PRACTICAL THEOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY and FORMATION
CHURCHES AND THE CRISIS OF DECLINE A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age Andrew Root MINISTRY IN A SECULAR AGE Congregations often seek to combat the crisis of decline by using innovation to produce new resources. But Andrew Root shows that the church’s crisis is not in the loss of resources; it’s in the loss of life—and that life can only return when we remain open to God’s encountering presence. This new book, related to Root’s critically acclaimed Ministry in a Secular Age project, addresses the practical form the church must take in a secular age. Root uses two stories to frame the book: one about a church whose building becomes a pub and the other about Karl Barth. Root argues that Barth should be understood as a pastor with a deep practical theology that can help church leaders today. Churches and the Crisis of Decline pushes the church to be a wait- ing community that recognizes that the only way for it to find life is to stop seeing the church as the star of its own story. Instead of resisting decline, congregations must remain open to divine action. Root offers a rich vision for the church’s future that moves away from an obsession with relevance and resources and toward the living God. CONTENTS 1. When the Church Becomes a Pub, and the Immanent Frame Our Map 2. Brother-Trouble and Meeting the Exorcist’s Son: The Begin- ning of Karl Barth 3. A Funeral for a Church—A Funeral That Remakes a Church 4. An Apple Tree and the Incoherence of “God Is God” 5. The Church Can’t Know How to Find God 6. The Church Is Not the Star of Its Own Story 7. Welcome to Crisis Mode 8. Wedding Blunders and Brotherly Love 9. Say Goodbye to Being and Give Me More Busyness
FEBRUARY 2022 • 320 pp. • paper • $27.99 • 9781540964816
ANDREW ROOT (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baal- son Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including Faith Formation in a Secular Age , The Pastor in a Secular Age , The Congregation in a Secular Age , and The End of Youth Minis- try? Root is also the coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry .
10. A Shady Obituary and the Need to Wait 11. Waiting Sucks but Resonance Is Life 12. Waiting Is Living: The Church and Resonance
13. When Mozart Goes Straight Into You and Through You 14. Pietism and Its Discontents: A Dialectical Escape from Indi- vidualism and Religion 15. A True Ghost Story and the Birth of Watchwords 16. Getting Real with a Dialectical Demand 17. Deepening the Dialectic: Avoiding Sledgehammering the Ceiling Index
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
MINISTRY IN A SECULAR AGE 3-VOLUME SET 9781540963840 • $69.99p
54
Faculty can use code BAFA21 to receive a 40% discount at BakerBookHouse.com. Offer expires December 31, 2021.
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online