Preface
1. Introduction
2. Pluralist Congregations
3. Being an Emerging Christian
4. Faith as Conversation
5. Deconstructing Congregational Practices
6. Following Jesus in the Real World
7. Understanding Emerging Christianity
Appendix: Research Methodology
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Gerardo Marti is L. Richardson King Associate Professor of
Sociology at Davidson College. He is author of A Mosaic of
Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church,
Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los
Angeles Church, and Worship across the Racial Divide: Religious
Music and the Multiracial Church.
Gladys Ganiel is Lecturer and the Programme Coordinator of the
Master's in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation at Trinity
College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics). She is
author of Evangelicalism and Conflict in Northern Ireland and
co-author (with Claire Mitchell) of Evangelical Journeys: Choice
and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture.
"Using social scientific methods, such as participant observation,
focus groups and in-depth interviews, as well as surveys and
textual sources (including a lot of online material), The
Deconstructed Church is one of the most comprehensive guides to the
Emerging Church Movement (ECM) to date."--Kevin N. Cawley, Journal
of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions
"While critics may worry about the impact on the Tea Party of
theocratic politics, the 'emergent church' may yet turn out to be
the more significant turn within recent American religious
history."--The American Interest
"Through a masterful blend of survey data, interviews, and on-site
observations, Marti and Ganiel offer a meaningful description and
explanation of the ECM... Perhaps more importantly than the skilled
presentation, Marti and Ganiel introduce the theoretical framework
of religious individualization as a means of understanding the
Emerging Church."--Religion
"Marti and Ganiel have written a richly detailed and compelling
account... They smartly situate the movement as tapping into
broader social forces by pointing out that while labels might
change, this religious orientation is here to stay." --Sociology of
Religion: A Quarterly Review
"A masterful of job of describing coherently a religious phenomenon
that denies a common theology, goes out of its way in resisting
definition, and consistently affirms that it has no leadership
structure." --Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
"A thorough examination of this diffuse movement, stressing its
anti-institutional nature...Marti and Ganiel provide a convincing
argument that, in one form or another, the emerging movement will
persist and even thrive, moving beyond its evangelical origins
because it is such a close fit with the dominant religious
individualism and pluralism in Western societies. Highly
recommended."--CHOICE
"An invigorating reminder that the church can be one of the most
adaptive, supple institutions in history in its fluid,
deconstructing, reconstructing inventiveness."--The Christian
Century
"This thoughtful and well-written book describes and analyzes this
recent, perhaps important offering of this market." --Patheos
"The Deconstructed Church is a pivotal contribution, not only to
work on the Emerging Church, but also to the study of Christianity
and new religious movements." --James S. Bielo, author of Emerging
Evangelicals: Faith, Modernity, and the Desire for Authenticity
"[Professor Marti] and Professor Ganiel have just given us the most
complete, balanced, useful, and sound overview of Emergence that we
have to date." --Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence: How
Christianity Is Changing and Why
"As growing numbers of Americans say they are 'nonreligious,'
observers note a comparable shift among those who are religious
toward looser, more individualistic, anti-institutional,
experimental expressions of faith. Marti and Ganiel have done a
superb job of examining these emerging expressions, illuminating
both the practices and beliefs of individuals and the innovative
congregations they are forming." --Robert Wuthnow, Gerhard R.
Andlinger '52 Professor of
Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion,
Princeton University
"In the midst of a polarized landscape, where 'religion' and
'church' signal a lack of vitality and authenticity, Emerging
Churches are putting together something new out of the debris.
Marti and Ganiel show us why we should pay attention. They describe
the faith found here as neither shopping nor seeking, but a
conversation carried on in congregations that are determinedly open
and inclusive. This book provides a careful analysis of this
much-discussed
movement and shows why it is so well-suited to our times." --Nancy
T. Ammerman, author of Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding
Religion in Everyday Life
"These religious individualists have faced the truth that in our
post modern times, there is no choice, that in these times of
uncertainty, the religious task is to do bricolage, not for the
sake of a denomination or a system of believing, but for the sake
of individuals trying to maintain a relation to a world soaked in
the diversity of faith systems and constantly facing the shock of
diverse perspectives, all the while without lapsing into a kind of
boring
relativism. As a midterm report on a movement, I found it
fascinating and stimulating for my own thinking." --James K.
Wellman, Jr., Professor of American Religion, Culture, and Politics
and Chair of the
Comparative Religion Program in the Jackson School of International
Studies, University of Washington
"...the book introduces us to a new part of the religious landscape
in a readable and intriguing way, and its wider connections provoke
thought. I found it very worthwhile." --American Journal of
Sociology
"Marti and Ganiel argue persuasively, that there has been a
significant change in Protestant consciousness in the US and the
UK, making this book a valuable resource for navigating a changing
religious landscape."-- Secularism & Nonreligion
"This book offers a comprehensive ethnographic study of the
emerging Christian movement (ECM), and the author s key lens
through which to view ECM is that of deconstruction."--Catholic
Books Review
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