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Concern for the Church in the World
Amid the mid-twentieth-century post-war relief and rebuilding efforts, reconsideration of views on nonviolence and civic engagement was also underway for North American Mennonites. What peace theology was adequate to the task of recasting the church's role in the world as it was emerging, including its economic and political systems? Essays in this volume explore these questions through intentional dialog across diverse viewpoints, including some in tension with the Mennonite hierarchy and broader Mennonite majority of the time. The writings--both their themes and their approach of intentional conversation across differences--provide a resource for Christians today wrestling anew with such issues amid the unprecedented upheaval marking the first two decades of the twenty-first century.
Concern for Church Polity and Discipline
CONCERN: A Pamphlet Series for Questions of Christian Renewal was born in the 1950s of shared concerns over a gap between an Anabaptist vision and contemporary, North American Mennonite reality. The initial group views the increasingly hierarchical denominational structure, the emergence of centralized, professionalized, pastoral ministry, and the resultant changes in polity and practice as fundamentally incompatible with a Believers' Church ecclesiology. Essays here present that critique and discussion of the reconfiguration of pastoral and communal authority, as well as the assertion that reclamation of a disciplined priesthood of all believers is the path of Christian renewal. Today the question of what institutional forms best structure the leadership, authority, and shared life of congregations persists, marked by particular concern to attend to the exercise of power within actual communities of faith.
The Heterodox Yoder
The Heterodox Yoder provides a critical rereading of Yoder's corpus through his own conviction that discipleship is, most basically, ethics. Tracing the development of Yoder's theological foundations through to their final role in redefining Jewish-Christian and ecumenical relations, this volume explains why the appropriation and use of the language of politics eventually constrains Yoder's ethical vision to the point that it reframes Christianity within the limits of social ethics alone. Because this vision self-consciously excludes or, at best, relativizes many of the claims of orthodox Christianity (including but not limited to the ecumenical creeds), Martens concludes that Yoder's Christian ethic is best described as heterodox.
Concern for Church Renewal
From its first issue in 1954, CONCERN: A Pamphlet Series for Questions of Christian Renewal ran statements identifying it as an independent publication whose purpose was to stimulate study and discussion through intentional juxtaposition of viewpoints. What constitutes the church? Do existing structures engender or hinder the church's ever-present need for renewal? What approaches or formats might more effectively "structure" its renewal? CONCERN's Mennonite editorial board and the essays gathered here address these themes in reference to a Believers' Church or Anabaptist framework, reflecting differing viewpoints but a shared sense that community and discipleship are essential. Two contemporary responses reflect current iterations of these questions, which are shaped by pronounced concerns for the exercise of power within the community, and the role response to structural, systemic inequalities plays in discipleship.
Concern for Church Mission and Spiritual Gifts
In the 1950s, a conversation among a handful of American graduate students considering the place of Mennonites in the modern world blossomed into a published forum, CONCERN: A Pamphlet Series for Questions of Christian Renewal. The CONCERN writings here consider the global, missional, experiential, contextualized realities of such a “place,” past and present. The writings explore the role of culture and context in the church’s mission, lived faith, and theological articulation through various avenues of approach: the global church and the ecumenical movement, Christendom’s legacy of colonialism and cultural accommodation, critique of rigid and outdated ecclesial structures and forms, the complexities of the unavoidably enculturated nature of faith as proclaimed and lived. Two contemporary responses offer postcolonial critique and development, demonstrating that such topics continue to be of critical concern in today’s globally interconnected yet fragmented and divided world.
Bulls, Bears and Golden Calves
Self-interest, economic efficiency and private property rights are among the most basic assumptions of market economics. But can an economic theory built on these assumptions alone provide adequate insight into human nature, motivation and ultimate goals to guide our economic life? John Stapleford says no along with those economists who recognize the limits of their discipline. He insightfully shows us in detail how ethics are inextricably intertwined with economic life and analysis. Writing from a Christian ethical perspective, he interacts with seven standard introductory economics texts, exploring the moral challenges imbedded in various macro-, micro- and international economic theories ...
Seven Radical Elders
Many young idealists, after a few failures, burn out and return to status quo lives. Not so with the seven radicals in this book, who met in an interracial house church and intentional community on Chicago’s West Side during the civil rights era. Here you will make the acquaintance of a Church of the Brethren pastoral couple who tried to bring communal life to the black ghetto; a fashionable socialite who trashed her curlers and joined the simple life; an elite Stanford graduate who cast his lot with a bus full of black teens on an epic ride to Washington, DC, to hear MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech; two ethnic-Mennonite women who became community leaders and elders during a male-dominated era; and a painfully shy “geek” awakened to the traumas of racism by five days in the Albany, Georgia, jail. Now, in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, these veterans of community witness to the possibility of radical life conversions, engagement with the hard, slow work of racial reconciliation that learns from mistakes and does not quit. This book concludes with the invitation to the joyful path of becoming who God made us to be—saints.
Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity
There are several eras in the history of Christianity radical forms of the tradition are obvious: the early church of the first five centuries, the medieval era, the age of reform, the early modern era, and the contemporary era. Radical Christian activity and experience may reflect either a primary or a derived level of spirituality. New converts may join a sect or movement with radical characteristics; or they may become dissatisfied with their initial Christian experiences and desire a different or deeper Christian spirituality, usually closely parallel to that seen in the New Testament. The Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity covers the history of this movement and includes an i...
