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Full Description
Congregations today exist in an in-between, or liminal, time. The customary answers about what it means to be and do church and strategies for renewal based on those answers no longer work. But there is no certainty about the new answers. It is a time of searching—of letting go of the old and experimenting with the new. This means facing the reality of death, which may come as institutions die or as established ways are abandoned. This book addresses this reality while maintaining a constant focus on the Christian promise of resurrection. It offers three images that recognize the differing contexts of congregations and help them shape their future as they seek to discern God's work in their midst. Congregations shaped by each of the three images (remembering, letting go, and resurrecting) have the potential to faithfully engage in God's work in their setting. For each of the three there are suggestions for helping a congregation move toward an even more faithful expression of the image. The book includes Bible studies and other resources that congregations will find helpful in this process. Some congregations may continue in traditional ways, while others seek a new way of being church. But all can join in God's work in their time and place with a new and deeper understanding of the ministry that is theirs. This book helps them do that. Because a different kind of leadership is needed the book offers an approach to leadership that is grounded in a spiritual process of inward reflection and outward involvement.
Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
How to Read This Book
Final Thoughts Before We Begin
Chapter 1 - A Reality Check: Living in the In-Between
A New Thing
The End of Christendom
The Parable of the Sower
An In-Between Time
Chapter 2 - Possibilities for the Future: Discerning an Image of the Congregation
Discerning the Right Thing
Three Images
When the Images Combine
Remembering - Main Street Church
Letting Go - Trinity Church
Resurrecting - Faith Church
The Inevitability of Loss
Chapter 3 - Remembering: A New Way of Seeing What Was
Endings
Paradox
Addiction
Chapter 4 - Letting Go: Insights from Hospice
Chapter 5 - Resurrecting: Spirituality and Ethics Revisited
The Parable of the Yeast
A Tiny Part of the Whole
Big Effects
A Transforming/Corrupting Presence
A Time-Consuming Process of Change
Nurturing Spirituality
The Examen Prayer
The Rule of Life
Spiritual Direction
Claiming the Ethic of Jesus
Chapter 6 - A New Model of Leadership: Inwardly Directed and Outwardly Focused
A New Model of Leadership
Envision the Productive Community
Look Within
Embrace the Hypocritical Self
Transcend Fear
Embody a Vision of the New Community
Disturb the System
Surrender to the Emergent Process
Entice Through Moral Power
Strength, Sensitivity and Faith
Conclusion
Index
About the Authors
