by Ephrem Arcement (Author)
This is a book to help further the ecumenical cause. By providing a new paradigm for growth in ecclesial wholeness, The Shape of the Church charts a pathway that is at once biblically and theologically grounded and pastorally applicable. Seven interdependent dimensions are identified (evangelical, pentecostal, sacramental, intellectual, mystical, pastoral, prophetic) which constitute the church's wholeness and safeguard its integrity. Throughout church history, these seven dimensions have struggled to maintain a life-giving balance and have often isolated themselves from one another, distorting the church's catholicity and wholeness. Reform movements have repeatedly arisen to help revive dimensions being neglected but have often over-emphasized these dimensions to the neglect of others and further distorted the church's shape. The Shape of the Church seeks to offer a vision of the church that values the full dimensionality of the church and insists upon the giftedness of all its dimensions, arguing that the path forward to greater ecclesial maturity and wholeness is only through the nurturing and integration of all its seven dimensions.
Author Biography
Ephrem Arcement is a member of the Order of the Holy Cross, an Anglican Benedictine community of monks. He holds a PhD in spirituality from The Catholic University of America and is the author of In the School of Prophets: The Formation of Thomas Merton's Prophetic Spirituality.