Flexible Church

Flexible Church proposes an ecclesiology for innovative expressions of church that is grounded in biblical texts whilst self-consciously and intentionally developed for the contemporary Western milieu. The result is a framework serves as a guide and auditing tool for pioneering church planters.

The conviction of this book is twofold. First that the idea of the Church and its supernatural life by a new creation is decaying in several of the Churches that have been most critical about its relation to the State; whereas it is only a high and distinctive idea of the Church that gives us any right or principle regarding that relation. And, second, that a true Church is inseparable from a belief in certain doctrines for which men are ready to die--is, indeed, impossible without such belief; and the decay in the Church idea (as distinct from that of a mere association, sympathetic or religious), is due chiefly to the decay of doctrinal interest and conviction. No theology, no Church. --from the Preface

With alphabetical indexes of firms and trade specialties.

What is the goal of mission? What strategies are needed today? How do evangelism and social problems relate? What is the role of dialog between Christians and non-Christians? These questions and more are the concerns of Protestant, evangelical, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches. Dr. Scherer analyzes the various approaches of churches in mission and sharpens the biblical goal of making disciples of all nations.

The model of the nuclear family unit, once the norm, is now only one of many different forms of family. Fifty percent of the population in the US right now is single. In this original and readable book, Philip Watson examines the phenomenon of singleness in contemporary society and its implications for ministry. Wilson traces the history of the church's attitudes towards marriage and sexuality, from the early Church Fathers through the Reformation. In a series of direct interviews he probes how single people today feel within their church communities. His findings reveal that the vast majority of those questioned feel they are something of an embarrassing anomaly in communities that continue to prize marriage. Finally, Wilson begins to develop a framework for a more nuanced approach to the subject of sexuality and relationships, and suggests ways in which the church, as primarily a community of love, can become the best forum in which single life can be discussed, articulated, assisted, and faithfully lived out.