Being the Church

2017-07-18
Being the Church

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  • Author: Edward Rommen
  • Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
  • ISBN: 1498293158
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 230

If the divine liturgy really is as beautiful as we claim, wouldn’t more people attend? Wouldn’t the church grow? Driven by our desire for growth, we count, we analyze, we make charts, and we strategize, but often with few discernible results. That is probably the result of focusing on secondary aspects of church life. As we know, the very existence of a church is a gift of God’s presence and not the result of any particular actions taken by human beings. For that reason, church is primarily about being something rather than doing or achieving something. So the growth of the church is not reflected in ever-increasing numbers, dollars, and activities, but rather in steadily growing conformity to the divine ideal. So in order to evaluate ecclesial growth, we will first have to ask what the church is supposed to be. One answer to that question is captured in the four marks of the church given in the creed: Oneness, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity. These four characteristics serve as a matrix or framework within which we can focus on the primary aspects of ecclesial being and help it grow and become what it was intended to be.

Kirchengemeinschaft | Church Communion

2019-12-31
Kirchengemeinschaft | Church Communion

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  • Author: Mario Fischer
  • Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
  • ISBN: 3374062423
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : de
  • Pages : 158

Kirchengemeinschaft – communio wurde zu einem Schlüsselbegriff ekklesiologischer Überlegungen in der Ökumene. Dieser Band dokumentiert ein Lehrgesprächsergebnis, das die Vollversammlung der GEKE sich 2018 zu eigen machte. Es zieht eine Bilanz der seit 1973 auf der Grundlage der Leuenberger Konkordie verwirklichten Kirchengemeinschaft und präzisiert das theologische Konzept von Kirchengemeinschaft unter Berücksichtigung der neuesten ökumenischen Diskussionen. Ferner diskutiert es die Herausforderungen, vor denen die GEKE als Gemeinschaft von Kirchen in Europa gegenwärtig steht, und zeigt Perspektiven für eine weitere Vertiefung dieser Gemeinschaft auf. Abgedruckt ist auch ein bislang kaum verfügbarer Text, der Vorüberlegungen zur Leuenberger Konkordie enthält und für das Verständnis ihres Modells wesentlich ist. Church communion – communio has become a key concept in ecclesiological deliberations in ecumenical contexts. This volume presents the result of a doctrinal conversation, adopted by the General Assembly of the CPCE in 2018, evaluating the church communion realised on the basis of the Leuenberg Agreement since its signing in 1973 and specifying the theological concept of church communion in the light of the latest ecumenical discussions. In addition, it contemplates the challenges that the CPCE currently faces as a communion of churches in Europe and suggests potential approaches to further intensifying this communion. This volume also contains a reprint of a previously scarcely available text revealing key considerations prior to the conclusion of the Leuenberg Agreement, which provides an invaluable tool for understanding this model of church fellowship.

Kirche - befreit zu Widerstand und Transformation. Church - Liberated for Resistance and Transformation

2015
Kirche - befreit zu Widerstand und Transformation. Church - Liberated for Resistance and Transformation

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  • Author: Karen Bloomquist
  • Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
  • ISBN: 3643129750
  • Category : Church renewal
  • Languages : de
  • Pages : 230

The cross is a sign of evil, of consolation for all those tortured and suffering, a sign of hope, of liberation. Christ takes on the socio-political, cultural and economic conditions of those who have been depriced of their rights. The church needs to risk its sustainability by being with and for the poor. The Spirit works freely in people and the world, therefore also in other religions besides Christianity. Rather than only focused on the person or individual, a more communal ecclesial focus for resistance and transformation is essential. 5 sections in English, 4 in German (Series: Series: Radicalizing Reformation, Vol. 5) [Subject: Theology, German Language]

Paradigms of the Church in Mission

2012-02-01
Paradigms of the Church in Mission

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  • Author: Augusto Rodriguez
  • Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
  • ISBN: 1610974697
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 160

In this book Augusto Rodr'guez provides a historical survey of the different paradigms of Christianity in order to understand how and why the church has changed her concept of being the church and of mission. This book will help in understanding how the different paradigms of Christianity, throughout history, have changed the church's self-understanding of being the church and of mission. Rodr'guez's aim is to provide an opportunity for Christians to see the different paradigms the church has gone through and understand the present situation of the church in order to live out as fully as possible the New Testament understanding of its mission and better accomplish the task.

The Mission of the Church

2016-08-02
The Mission of the Church

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  • Author: Craig Ott
  • Publisher: Baker Books
  • ISBN: 1493405772
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 224

Leading Voices from across Christian Traditions Discuss the Mission of the Church What is the mission of the church? Every seminarian and church leader must wrestle with that question. No matter what designation a church uses to describe itself, it must also think critically about why it exists and what it should be doing. In this book, five leading voices representing a range of Christian traditions engage in an enlightening conversation as they present and compare their perspectives on the mission of the church. Each contributor offers his or her view and responds to the other four views. Contributors include Stephen B. Bevans, Darrell L. Guder, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Edward Rommen, and Ed Stetzer. The book's format is ideal for classroom use and will also benefit pastors and church leaders.

Church Invisible

2013-11-16
Church Invisible

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  • Author: Andrew Gamman
  • Publisher: Kereru Publishing Limited
  • ISBN: 047326319X
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 73

We are living in a time in which we are seeing a rapid unravelling of institutional structures in Western society and a re-alignment of values. The church is not faring well in this process. This book takes the form of an earthed and practical theology and asks the question ‘what is the church?’ Rather than a purely theoretical, or a purely pragmatic approach, it looks to the radical Reformers of the sixteenth century and finds there an emphasis on the church’s invisible realities and on community both of which have a relevance to the twenty-first century.

On Being the Church

1989
On Being the Church

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  • Author: Colin E. Gunton
  • Publisher: Burns & Oates
  • ISBN:
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 280

"The Church as the Image of the Trinity"

2011-06-10

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  • Author: Kevin J. Bidwell
  • Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
  • ISBN: 1610973739
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 280

A resurgence of Trinitarian interest gained momentum in the twentieth century and it is showing little sign of abating in the twenty-first century. This research endeavors to critically evaluate Miroslav Volf's ecclesial model for "the church as the image of the Trinity," one that he presents with the English title, After Our Likeness. Volf proposes a social doctrine of the Trinity, one that is heavily influenced by the theological writings of Jurgen Moltmann, and he puts forward that this nonhierarchical Trinity should be reflected in the structures and theology of the church. If Volf is correct, then a radical reshaping is needed for the church to conform to an egalitarian pattern, one that is "after the likeness" (Gen 1:26) of an egalitarian God. In this critical examination, Kevin J. Bidwell begins by stating the theological influences that are pertinent to Volf's thesis in After Our Likeness and the assumptions that undergird and inform his whole theological paradigm. An important theological excursus is offered to assess the theology of John Smyth, the first English Baptist, who is Volf's representative figure for the location of his own ecclesiology, the Free Church. A critical analysis follows of Volf's engagement with his two chosen dialogue partners who represent both Western and Eastern theological traditions: Joseph Ratzinger and John D. Zizioulas. Volf presents five theses for "the church as the image of the Trinity," which could be labeled as Volf's Free Church in the image of Volf's revised doctrine of the Trinity. This monograph offers extensive insight into the contemporary debate on the doctrine of the Trinity, but it also assesses many aspects of ecclesiology from both Eastern and Western perspectives.

The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England; in English and Latin

1852
The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England; in English and Latin

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  • Author: Church of England
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN:
  • Category :
  • Languages : de
  • Pages : 100

Kirche und Israel // Church and Israel

2021-03-01
Kirche und Israel // Church and Israel

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  • Author: Mario Fischer
  • Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
  • ISBN: 3374068146
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : de
  • Pages : 265

Das Dokument Kirche und Israel gilt als die erste gemeinsame Positionsbestimmung der reformatorischen Kirchen Europas zum Verhältnis von Christen und Juden. Es bietet Analysen der biblischen Grundlagen und der geschichtlichen Entwicklung des Verhältnisses von Kirche und Israel, erörtert bisherige Versuche einer Klärung der schwierigen Beziehung und entfaltet schließlich eine eigene Bestimmung dieses Verhältnisses. Praktische Empfehlungen zur Berücksichtigung des Judentums in Theologie und Kirche sowie ein Aufruf zur Wahrnehmung der gemeinsamen Weltverantwortung schließen die Studie ab. In der Neuauflage wird der Text, der 2001 von der Vollversammlung der Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa verabschiedet wurde, unverändert abgedruckt, ergänzt wurden ein Bericht von einer Auswertungstagung des Jahres 2011 und zwei dort vorgetragene Bewertungen der Studie von Peter Scherle und Micha Brumlik. The document Church and Israel is regarded as the first endeavour by European Reformation churches to define a common position on the relationship between Christians and Jews. It offers analyses of the biblical foundations and historical development of the relationship between the Church and Israel, discusses previous attempts to clarify the difficult relationship and finally develops its own definition of this relationship. It concludes with practical recommendations on considering Judaism in theology and the church, and a call to take joint responsibility for the world. The document was adopted in 2001 by the General Assembly of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and is reprinted without change in this new edition. It is supplemented by a report of the conference held to evaluate its reception 10 years later, in 2011, and by two assessments of the study presented on that occasion by Peter Scherle and Micha Brumlik.