The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches Into the Emerging Culture

i've read a great deal of postmodern ministry/emerging church subject matter, which conder is dealing with. but three things strike me as unique about this work: 1. it's extremely sensitive to and supportive of existing church models and approaches. that's wonderfully refreshing, and it lends an enormous amount of credibility to his content. he recognizes that the emerging church didn't drop out of the sky without preceding context or help. he recognizes that the emerging church owes a debt to and can benefit from 'modern' churches. he sees the relationship between the modern church and emerging church as synergistic rather than antagonistic. that's inspiring. 2. he understands that the emerging church is far more about theology than style. in an age when church practice is determined more by pragmatic concerns than theological underpinnings, it's extremely reassuring to know someone is saying this with clarity. 3. he's actually engaged in this transition on a day to day basis. he's writing not only from a theoretical perspective, but also from a practical one. again, that gives his words a gread deal of credibility. bottom line, if this is the kind of person who is responsible for giving direction and leadership to the emerging church, we're in pretty darn good shape.