Re Visioning The Church

According to longstanding tradition, theology can be thought of as 'faith seeking understanding.' Ecclesiology, then, seeks to understand the theological reality we call church. Re-Visioning the Church, the outcome of nearly two decades of research and writing towards constructing a systematic historical ecclesiology, applies a social scientific and historical outlook to the story of the emergence, development, and ongoing mission and ministry of the church. Establishing a critical framework for understanding the structures of the church, the work is a wide-scale exploration of the religious, cultural, and social dimensions of what it means to be the church and what structures and ministries form the fundamental parts of ecclesial life in its relationship to the kingdom. The heart of the project is a detailed account of the history, development, and change across the centuries of the church that takes the story from the apostolic band of witnesses to the dramatic global event of the Second Vatican Council.

Vision. It can be a very slippery thing. As leaders, we can have a crystal-clear sense of purpose and direction at some points, but they may seem like foreign objects from time to time. Sooner or later, it happens to all of us. In this book, Pastor Greg Surratt shares his story of asking himself hard questions... and finding the answers to be both surprising and inspiring. He addresses the crucial topics of limitations, culture, and legacy, but he also dives into harder issues of how to handle heartaches and what actually captures the hearts of the people we lead. Re-Visioning is designed to recharge our leadership batteries and equip us to inspire our teams with humility, boldness, and joy.

This book explores mission and culture in the postmodern context of the United States by drawing upon the metaphor of marriage to illustrate the reciprocal relationship between faith and culture.

"We have here what might be described as a new Pentecost."---Cecil M. Robeck Fuller Theological Seminary "The Most important aspect of the forum is that, in deep and direct human encounters, we have found Christ in each other. It has confirmed to me that we are being led by the Holy Spirit to deepen our commitment to unity. This is the hour of His grace, if only we would listen."---Biship Brain Farrell Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity "We believe this table brings greater understanding and breaks stereotypes."---Geoff Tunnicliffe pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity "This wasn't a conference that produced papers. We prayed together. This wasn't a conference that debated doctrines. We Shared our faith stories with one another. This wasn't a legislative body that voted, creating winners and losers. We listened to one another. That is why we gathered."---Bishop Jessica Crist Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "If the Global Christian Forum continues for a couple of decades, this gathering will some day be viewed as a watershed in twenty-first century Christianity."---Larry Miller Mennonite World Conference "Some would have said this event is not possible, but here we are."---Rev. Samuel Kobia World Council of Churches "The forum enriched my faith and expanded my view of Christian diversity, as I came to a deeper realization that the Christian faith is so much bigger than any one denomination or fellowship."---Bishop James Leggett Pontecostal World Fellowship "This meeting has been a milestone, setting an example and suggesting standards for dialogue among Christians. It has built up momentum that will now be felt in many other places."---Rev. John Mathews Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church "My participation in the forum will help me to understand where other traditions are coming from, and why they do what they do. I had never before had the opportunity to sit and listen to an Orthodox priest, for instance."---Rev. Judy Mbugua Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Drawing on ethno-anthropological fieldwork, this book considers issues of identity and belonging in Europe from a consciously emic perspective. The book explores issues such as borders, migration, economic organization, heritage, and the politics and practice of developing cultural understanding.

This book documents the Episcopal Church's developing focus on baptism within the context of the liturgical movement, the emerging understanding of the eucharist, prayer book revision, and the confirmation dilemma. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, the author presents a credible case in support of her belief that a baptismal ecclesiology is emerging from these events that have enabled people to accept a radically different initiatory pattern in the church. This book exhibits clarity on the issues discussed with the support of solid scholarship and lucid writing.

"This book embraces a wide spectrum of contemporary movements, filters them through the biblical record, and produces a model of the church that can make an impact and last for a long time. It is excellent for scholars, pastors, and congregational study." -Carl S. Dudley, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.

This study is concerned with how readers are positioned to interpret the past in historical fiction for children and young adults. Looking at literature published within the last thirty to forty years, Wilson identifies and explores a prevalent trend for re-visioning and rewriting the past according to modern social and political ideological assumptions. Fiction within this genre, while concerned with the past at the level of content, is additionally concerned with present views of that historical past because of the future to which it is moving. Specific areas of discussion include the identification of a new sub-genre: Living history fiction, stories of Joan of Arc, historical fiction featuring agentic females, the very popular Scholastic Press historical journal series, fictions of war, and historical fiction featuring multicultural discourses. Wilson observes specific traits in historical fiction written for children — most notably how the notion of positive progress into the future is nuanced differently in this literature in which the concept of progress from the past is inextricably linked to the protagonist’s potential for agency and the realization of subjectivity. The genre consistently manifests a concern with identity construction that in turn informs and influences how a metanarrative of positive progress is played out. This book engages in a discussion of the functionality of the past within the genre and offers an interpretative frame for the sifting out of the present from the past in historical fiction for young readers.