The Scattering

Imagining a Church that Connects Faith and Life

Dwight Lee DuBois

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781498229784
  9781498229807
• eBook ISBN:
  9781498229791
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Ministro del culto cristiano

Imagine being able to connect everything you do in life with God's dream of shalom. Imagine all God's people seeing their family responsibilities, work, and community involvement as ministry. Imagine congregations that equip and empower people for ministry--not just in the church, but in all they do. Imagine leaders and members finding a renewed sense of joy, purpose, and vitality as they give themselves away for the sake of the Gospel. Dwight DuBois not only imagines these life-giving outcomes in fresh and powerful ways, he shows readers how to create an environment that equips everyday saints to connect their faith with all of life. Based on the real life struggles of pastors and members, The Scattering lays bare our preoccupation with the health of the institution and offers powerful new language for the church as being both gathered and scattered. This language breaks down unhelpful stereotypes, and provides readers with hopeful and rewarding ways to interpret who we are and what we do as the church of Jesus Christ.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• A Word of Thanks
• Introduction
• Abbreviations
• 1. Imagining a New/old Church —Gathered and Sent
• 2. A Gap in Imagination
• Interlude: Keeping God in the Box
• 3. Reimagining Our Roles the New Testament Way
• 4. Building on the Imagination of Predecessors
• 5. Imagining a Better Way
• 6. Living out the Biblical Imagination
• Interlude: Connecting the Blessing and the Purpose
• 7. Imagining an Equipping Community
• 8. From Imagination to Reality
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Resources to Feed Your Imagination
• Bibliography