Questions for the Twenty-First-Century Church

Offering timely, relevant analysis of trends and issues, the essays in this collection address questions and concerns that will determine the shape and direction of the denomination in the next century. These essays cover policy issues and current events considerations that Russell Richey says "emerged as a priority" in sponsored conferences of the United Methodism and American Culture Project. Policy issues addressed include music, evangelism, contextual theology, urban losses, electronics & media, lay leadership roles and growth, bishopric election and leadership, the discipline of local churches, church finance, clergy compensation, and others. Contributors include Garlinda Burton, Dennis Campbell, Jackson Carroll, Ken Chalker, Meghan Froehlich,Frederick Herzog, Sarah Kreutziger, Andy Langford, William Lawrence, Priscilla Pope-Levison, Russell Richey, Kenneth Rowe, and Carol Voisin.

(2011) Russell E. Richey is Dean Emeritus of Candler School of Theology and the William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Church History Emeritus in Atlanta, Georgia. 



Dennis M. Campbell is former Dean of the Divinity School and former Professor of Theology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Currently he is Headmaster of Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry Forest Virginia.

William B. Lawrence is dean and professor of American Church History at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University (Dallas), where he has served since 2002. Dr. Lawrence is an ordained elder in the North Texas Annual Conference. He is the author of Sundays in New York and Methodism in Recovery, and he has co-edited numerous books, including Connectionalism: Ecclesiology, Mission and Identity; The People(s) Called Methodist: Forms and Reforms of Their Life; and Doctrines and Disciplines. Additionally, Dr. Lawrence is a member of the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church.