A New Conversation

In these twenty-nine essays, Episcopalians consider the tradition and the future of their church--its theology, its polity, its missiology. These ""new conversations"" come from ministers of every order (bishop, priest, deacon, laity) and from practiced hands at many ministries (education, theology, music, chaplaincy, and spiritual direction).

Several essayists write urgently that the Episcopal Church must change if it is to survive. Others contend--with equal fervor--that American Anglicanism can work if Episcopalians will reclaim and reaffirm their liturgical, spiritual, and theological heritage. Between these views are other writers who suggest that points of supposed opposition might indeed coexist in the church of the future--taking vibrant, and perhaps paradoxical, new forms.


Robert Boak Slocum is the author, editor, or co-editor of thirteen books. He received his Doctorate in Theology at Marquette University, and taught as a lecturer and visiting assistant professor in the Theology Department at Marquette. He later served at St. Catharine College in Kentucky as dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. He taught courses in religious studies and ethics as a professor at St. Catharine College. He was the president of the Society of Anglican and Lutheran Theologians, and the co-convenor of the Society for the Study of Anglicanism. He served on the board of the Anglican Theological Review. He is an Episcopal priest, and he served congregations in the dioceses of Louisiana, Milwaukee, and Lexington. He was ecumenical officer for the Diocese of Lexington. He lives in Danville, Kentucky, with his wife, Victoria. He has three grown children, Claire, Rebecca, and Jacob.