The Englewood Review of Books
Best Books of 2021
Advent Calendar
December 7
The Englewood Review of Books
*** Best Theology Book of 2021!!!
The Congregation in a Secular Age:
Keeping Sacred Time against the Speed of Modern Life Paperback
The Congregation in a Secular Age:Andrew Root
Paperback: Baker Academic, 2021
Buy Now: [ IndieBound ] [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ]
This relentless pace [of Western society], and the diligent avoidance of confronting meaning that it demands, marks the experiences of too many of congregations today. To press the point even further, too many of our ecclesiological structures have willingly capitulated to secular modernity’s control of time and what makes life meaningful. Rather than confronting these realities, we surrender to them, by stuffing our congregational rhythms with more and more programs, or increasingly trying to “innovate,” and as a result, drive our communities directly into a congregational depression. Who can keep up? Or, who wants to keep up, if they can’t remember why they are trying to?
…
Andrew Root deserves to be recognized as one of our most important practical theologians, calling the church to a deeper understanding of the culture within which it disciples people “in participation with the life and ministry of this living God.” (207) For we truly do live in an age that yearns deeply for the fullness he describes, and that scripture points us towards in Christ. “We long to find a true fullness that draws us not through time, into some future, but more deeply into time itself. We long to live so deeply in time that we hear and feel the calling of eternity. We yearn to find once again the infinite in time, to find the sacred in the present, and therefore to be truly alive!” (169)
– from our review by Joel Wentz
[ READ the full review ]
*** LISTEN to our podcast interview about this book and the issues it raises with Andrew Root and John Swinton…
<<<<<< PREVIOUS DAY’s Book
[ Return to the Advent Calendar ]
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
![Andrew Root - The Congregation in A Secular Age [Feature Review]](https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ARoot-Congregation.jpeg "Andrew Root - The Congregation in A Secular Age [Feature Review]")
![Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand - When Church Stops Working [Feature Review]](https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/When-Church-Stops-Working-130x130.jpeg "Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand - When Church Stops Working [Feature Review]")
![Tim Dickau - Forming Christian Communities in a Secular Age [Feature Review]](https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Forming-Xn-Communities-130x130.jpeg "Tim Dickau - Forming Christian Communities in a Secular Age [Feature Review]")
![Five Important books for the Thriving of Local Churches! [April 2021]](https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ThrivingChurches-5Bks-130x130.jpg "Five Important books for the Thriving of Local Churches! [April 2021]")
