The Shape of the Church
The Seven Dimensions of Ecclesial Wholeness
- Theology
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2024
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Publisher's Description
This is a book to help further the ecumenical cause. By providing a new paradigm for growth in ecclesial wholeness, The Shape of the Church charts a pathway that is at once biblically and theologically grounded and pastorally applicable. Seven interdependent dimensions are identified (evangelical, pentecostal, sacramental, intellectual, mystical, pastoral, prophetic) which constitute the church's wholeness and safeguard its integrity. Throughout church history, these seven dimensions have struggled to maintain a life-giving balance and have often isolated themselves from one another, distorting the church's catholicity and wholeness. Reform movements have repeatedly arisen to help revive dimensions being neglected but have often over-emphasized these dimensions to the neglect of others and further distorted the church's shape. The Shape of the Church seeks to offer a vision of the church that values the full dimensionality of the church and insists upon the giftedness of all its dimensions, arguing that the path forward to greater ecclesial maturity and wholeness is only through the nurturing and integration of all its seven dimensions.
Endorsements (3)
“Ephrem Arcement—monk, priest and scholar—has had a remarkable ecumenical journey, and it has led to this exquisite book, a profoundly ecumenical and discerning vision of seven dimensions of the shape of the church. This is a view that is thorough and beautiful at the same time, a most welcome contribution to ecclesiology.”
“The followers of Jesus find themselves at a crossroads today. Ephrem Arcement, in sharing his own Christian journey, invites us to build on the work of Avery Dulles and Richard Foster to re-envision the shape of the church as we advance. This book provides a road map for the followers of Jesus to unite and be a leaven for the life of the world rather than a polarizing force that mirrors the chaos that God addressed at the beginning.”
“Brother Ephrem, through his own spiritual autobiography, inhabits a Christian life of ecclesial wholeness which he invites us all to explore. Upon finishing The Shape of the Church, I am now convinced that Brother Ephrem has given us a kind of improvisational ecumenism—a ‘Yes, and . . .’ approach to a truly Catholic Church for this age. As the Body of Christ, we need each other, and we need all the dimensions noted in this book to flourish. Brother Ephrem is to be applauded for this work.”
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