Embracing the Mixed Ecology: Inherited and New Forms of Christian Community Flourishing Together

A guide to the diverse forms of Christian community that are needed today.

Throughout its history, the church thrived when it embraced diverse organizational and cultural forms. In this volume, Dwight Zscheile and Blair Pogue argue that as American culture shifts away from voluntary association and toward individual self-expression, most existing congregations are bound to inherited forms of church that are not designed to connect with neighbors or form disciples. Taking the Church of England’s efforts over two decades to engage its deeply changed missionary context as an example, the authors build on historical and contemporary precedent to argue that the renewal of the church requires a new paradigm where inherited and innovative forms of church coexist and thrive together. Examining numerous innovations—including fresh expressions of church, megachurches, microchurches, church plants, digital churches, and more—the authors show how a mixed ecology is central to church renewal.

Dwight J. Zscheile is a professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary. His books include Leading Faithful Innovation (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff), Participating in God's Mission (with Craig Van Gelder), The Agile Church, People of the Way, Cultivating Sent Communities, The Missional Church in Perspective (with Craig Van Gelder), Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue), and The Starter's Way (with Edward Olsworth-Peter). He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

Blair A. Pogue is canon for vitality and innovation in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. She is an Episcopal priest with over two decades of ordained ministry experience in rural, suburban, and urban congregations. She holds a D.Min. in congregational mission and leadership from Luther Seminary and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.