The past half century in which American cultural values have shifted has resulted in a large loss of strength and confidence among congregations, along with a host of other voluntary association organizations. Our culture is currently caught in a search for a new balance between freedom and equality, between the focus on personal liberties (the "I") and the common good (the "We"). Now experiencing the consequences of an excessive over-attention to the individual, the self, the narrative of the Christian faith and the role of the congregation, with its focus on shared creation and the critical need for community, are needed now more than ever. Tara Isabella Burton names three challengers to this sense of communal congregational life as competing "civil religions:" the social justice movement, techno-utopianism, and atavism. The voice that is missing belongs to congregations which carry the antidote to the self-centeredness of the competing civil religions. Congregations are about God (a power outside and beyond the self) and a conviction about the importance of the common good. This book will challenge congregations to be countercultural and reclaim their institutional purpose at this critical moment in our history.

About the Author

Gil Rendle most recently served as senior vice president with The Texas Methodist Foundation in Austin Texas and as an internationally respected independent consultant working with issues of change and leadership in Protestant, Catholic and Jewish denominational systems. Prior to this position he served the Alban Institute as an author, seminar leader and senior consultant for twelve years. An ordained United Methodist minister, Rendle also served as senior pastor of two urban congregations in Pennsylvania and as a denominational consultant for The United Methodist Church.

He is the author of ten books, a contributor to four books, and the author of numerous articles and monographs. Recent books include Doing the Math of Mission (2014) and Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World (2018) published by Rowman & Littlefield. He was named as a Distinguished Alumni of the Boston University School of Theology in 2021. Gil is a resident of Haverford, Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife, Lynne.

Book Information
ISBN 9781538178652
Author Gil Rendle
Format Paperback
Page Count 160
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 263g
Dimensions(mm) 225mm * 154mm * 11mm