Martyn Percy

In this bold and provocative invitation, Martyn Percy imagines
what the post-pandemic Church might look like and sets out what it
needs to learn.
It argues that the Church needs to stop obsessing about itself -
its size, its strategies to shore up decline, its waning public
influence - and rediscover how to live as the body of Christ. In
other words, what does it need to do in order to become more like
Christ?
As Christ poured out his life for the sake of others, he
considers ways in which the Church might imitate Christ in practice
today. Whenever Jesus visited anywhere beyond the confines of the
Jewish community he immediately became socially useful, and so this
extols such virtues as humble service in the community, not because
it is an effective way to grow the Church, but because it is
faithful to Christ's own example.
Avoiding responses such as exasperation, righteous anger at
shortcomings or wishful thinking about returning to the past, he
sets out a vision for the Church's future that is both biblical and
christological.
Incisive, imaginative and engagingly written, this will resonate
deeply with many lay and ordained members of the Church.
Martyn Percy
Martyn Percy is Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and teaches in the
Faculty of Theology and Religion. He is a Fellow of the
University's Said Business School and was previously Principal of
Ripon College Cuddesdon.
9781786223159 £14.99 Canterbury
Press