num_pages: 240
description: While many manuals advise clergy and congregants on tactics for church survival or thriving few address the deepest identity shape and imperatives of the church in its identity in Christ and the tradition of discipling that stems from his life work death and resurrection. As compelling as it is clear Craig Nessan's important new work retrieves biblical metaphors of the body of Christ and following Dietrich Bonhoeffer sees church today as Christ existing as community. To theological-probing Nessan then adds contextual analysis and describes the four chief imperatives that mark Christ's presence in the world peacemaking justice-making care for creation and engagement with the other. He then unfolds the real-life implications of this paradigm of Christian community for local church structure strategies for partnering public witness and interreligious engagement.
language: English
title: Shalom Church: The Body of Christ As Ministering Community
publisher: Fortress Press