Product Description

Rather than beginning with successful contemporary models of what churches are doing, The Essence of the Church encourages readers to rethink the nature of the church. The author draws on three decades of experience to address the challenges facing todays church and urges readers to think deeply yet practically about the church.

Thoughtful and readable, this book integrates insight from a variety of disciplines and enables readers to root their methods and programs in sound biblical, theological, and theoretical principles. Diagrams help to illustrate the concepts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #450755 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780801090967
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Review
(From the foreword) Wise and necessary guidance.... It should be required reading for all who want the church to be faithful to the cause of the gospel in our present cultural context -- Richard J. Mouw, president, Fuller Theological Seminary

This book helps us retrace the history of misguided ecclesiologies and builds the foundation for a sound missiological ecclesiology -- Rev. James H. Furr, Ph.D., Southern Baptist Convention

Van Gelder is a direction setter. Scholarly but not delinked from right practices, the visual models in the book are carefully and creatively spelled out.... Will keep the church on course into the twenty-first century -- Don Posterski, World Vision Canada

When facing difficult decisions, pastors and lay leaders need help from many different places at once, such as the Bible, theology, management, missiology, and sociology. Van Gelder brings together insights from these fields and presents them in ways that are both readable and practical -- Rev. James M. Phillips, Overseas Mission Study Center

About the Author
Craig Van Gelder is professor of congregational mission at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a church consultant, coeditor of The Church Between Gospel and Culture, and editor of Confident Witness-Changing World.

Customer Reviews

If six stars were possible...
Van Gelder has written an extremely important and profoundly insightful book about the church. He has an excellent understanding of North American Christianity and the cultural temptations which have shaped the current models for church. He lays out a foundation for the church as a christ-centered missional community. This book is rich in theology and philosophy and leads the reader to very practical conclusions about how we might "do church" differently. This is not a step-by-step method for the average church to apply to its existing programs. In fact it raises paradigm-shifting questions that speak to very foundational issues regarding the nature and purpose of the Body of Christ. It is a must read.

Great Book
This book was a great read. I really enjoyed what was said and I think it is going to prove helpful in my ministry. The only complaint that I would have is that the author seems to skip around alot but that is only because the book covers alot of broad ground in 175 pages. However, the chapters on the Nature of the Church and the Ministry of the Church are worth the price of the book alone. All in all, this is a great book that everyone who wants to fulfill the Great Commission should read.