Description
Strategic thinking about ministry and mission has tended to focus on the challenges of communication and presentation. Less attention has been paid to the effects that this thinking has on ministry. There is an unacknowledged dilemma for churches insofar as they are caught between the challenge to re-shape ministry in response to cultural change and the belief that there are certain God-given, immutable foundations for ministerial order that must be retained. Arguing that what is needed is a provisional approach to ministry which recognises that all forms of ministry are, and always have been a response to social and cultural context, this book brings theological and practical insight to bear on the question of ministry's provisionality. In the end, it asks, is the only way through this dilemma a kind of Ecclesianarchy?
About the Author
John Williams is Visiting Fellow and Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at York St John University.
Reviews
Context and culture shape always theologies of ministry. In this excellent study of ecclesiology and ministry, John Williams gives us a refreshing, zesty analysis of how culture and Christianity interact to produce ecclesial and ministerial praxis. No theology or religious belief lacks a cultural or social reference point and shape. There is no 'pure' religion, belief, revelation or doctrine. Everything we say, think, do, believe and practise about God is mediated through social or cultural agents. This is perhaps nowhere more true that in the ever-evolving and adaptive identity of the church, and the ministry it offers. This prescient and pithy book from Williams will challenge thinking and break new ground. It is a critically-reflective and quite remarkable book, which will amply repay study and wider discussion. -- Martyn Percy, Dean, Christ Church, Oxford
This important book sets out the story of where we have come from over the last half-century in church life and asks what will the Church of England look like in a 'post-church society'? John Williams argues that experimentation and innovation are already the order of the day and demonstrates how changes in ministry are always and everywhere adaptive. We are asked to live with ecclesianarchy as a concept for church life, leadership, and mission. His advocacy for 'postmodernity' means that the more collaborative or participative a denomination becomes, the more its rigid structures will seem inappropriate. Church leaders must end their refusal to take church decline seriously. This book asks relevant questions about the kinds of oversight which can encourage experiment and innovation. -- Malcolm Grundy, Visiting Fellow York St John University
Book Information
ISBN 9780334059806
Author John Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint SCM Press
Publisher SCM Press
About the Author
John Williams is Visiting Fellow and Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at York St John University.
Reviews
Context and culture shape always theologies of ministry. In this excellent study of ecclesiology and ministry, John Williams gives us a refreshing, zesty analysis of how culture and Christianity interact to produce ecclesial and ministerial praxis. No theology or religious belief lacks a cultural or social reference point and shape. There is no 'pure' religion, belief, revelation or doctrine. Everything we say, think, do, believe and practise about God is mediated through social or cultural agents. This is perhaps nowhere more true that in the ever-evolving and adaptive identity of the church, and the ministry it offers. This prescient and pithy book from Williams will challenge thinking and break new ground. It is a critically-reflective and quite remarkable book, which will amply repay study and wider discussion. -- Martyn Percy, Dean, Christ Church, Oxford
This important book sets out the story of where we have come from over the last half-century in church life and asks what will the Church of England look like in a 'post-church society'? John Williams argues that experimentation and innovation are already the order of the day and demonstrates how changes in ministry are always and everywhere adaptive. We are asked to live with ecclesianarchy as a concept for church life, leadership, and mission. His advocacy for 'postmodernity' means that the more collaborative or participative a denomination becomes, the more its rigid structures will seem inappropriate. Church leaders must end their refusal to take church decline seriously. This book asks relevant questions about the kinds of oversight which can encourage experiment and innovation. -- Malcolm Grundy, Visiting Fellow York St John University
Book Information
ISBN 9780334059806
Author John Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint SCM Press
Publisher SCM Press
