Unmasking the Angel
Revealing the Spiritual Identity of a Local Congregation
- Church Leadership & Ministry
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
This book explores the concept of an "angel of the church." It begins with the question that so intrigued Walter Wink: Why would Jesus ask John to write to an angel in Revelation 2-3? This work develops, critiques, and expands Wink's answer. It does so by taking the historical records of three churches in England's West Country and bringing them into conversation with Wink's understanding of the angel of the church. It then goes further by introducing Wink's work to specialists in fields that include architecture, demographics, and church polity. This scholarly conversation creates a matrix within which ministers with pastoral charge might be equipped to explore the spiritual identity (or angel) of their own congregations.
Endorsements (3)
Foreword
“In this work, Langford offers a creative approach to understanding individual church communities and, particularly for ministers, of serving them effectively. . . . By investigating history, Langford enables us to see how patterns and assumptions are expressed as identity, and he explores how these might be developed, questioned, challenged, or renewed, thus offering insights for congregations seeking to be faithful and appropriate in a world that is different from that in which they started up.”
“Unmasking the Angel is inspired by the theological writings of Walter Wink, but draws on detailed research into the history of selected English Baptist churches and engagement with various theologians, historians, philosophers, sociologists, and representatives of other disciplines. The result is an intriguing exploration of the corporate personality of congregations and how this both shapes them and can be shaped by them.”
“Church communities are often complex. Steve Langford creates a helpful dialogue between Walter Wink and three historical case studies of congregations to offer a fascinating, sobering, and inspiring way for navigating those complexities more faithfully and attentively. This book is grounded, erudite, measured, lucid, and ultimately hopeful. As a pastor theologian, Langford offers a theological imaginary for approaching challenges that might bewilder ministers and church leaders at times, reframing them in a way that envisions them as opportunities for possible transformation or, if not, for death and resurrection.”
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