Faith Seeking Action: Mission, Social Movements, and the Church in Motion(Intercultural Studies)

In Faith Seeking Action, author Gregory Leffel links a description of the church as a global movement with a description of contemporary social movements that are actively challenging today's societies, such as the environmental, global justice, and identity movements. Not surprisingly, Christian communities and communities of social activists share much in common as they each work to enrich their societies. It is natural then to ask what missionally-concerned Christians may learn from social movements about the public role of their churches, the connection of their beliefs to social change, and the mobilization of their people. It can also be asked how these often divided communities may find ways to collaborate around common actions rooted in such shared values as peace, justice, life, and the integrity of the environment. Building on growing interest in the field of missiology and its "missional church" concept, Leffel has created a dialog between the church as a social actor and social movements. Along with introducing movement theory to mission studies, Leffel introduces a new way of addressing the issues involved in the church's engagement with society, a concept he calls missio-ecclesiology. Of interest to those seeking vital ways to live out their faith in the world-missiologists, missional church leaders, and street-level workers alike-this work fuels fresh thinking about the church's role in cultural and social change.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 List of Tables and Figures Part 2 Abbreviations and Acronyms Part 3 Series Foreword Part 4 Sub-Series Foreword Part 5 Introduction Part 6 1 Mission and Movements Part 7 2 Toward a Missio-Ecclesiology Part 8 3 Social Movements: An Interpretive Framework Part 9 4 The Antiglobalization Movement Part 10 5 The Sanctuary Movement Part 11 6 The Xenos Christian Fellowship House Church Movement Part 12 7 Social Movements: An Action Framework Part 13 8 Missio-Ecclesiology: Faith Seeking Action Part 14 9 Mission and Imagination Part 15 Bibliography Part 16 Index Part 17 About the Author

About the Author :
Gregory P. Leffel is co-founder of Communality, a missional community in Lexington, Kentucky, and president of One Horizon Foundation.

Review :
...theologically and sociologically technical, the educated reader interested in social theory and religion will benefit from its well-written and documented pages detailing social change and religious convulsion. Faith Seeking Action is a blueprint for missional churches to enter into dialogue with contemporary social movements in order to find ways to mobilize the people of God for the transformation of the world. ...Leffel describes the church as an active participant in God's mission, first from a familiar theological perspective, then from a sociological perspective rooted in the study of social movements. He introduces mission-ecclesiology and explains how a mission-informed theology of the church and a sociological understanding of social movements can be integrated into the church as a movement of God's people.