Mainline Christianity in the West is dying. Addiction to hierarchical and bureaucratic power is killing it. A management-god and a mission-god have usurped the Way of Christ. In the midst of decline the missional movement is attempting to reboot the church. Its goal is to remake a New Christian West through mission, leadership, mapping, and planning. Yet it is trapped in the language and methods of modernity. Its final solution is a polarizing vision of cultural domination by one social group, the Christians. The Way of Life and Truth has been forgotten. Christ is not a conquering King, a written Word, or an absolute Idea, but a divine Human Being. Social wholeness can only be realized through a rediscovery of Conversation, Reconciliation, and Empowerment. These reflect Christ's practices of eternal dialogue and reciprocal giving in small communities. Through this mutual Way of Life people of all faiths (and none) can discover deep within themselves Our Un/Known G-d. A gentle voice is whispering in the heart of all humanity, "I am . . . the Way." "Beyond the critical historical analysis of how Imperial Christianity paved the way for its own subversion, Francis Rothery outlines an alternative way forward for faith today. This is a future of ground-based communities, characterized by practices of conversation, reconciliation, and empowerment. Overall, an inspiring read!" --Diarmuid O'Murchu, author of Quantum Theology Francis Rothery is a New Monastic and a Community Franciscan in the Anglican Communion. His mission experience emerges from delivering leadership training and development in Russia, Africa, and Pakistan. In the UK, in partnership with the Nightchurch Community, he developed an ecumenical Fresh Expression, initiating new approaches to conversational learning and spiritual development. Francis has a background in social work, psychotherapy, training, and management and has lectured in philosophy, religion, psychology, and counseling.
