• The Conversation
  • Bookstore
  • Education
  • Consulting
  • Connect with Alban
Loading...

The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church

Diana Butler Bass

kindle icon

The conventional wisdom about mainline Protestantism maintains that it is a dying tradition, irrelevant to a postmodern society, unresponsive to change, and increasingly disconnected from its core faith tenets. In her provocative new book, historian and researcher Diana Butler Bass argues that there are signs that mainline Protestant churches are indeed changing, finding a new vitality intentionally grounded in Christian practices and laying the groundwork for a new type of congregation.

The Practicing Congregation tracks these changes by looking at the overall history of American congregations, noting the cultural trends that have sparked change, and providing evidence of how mainline churches are reappropriating traditional Christian practices. The signs of life that Butler Bass identifies lead the reader beyond the crumbling “liberal vs. conservative” dualities to a more nuanced and fluid understanding of the shape of contemporary ecclesiology and faithfulness. In so doing, she helps readers understand tradition in new ways and creates an alternative path through the culture wars that today arrest the energies of most denominations.

Invigorated by stories from Bass’s own experience, The Practicing Congregation provides a hopeful and exciting vision of “the once and future church” that Alban founder Loren Mead first named in two decades ago. The imaginative “retraditioning” the author identifies and celebrates will guide pastors and other leaders on this “pilgrimage of creating church” and convincingly counter the naysayers that long ago gave up on the viability of the mainline church.

Share|

Praise for the Book

“Diana Butler Bass imagines a new future for the mainline church. She sees the forest and the trees, the great tradition and the local parish. Her vision is clear, her passion is obvious, and her analysis is solid.” —The Christian Century

“This is an eye-opening book, a buoyant book. It tells a new story, and anyone interested in the present or future of the Christian church should read it.” —Lauren F. Winner
“Beyond ‘Christendom,’ beyond the automatic ‘churchianity’ of the first part of the twentieth century, beyond the culture wars and the ‘dumbing down’ of the second part of the twentieth century, some congregations are finding the courage and imagination needed to be the church—intentionally! This very readable and informative book will be a source of hope for all who would like to join them in such a venture.” —Douglas John Hall

About the Author

Bass,DianaDiana Butler Bass is senior research fellow and director of the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, a Lilly Endowment–funded research study of vital mainline Protestant churches at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.

Interview with Diana Butler Bass from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. 

top of page  |  Bookstore

Create your own review