ABSTRACT

 

To many people, the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion has the aura of an institution that is dislocated and adrift. Buffeted by tempestuous and stormy debates on sexuality, gender, authority and power – to say nothing of priorities in mission and ministry, and the leadership and management of the church – a once confident Anglicanism appears to be anxious and vulnerable. The Future Shape of Anglicanism offers a constructive and critical engagement with the currents and contours that have brought the church to this point. It assesses and evaluates the forces now shaping the church and challenges them culturally, critically, and theologically.

The Future Shape of Anglicanism engages with the church of the present that is simultaneously dissenting and loyal, as well as critical and constructive. For all who are engaged in ecclesiological investigations, and for those who study the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, this book offers new maps and charts for the present and future. It is an essential companion and guide to some of the movements and forces that are currently shaping the church.

chapter |22 pages

Introduction

part 1|46 pages

Currents, contours and charts

part 2|46 pages

Money, sex and power

chapter 5|14 pages

Spartacus

Modelling rebellion in the church

chapter 6|15 pages

Power in the church?

Congregations, churches and the Anglican Communion

part 3|82 pages

Maps and forecasts

chapter 7|14 pages

Future directions of travel

chapter 8|14 pages

Re-charting the church

chapter 9|15 pages

Old maps for new territories?

chapter 10|21 pages

Conclusion

chapter 11|8 pages

Coda

The Churchgoer’s Charter

chapter 12|8 pages

Afterword

Futurescape?