Description
Transforming Faith Communities draws upon a model for the church that combines congregationalism with a constructive approach to Church-state relationships within a vision for a renewed Christendom, commended as a viable option for Christian mission in the twenty-first-century world. Michael Ian Bochenski uses two movements to make his case: sixteenth-century Anabaptism and late twentieth century Latin American liberation theology. Each movement is held up as a mirror to the other in a vision for the transformation of church and society that resonates powerfully with contemporary culture. Outlining the development of radical religious communities, Bochenski examines some of the factors that create world-affirming Christian faith communities, and explores many examples of effective and constructive engagement with Church and society across the centuries.
About the Author
Michael Ian Bochenski has had very wide pastoral and academic involvement. He has degrees from both Cambridge (Social and Political Sciences) and Oxford (Theology) Universities. He has been a local church pastor, committed to community praxis, for over thirty years. He has led two local homelessness charities, has been the President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, and for four years was the Rector of the Polish Baptist Seminary in Warsaw, Poland.
Contents
Foreword by Christopher Rowland
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. New Beginnings
3. Responding to Revolution
4. Persecution and Propaganda
5. Building Communities
6. Word and World
7. Evangelism and Evangelists
8. Transforming Faith Communities
Appendix to Chapter 6
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements and Reviews
The experiences of the sixteenth-century Anabaptists and the advocates of liberation theology have not been compared in the systematic way evidenced here. The conclusions Bochenski reaches, with twenty-first-century mission in mind, are fresh and challenging. His work is a pleasure to read. It is rigorous in the way it pursues an argument, but at the same time it is thoroughly accessible.
Ian Randall, Senior Research Fellow, International Baptist Theological Seminary
Bochenski has produced a stimulating work exploring insights from early Anabaptist and Latin American base communities. Though separated by over four centuries of Christian life and development, they exhibit challenging parallels. The points of contact are vital in the search for the continuing reformation of the Church.
Keith G. Jones, Rector, International Baptist Theological Seminary
