Read more
In the first chapter of this timely and incisive collection of essays on being Church now, Robin Greenwood writes: 'The contemporary world's story is one of violence and exclusion at a time when the Christian Church in the West . . . is experiencing humiliating challenges . . . In the face of most people's bored disengagement with organized religion, we experience both the complacency of preserving outworn routines in the local church and institutional panic that the old order is slipping away.' How is this situation to be addressed? One answer is through the healthy and creative growth of Local Ministry that focuses on deliberately interrelational and inclusive practices of gospel community in a mission-shaped Church, for in every age and place the Church has to be refounded. The short reflections in this book give snapshots of imaginative developments in some parts of the Anglican Communion (the British Isles, New Zealand and the United States) and explore ideas about the future identity of the local church. With a view to encouraging the strengthening and deepening of the Church's response to the Great Commission, Robin Greenwood and Caroline Pascoe have produced a valuable addition to current thought on the Local Ministry movement.
About the author
Robin Greenwood, Visiting Fellow at St John's College, Durham University, is a practical ecclesiologist, who over four decades has held posts in parishes, cathedrals and training teams. His most recent book is Sharing God's Blessing: How to renew the local church. His present work includes writing and consultancy to local churches and leaders.Robin Greenwood, Visiting Fellow at St John's College, Durham University, is a practical ecclesiologist, who over four decades has held posts in parishes, cathedrals and training teams. His most recent book is Sharing God's Blessing: How to renew the local church. His present work includes writing and consultancy to local churches and leaders.Robin Greenwood, Visiting Fellow at St John's College, Durham University, is a practical ecclesiologist, who over four decades has held posts in parishes, cathedrals and training teams. His most recent book is Sharing God's Blessing: How to renew the local church. His present work includes writing and consultancy to local churches and leaders.
Summary
Looks at how ministers are trained to work collaboratively, how congregations learn this new attitude, how it relates to a mission-shaped church and the leadership and new patterns of community which go with it.
