the contemporary church, but for some of the most inspiring examples of good leadership we need to go back, not forwards. Archbishop William Temple is widely regarded as one of the most influential church leaders of the twentieth century. In this book Stephen Spencer unpacks Archbishop Temple's life and legacy, and the ways in which his leadership transformed society in remarkable ways. From education to politics, and from spiritual direction to leading the church through national crisis, this book draws on Temple's biography to offer a unique and profound portrait of the kind of servant leadership the church needs today.

A guide for students, researchers and teachers in the social sciences that offers an integrated approach to doing visual research, showing the potential for building convincing case studies using a mix of visual forms including: archive images, media, maps, objects, buildings and video interviews.

What is genuine church growth? Is it, at heart, the numerical growth of regular congregations or are there other dimensions and, if so, what are they? How can we learn from other contexts in order to properly inform our understanding of what we mean by church growth?Mara is one of the most marginalised regions in Tanzania, which in turn is a country in the most marginalised continent on the planet, and yet, Spencer argues, the church in the region has exhibited remarkable growth.Looking beyond the usual dimensions of church growth discourse, Stephen Spencer weaves in his own experience in Tanzania, finding in that wholly different context an approach to church growth which might entirely change the discourse in the global north.

Theology Reforming Society tells the story of Anglican social theology from its roots in the writings and work of F.D. Maurice and the Christian Socialists, Charles Kingsley and John Ludlow, and on to the work of William Temple. This is an important and comprehensive account for all those interested in Anglican theology and Christian ethics