The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity

by Gerardo Marti, Gladys Ganiel

Overview

Winner of the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

The Emerging Church Movement (ECM) is a creative, entrepreneurial religious movement that strives to achieve social legitimacy and spiritual vitality by actively disassociating from its roots in conservative, evangelical Christianity and "deconstructing" contemporary expressions of Christianity. Emerging Christians see themselves as overturning outdated interpretations of the Bible, transforming hierarchical religious institutions, and re-orienting Christianity to step outside the walls of church buildings toward working among and serving others in the "real world."

Drawing on ethnographic observation of emerging congregations, pub churches, neo-monastic communities, conferences, online networks, in-depth interviews, and congregational surveys in the US, UK, and Ireland, Gerardo Marti and Gladys Ganiel provide a comprehensive social-scientific analysis of the development and significance of the ECM. Emerging Christians, they find, are shaping a distinct religious orientation that encourages individualism, deep relationships with others, new ideas about the nature of truth, doubt, and God, and innovations in preaching, worship, Eucharist, and leadership.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190867560
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2018
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Gerardo Marti is L. Richardson King Associate Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. He is author of A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church, Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church, and Worship across the Racial Divide: Religious Music and the Multiracial Church.

Gladys Ganiel is Lecturer and the Programme Coordinator of the Master's in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation at Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics). She is author of Evangelicalism and Conflict in Northern Ireland and co-author (with Claire Mitchell) of Evangelical Journeys: Choice and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Pluralist Congregations
3. Being an Emerging Christian
4. Faith as Conversation
5. Deconstructing Congregational Practices
6. Following Jesus in the Real World
7. Understanding Emerging Christianity
Appendix: Research Methodology
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Using social scientific methods, such as participant observation, focus groups and in-depth interviews, as well as surveys and textual sources (including a lot of online material), The Deconstructed Church is one of the most comprehensive guides to the Emerging Church Movement (ECM) to date."—Kevin N. Cawley, Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions

"While critics may worry about the impact on the Tea Party of theocratic politics, the 'emergent church' may yet turn out to be the more significant turn within recent American religious history."—The American Interest

"Through a masterful blend of survey data, interviews, and on-site observations, Marti and Ganiel offer a meaningful description and explanation of the ECM... Perhaps more importantly than the skilled presentation, Marti and Ganiel introduce the theoretical framework of religious individualization as a means of understanding the Emerging Church."—Religion

"Marti and Ganiel have written a richly detailed and compelling account... They smartly situate the movement as tapping into broader social forces by pointing out that while labels might change, this religious orientation is here to stay." —Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review

"A masterful of job of describing coherently a religious phenomenon that denies a common theology, goes out of its way in resisting definition, and consistently affirms that it has no leadership structure." —Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

"A thorough examination of this diffuse movement, stressing its anti-institutional nature...Marti and Ganiel provide a convincing argument that, in one form or another, the emerging movement will persist and even thrive, moving beyond its evangelical origins because it is such a close fit with the dominant religious individualism and pluralism in Western societies. Highly recommended."—CHOICE

"An invigorating reminder that the church can be one of the most adaptive, supple institutions in history in its fluid, deconstructing, reconstructing inventiveness."—The Christian Century

"This thoughtful and well-written book describes and analyzes this recent, perhaps important offering of this market." —Patheos

"The Deconstructed Church is a pivotal contribution, not only to work on the Emerging Church, but also to the study of Christianity and new religious movements." —James S. Bielo, author of Emerging Evangelicals: Faith, Modernity, and the Desire for Authenticity

"[Professor Marti] and Professor Ganiel have just given us the most complete, balanced, useful, and sound overview of Emergence that we have to date." —Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why

"As growing numbers of Americans say they are 'nonreligious,' observers note a comparable shift among those who are religious toward looser, more individualistic, anti-institutional, experimental expressions of faith. Marti and Ganiel have done a superb job of examining these emerging expressions, illuminating both the practices and beliefs of individuals and the innovative congregations they are forming." —Robert Wuthnow, Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University

"In the midst of a polarized landscape, where 'religion' and 'church' signal a lack of vitality and authenticity, Emerging Churches are putting together something new out of the debris. Marti and Ganiel show us why we should pay attention. They describe the faith found here as neither shopping nor seeking, but a conversation carried on in congregations that are determinedly open and inclusive. This book provides a careful analysis of this much-discussed movement and shows why it is so well-suited to our times." —Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life

"These religious individualists have faced the truth that in our post modern times, there is no choice, that in these times of uncertainty, the religious task is to do bricolage, not for the sake of a denomination or a system of believing, but for the sake of individuals trying to maintain a relation to a world soaked in the diversity of faith systems and constantly facing the shock of diverse perspectives, all the while without lapsing into a kind of boring relativism. As a midterm report on a movement, I found it fascinating and stimulating for my own thinking." —James K. Wellman, Jr., Professor of American Religion, Culture, and Politics and Chair of the Comparative Religion Program in the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

"...the book introduces us to a new part of the religious landscape in a readable and intriguing way, and its wider connections provoke thought. I found it very worthwhile." —American Journal of Sociology

"Marti and Ganiel argue persuasively, that there has been a significant change in Protestant consciousness in the US and the UK, making this book a valuable resource for navigating a changing religious landscape."— Secularism & Nonreligion

"This book offers a comprehensive ethnographic study of the emerging Christian movement (ECM), and the author s key lens through which to view ECM is that of deconstruction."—Catholic Books Review

From the Publisher