Bridgefolk participants Alan and Eleanor Kreider have published a new book, Worship and Mission After Christendom. Their publisher, Herald Press, hints at why their work will appeal to the “sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Catholics” who make up Bridgefolk:
Today, as Christendom weakens, worship and mission are poised to reunite after centuries of separation. But this requires the church to rethink both “mission” and “worship.” In post-Christendom mission, God is the main actor and God calls all Christians to participate. In post-Christendom worship, the church tells and celebrates the story of God, enabling members to live in hope and attract outsiders to its many tables of hospitality.
In this passionate and thoughtful study, Alan Kreider and Eleanor Kreider draw upon missiology, liturgiology, biblical studies, church history, and the vast experience of today’s global Christian church-to say nothing of their long tenure as teachers and writers in contemporary England and the United States. Academically responsible but also practical and accessible, Worship and Mission After Christendom is a much-needed guide for people who take seriously God’s call to be the church in a world where institutional religion is no longer taken for granted.
Click here for more information or to order.
“The old ways in the church no longer ring true. Now comes this buoyant, joyous book about new possibilities for the church as it returns to gospel basics and as it connects with the emerging world of boundary-crossing pluralism. This book will confirm hunches of hope-filled Christians, authorize rethinking in bold ways, and give permission for the deepest intuitions of faithful folk.”
—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary“A compelling vision of how the church can recover the deep synergy that promises to renew and sustain faith after Christendom. This book is one of the most hopeful and useful contributions I’ve read in recent years.”
—Marlene Kropf, associate professor in spiritual formation and worship, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary; Bridgefolk co-chair“A wonderful history of Christian worship in relationship to the Missio Dei. Making use of the best of liturgical, historical and theological scholarship, this book will be read with profit by all who struggle with the proper relationships between worship and evangelism in church and world today.”
—Maxwell Johnson, professor of liturgical studies, University of Notre Dame
For a review of Worship and Mission After Christendom in the August 8 issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review, click here.