The Church Between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North AmericaGeorge R. Hunsberger, Craig Van Gelder This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. This excellent collection of essays, written by a diverse group of Christian leaders working on the frontier of mission within the present North American context, lays the groundwork for the newly emerging missionary encounter of the gospel with North American culture. Demonstrating that the missionary identity of the church is to be found at the intersection of culture-gospel-church, these essays outline the missionary agenda now before the church as it confronts North American assumptions, perspectives, preferences, and practices. Contributors: |
Contents
FOCUSING THE MISSION QUESTION | 1 |
Developing a Domestic Missiology for North America | 3 |
The Challenge of ReVisioning the Church in North America for the TwentyFirst Century | 26 |
ASSESSING OUR CULTURE | 53 |
America as Mission Field | 57 |
The Culture of Modernity as a Missionary Challenge | 69 |
Historical Aspects and Stages | 79 |
Mission in the Emerging Postmodern Condition | 113 |
Variations on a Theme by Newbigin | 214 |
Elements of a Missional Hermeneutic | 228 |
Vernacular Theology | 260 |
Translatability in the Missional Approach of Lamin Sanneh | 270 |
DEFINING THE CHURCH | 285 |
Acquiring the Posture of a Missionary Church | 289 |
Congregations with Missions vs Missionary Congregations | 298 |
The Church in Transition | 308 |
Methods of Social and Cultural Analysis | 139 |
Toward a Missional Encounter with Our Culture through Symbolic Analysis | 158 |
DISCERNING THE GOSPEL | 173 |
The Recovery of the Gospel for Evangelism in the United States | 177 |
The Theologic of Christian Awkwardness | 198 |
Pastoral Role in the Missionary Congregation | 319 |
Sizing Up the Shape of the Church | 333 |
Toward a Faithful and Effective Ecclesiology | 347 |