School of Theology and Christian Ministries: Websites for SOTCM

Calvin College Institute of Christian Worship Resource Library 
This website offers a wide range of practical resources and scholarly works for congregational leaders, pastors, teachers of worships, students, artists, and all interested in worship. These resources serve as tools for preparing, planning for, and leading worship as well as for studying the history, theology, and practice of worship worldwide. The website provides free resources primarily in the form of articles, audio files, slideshow and video presentations. 

Research in Ministry 

RIM® Online indexes citationa of DMin and DMiss projects from reporting schools of theology accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. Indexing began in 1981. Author, title, project advisor, institution, and subject access are provided. In addition, an abstract for each project is included when one has been provided by the author.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library  
 Classic Christian Writings sponsored by Calvin College.

Pluralism Project from Harvard University  
Links to sites representing all aspects of our diverse,  multi-religious society. 

Unbound Bible  
 A searchable collection of Bibles including: English versions; Greek and Hebrew versions; ancient versions; plus many versions in other languages. Includes additional searchable full-text tools such as topical indexes and commentaries.

Hartford Institute for Religious Research  
 1)  summarizes current religion research by Hartford Institute for Religion Research faculty as well as the research done by other sociologists of religion.

2)  educates pastors, denominational leaders, religion reporters and the general public in a better understanding of research on religion in order to help create stronger communities of faith and a more informed society.

3) assists the site's users in understanding the use of statistics and poll data, designing church web sites, on searching the web for information, and the implications of the Internet on religious life.

World Bank data 
"A comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe."

Adherents.com 
References to published membership and congregation statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, etc.

Association of Religion Data Archives  
The ARDA is an essential access point to quantitative data sets on religion. The site aggregates data from a wide variety of sources, covering all subjects, from congregational statistics to religious profiles for countries worldwide. Users can view reports, maps, and charts, or download raw data files for analysis with statistical software. While some international data sets are available, the greatest strength of the ARDA is its collections of data on religion in the United States. "The ARDA allows you to interactively explore the highest quality data on American and international religion using online features for generating national profiles, GIS maps, church membership overviews, denominational heritage trees, tables, charts, and other reports. Over 450 surveys and other data collections are available for online preview and virtually all can be downloaded free of charge."

Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative 
The Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative of the ATLA and ATS is a repository of digital resources contributed by member libraries...The CDRI database provides access to digital images of woodcuts, photographs, slides, papyri, coins, maps, postcards, manuscripts, lithographs, sermons, shape-note tune books, and various forms of Christian art, architecture, and iconography.

Insights into Religion 
Shares results and insights from studies conducted by the Religion Division of the Lilly Endowment.  This site provides "the clergy, lay leaders and the public with: 
  - access to research on religion;
  - reflections on faith and ministry;
  - observations on congregational life;
  - commentary on spiritual practices;
  - perspectives on religious vocations;
  - information on theological education; and
  - strategies for leadership development."

Patheos 
Guide to understanding the origins, history, and beliefs of the world's religions.

Text This Week 
Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links and Resources.  Find an ancient or reference commentator by using the Scripture Index.

Wesleyan-Holiness Digital Library 
The Wesleyan-Holiness Digital Library is a free, multidisciplinary, open access, digital resource of books, literature, multimedia material,  initiated by the Church of the Nazarene in response to the global need for access to resources for education, lifelong learning, and specifically ministerial preparation.

Bible Crosswalk 
From crosswalk.com. Bibles, concordances (including Strong's), commentaries, encyclopedias, lexicons (Brown-Driver-Briggs and Thayer's), sermon helps, and more.

Codex Sinaiticus  

Greek manuscript of the Christian Bible, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament; heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible

Dead Sea Scrolls  

The Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature.  Includes bibliography, cave tour, symposia.

Gnostic Studies Resources 

From AcademicInfo.net, Includes Gnostic Studies Library, Encyclopedia Coptica, Gnosis Archive, Gospel of Thomas homepage, Noncanonical homepage, and more.

History in the News - The Middle East   
By Dept. of History, SUNY-Albany.  Includes resources on: History, Culture, Society, Religion, Economics, and Politics.  Also includes Maps and News Media.

International Religious Freedom 

From the U.S. State Department, "The International Religious Freedom report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide."

Judaism and Jewish Resources  

"The Internet is rich with Jewish resources. This page shows you the gates to these resources, so that you may go in and explore."

Popes 

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Listing of Popes with links to full biographies of each.

Pulpit and Pew 

Pulpit and Pew: Research on Pastoral Leadership. From Duke University School of Divinity.

Religion and the Founding of the American Republic - Library of Congress 
This exhibition demonstrates that many of the colonies that in 1776 became the United States of America were settled by men and women of deep religious convictions who in the seventeenth century crossed the Atlantic Ocean to practice their faith freely.

Religion Online 

"More than 6,000 articles and chapters. Topics include Old and New Testament, Theology, Ethics, History and Sociology of Religion, Communication and Cultural Studies, Pastoral Care, Counseling, Homiletics, Worship, Missions and Religious Education."

Review of Biblical Literature 
Founded by the Society of Biblical Literature, presents reviews of books in biblical studies and related fields.

Women's Religious Communities  

Monaftic Matrix: A Scholarly Resource for the Study of Women\'s Religious Communities from 400 to 1600 CE.