Based upon addresses given to Anglican audiences in North America and
Australia, Bill Countryman directly confronts the challenges that face
Anglicans and other Western Christians at a time of internal division
and increasing indifference to religion on the part of educated elites.
He regards these challenges as a work of the Holy Spirit, who is
clearing the ground for a new era of building, and help readers start
thinking about what kind of future the Spirit is leading us toward.
The book begins by presenting the Spirit as a demolition expert,
endeavoring to shake us out of our complacency. It then focuses on three
central elements of Christian faith and life: the image of Jesus, the
sacraments, and the scriptures, and notes some different ways in which
we have seen and utilized them over the ages. It holds out the communion
of saints as the key to understanding the ongoing value of the church
today. It calls faithful people of all stripes to reject our tendency to
turn God's gifts into idols and to rediscover a humility that will be
open to the rebuilding that must now be done with the leadership of the
Spirit.