Forming Communities of Hope in the Great Unraveling
Leadership in a Changing World
- Church Leadership & Ministry
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
In the midst of a massive unraveling where the churches find themselves disoriented and paralyzed, this book invites leaders to embrace three practices formed out of God's engagements with God's people in Scripture and our traditions that direct us toward forming communities of hope.
Endorsements (9)
“Here we stand in misbelief at the collapsing of the institutions that have formed our lives. Gladly, Al Roxburgh and Roy Searle offer us hope. Their book Forming Communities of Hope in the Great Unraveling reminds us that God is still present and acting, that God has given us practices to join with him in the forming of his people anew. Forming Communities is a riveting masterpiece written to churches seeking a path forward in our times of disillusion and decline.”
“Elvis Costello sang, ‘wake me up with a slap or a kiss.’ Roxburgh and Searle do both. The ‘wake up slap’ is the uncomfortable account of the unraveling of Western culture leading toward dark times. The ‘wake up kiss’ is the light they shed on a hopeful path rooted in daily life, oriented toward discerning what God is already doing and exploring how to participate in that work. Read this if you wish to be roused to a new day.”
“After a seventy-five-year story of a (somewhat) cohesive social and church life in the West, current disruptions cascade into every facet of life. We major in the habits that are consistently failing. Roxburgh and Searle explore our circumstances, name the roots, and draw us into hopeful stories and practices. With significant attention to Jeremiah, Luke, Benedict, and the Celts, they envision communities that dwell, discern, and explore, with the conviction that God initiates among and around us.”
“This book is for pastors and other church leaders who are seeing the changes affecting the church and society and know there are no quick fixes. Roy and Al invite readers on a journey of discovering the possibilities and opportunities of finding God at work in the midst of the everyday moments of our lives, inviting us to open ourselves to what God is doing during the unraveling. They invite the church to cultivate the communities of hope needed for a hopeless world.”
“Reader beware. This book is one that will take you first to a place of unsettledness, as it exposes the complex cultural and ecclesial tumult now being experienced across the West. But thank God, it doesn’t leave us hopeless in that place of disorientation. Rather, its authors invite readers to join a journey, toward a destination still hidden, but on a path of trust, and with steps which can be faithfully found together.”
“When church leaders with a lifetime of experience ask awkward questions about how we do things, you probably need to pay attention. Al Roxburgh and Roy Searle have seen the church go from a dominant cultural force to marginal curiosity and ask how we might now be an effective spiritual presence in today’s world. Instead of trying to fix things by clever techniques they take us back to some key Bible narratives and the insights of Christians of earlier generations. It’s a book that may challenge you at a deep existential level, while offering accessible examples of attitudes and practices that can be lifegiving for both leaders and communities.”
“Along the way, the most important journey you make for yourself (and perhaps even attempt to lead others along) you realize you are completely off grid—no map, unfamiliar territory and the Sat Nav dial is spinning. What to do? Jesus-followers in the West might be tempted to turn tail. This book offers an alternative. It suggests ways to walk on in the company of calm, reasoned, well-seasoned, and hopeful travelling companions. Yes, the way ahead is still unknown. But the wisdom of this book can transform the journey from exile to pilgrimage. I hope others will take it up.”
“Roxburgh and Searle issue a sobering and unapologetically provocative call for Euro-tribal churches and their leaders to rediscover their place in God’s alternative story. Drawing deeply from Scripture and the wells of Celtic and monastic Christianity, their vision is daringly simple yet profoundly compelling. I found myself resonating on so many levels—and if you’re hungry for pathways to renewal rooted in the way of Jesus, you will too. A vital and timely read!”
“This is not just a book but a map of the heart, helping a generation navigate the complexity, paradoxes and challenges in the borderlands places of faith. It’s not just a book of ideas, these are hard won words, born out of a lifetime of pilgrimage. There is a spirituality alive in these words allowing us to move beyond the familiar to pursuing the one who as Heschel said ‘rings our hearts like a bell.’”
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