Transforming Christian Theology For Church and Society

includes index and biblioraphy

PartOne:Theologyforan Age of Transition ` 1. Things Have Changed, or "Toto, We`re Not in Kansas Any More" 11 Religion in America Fifty Years Ago a The `60s and `70s ¦ American Religion in the Early Twenty-First Century 2. Do Christians Have to Hate Change? . ` i 16 3. Why the Answers Must Be Theological (and What That Means) 19 A Theology Is a World-and-Life-View ¦ Sources for Christian World-and-Life-Views 4. Postmodernity Makes Theologians of Us All 27 What Were the Assumptions of "Modernity?" ¦ Transition to a Postmodern World 5. Postinodern Believing » 34 Three Last Gasps of Late Modernity ¦ Doubt Is Not Sin ¦ Return to a Thinking Faith ¦ Belonging, Behaving, Believing ¦ Always Already on the Way 6. "Everything Must Change" , 43 Parallels with the Fall of Rome ¦ Changes in the Structure of Congregations ¦ Changes in the Structure of Denominations , , . 7. Managing Change 49 An Urgent Call to Church Leaders Part Two: Theologies That Can Transform the Church 8. Don`t Give Up on the Church! 57 9. Transformative Theologies 61 Two Warring Camps ¦ Returning to "Big Tent" Christianity ¦ Don`t ]ust Talk about It; Do It! ¦ Learning from Experience 10. Learning to Find Your Theological Voice 69 Make Your Beliefs Conscious ¦ Examples to Get You Started ¦ The Seven Core Chris¬tian Questions ¦ Building Church Programs from Your Theology Outward ¦ Imagine Martin Luther in the Twenty-First Century 11. Theology as Telling the Story 79 Telling Theological Stories at the Personal Level ¦ Telling Theological Stories at the Congregational Level—and Beyond 12. Theologies in Action 85 Put Your Thought Where Your Hpart Is ¦ Try This Experiment in Your Local Church ¦ Don`t Sweat the Small Stuff ¦ Viewing Theologies as Complementary, Not Mutually Exclusive 13. A Theology of Self-Emptying for the Church 94 The Christ Hymn in Philippians 2 ¦ Living the Christ Hymn ¦ Recognizing the Faces of Power and Prejudice ¦ Self-Emptying in Christian Congregations ¦ Uniting Proclamation with Self-Emptying ¦ Self-Emptying Theologies Part Three: Theologies That Can Transform Society 14. New Partnerships in Christian Activism 115 The Obama Effect ¦ Postmodern (Pragmatic) Idealism 13. Time to Leave behind Old Liberal/Evangelical Battles 118 It Looks like "Liberal" Won`t Do It ¦ Finding a Term that Splits the Difference ¦ Making a Difference with the Difference 16. From Church Ministries to Missional Churches 125 How Things Used to Be ¦ How Things Are Now ¦ Rethinking Theology of Mission from the Ground Up ¦ Features of Missional Churches 17. Social Transformation without "Us versus Them" 132 Our Plural Identities ¦ Theology in an Age of Interlocking Identities ¦ A Call to Retrieval, Renewal—and Radical Transformation ;, , 18. Constructing Theologies of the Community for the Community: The Six Steps 138 The Excitement Principle ¦ Identifying with a Missional Community ¦ Why Real Community and Missional Christianity are Inseparable 19. Toward a Progressive Theology for Christian Activism 146 Why Is It Controversial for Christians to be Boldly Progressive? ¦ Social Transformation in Luke 4, Luke 6, and Matthew 25 ¦ Working with God for the Salvation of the World Part Four: Conversations Worth Having Conversation 1: Choice, Convictions, and Connections 161 Conversation 2: Barriers to Belonging ` 164 Conversation 3: Toward a Progressive Missiology 170