The student, church staff person layperson, or professional ethicist searching for an introduction to contemporary ethical issues that is substantive enough for class room use yet functionally oriented toward the local church will find Understanding Christian Ethics invaluable.
At least one of the chapters is pure gold; unfortunately, there are also at least two chapters that are a complete waste of time (the quality is what you would expect from a student research paper). As a whole it is well worth consideration.