Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape the Church for Mission
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
- Missio Alliance Essential Reading List of 2016
In our quest to renew the church, Christians have walked through seeker-friendly, emergent, missional, and other movements to develop new expressions of the body of Christ. Now in the post-Christian world in North America we're asking the question again: is there a way to be the church that engages the world, not by judgment nor accommodation but by becoming the good news in our culture? In Faithful Presence, noted pastor and scholar David Fitch offers a new vision for the witness of the church in the world. He argues that we have lost the intent and practice of the sacramental ways of the historic church, and he recovers seven disciplines that have been with us since the birth of the church. Through numerous examples and stories, he demonstrates how these revolutionary disciplines can help the church take shape in and among our neighborhoods, transform our way of life in the world, and advance the kingdom. This book will help you re-envision church, what you do in the name of church, and the way you lead a church. It recovers a future for the church that takes us beyond Christendom. Embrace the call to reimagine the church as the living embodiment of Christ, dwelling in and reflecting God's faithful presence to a world that desperately needs more of it.
David E. Fitch
David E. Fitch (PhD, Northwestern University) is the B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary. He is also the founding pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community, a missional church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He is the author of The Great Giveaway and The End of Evangelicalism? and is the coauthor of Prodigal Christianity. Fitch coaches a network of church plants in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and he writes, speaks, and lectures on issues the local church must face in mission including cultural engagement, leadership and theology. He has also written numerous articles in periodicals such as Christianity Today, The Other Journal, Missiology as well as various academic journals.
Read more from David E. Fitch
Subterranean: Why the Future of the Church is Rootedness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Faithful Presence
Related ebooks
What Is the Church and Why Does It Exist? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAND: The Gathered and Scattered Church Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plunging into the Kingdom Way: Practicing the Shared Strokes of Community, Hospitality, Justice, and Confession Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End of Evangelicalism? Discerning a New Faithfulness for Mission: Towards an Evangelical Political Theology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Fellowship of Differents: Showing the World God's Design for Life Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Church of Us vs. Them: Freedom from a Faith That Feeds on Making Enemies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brave Cities: The Archaeology, Artistry, and Architecture of Kingdom Ecosystems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Band Meeting: Rediscovering Relational Discipleship in Transformational Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church-Growth Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reckoning with Power: Why the Church Fails When It's on the Wrong Side of Power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMission Is the Shape of Water: Learning From the Past to Inform Our Role in the World Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fresh!: An Introduction to Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRighteous Brood: Making the Mission of God a Family Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Innovative Church: How Leaders and Their Congregations Can Adapt in an Ever-Changing World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Facing Leviathan: Leadership, Influence, and Creating in a Cultural Storm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saved by Faith and Hospitality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marks of a Movement: What the Church Today Can Learn From the Wesleyan Revival Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Body and Blood: The Body of Christ in the Life of the Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A New Look at Hospitality as a Key to Missions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGuardrails: Six Principles for a Multiplying Church Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Skies: 10 Essential Conversations Exploring our Future as the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy We Need the Church to Become More Like Jesus: Reflections about Community, Spiritual Formation, and the Story of Scripture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPilgrims and Priests: Christian Mission in a Post-Christian Society Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reflections on the Psalms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind Workbook: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Faithful Presence
15 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A ecclesiastical reflection on the author's experience in ministry exhorting more holistic service and faithfulness to Christ in a space between missional and incarnational: faithful presence in the Kingdom.The author sets forth seven disciplines for faithful presence (the Lord's table, reconciliation, proclaiming the Gospel, being with the "least of these", being with children, the fivefold gifting, and Kingdom prayer), and describes them in terms of presence within the "closed circle" of the dedicated members of a local congregation, the "half dotted circle" of the local church members, regular visitors, and people who express interest in faith, and also the "open circle," the greater community at large. The author does well at demonstrating the importance of all three aspects of ministry and presence so that the work may thrive: to focus only on the closed circle is to turn to maintenance mode, but focusing only on the open circle is to lead to exhaustion and abandonment of the Gospel to become a social service organization. The "half dotted circle" becomes a very important place in that regard.Many good things about each subject, and some points of disagreement, as always. The section on the "least of these" is very powerful, and does well to overturn the paternalistic and systemic model of benevolence on its head, emphasizing instead community and sharing and joint participation in ways that empower all involved. Kingdom prayer, especially as contrasted with constant striving, is all important. The fivefold gifting is an interesting way of taking the first century situation and bringing it to the twenty-first without necessarily becoming charismatic, although in so doing there is some disconnect from the original use of some of the terms. Being with children is rather convicting; evangelism models are very fit for 21st century life, since they focus on presence and relationship, the embodiment of the message as opposed to rhetorical flourish. Don't sleep on the appendices either, especially 3 (warning about the extremes of missiology and incarnation) and 4 (looking at the "least of these" as all the poor, but seeing Christ's presence in their midst as the work the Christians did by bringing the Kingdom to bear on their condition). Highly recommended.**original galley received as part of early review program