A Step Along the Way: Models of Christian Service

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Jesus taught his followers to regard their lives as called to loving service. In that spirit, many Christians, especially young people, seek to serve their communities or the wider world -- whether part-time, for limited periods, or as a life-long commitment. Yet, for some reason, it is often difficult to talk about the lived connection between Christian faith and service.

A Step Along the Way will help overcome the gap between our language and our experience. It examines Christian service through a range of model -- both in the sense of interpretive frameworks for understanding Christian service (such as stewardship, solidarity, and advocacy), and in the sense of individuals who embody such practices. Among these exemplars are Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. In the case of each model, the author considers its biblical warrants, its theological implications, its strengths and characteristic temptations.

Stephen J. Pope is a professor in the theology department of Boston College. He is the author of several books, including The Evolution of Altruism and the Ordering of Love and Human Evolution and Christian Ethics. He is editor of Hope and Solidarity: Jon Sobrino's Challenge to Christian Theology.