Theology: Mission Studies: Church and Ecclesiology

Catholic ecclesiology stands at the threshold of a new moment in the reception of the Second Vatican Council. The election of Pope Francis--coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the council--has inspired a fresh consideration of its teaching in such diverse areas as ecumenism, inculturation, missiology, and ministry. The chapters in this volume have their origin in a special symposium that called together over forty of the leading Catholic scholars from throughout North America in order to discuss the future of theological reflection on the church. The nine essays in this volume guided that conversation and offer an entry into some of the most pressing issues in ecclesiology today.

"Gaillardetz integrates emerging ecclesiologies from Latin America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia with the traditional ecclesiology of the north. He helps us understand what happens when the church takes cues not just from Scripture and Tradition, but also from women, Asian and African religions, and from the challenge of promoting justice and peace. Woven through the entire book is the issue of globalization and environmental crisis, as a people "sustained by memory" and presided over by a ministry of memory faces the future."--BOOK JACKET.

The Emerging Church movement is a key part of the current landscape of Christianity.The term 'emerging church' is not without its critics. It is used both by those who participate in new worship communities such as those represented at Greenbelt and by those who are suspicious of the claim that the emerging church presents something radically new. Doug Gay attempts to look beyond such polarization and to articulate a hermeneutical process of audit, retrieval, unbundling and remixing of key elements of traditional Christian practice.Remixing the Church has the potential to become a standard work on contemporary ecclesiology.