Church, Identity, and Change

by David A. Roozen

Are denominations passé? In the face of theological crises and plunging membership numbers, the days of some denominations appear to be numbered. Other denominations, though holding their own, are also feeling the stresses of large-scale social change. "Church, Identity, and Change" offers an unprecedented, in-depth, inside look at the church today through the lens of eight diverse Protestant denominations. For each of the denominations examined — Assemblies of God, Association of Vineyard Churches, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, National Baptist Convention, Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church — an interdisciplinary team of scholars presents a historical overview, a sociological case study, and a theological essay. These denominations represent a wide scope of American churches — liberal and conservative, old and new, declining and growing, liturgical and nonliturgical. The case studies particularly bring to life each church’s distinctive challenges, including financial scandal, the death of a founder, and more. The book as a whole submits a timely assessment of the relationship between Christian faith and denominational structures. At a time when many analysts are heralding a major paradigm shift from modern to postmodern forms of organization, "Church, Identity, and Change" tracks how these several denominations are restructuring their organizational identities and practices to embody their theological commitments in a postmodern world. This book is an essential resource for those concerned about the fate of the church in the twenty-first century.

664 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2005

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent source for modern Christian Protestant information. This absolutely felt like a college level textbook in a comparative religion or a modern-era Christianity course. It was a collection of lectures pertaining to eight different Protestant denominations. Each denomination was given a collection of articles to address these four domains:

Historical introduction giving background to its national structure and theological legacy,
Sociological case studies on how each denomination defines and attempts to redefine the purposes and organization of its national structure,
Theological essays that treat the work, organization, and rethinking of each denomination as instances of embodied, practical theology;
Concluding reflections focused from an organizational perspective and the other highlighting the theological dimension.

There was a lot of well-researched information delving into the a broad spectrum of factors. These specific subfactors were explained for each denomination in a Protestant frame of reference:

Theology: sacramental, confessional, progressive, reformed, pietistic, Pentecostal, or what traditions set them apart.
Polity: Episcopal, presbyterian, congregational, and mixed polities vary by how authority and responsibility are allocated and exercised at different levels of the organization.
Scale: larger groups have more resources than smaller ones, but at the same time face greater contingencies.
Ethnicity: immigrant and African American groups, for example, bear quite distinct traditions of organizing in the larger milieu today.
History: older vs. newer groups, original structure and traditions.

The eight groups mentioned in these discussions were:

Assemblies of God: Pentecostal theology, presbyterian-congregational polity, 12K congregations, founded 1914.
Association of Vineyard Churches: Postmodern Pentecostal theology, presbyterian-congregational polity, 500 congregations, founded 1982.
Episcopal Church: Sacremental theology, episcopal polity, 7.5K congregations, the dominant religion of southern British colonies.
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: Conservative theology, episcopal-congregational polity, 6K congregations, historically German, founded in the 1840s.
National Baptist Convention: Restorationist theology, congregational polity, 20K congregations, historically African American, founded in 1895.
Reformed Church in America: Reformed theology, presbyterian polity, 900 congregations, historically Dutch, founded in 1628 in New Amsterdam.
United Church of Christ: Liberal Reformed theology, congregational polity, 5.8K congregations, product of several mergers including descendants of the Mayflower Puritans.
United Methodist Church: Wesleyan theology, episcopal polity, 35K congregations, founded 1784.

This was an extremely informative read. It wasn't challenging but it was dense and there was a lot to absorb. I would recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary Protestant Christian studies. Thanks!