The Difficult but Indispensable Church

by Everist, Norma Cook

• ISBN13: 9780800634780
• ISBN10: 0800634780
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: Fortress Pr

Summary

Twenty-one theologians from Wartburg Seminary offer new views of church as the indispensable site of radical Christian commitment and an essential healer for a hurting world.

Table of Contents

Contributors	xi
Foreword	xvii
Introduction	xix
PART ONE Personhood in Community: Indispensability in Christ
Seeking Peace in the Assembly: God's Mission, Our Worship, and the World's Hope	3	(10)
Thomas H. Schattauer
Life Together Is Only in God: The Achievement of Personhood in Community	13	(10)
Duane H. Larson
The Psalms: Individual Laments as Communal Hymns	23	(10)
Ann L. Fritschel
The Well-Being of Individuals and the Health of the Community	33	(12)
Daniel L. Olson
Re-Membering the Body of Christ: Creating Trustworthy Places to Be Different Together	45	(14)
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	59	(12)
James L. Bailey
Believing in God through Others: Believing in God for Others	71	(12)
Duane A. Priebe
The Community of Faith as a Confessional Norm: Universalism and Evangelism	83	(10)
Ralph W. Quere
Living Together Faithfully with Our Different Readings of the Bible	93	(12)
David J. Lull
Practice Where You Preach: Conditions for Good Preachers	105	(10)
James R. Nieman
Communio as a Basis for Moral Formation, Deliberation, and Action	115	(12)
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	127	(10)
Craig L. Nessan
The Church as Organism: Characteristics of a Young Church	137	(12)
David A. Ramse
Mission as an Oriental Fan: A Plea for Missionhood of All Believers	149	(12)
H. S. Wilson
Youth and Family Ministry as Congregational and Community Renewal	161	(10)
Paul G. Hill
Discovering Hope: Marks of Vitality and Practices That Form Communities for Mission	171	(10)
L. Shannon Jung
PART FOUR A Church of All People: The Indispensable Challenge
American Civil Religion: A De Facto Church	181	(10)
Roger W. Field
Imagining the New Community in Christ and the Challenges of Race and Class	191	(8)
Winston D. Persaud
The Body of Christ and the Issue of Required Celibacy	199	(10)
Gwen B. Sayler
Can This Community Live? A Historical and Contemporary Perspective	209	(10)
Elizabeth A. Leeper
After the Jubilee: The Church's Advocacy Role	219	(10)
Peter L. Kjeseth
Afterword	229	(2)
Notes	231