For Episode 52, Teer and I talked with David Fitch about his brand new book, Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines that Shape the Church for Mission.
“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.”
It’s a dynamite book. I used an early version of it this summer when I taught the Course of Study Missiology class at Wesley Theological Seminary. It’s the kind of book that got into my skin enough that I could offhand a comment like this to Kenneth Tanner:
Be on the lookout for future episodes with Ben Witherington, Brian McLaren, Father James Martin, Becca Stevens, and Danielle Shroyer.
We’ve already got enough interviews lined up to take us into the new year.
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