Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity book preview

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By all accounts, the modern ecumenical movement is not moving much these days. Despite dramatic breakthroughs in the past few decades, the quest for a visibly united church—in which there is common confession of the apostolic faith, full Eucharistic communion, and mutual recognition of members and ministers—now meets with indifference by many, impatience by some, and outright hostility by others. In part, this is because the movement has not given enough attention to grassroots ecumenical engagement. This book is written to convince ordinary Christians, especially Christian young adults, that they too have a stake in the future of the ecumenical movement as its most indispensable participants.

Ecumenism Means You, Too draws on the music of Irish rock band U2 to cast artistic light on various aspects of the quest for Christian unity. Whether one is a U2 fan or not, and whether one thinks the ecumenical movement is a good thing or a bad thing for the church, everyone who reads this book will learn something about the Christian theological framework apart from which neither the modern ecumenical movement nor the meaning of U2’s music can be understood. The book includes an annotated bibliography of resources for ecumenical engagement and a glossary of key ecumenical terms for readers who want to learn more about the Christian practice of seeking the unity of the church.

Steven R. Harmon is currently Adjunct Professor of Christian Theology at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, having previously served on the faculties of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama and Campbell University Divinity School in Buies Creek, North Carolina and as Visiting Professor at Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. A member of the Baptist World Alliance delegations to the international theological conversations with the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches and a plenary member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, he is the author of Towards Baptist Catholicity: Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision (2006) and Every Knee Should Bow: Biblical Rationales for Universal Salvation in Early Christian Thought (2003). He blogs about his work in ecumenical theology at http://www.ecclesialtheology.blogspot.com/.

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Read the book description.
Read the endorsements.
Read the table of contents.
Read an excerpt from chapter 1.