Mathew Guest

A Sociology of Mystic Practices

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

Foreword

“Dann Wigner’s book draws on his exciting research into ECM groups in the Southwestern USA, focusing on how they engage in mystical practices derived from long-standing Christian traditions. Using ethnographic methods, Wigner explores how ECM members embody and make sense of these practices, furnishing an illuminating discussion of one of the most intriguing and unpredictable movements in contemporary Christianity.”

The Bible Reading of Young Evangelicals

“It is common knowledge that evangelical Christians take the Bible seriously. A question often overlooked is: how is it read? How do evangelicals find meaning in Biblical passages and how do they negotiate emerging tensions between the text and their cultural identities? This is a study that examines evangelical Biblicism not just as a theological priority but also as a social experience. Ruth Perrin has produced an innovative study, based on careful empirical research among young adult members of evangelical churches in the UK. This is a fascinating volume, full of fresh insights into how young Christians deal with the scriptures they place at the center of their faith.”

Worship and the World to Come

Preaching & Worship

“Glenn Packiam has taken one of the most elusive ideas in Christian tradition—hope—set it alongside one of the most contested—eschatology—and grappled with how both inform the public worship life of American evangelicals. Set within a rich, multifaceted study of Christian worship in the contemporary United States, the result is a compelling exercise in practical theology that never shies away from uncomfortable truths. Packiam distills a wide range of sources, ideas, and arguments into a discussion of evangelical worship that is both deeply insightful and highly accessible. This is a piece of practical theology that is theologically serious and practically engaged, a consideration of hope and eschatology that is careful in its marshaling of theological scholarship and attentive to the complexities that reflect the life of evangelical churches in the twenty-first century. Scholars of evangelicalism, church leaders, and Christian worship professionals alike will find much wisdom in this timely volume.”