Ecclesiology is the study of the very nature of the Church. Though he is an Anglican Bishop, John Fenwick, PhD, demonstrates for us all that ecclesiology isn t an appendix to the gospel lies at the very heart of communion with God calling us back to the Apostolic and Biblical roots of faith and practice rather than forward to modernization. Ecclesiology is not a matter of choosing sides on core issues of the day and applying church life to them but, rather, it is a matter of faithfulness to the apostolic tradition that has been handed to the Church, primarily within the Scriptures, and then living it out in the daily life of the Church. Fenwick is a master at showing us the interconnections while never losing sight of the ultimate authority of Holy Scripture. He strongly engages with the greater story of the Church Catholic: Eastern and Western. His footnotes and bibliography are a goldmine alone. Here is that literary rarity: a most scholarly work that is also a good read. "

This volume, endorsed by Anglican bishops and scholars around the world, is important reading for those preparing for the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem in June 2018 - and for those in other traditions too. Author Stephen Noll has been a watchman and participant in Anglican affairs over the past quarter century, as a priest and educator in the USA and Uganda. This highly readable anthology of his writings, often written in the heat of the battle, chronicles the departure of the Anglican establishment in North America and England from classic Christian teaching on Scripture, marriage, and church order. Professor Noll concludes: "I want to commend to readers the vision of a renewed and reformed Global Anglican Communion, a communion of churches that builds on the heritage of the Church of England and represents the emerging leadership of formerly colonial Anglican churches, whereby the oversight of doctrine and discipline has shifted from Canterbury to the Global South."

This reissue of Archbishop Ramsey s classic theological study of Anglican views of the church is important for students of ecumenism, and for those concerned with the relationship between Christ and the church in the New Testament. Although some of the book is dated, its conviction that the church s meaning lies in its fulfillment of the sufferings of Christ and that every part of its history is intelligible in terms of the Passion remains perceptive and challenging. Examining Scripture, doctrine, and history, Ramsey paints an intricate portrait of the church as an example of Christ s death and resurrection. He explores Eastern orthodox doctrine; explains the purposes and preconditions of the Reformation; and calls for a renewal of liturgical worship and reconciliation within the communion of the saints. Originally published in 1936 while he was serving as sub-warden of Lincoln Theological College, this was Ramsey s first book. After more than seventy years, its wisdom concerning the relationship between Catholic and Evangelical, and the underlying complementarities and tensions which characterize the Anglican tradition, remains theologically sound and biblically astute. "

Historical and Theological Reflections on the Anglican Church from J. I. Packer The Anglican Church has a rich theological heritage filled with a diversity of views and practices. Like a river with a main current and several offshoot streams, Anglicanism has a main body with many distinct, smaller communities. So what constitutes mainstream Anglicanism? Influential Anglican theologian J. I. Packer makes the case that "authentic Anglicanism" is biblical, liturgical, evangelical, pastoral, episcopal (ordaining bishops), national (engaging with the culture), and ecumenical (eager to learn from other Christians). As he surveys the history and tensions within the Anglican Church, Packer casts a vision for the future that is grounded in the Scriptures, fueled by missions, guided by historical creeds and practices, and resolved to enrich its people.

Marks of a Movement calls us back to the disciple-making mandate of the church through the timeless wisdom of John Wesley and the Methodist movement. With a love for history and a passion for today’s church, Winfield helps us reimagine church multiplication in a way that focuses on making and multiplying disciples for the twenty-first century. Winfield Bevins reminds us of the vital multiplication lessons from the Wesleyan movement, one of the greatest missional movements the world has ever known. He highlights the necessity of discipleship as the starting point and the abiding strategic practice that is key to all lasting missional impact in and through movements. The Methodist movement is an example of the power of multiplying movements that utilize the strategy of discipleship. Within a generation, one in thirty people who were living in Britain had become Methodists, and the movement soon became a worldwide phenomenon. We in the Western Church need a movement of historic proportions once again. What would such a multiplication movement look like for us today? We must look to the past to gain wisdom for the future. And as we look at the pages of church history, there is no better example of a multiplication movement in the West than the Methodist movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Marks of a Movement highlights the lessons and key insights that enable us to learn from the past and reapply this timeless, biblical wisdom for today.

Christians tend to divide into three camps: evangelical, sacramental, and pentecostal. But must we choose between them? Drawing on the New Testament, Christian history, and years of experience in Christian ministry, Gordon T. Smith argues that the church not only can be all three, but in fact must be all three in order to truly be the church.

"With 360+ pairs of questions and answers, as well as Scripture references to support each teaching, this catechism instructs new believers and church members in the core beliefs of Christianity from an Anglican perspective"--

The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology is a unique scholarly resource for the study of the Christian Church as we find it in the Bible, in history and today. As the scholarly study of how we understand the Christian Church's identity and mission, ecclesiology is at the centre of today's theological research, reflection, and debate. Ecclesiology is the theological driver of the ecumenical movement. The main focus of the intense ecumenical engagement and dialogue of the past half-century has been ecclesiological and this is the area where the most intractable differences remain to be tackled Ecclesiology investigates the Church's manifold self-understanding in relation to a number of areas: the origins, structures, authority, doctrine, ministry, sacraments, unity, diversity, and mission of the Church, including its relation to the state and to society and culture. The sources of ecclesiological reflection are the Bible (interpreted in the light of scholarly research), Church history and the wealth of the Christian theological tradition, together with the information and insights that emerge from other relevant academic disciplines. This Handbook considers the biblical resources, historical development, and contemporary initiatives in ecclesiology. It offers invaluable and comprehensive guide to understanding the Church.