CHURCH PLANTING IN POST-CHRISTIAN SOIL C

Erscheinungsjahr 2018
ISBN: 978-0-19-067364-2
Verlag: ACADEMIC

Buch, Englisch, 368 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 716 g

National headlines regularly herald the decline of Christianity in the United States, citing historically low levels of confidence in organized religion, drops in church attendance, church closures, and the dramatic rise of the "Nones." Scarcely heard are stories from the thousands of new churches and new forms of church that are springing up each year across the country. In this book, Christopher James attends carefully to stories of ecclesial innovation taking place in Seattle, Washington--a city on the leading edge of trends shaping the nation as a whole. James's study of the new churches founded in 'post-Christian' Seattle offers both pragmatic advice and theological reflection. After an in-depth survey- and -interview-based analysis of the different models of church-building he identifies, James identifies five threads of practical wisdom: 1) embracing local identity and mission, 2) cultivating embodied, experiential, everyday spirituality, 3) engaging community life as means of witness and formation, 4) prioritizing hospitality as a cornerstone practice, and 5) discovering ecclesial vitality in a diverse ecclesial ecology. Stimulating, encouraging, and stereotype-shattering, this book invites readers to reconsider the narrative that portrays these first decades of the twenty-first century as a time of ecclesial death and decline, and to view this instead as a hope-filled season of ecclesial renewal and rebirth.

Autoren/Hrsg.

James

James, Christopher

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Christliche Spiritualität, Christliche Mystik
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction: Looking for the Future of Church in the None Zone

- 1: The Lay of the Land: Seattle as a Future-Trending Context

- 2: Surveying the Field

- 3: Modeling Church

- 4: Models of Practical Ecclesiology Among New

- 5: Missional Theological Assessment

- 6: Renewing Practice in the Models

- 7: Practical Wisdom from the Frontier of Faith

- Notes

- Appendix A. Research Methodology

- Appendix B. New Seattle Churches Survey

- Appendix C. Interview Guide

- Interview Guide for Pastors

- Selected Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Christopher B. James is Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Missional Christianity at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, where he also directs the Master of Arts in Mission and Discipleship.