Andrew G Walker

This ""miscellany"" puts readers around the table with a teacher who has provided the church with wisdom and passion and introduces a new voice to the ongoing conversation about the relationship between the gospel and culture. Andrew Walker's ""ecclesial intelligence"" and broad interdisciplinary approach to theology and sociology will undoubtedly capture the imagination of many who are curious about the church's mission in the modern West. Notes from a Wayward Son represents a broad sampling of Walker's writings from a distinguished forty-five-year career--from explorations of Pentecostalism and Charismatic Renewal to Eastern Orthodoxy, C. S. Lewis, and Deep Church; from the impact of modernity on the ecclesia to mission and ecumenism in the West today. In a world and a church often driven by the latest fashions, Walker's is a voice to which we will want to listen

The major cultural changes in Western societies since the Reformation have created a serious challenge for the Church. Modernity in particular has been inhospitable to Christian orthodoxy and many have been tempted to reject classical versions of the faith. This has led to a division within churches that Walker and Parry name 'the third schism' a divide between those who embrace what C. S. Lewis called 'mere Christianity' or 'deep church' and those who do not. This book is a call deep church, to remember our future, to make a half-turn back to premodernity. Not in order to repeat the past but in order to find often forgotten resources for the present. Embracing the spirituality of deep church, according to Walker and Parry, is the only way that the church can be true to its calling in the midst of the postmodern world.

Synopsis: UK church attendance hemorrhaging and one course is hailed as the most effective tool for "turning back the tide." From small beginnings in the early 1970s, Alpha has grown to become a global success. Churches from across the denominational spectrum have enthusiastically seized upon the course, seeing it as the remedy for declining church attendance. Inside Alpha explores such claims through richly grounded qualitative research on six Alpha courses. It assesses Alpha's primary aim of converting non-churchgoers and its longer-term goal of spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:28-29). It questions whether the Alpha program is as successful as it claims at uniting evangelism and discipleship, mission and spiritual formation. This is an invaluable study for those--in the academy and the church--who have an interest in ecclesiology and mission. How exactly is one to understand conversion? What is it to "be Christian"? How does ambiguity and doubt fit within one's journey of faith? The importance of this work is in discovering--through an engagement with Alpha--how people might appropriately be initiated into and discipled within the Christian faith in contemporary culture. Endorsements: 'The hugely successful Alpha Course has been given serious academic scrutiny in this valuable study. Both extensive fieldwork and long-term historical perspectives on Christian discipleship inform James Heard's scholarly work.' -- William K. Kay, Director of the Center for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies, Bangor University 'The first really systematic assessment of all dimensions of the Alpha Course, this book combines an ethnographic study with rigorous theological analysis to develop an innovative and important contribution to practical theology. I highly recommend it not only to those interested in the Alpha Course, the sociology of conversion and the theology of catechesis, but also as an in-depth case study in what "ecclesial ethnography" involves.' -- Luker Bretherton, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Politics, King's College, London 'James Heard's book offers us an exemplary analysis as well as fair-minded critique of the Alpha Course. It provides a clear and very accessible guide to its strengths and weaknesses.' -- David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Fellow of the British Academy. Author Biography: James Heard has worked with Operation Mobilization in the Indian sub-continent, and at Holy Trinity Brompton. He trained for the Anglican priesthood at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and is now Associate Vicar of St. Luke's and Christ Church, Chelsea.