Why is it so difficult to be church today? Of course, Christian community is marked by ennobling worship, mutual care, and joyful celebration. But just as often it is marred by staid routine, insularity, and disagreement over leadership, budgets, ethical stances, or even the shape of congregational prayer itself. Alienation, blame, and power struggles ensue. Is church worth it?In this volume of fresh thinking about life in Christian community, twenty-one theologians from Wartburg Seminary strongly attest to Christ-centered community, offering new views of church as the indispensable site of radical Christian commitment and an essential healer for a hurting world. Reflective churchgoers will find here a virtual theological guide to church renewal. In part 1 the authors show how church can model an alternative vision of community, helping people achieve well-being and health, even as their differences are affirmed. Part 2 gets to the heart of Christian practice through creative discussions of belief, fellowship, encounters with Scripture, preaching, and moral deliberation. Part 3 finds the church in motion in new ways of understanding discipleship and mission near and far. Part 4 shows how a Christ-inspired openness can reveal new perspectives on tough issues of public policy, race and class, and ordination of gays and lesbians. Modeling what they espouse, the authors find unanimity in affirming the strengths of diversity, the unsuspected key to church renewal. Contributors include: James L. Bailey, Karen L. Bloomquist, Norma Cook Everist, Roger W. Fjeld, Ann L. Fritschel, Paul Hill, Peter L. Kjeseth, L. Shannon Jung, Duane H. Larson, Elizabeth A. Leeper, David J. Lull, Craig L. Nessan, James R. Nieman, Daniel L. Olson, Winston Persaud, Duane A. Priebe, Ralph W. Quere, David A. Ramse, Gwen B. Sayler, Thomas H. Schattauer, and H. S. Wilson.
Norma Cook Everist is Professor of Church and Ministry at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. She is editor of The Difficult but Indispensable Church (2002, 9780800634780), and author of Open the Doors and See All the People: Stories of Church Identity and Vocation (Lutheran Voices, 2004, 9780806651613).
Contributors Foreword Inroduction PART ONE Personhood in Community: Indispensability in Christ Seeking Peace in the Assembly: God's Mission, Our Worship, and the World's Hope Thomas H. Schattauer Life Together Is Only in God: The Achievement of Personhood in Community Duane H. Larson The Psalms: Individual Laments as Communal Hymns Ann L. Fritschel The Well-Being of Individuals and the Health of the Community Daniel L. Olson Re-Membering the Body of Christ: Creating Trustworthy Places to Be Different Together Norma Cook Everist PART TWO The Church's Heart: The Indispensable Power of Christ The Pauline Letters as Models for Christian Practice: 1 Thessalonians as a Case Study James L. Bailey Believing in God through Others: Believing in God for Others Duane A. Priebe The Community of Faith as a Confessional Norm: Universalism and Evangelism Ralph W. Quere Living Together Faithfully with Our Different Readings of the Bible David J. Lull Practice Where You Preach: Conditions for Good Preachers James R. Nieman Communio as a Basis for Moral Formation, Deliberation and Action Karen L. Bloomquist PART THREE The Church of God in Motion: The Indispensability of Mission We Are the Body of Christ: Ecclesiology for a Church in Mission Craig L. Nessan The Church as Organism: Characteristics of a Young Church David A. Ramse Mission as an Oriental Fan: A Plea for Missionhood of All Believers H. S. Wilson Youth and Family Ministry as Congregational and Community Renewal Paul G. Hill Discovering Hope: Marks of Vitality and Practices That Form Communities for Mission L. Shannon Jung PART FOUR A Church of All People: The Indispensable Challenge American Civil Religion: A De Facto Church Roger W. Fjeld Imagining the New Community in Christ and the Challenges of Race and Class Winston D. Persaud The Body of Christ and the Issue of Required Celibacy Gwen B. Sayler Can This Community Live? A Historical and Contemporary Perspective Elizabeth A. Leeper After the Jubilee: The Church's Advocacy Role Peter L. Kjeseth Afterward Notes
