Church in Life

Church in Life breaks fresh ground by proposing a new framework for thinking about innovation in the church, by arguing that starting new ecclesial communities should be at the centre of the church's life and thought, and by offering new theology and methodologies for church planting. Church planters will find in it the theoretical and practical resources for a radical missional ecclesiology, while theologians will find a nuanced reworking of the purpose and nature of the church.""I love the framework for innovation that Mike uses here. It's a really exciting way to come at mission and pioneering, and a welcome voice in a church that can so often be risk averse. There's a lot of energy in an approach that is fuelled by imagination, possibility and hope rather than anxiety. As a result of seeing the material I invited Mike to teach pioneers at CMS and they found it energising for their pioneering practice.""--Jonny Baker, Director of Mission Education, Church Mission Society, Oxford, UK""The church, like the Triune God, must give itself away. This is perhaps the central thesis in Michael Moynagh's exciting and provocative book, and this is the reason why new ecclesial communities need to be cultivated with creativity, imagination and entrepreneurship. It's not about the church. It's about God's dream for the world. That's why a real church, like the generous God it serves, needs to be rooted in real life. When you read this book, you will think differently about the church, and perhaps even do church differently as well.""--Stephen B. Bevans, SVD, Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD Professor of Mission and Culture, Catholic Theological Union, USA""Michael Moynagh has become a voice of inspiration and encouragement for many priests and pastors who are part of the Missional Movement in the UK but also far beyond its boundaries. He is appreciated for his perceptive analyses of the church's dilemmas, his broad knowledge of the social sciences, his fresh, imaginative way of reading Scripture, and his positive, practical advice to congregations. Add to this his passion for mission and his deep commitment to the Gospel and you can see why many people are blessed by his writings. In Church in Life we see all of this and more. This book is a must read for everyone interested in missional churches.""--Coenie Burger, Director of Communitas: Centre for Continuing Ministry Development and Research, Stellenbosch University, South Africa""The fresh expressions movement has been criticized for a lack of theological depth. Michael Moynagh's Church in Life represents by far the most significant move to date to address that deficiency. Particularly welcome is his enthusiasm for the church itself as a gift of God to the world. I look forward to the prospect that the book will provoke a genuinely theological discussion about the church and the nature of its mission.""--Revd Dr Andrew Davison, Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge, UK, and co-author of For the Parish (2010)""Michael Moynagh's new book is a key contribution to the debate about the ecclesiology and practice of fresh expressions of church - and it also has much to teach those of us immersed in inherited church life and thinking. I found myself pausing on almost every page, scribbling down quotable quotes and brilliantly concise ways of explaining complex ideas . . . In reflecting on the gift that emergent ecclesial communities are, he gives us a model of worship emerging from the church's missional and relational nature that can benefit the whole church.""--Revd Mark Earey, The Queen's Foundation, Birmingham, member of the Church of England Liturgical Commission and chair of the Group for Renewal of Worship, UK""Church in Life is a rich and ambitious project of theological reflection on new ecclesial communities and the theological currents flowing around them. Comprehensive enough to anchor a