Embracing the Mixed Ecology: Inherited and New Forms of Christian Community Flourishing Together

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A guide to the diverse forms of Christian community that are needed today.

Throughout its history, the church thrived when it embraced diverse organizational and cultural forms. In this volume, Dwight Zscheile and Blair Pogue argue that as American culture shifts away from voluntary association and toward individual self-expression, most existing congregations are bound to inherited forms of church that are not designed to connect with neighbors or form disciples. Taking the Church of England's efforts over two decades to engage its deeply changed missionary context as an example, the authors build on historical and contemporary precedent to argue that the renewal of the church requires a new paradigm where inherited and innovative forms of church coexist and thrive together. Examining numerous innovations-including fresh expressions of church, megachurches, microchurches, church plants, digital churches, and more-the authors show how a mixed ecology is central to church renewal.

Author Bio

Dwight J. Zscheile is professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary and associate priest at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Recognized as one of the leading theologians in the Episcopal Church today, Zscheile also serves on the Episcopal Church's Special Task Force on Structure. In addition to People of the Way; he is co-author with Craig Van Gelder of The Missional Church in Perspective, and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation. He lives in North Oaks, Minnesota. Blair Pogue is canon for vitality and innovation in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. She is an Episcopal priest with over two decades of ordained ministry experience in rural, suburban, and urban congregations, including 16 years as rector of St. Matthews Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Blair is a graduate of Whitman College (BA), Yale University (M.Div.), and Luther Seminary (D.Min., congregational mission and leadership) and is ABD in American religious history from the College of William and Mary. She has extensive experience cultivating discipleship and innovation at the congregational and diocesan levels. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.