Church in Emerging Culture; Five Perspectives

Church in Emerging Culture; Five Perspectives cover I had the idea for this book – on the relationship of church to culture, and especially emerging postmodern culture – and proposed it to Emergent/YS. I think it will be an important book – helping turn potentially divisive issues into shared concerns.

Click here to purchase Church in the Emerging Culture; Five Perspectives.


Publisher’s Description

It’s no secret that Western society is now less religious but more spiritual…less influenced by authority than by experience…more attuned to image than to word.
So, what should the church look like in such a culture? What should be the focus of its message? How should the church present it? Should it adapt to this culture or eschew adapting and maintain a course it has followed for two millennia?
Sit in on an at-once friendly and fiery conversation between five Christian thinkers as they make their cases for what the church’s message and methods in this present phenomenal era should be.
* re:Generation Quarterly editor-in-chief Andy Crouch
* Reformed theologian Michael Horton
* Writer, commentator, and Orthodox Christian Frederica Mathewes-Green
* Postmodernist, pastor, and Emergent senior fellow Brian McLaren
* Pastor of the innovative and interethnic L.A.-based church Mosaic, Erwin Raphael McManus
What’s more, these five don’t escape the discussion without critiques from each other—though they’re followed by final rejoinders all around.
The Church in Emerging Culture is a must-read for leaders and serious students of all denominations and church styles.
Reviews for Church in the Emerging Culture

“Leonard Sweet’s insights on the church in emerging culture solicit the interaction of keen minds like Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Brian McClaren, and Erwin McManus. The church serves the mission of Christ in a culture that is less influenced by authority and more influenced by personal experience; a culture that is more attuned to images than words. This is not a book for the quick solution reader. It requires thorough engagement, but the reward is greater clarity on the huge task of being an effective Kingdom church in the 21st century.”
Enrichment Journal
UKCBD Review, by Phil Groom, June 2005.
Read an excerpt fromChurch in the Emerging Culture

You can download the introduction to the book, by Leonard Sweet.