Book Review

By Rev Dr Sean Gilbert

Root, Andrew (2022), ‘Churches and the Crisis of Decline: A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age,’ Baker Academic.

The extended title of Andrew Root’s recent book is a tongue twister, but the content is clear and insightful.

This not a ‘how to do it’ text. Rather, Root uses his considerable knowledge of Karl Barth and the contemporary German philosopher Hartmut Rosa, to weave an engaging storyline around a fictional congregation on the brink of closure; a local church (like many we know), struggling with issues of governance, compliances, and a lack of people and financial resources.

Despite these pressing concerns, Root returns to Barth’s premise that ‘God is God,’ imagining another way for the local congregation, other than disbanding, and the church building being turned into a trendy ‘micro-brewery.’

Put simply, that way is a return to the seeking of God who continues to break into our increasingly bordered worlds: ‘We do not need another conference, consultant, or series of books on practical steps congregations can take to accrue resources. Rather, we need to pursue the more difficult task of exploring how … the church might return to transcendence, finding its life in revelation itself.’

This is a wise and imaginative read. It resonates with a present yearning for another way of being church.