Description: If the church is more than just a building, what could it
mean to live in it--to inhabit it as a way of life? From their location
in new monastic communities, Otto, Stock, and Wilson-Hartgrove ask what
the church can learn from St. Benedict's vows of conversion, obedience,
and stability about how to live as the people of God in the world. In
storytelling and serious engagement with Scripture, old wisdom breathes
life into a new monasticism. But, like all monastic wisdom, these
reflections are not just for monks. They speak directly to the challenge
of being the church in America today and the good news Christ offers for
the whole world. Endorsements: Conversations between contemporary
Christian communities and Benedictine monasticism are among the most
surprising and promising in the church today. Given that the roots of
monasticism and of contemporary Protestantism lie in different parts of
the Christian tradition, mutual engagement between contemporary
Christians and monastics has been rare. Recently, however, the scene has
shifted, and Inhabiting the Church represents the new eagerness to learn
the art of living together faithfully from experienced and ancient
practitioners. --Christine D. Pohl from the foreword ""Protestants
looking for a richer, thicker, more robust and enchanted way of living
into the Christian story should not ignore this invitation into the
rhythms and cadences of Benedictine spirituality. Indeed, only one kind
of person should avoid this book: the reader who does not wish to be
changed."" --Lauren F. Winner author of Girl Meets God and Real Sex
""This book is a timely intersection of the new and ancient, breathing
fresh life into an aging body. An older generation will find this book a
long-awaited reassurance that the Spirit is still stirring radical
nonconformity on the margins of empires. And the contemporary renewal of
new monastics and prophetic tricksters will find a cure for the
pretension and sloppiness that can so often taint our vision or tempt us
to pretend that there is 'something new under the sun.' With both
courage and humility, we will all find ourselves invited to inhabit the
incarnational body that makes God visible to the world . . . May it
inspire all of us to become the church that God longs for."" --Shane
Claiborne author of The Irresistible Revolution, founding member of The
Simple Way, and recovering sinner ""These folks are bringing things both
old and new out of the great Christian storehouse! The New Monasticism
is discovering what is always rediscovered--and always bears great life
for the Gospel."" --Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M. Center for Action and
Contemplation Albuquerque, New Mexico About the Contributor(s): Jon
Stock is a member of Church of the Servant King, publisher of Wipf and
Stock, and proprietor of Windows Booksellers in Eugene, Oregon. Tim Otto
serves as an Associate Pastor of the Church of the Sojourners in San
Francisco. He is also a part-time nurse at the San Francisco county
hospital, working with AIDS and cancer patients. Jonathan
Wilson-Hartgrove is a member of Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina.
He is the author of To Baghdad and Beyond.
