Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Alban Books
Pages: 161
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-56699-373-9 • Paperback • January 2009 • $31.00 • (£25.00)
978-1-56699-554-2 • eBook • January 2009 • $29.50 • (£25.00)
Gary A. Shockley is a pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is the author of The Meandering Way: Leading by Following the Spirit (Alban, 2007). Kim Shockley is currently serving as a Healthy Church Specialist with the East Central District of the Florida Conference for the United Methodist Church. She helps to identify areas of local church life that can be improved as well as coach churches and pastors through the processes of Natural Church Development and ReFocusing.
As we live in a ‘time between the times’ for the church and its future, how blessed we are to have a book like this, written by people who have drawn their conclusions from actual ministry experience. As a result, their vision is real and compelling—enabling us to live in the tension between the need to preserve certain things and reaching out for the new things God has in store for the body of Christ.
— Steve Harper, Professor of Spiritual Formation, Asbury Theological Seminary
By the time you finish reading Imagining Church, you will love Kim and Gary! With a blend of self-deprecating humor, biblical and theological foundations, and a rich storytelling style, the Shockleys have created a resource that will help pastors and congregations imagine a church that is truly the hope of the world. They have included a wealth of illustrations, providing the reader with a plethora of ideas for things to do and values to guide the mission.
— Margaret Ann Crain, Professor of Christian Education, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary