A New And Right Spirit: Creating An Authentic Church in a Consumer Culture

In a postmodern culture shaped by consumerism, it’s little wonder that there is confusion about what the church is supposed to be in the 21st century. In A New and Right Spirit, Rick Barger argues passionately for congregations to reexamine what it means to be an "authentic church" in a culture where authenticity is hard to come by. He demonstrates the pitfalls of technical solutions to congregational problems and shows the way to making adaptive change. Recognizing the spiritual needs of a success-oriented society, he exhorts leaders to turn away from the story of our culture and to return to the story of the church that is grounded in Christ and the resurrection.

Rick Barger is lead pastor at Abiding Hope Lutheran Church in Littleton, Colorado, which is one of the largest and fastest-growing congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is also the founder of Abiding Hope's Transformational Leadership Academy.