Diana Butler Bass and Joseph Stewart-Sicking, Editors, From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations. Alban Institute, 2005.
- Prequel: Bass, The Practicing Congregation (2004)
- Sequel: Bass, Christianity for the Rest of Us (2007)
Referenced in: Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This volume is the second book by Bass that reflects the findings of “The Project on Congregations In Intentional Practice” out of Virginia Theological Seminary, which studied fifty mainline denominational congregations that were experiencing revitalization. Ten of these churches were chosen for more in-depth study. The first volume that came out of this project was Practicing Congregation, followed by this one, and then the third, Christianity for the Rest of Us.
The special contribution of this text is that it presents actual cases of congregations that were operating in the ways described in Practicing Congregations. The author/editors collect the stories written from actual people from these churches. The stories highlight practices such as rediscovering tradition, paying attention to God, enlarging hospitality, making space for the sacred, forming faith, practicing worship, proclaiming God’s word, speaking faith, taking risks, navigating culture, and engaging creativity.
From the Publisher
In The Practicing Congregation (Alban, 2004), Diana Butler Bass explored the phenomenon of “intentional congregations,” an emerging style of congregational vitality in which churches creatively and intentionally re-appropriate traditional Christian practices such as hospitality, discernment, contemplative prayer, and testimony. Against the steady flow of stories highlighting “mainline decline,” The Practicing Congregation suggested that there is a new and often overlooked renaissance occurring in mainline Protestant churches.
The success of The Practicing Congregation made it clear that the next step was to provide examples that would illustrate the concepts laid out in that initial work. In From Nomads to Pilgrims, the editors continue to build this narrative, gathering specific stories of congregational vitality and transformation from participants in their research at the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, a Lilly Endowment Inc. funded study at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Including stories from a variety of faith traditions across the U.S., From Nomads to Pilgrims explores:
- How intentional congregations develop
- How they negotiate the demands of interpreting traditional Christian practices in a postmodern culture
- How these practices lead to congregational and personal transformation.
Each chapter is an instructive case study, illustrating a unique expression of the vitality experienced by a congregation that intentionally reclaims a traditional Christian practice. The pastors who have been involved in these congregations’ stories share their practical wisdom gained through the experience of leading these churches.
About the Authors
Diana Butler Bass directs the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. She is the author of The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church (Alban Institute, 2004).
Joseph Stewart-Sicking is the project associate for the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, where he conducts field research on vital mainline Protestant congregations.
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